 This mornings farm visit was a bust due to the road being blocked and I was too lazy to hike a mile to visit "my" Ospreys, so opted to drive down to Island View Beach. The clouds rolled in and cool temperatures changed the feel from the past week of 30deg C/ 90 deg F . I was royally treated to an unusual show this morning of Ravens playing at fairly close proximity. (I usually can't get within 100 meters of these playful tricksters) * These are not crows , as some have suggested, but their very large cousins... Quite a distinctly different bird. These black magicians did not fail to amaze me with their aerobatic manoevers and community gatherings.... Several Ravens played pass the stick (which I saw them use to dig into the sand , as a tool) One of my next jewellery projects is to carve a Raven pendant for a special person... so today's photo session seems to be a total blessing! Thanks to each of you who follows my blog... Sorry for the gap in photos... Hopefully the cooler weather will allow me more time to make images from around the Saanich Peninsula! Have a great week................... Terry :)
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 Shown in many of the photos below are Dragonflies fulfilling their destiny... Laying eggs into the pond and thus continuing the life cycle! Amazing to watch these creatures!  Beginning of the day .. 6:05 Am , August 20, 2016  Below... A Kingfisher goes about his work of fishing in the early light of morning!  A variety of Swallows line the wire and flit about the pond so gracefully.     This Cedar Waxwing landed above me while I was sitting quiety.  This Morning I was up before the sun (for a change) and out the door in minutes. Perhaps it was the call of the full August moon that got me going? When I arrived at my destination, the moon was fairly high in the Western sky and I immediately decided to photograph the young Osprey front lit by the sunrise and backlit by the moon. As I clicked away using 2 different cameras, a familiar cry hit my ears... Dad coming in with a fish! (yes.. the fish gave its life so that the birds can live... though I'm sure not willingly ) The images below are the best of that series ,,, Click play to view the 7 images.  Dragonflies never cease to amaze me. They really bring back the boy in me... As a kid I marvelled at nature Bugs to birds to fish and animals.. Plants and trees as well! I am pleased with my DrFly captures over the past couple of weeks... Magical wee beasts! Though they may not breathe fire... they are indeed powerful predators, as you will see in the images below!  The photo above is a large dragonfly at rest (resembling some great Russian helicopter) After clicking a few frames, I scared him/her up and a blue DamselFly was caught! The photos below show this powerful dragon devouring the Damsel. It took approximately 7 minutes to leave behind only the wings! ... Terrifying on a tiny scale! Damsel in Distress (click "play" ..top left on image below)   Today was the first time I had observed this gorgeous bird locally... I think its called an "Elegant Tern" Someone who knows this species...please feel free to correct me! What a beautiful creature.. quite elegant!    This mornings outing to the farm was intense. Wonderful news about the Osprey. So far all 3 chicks are not only alive and thriving, but have fledged and I observed them being fed and then taking flight and soaring with their parents. As an added bonus, Blue Darner dragonflies were abundant and I photographed them chasing small bugs in the grass by the pond. I have just printed a number of samples and it looks like several will be added to the greeting card lineup! Hope you enjoy these.... Terry :)   This morning's photo treat took place in my back yard. Once again a Pileated Dad brought his youngster in for a snack and along comes a red Tree Shark :)))) Some of Dads posturing is quite intense, as he defends his right to be on the tree. I love the size he becomes with the wing reaches! 'Hope you enjoy viewing these as much as I did shooting today... Happy August... Terry :)  Taking the plunge ... Chestnut Backed Chickadee |
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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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