   Duck feather rests gently on the water  Can you ID this pretty duck???  A young Mallard drake in shimmering morning light  This puddle duck was a long way off but I liked the lighting so here u go!
  I was so fortunate to revisit the pond where I spotted the kingfishers the other day and amazingly she was back looking for breakfast. This slide show sequence show a female Belted Kingfisher diving into the pond and lifting back out after an unsuccessful try ... The first few shots dropping down to the water level were out of focus but the remainder are quite sharp. @ f 7, 1/4000, ISO 1250    The slideshow below portrays a successful catch... Yes, I missed that dive completely but photographed a few other unsuccessful attempts.... The fish she has in her beak is a stickleback (you can clearly see the small spines) Hope you enjoy these images !!! So rare for me to even take 1 photo of a passing Kingfisher, as they tend to be generally quite elusive around people.  Take a close look at this image ... Can you spot two kingfishers??
 snoozing sea otter   A boat roars past a very sleepy (chill) sea otter  Greetings to my 3 loyal blog watchers... (Thank you for faithfully clicking) Over the next week I will try my best to untangle a series of photos taken in the Port Hardy area while I was fishing with my pals Neil and Morris ... Challenging at times to get the shots as one is perpetually moving, bouncing and jostling on the ocean! Hope you enjoy these images.... *** A big thank you to my hosts Neil and Monique who made this possible.... THANK YOU!!!       I wonder how many flowers he had to visit to get this much pollen on himself??       *above image .. Juvenile male Rufous confronts adult male (That red blur in the background)     These magnificent, tiny birds are only around Vancouver Island for a short few months. Seems like just days ago, I eagerly watched for and spotted the first returning Rufous (miid March) The females waste no time in looking for a secret spot to build their nests and by April many female Rufous are on their nests incubating eggs. (I have never personally found a nest, but did document on not far from here a few years ago). The males set up territories and fiercely push off the local Annas Hummingbirds ... Lots of battles, but the Rufous dominate , despite only being 2/3 their size. Recently I have had a flood of the tiny creatures in the yard devouring small flying insects and of course the sugary nectar I provide daily. Lots of adults and young Rufous practicing their Ariel jousting and special maneuvers. Right around now, on Solstice the adult males are preparing to head South to their wintering areas in Mexico. I can't imagine the journey that happens twice a year for these miniature marvels, but they somehow navigate across great stretches of ocean, along mountain valleys and through forests. (No, they don't ride on the backs of Canada Geese :) haaaa... but lots of folks still believe this legend) The Rufous males are the first to pull out with most being absent by July 1st, followed by the adult females, then the young of the year... How do they find their way??? 1000's of miles to travel and a metabolism that requires frequent nectar to survive. Nature always amazes!!! Special Solstice hello's to everyone who follows my blog... I really appreciate all 5 of you people. Big Hugs to all and God Bless TerryV  Wishing a very Happy Fathers Day to all the great Dads out there!
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December 2025
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Summer 2023.. I just received notice that my blog has been awarded a distinction of being one of the top 10 photography blogs in Canada.
* All images and content copyright Terry Venables and NaturalImagesCanada *
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Natural Images Canada
