Yes...you aren't seeing things. Really!!! This Summer Tanager has been living in North Saanich for a few months instead of spending his usual winter in South America. These birds are rarely seen North of Southern California in any season, so quite a shocker to have one here. I want to give a special Thank You to the kind people who are caretaking this misplaced avian beauty and thank you for allowing me to wander around your property to click a few images. These photos were taken today January 14th, just at the end of an extreme cold snap. Currently its still -5C Thank you also to Karen (visiting here from Vancouver) who spotted this Scarlet beauty and pointed out its hiding spot way up in a thick Cedar.. I would have never seen this bird if not for these folks. So appreciated... God Bless.... Photo above is a full framed image looking up to the tree to give perspective on what I was seeing... Quite a tangle of branches! This Red Breasted Sapsucker above was giving quite a show this morning while we searched for the Summer Tanager
Below, a teeny tiny Kinglet sporting his Ruby crown flitted about and finally paused for 2 seconds allowing me to get this photo.
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An arctic cold front hit on Friday and the birds have been extra hungry. Here, a beautiful male Varied Thrush guards his frozen apple ... Thanks to my dear friend who alerted me to come and rescue many pounds of fallen apples that the Thrush family find delish! New slide shows on FALCONRY page ,,, click if you are curious,,, Khaleesi above Also just featured on FALCONRY page is Tibba (Peregrine Falcon) 3rd flight of the day was REM .... American Goshawk!!!!!!!!! Flight 4 of Dec 23rd was Strawberry ... Absolutely beautiful Harris Hawk
A handsome Kingfisher poses on an old fencepost. Looks like he has a big scoop net to assist in landing a big one :))
This shot is from Pat Bay (North Saanich) As the season progresses, I will try and get back there to click some closer images of these interesting wintering birds. * background top just right of centre is a pair of Grebes.. not sure of the exact type* These Scoters have an interesting pattern when they dive and are underwater for usually a minute or so while searching for clams)
The Varied Thrush .. Males are slightly bolder in colouration than females but same size and very similar to their cousins the American Robin.
Sure have had a lot of Flickers visiting lately. They tend to be very jumpy and nervous because the Cooper's Hawk seems to find them often for dinner! First this guy , then a female Varied Thrush showed up this week! They tend to stay around till April then vanish to their summer habitat. Gorgeous little Downey Woodpecker (male) Our provincial bird, the Steller's Jay is a beautiful and noisy member of the Corvid family (crows, ravens, jays) This fellow seems to be giving me that look! :)) Spotted Towhee (one of my fav backyard birds . Very friendly robin sized often seen scratching for bugs and seeds.. distinguished by their colours and blood red eyes.
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March 2024
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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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