Guardians at the Gate, Grazing Cat

Took Choco out on her harness. She’s an indoor cat, but she does like to get out to graze now and then. Unfortunately the drought this summer resulted in even less grass than our sparse little patch usually gets.

grazing cat

It’s the time of year when lots of spiders festoon themselves around our front door. Entering or exiting requires a careful scan of the situation, and much ducking and, er, weaving, to get through without creating too much disturbance.

spider

Lovely Walk with Lovely Wife at Reifel Bird Sanctuary

It was a brisk, sunny day today, and my wife and I celebrated her taking the final exam in one of her accounting classes yesterday by taking a three- or four-hour ramble around the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Delta, BC.

It was my second time there in a week, and I came away pleased with my photographic efforts for the day.

sandhill crane
Sandhill crane. At one point Yumi counted 12 of them,  a wonderful sight to see. I can remember a decade or so ago, folks would get excited to see even a pair!

sandhill cranes

sandhill crane

wood duck
Ah am a handsome devil, ain’t I? Spectacular male wood duck.

dowithcher
Not positive about this one. A dowitcher?

American Coot
Love the cool footsies on this American Coot.

Red-Winged Blackbird
A red-winged blackbird in the hand means soon no more seeds in the hand!

Golden Crowned Sparrow
I’m thinking this may be what Stokes calls a “1st winter” Golden-Crowned Sparrow.

Wonderful Afternoon at Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, BC

A few shots from today’s ramble.

egret Reifel
Folks more knowledgeable than moi were proclaiming this an egret

heron reifel
Great Blue Heron

Northern Flicker Reifel
Northern Flicker

Yellow Jacket
I’m not that great on identifying wasps, but I think this is a Yellow Jacket.

I was dive-bombed by several of these on my walk today. I held my peace, kept calm, and closed my eyes when one went so far as to get trapped in my glasses for a second or two.

They kept the peace, too. Whew! 🙂

Super Wild Research & Byrne Ck Streamkeepers Fish ID Workshop

Wee fishies give  young biologists joy : -).

Byrne Creek Streamkeepers volunteers and Wild Research members enjoyed a fish ID workshop this morning, and then we went out and retrieved traps from Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby.

Thanks to biologist Jim Roberts of Hemmera, who gave an excellent presentation on the complexities of identifying salmonids and other BC freshwater fish.

Note all fish are released unharmed.

Fish Trapping Byrne Creek

And thanks to Burnaby-Edmonds MLA Raj Chouhan for hosting the morning in-class session in his community office.