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Shoveler Duck pair dropping into the pond. Some lovely light today provided a helping hand for colour and clarity on my images! ***** Don't forget to submit your entry for the quail photo from last weekend (scroll down) Not a huge prize but a package of 5 greeting cards will be drawn tomorrow from all entries. I will either hand deliver the cards or mail them ... Thanks for looking,,, TerryV 
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 Caption this ... Best one wins a package of 5 deluxe greeting cards (send entries to naturalimagescanada@gmail.com ***Winning entry will be posted here next week! )          a very early morning shot taken at 1-100th second exposure  Mallard Drake dropping in to visit friends in flooded field pond   Above and below ... Group of Greenwing Teal (very small ducks with extremely agile and fast flight patterns)  With Hummingbird Haven right outside my door, I can safely avoid an inclement weather photo shoot and still get some images.. Today was cool, windy and rained pretty much all day long. The Hummingbirds arrived by the busload and I was thrilled to see them.  One of my oldest and most frequent visitors is this lovely matriarch (above) who I named Methuselah ... She had a rough summer but seems to be doing very well now despite her crinkled beak and today rain soaked feathers. The younger female in 2 of the images above sits with her frequently and they get along quite well. (I wonder if she is a daughter?)
 Shoveler Ducks (young birds) If you look closely I believe this pair of sibling Shovelers are brother and sister. The males develop an amazing colouration which includes a green head similar to a Mallard Drake. Thank you for looking... TerryV   I have been experiencing some eye problems as of late and this is making photography and literally everything I do a bit difficult, but this beautiful Hummingbird has a bigger problem. This is his good eye... You'll see the other in the slide show below. (BTW, this little fellow is incredibly aggressive and chases everyone off the feeders) Young Male Annas Hummingbird with his adult feathers filling in  A gorgeous female Annas Hummingbird above and below!   A very young Annas Hummingbird ... This bird and its sibling that I saw today have not been too long out of the nest!
This series of 5 slides shows my observations from quite a great distance .. An American Kestrel as seen in the fist frames on the left along with a group of Starlings, a Robin and joined by a Flicker .. Then suddenly the entire bunch flew off and a few seconds later the Kestrel returned to sit where the Flicker was. Some people refer to this beautifully coloured raptor as a Sparrow Hawk ... Have a great week... TerryV
Northern Shoveler hen  American Kestrel returns A good friend and fellow bird enthusiast pointed out & ID'd a small group of these Mergansers to me last August. There were 8 of them at that time and today I still see 7 so these young of the year "Hooded Mergansers" are doing well in a local fresh water pond. Beautiful small ducks .. Much smaller than the common Mergansers.
   These Canada Geese came in for a snack well after sunset  In the photo above you will see a Red Squirrel watching a Douglas Fir pinecone falling. This little furry character is in the process of dropping the cones then gathering them up into various middens where they will ripen and become the winter and spring food supply. This is the first time I have photographed the event, but I have for years watched the squirrels doing this work. In the slide show below there are many images all shot September 24th in my yard in North Saanich. These little native Red Squirrels have been nearly wiped out save for a few pockets around S Vancouver Island. The invasive Eastern Grey Squirrels have taken their toll as has forest destruction locally. Thanks for looking and taking the time to appreciate nature ... TerryV  Red Breasted Sapsucker out back .. rare sighting in my yard!
Its always a treat to hear from folks who enjoy the images I post, but a rare occurrence, so today I want to say thank you to the person who did just that today! According to the stats I see on my web account, there are only 5 or 6 people checking the blog so at times I wonder if its worthwhile..... But your lovely note today from the Chicago area made my day! Thanks so much! Hope you have a sweet week ahead... TerryV   The 2 photos above of a Kingfisher ... Love these chattery fishing catchers, but they are generally very shy of my camera and refuse to allow me a close up.. Both these photos are heavily cropped and taken from a distance using 600mm setup.  This beautiful Marsh Hawk (actually Northern Harrier) flew right over my head as I was watching the other direction towards the Kingfisher :))) so I completely missed the close flying shots and the bird was a good distance away before I managed to get this one.
A short hike last evening just before sunset netted this find .. A gorgeous SharpShinned Hawk perched and watching for dinner ... Was a treat to see and photograph! (North Saanich BC)
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November 2020
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March 2018 .. I just received notice that my blog has been awarded a distinction of being one of the top 100 photography blogs in Canada.
* All images and content copyright Terry Venables and NaturalImagesCanada *
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