Rita was posing on a prominent lamp post downtown today, when I noticed the moon was in perfect position behind her! I didn’t have my camera with me and cursed! I rode home as fast as I could and grabbed it and came back……but too late Rita had already flown the coup! I was afraid that would happen! So I sat there for over a hour calling to get her to come back. People must have thought I was crazy! I literally had given up and was beginning to walk back home with my bike in hand when I heard her calling me back! I turned and saw her back on her lamp post! I rode back and began to take some shots of her! She was making these cute single clucking sounds. (Robbie was MIA btw)
Sometimes she would make this single loud call! She looked like a wolf barking madly at the moon! I actually think she was just getting impatient with me and simply wanted her treat!
I feed the downtown Crows usually each day. They like to perch on my bicycle handlebars. I hand feed these Crows. Others like to perch on a nearby metal container. I call these Crows “Jumpers” as they like to play a jumping game with me!
I toss a piece of bread up into the air and they all jump to grab it! They are very agile flyers! Sometimes one will miss it but swoop back down to catch it on the second try! Several dozen Crows like this game and so the competition can be fierce at times and yes the feathers do fly!
When they see me riding down the street many join to escort me to our gaming “spot”!
There is one Crow who will take a piece of bread from my hand as I am riding. I call this one “Bandit”!
Crows are very intelligent creatures. One of their greatest strengths is in their numbers! Sometimes a Crow will foolishly grab Robbie or Rita’s treat! That’s when a Crow gets beat up and a cacophony of screaming Crows ensues! They don’t call this a “murder” for nothing! It does raise the hair on the back of your neck!
Walter took off like the man of Steel himself! One thing about Blue Herons is that they are very beautiful but very squawky! They always sound pissed off! Kingfishers and Stellar jays belong to the squawky club as well!
I was pleasantly surprised to see Romeo and Juliette’s latest offspring! It’s hard to tell but I suspect it’s male? He flew over and promptly took the fish Romeo was eating! Romeo didn’t seem to mind.
So the game is whoever comes up with the best name for this male eagle will get a picture of him!
The majority of our greatest inventions have come from observing and duplicating Nature.
For instance,the shape of all airplane wings come directly from the shape of a birds wing! The leading edge is rounded. Air flows over the top edge faster then the bottom edge. Creating a lower pressure on top,which in turn creates lift…..flight!
A eagle has over 7000 feathers. The largest are the primaries (the 5 feathers at the end of the wing) and the Tail feathers of which there are 12.
Finding a Tail feather is suppose to bring good luck to the finder. Once you find a tail feather put it in a place where nobody else can touch it. It needs to have just your energy on it.
The Daredevil’s new nest is up much higher then the last one. So when he comes down he is coming in at high speed! He has to slow down so he turns his wings on a angle and drops his legs to increase the surface area!
I was very happy to see that Delilah actually flew over to be with me! I think she’s getting use to me! It’s only taken 1 1/2 years.
I went looking for bears tonight but I couldn’t find a single furry butt anywhere? I originally went out because the cloud structure looked great but by the time sunset came around those beautiful clouds had gone bye bye.
So I was skunked on two fronts tonight but my feathered friends once again saved my non-furry butt!
Romeo flew in front of the setting sun a few times tonight. I love when he does that and I know exactly when he’s going to do it! That’s the advantage I have over other wildlife photographers……I know the animal and it knows me,and that is worth it’s weight in Gold!
I was surprised to find that The Daredevil/Delilah had built a new nest on another island! About the only reason why that happens is because the old nest fell down. Probably during a windstorm?
The good news is that If it did fall down It didn’t happen while they were nesting! I saw the Daredevil take a fish up to the nest. Which means he has hungry mouths to feed! I could just barley see where the nest is.
He seemed very animated and very active! He hasn’t had eaglets for several years,so he must be excited!
Both Romeo and Juliette came out to do a fly by when I arrived! By the time I got to Romeo’s place the sun had set. I had spent too much time with The Daredevil….but who could blame me! Time flies (no pun) when I’m with my friends!
When the moon rises in the east it’s always pale or faint. It will continue to rise and to get brighter and brighter. It will be it’s brightest when night has fallen. To take a good picture of the moon the brightness and contrast must be in the ball park. It’s too faint when it just rises and too bright when it’s dark out. So I’ve found there is about(?) a 30 minute time window when the moon is just perfect for shooting! The Goldi Loks time,not too little and not too much.
I took this shot (of a eagle I do not know) because the eagle was perched just right but my timing was off. I was too early. I tried to shoot two other eagle friends but couldn’t because of the angle. Trees got in the way with both of them! Rats! Good thing I got this safety shot!
This is a new eagle for me. It’s a male. He has the territory just north of Romeo/Juliette. I’ve never seen a eagle with feathers/hair(?) under their chin before? So I am going to call him Mr.Whiskers.
I went to visit my feathered friend Romeo. We have a routine. When I come around the corner in my boat I always look at Beck island (nest island) to watch for when he see’s me? When he does he immediately flies over to me and does several circles around.He then glides (his gliding is faster than my boat) to our meeting spot,a rocky islet I call his throne.
However……..on this occasion he came out from the north catching me off guard! Silly eagle. I wonder what he was doing over there and that’s not his territory? At any rate it was good to see him. I chatted with him for a while and then noticed that Juliette came over to do a fly by! I always like it when she perches here as well because she almost always sings me a song! She may have a egg and just wanted a excuse to get some exercise?
The mountains had a beautiful snowy appearance to them! A great background only enhances the subject!
This is either Ethel or Ernie? A barge parks in the harbour with a crane on it. They love to perch on the top of this crane. Eagles love high spots so they can see all around them!
Tofino got a rare dump of snow! I love to get snow shots but hardly am able to. So when It snowed I grabbed my gear and headed out for a snow shoot! While getting the boat ready (my boat is out of water,I have to haul it down to the shore by hand. It has wheels on the rear end) I noticed my two Raven friends Robbie and Rita had flown over to say hello! Of course they came over because I normally toss them a few crackers. Once I was eating a cinny bun when Robbie wanted some! How did I know he wanted some……he left the cracker on the ground and gently cawed to me! If you have ever heard a Raven’s call it is a very distinctive sound. So I shared my cinny with him….which was a mistake because now he wants just sweet treats!
So while getting my gear together I realized I hadn’t anything for them? But then I realized I had brought “for me” a sweet treat! A lemon flavoured Danish! I said what the hell and tore off half and threw it to him! What I didn’t realize was that there was a Gull close by watching as well! Once I threw it onto the snow that Gull was on it immediately! Robbie saw this and grabbed that Gull and fought for the Danish! He kicked the crap out of that Gull! He always does,Rita is far less aggressive.
With his hard fought prize in his mouth I was amazed to hear Rita very gently cawing in short bursts. She hopped over (due to the snow depth) to Robbie and he promptly placed it in her bill!
I found the moment very touching to be honest! I rewarded Robbie with the other half of the Danish and you can bet your last dollar not a Gull stirred! Robbie rewarded me with some gently soft cawing as well!
Raven’s hold a very special place in my heart! True I love Eagles but a Raven is something almost mystical to me! When they look at you It feels like they are seeing with human like eyes! I enjoy talking to them but rarely do they talk back.
This month the full moon is called a Wolf moon. I walked Long Beach with a friend and being the ever diligent photographer I took along one of my cameras………just in case?
As we walked towards Greenpoint (Park campground) I noticed the moon was at a perfect angle and contrast to do a eagle/moon shot! I only get a handful of these moments each year! So as we walked and chatted I kept a close eye on the tree line for a perching eagle! We walked for over a hour and never saw a single one. Than as we reached Greenpoint I noticed one drying it’s wings out! An eagle will open it’s wing downward to allow the air to dry the wings underside. Being wet means it’s heavier. Being heavier means the eagle will have to expend more energy. Which in turn means they’ll need to eat more often.
So they dry themselves off to be lighter. The feathers are more responsive to the air currents when they are dry.
I set up a trail camera station for Trumpeter Swans. Fingers crossed that they’ll do the Tofino two step for me!
This is Walter. I disturbed him while he was searching for dinner. He tolerates me.
We all know about 2020,so no need to flog a dead horse. I find we are such an optimistic species! With each coming year we hope it will be better than the last………….having said that…..It won’t take much to beat this year! So HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Whenever you see a Blue Heron with it’s neck curled It’s resting and or sleeping. This one didn’t seem to mind me getting close enough to take this shot. I found the bird and the setting beautiful!
Tofino Photography 