Wildlife Encounters Tapestries

This adult male Mandarin Duck has been seen in the company of the Wood Ducks of Piper Spit. He has called Burnaby Lake home since he was first spotted there in 2018. His stunning ruffs, dazzling color palette, and "fins" make him a dreamboat to photograph.

The Tree Swallows who visit Iona Island are intensely curious about humans, and this handsome fellow and accomplished aerialist--like several others of his kind--gave a small but rapt group of photographers plenty of closeup opportunities to capture their breathtaking beauty in dazzling detail.

The sudden appearance of three Bald Eagles--working the waters of Boundary Bay Regional Park--sends thousands of American Wigeons (and the odd Northern Pintail) into the sunny but chilly late November skies.

On a cloudy day in late March 2017, a number of large raptors seemed to be flying quite close to the trails at Boundary Bay Regional Park, and this youngster was no exception. S/he came to within 20 feet of my lens that I was able to see the "white eyebrows" on its still dark face! Photographed in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada.

My second visit to the Maplewood Conservation Area produced meetings with not two, but six blacktail deer in a forest clearing... four fawns and two does who seemed completely at ease with the small group of photographers in their midst. This is one of the two deer families... a doe with her first year fawn (the one in front, who is just starting to lose its spots) and second year (browsing in the background) fawns.

Fox and Wolf

Green-Winged Teals start to mass at Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake, Canada, as winter on the West Coast passes its halfway point. A number of North America's smallest dabbling ducks also start to engage in springtime courtship behaviors at this time. This drake was particularly vocal, and gave me a good angle of himself in the process.

On a surprisingly cold and rainy morning in early July 2016, five young Bushtit brothers huddled on the old plum tree for warmth and comfort. They also unwittingly provided me with a one-in-a-million opportunity to get this family portrait.

This Princess Parrot found the back of a bench a comfortable place on which to have an afternoon snooze. Barely had the first photograph been snapped when the eyelids of this multi-colored pastel parakeet started getting heavy.

The red eyes on this large sparrow are mesmerizing and can best be described as eerie; and the black, white, reddish-brown plumage it wears all year round are "power colours". Photographed at Stanley Park's Lost Lagoon on a chilly afternoon in late November 2015. Featured in Cornell Lab of Ornithology's second adult coloring book, "Backyard Birds and Blossoms."

With his bright white cravat evoking a stylish old Elizabethan charm, this handsome bibbed domestic Mallard (of the Duclair designer "persuasion") was definitely the odd duck out at the local wildlife sanctuary. That didn't stop him from charming the photographers in his midst, and moving his way to the forefront of the feeding frenzy that included many, many wild Mallards.

Metro Vancouver's second snowstorm of the winter season finally brought the lovely and much anticipated male Varied Thrush to my backyard, where he spent the greater part of the day excavating the white stuff for tasty grubs. With their dazzling palette of orange, grey, and black hues, this reclusive songbird is a welcome sight during the monochromatic winter months. Photographed in mid-February 2019.

A Short-Eared Owl surveys its hunting grounds for opportunistic Northern Harriers who would not hesitate to take advantage of the fruit of its hunting prowess. Sudden gusts of wind fluff this hunter's head feathers, revealing the short ear tufts for which this owl is named. Photographed in Metro Vancouver, BC, Canada, on a late afternoon in late November 2017.

Perfectly reflected in the tranquil waters of this pond is this Northern Pintail drake. They may be most commonly seen in West Coast winters, but I've encountered these ducks almost all year round at the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary.

In a cute moment highly reminiscent of another bushtit family gathering from 2016, three young songbird fledglings roost together in the sun-dappled shade of the pear tree, while parents and helpers (older siblings) pick grubs and chatter from the leaves nearby. My young subjects were only too willing to oblige for my lens. Photographed in late May 2020.

A cute and curious Eastern Cottontail Rabbit stands up in the long grass to get a better look at the photographer. Photographed in late May 2018 at Boundary Bay Regional Park, BC, Canada.

Nature spared no expense when it came to the Mandarin Duck, and this male, dressed to his finest breeding nines, is no exception. In his flight to freedom, this gorgeous escapee from an Oregon farm found his Eden at Burnaby Lake's Piper Spit, and in the company of many Wood Duck cousins.

It's hard not to be amazed by such beauty! I am so used to seeing Dunlins in flocks of hundreds and thousands in their non-breeding/winter plumage, that to encounter a solitary member of the species is a bit puzzling. S/he was in full breeding regalia, and in no particular hurry to fly north for the summer. We almost missed seeing this peep--so intent on photographing the 20 Greater Scaups much further out from shore--that it was many moments before I realized that this Dunlin was quite calmly "pacing" us some 6-8 feet away on the shoreline! Being under great light and in such close proximity to this beauty enabled me to get a good look at that black belly patch and the wonderful russet brown feathers on its head and back!

Face time with a Mountain Bluebird at Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada. Like clockwork, this handsome male showed up almost exactly a year later since the last sighting (of a pair of Mountain Bluebirds) in the same area.

It does seem like that male Zebra Finch on the left is a bit put out (or maybe shocked) by the sight of his fellow Zebra Finch, seemingly shaking his booty at the photographer... the equivalent of a mooning or a raspberry?

Whilst ambling through Stanley Park's Lost Lagoon on a mid-summer's day, this diurnal raccoon took it upon itself to be my nature guide to the bridge, where it stopped and posed for this photo.

An unusually late-staying migrant dressed in his best breeding finery, this Ruddy Turnstone was attracting wildlife photographers with his foraging techniques (lifting clumps of seaweed much bigger (and probably heavier) than himself) on the shore, and in the process of scrounging up a late lunch, walking right into the midst of the long-lens-toting paparazzi, who were often forced to back up! Photographed at the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty in November 2015.

A fruitless search for a Rufous hummingbird in the backyard yielded the consolation prize of an unexpected photo session with a beautiful, accommodating Western Tiger Swallowtail -- one of the largest and most iconic butterflies to grace the Pacific Northwest during the summer.

The first 'inhabitants' to greet us in the parking lot, Columbian Ground Squirrels are some of the most entertaining wildlife at Manning Provincial Park. What I am tickled to call "the Prairie Dogs of the West" were positioned near their network of holes in the ground (or in rotted tree stumps) and often called in an upright position like meerkats or groundhogs (when they weren't chasing or kissing each other). We found plenty at Manning Park Resort and Lightning Lake, staked out near picnic tables and people lounging in the grass. Columbian Ground Squirrels spend the short summer bulking up on fat reserves for their hibernation period, which lasts for seven months!

The African Superb Starling is such a beautiful rainbow of colours. When it makes an entrance, it really makes an entrance; it's no shrinking violet. Rare, though, is the moment when it stays still long enough to get a photo of it, but got it I did, as it waited for its turn to bathe in the waterfall.

As a fan of both Shakespeare and shorebirds, this scene might be alternatively captioned "Baird(s) on the Beach." My meeting them in such close quarters was an unexpected pleasure; a small contingent of these tiny migrant sandpipers (all juveniles!) was completely at ease with the photographer in their midst, and continued to feed nonchalantly on aquatic bugs or park themselves on top of the mounds of seaweed nearby. Photographed over the Labour Day 2018 long weekend.

This wild Mute Swan was serenly plying the waters of the local harbor, and, made a beeline for the photographer perched on the edge of the dock. Curiosity aside, perhaps s/he was hopeful that I had some seeds on my person.

Her cobalt blue mascara never runs! Quiet as her mate is noisy, this female Eclectus Parrot surprised me even further by choosing to perch uncharacteristically close to my lens.

I encountered a party of eight juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers at the Boundary Bay Wildlife Management Area as September 2018 passed its halfway mark. Like the other shorebirds who normally prefer the grassier, less muddy parts of the beach to forage from, these medium-sized migratory shorebirds did not mind me in their midst. Photographed on a sunny and slightly breezy afternoon on a fairly low high tide that let me walk out a few hundred feet from shore to observe the visiting fauna in close quarters.

A mother Snowy Owl and her two owlets have a chortle at the photographer.

Although I had never met one before, instinct told me that the serene yet mesmerizing golden-eyed stare of this bird of prey could only belong to that South American native known as the Spectacled Owl.

A male Wood Duck in all his breeding splendor poses for my lens. Wood Ducks are the most colorful all-year-round resident waterfowl one can find in Metro Vancouver, Canada, and they are equally at home in the water, on land, or in the trees -- being the only duck species who can grasp logs and branches.

On a very memorable Boxing Day 2017, a dozen of these enchanting but highly reclusive songbirds were frequenting the trees and vocalizing near the Burnaby Lake Nature House at Piper Spit. None seemed particularly concerned about the presence of photographers, and I daresay some of the subjects even worked the cameras with their pretty poses!

An attractive raptor with a heart-shaped facial disc, the Barn Owl is gifted with extraordinary hearing and silent flight, which lets it descend on and capture prey with extreme stealth. Sara is a healthy captive who would normally live her life in the wild, except for the fact that she imprinted on humans at an early age.

This handsome young male Golden Eagle was eager to demonstrate his flying abilities at the 6th Annual Raptor Festival held in Richmond, British Columbia in August 2014.

A stunning statement of yellows and blacks, this handsome male Cape May Warbler has captivated photographers and nature lovers with his unexpected presence at Mill Lake Park in Abbotsford, BC. His unusual appearance in the Pacific Northwest is made even more so by the fact that we are barely 3 weeks into winter when this boreal songbird -- who normally winters southward to as far as Mexico -- has chosen, instead, to do so here in Canada. Nevertheless, he has fit right in among the equally vibrant yellow mahonia flowers, from which he sips tasty nectar, eats petals, and feasts on a steady diet of insects and grubs in the same shrubs and nearby trees.