Photo: A Ruby-crowned Kinglet is perched on a thin branch while facing the camera. The branch is angled slightly down from middle of the left side of the picture to the lower right side. The background is filled with green leaves. The bird looks very indignant.

Here's a Ruby-crowned Kinglet looking at you looking at him.

By the pond at Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #RubyCrownedKinglet #StaringContest #NaturePhotography

Photo: A Yellow-rumped Warbler is perched on a thin branch of a tree. It is facing three-quarters to the left with its head turned three-quarters to the right. The background is filled with branches sporting bright green recently sprouted leaves. To the right of the picture the smooth barked vertical trunk of a tree is visible.

Here's a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) perched in a tree at the far edge of the pond in Lelem Park.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #YellowRumpedWarbler #NaturePhotography

Yes, the ones I saw were in the eastern end of the pond, the one in the first picture was in the wide open area near the reeds on the north side, while the second one and the female were among the reeds at the very eastern end. Glad you got to see the others today.

1 of 2 Photo: A Northern Shoveler paddling in a pond. The bird is in profile facing picture right. This one has a dark green head and his eye seems a dark shade of brown.

2 of 2 Photo: Another Northern Shoveler paddling in a pond. This one is also in profile facing picture right. His markings are slightly different to the one in the other picture the dark green of his head is a shade lighter and his eye is a light shade of brown.

Spotted two male Northern Shovelers in the pond at Jericho Beach Park on Saturday morning. There was at least one female with them, but she paddled behind some reeds before I could get a picture.

At Vancouver, BC, Canada.

#Birds #NorthernShoveler #Ducks

Photo: A California Tortoiseshell Butterfly clinging to a smoothed stuccoed wall with its wings outstretched flat and facing down at a angle (about 45 d)

Photo: A California Tortoiseshell Butterfly clinging to a mostly smoothed stuccoed surface of a wall with a 2" brown painted wooden post behind it. Due to the orientation of the camera that took the picture the butterfly appears to be on a horizontal surface. In reality it is on a vertical surface where the right side of the photo is the top and the left side is the bottom.

In a change from my usual bird pictures, here is a California Tortoiseshell Butterfly I saw on my way to work this morning.

At Vancouver, BC, Canada

#Butterfly #CaliforniaTortoiseshellButterfly #NaturePhotography

For #SquirrelSaturday, here's a grey squirrel in a cherry tree on the west coast chowing down on a cherry blossom.

#squirrel #CherryBlossoms #Spring2026 #SpringBlossoms

Photo: A pair of gulls in flight one chasing the other from left to right across the photo. The lead bird has a crab in its beak, and its belly and the underside of one of its wings is visible as it is in the midst of a wide turn away from the camera. Its right wing is pointed almost horizontally towards the camera. The other bird has its beak open as it cried out. Its belly is visible and its wings are up but only one is visible.

Mine!

In a wild chase that went round and round the beach one Gull kept declaring that the tasty crab(?) in the mouth of another was theirs by right.
At Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC.

#Bird #Gull #NaturePhotography

Photo: A tiny mottled dull green and brown Pacific Chorus Frog resting on a petal of a Black-eyed Susan flower (Rudbekia Hirta) at Lelem Village, UBC. Picture take August 17, 2025.

Photo: A mottled dull green and brown Pacific Chorus Frog and a bee(?) on the petals and cone of a Black-eyed Susan flower at Lelem Village, UBC. Picture taken August 18, 2025

Photo: A bright green Pacific Chorus Frog sitting on the petals beside the cone of a Black-eyed Susan flower at Lelem Village, UBC. Picture taken September 5, 2025.

Photo: A Pacific Chorus Frog resting on the cone of a Black-eyed Susan flower at Lelem Village, UBC. The frog with a golden eye is bright green with a brown stripe on its back, a black stripe with thin tan stripes that goes from its nose, around its eye and to its tail. Picture taken September 9, 2025

Last year between mid-August and late September I saw a number of Pacific Chorus frogs resting on the petals and cones of Black-eyed Susans in a particular flower bed at Lelem Village, UBC.

Photo with the caption "When you go shopping, always remember where you parked your pigeon." In the picture a Pigeon, in profile facing picture right, stands on a concrete floor of an underground parking garage in a stall marked by two yellow lines that terminate in the background against a smooth white wall. Just in front of the wall is a three foot yellow pole with about a 6 inch diameter. On the left side of the picture is a portion of a white pillar with a pink stripe. Near the bottom of the picture at the opening of the parking spot is the number 155 and the words SMALL CAR in all capital letters painted in yellow. In the lower left corner is the photographer's name above the date picture was taken: John Patrick 29-March-2026.

Some fun for a Friday.

A pigeon in an underground parking stall at Wesbrook Village.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

#Bird #Pigeon #CarPark

Photo of a Mallard duck standing on a rock in a pond. The duck's body is facing three-quarters right with its head turned three-quarters to the left. (that is to say its head is turned at 90 degrees to the position of its body) One of its orange, broad webbed feet is visible. The duck is also standing astride the stem of a reed that is lying diagonally across the picture from upper left to lower right.

A Mallard standing on a rock in the pond at Lelem Park.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

#Birds #Mallard #Duck

Photo: a female and male pair of Mallard ducks in flight with their wings spread out against a cloudy background. The ducks are in profile facing picture left with the female ahead of male and also slightly lower in the picture than the male.

A pair of Mallards in flight just off shore at Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #Mallards #Ducks

Photo: Three ducks in a pond all facing three quarters forward right. At the top left of the picture is a female Bufflehead, notable for the white stripe on its cheek. At the bottom left edge is a female Mallard noted for its intricate pattern of light and dark brown feathers. At the centre right is a male Mallard, with its green head and yellow bill.

A lone female Bufflehead was visiting the small pond at Lelem Park, which usually hosts about 15 - 20 Mallards and 6 Wood Ducks.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #Bufflehead #Mallards #Ducks

The Ides of March have come!

#IdesOfMarch #JuliusCaesar #Poetry #RomanCoins

1 of 2 Photo: A cloud that looks vaguely like older images of Tyrannosaurus Rex in profile facing right. In the foreground to the right are the bare upper branches of tulip tree. (which John Patrick knows are tulip trees as he has seen that tree when it has leaves.) The picture is signed in the lower right corner: John Patrick 09-March-2026

2 of 2 Photo: A cloud that looks vaguely like older images of Tyrannosaurus Rex in profile facing right. The cloud formation in question is outlined to show what John Patrick saw. In the foreground to the right are the bare upper branches of tulip tree (which John Patrick knows are tulip trees as he has seen that tree when it has leaves.) The picture is signed in the lower right corner: John Patrick 09-March-2026

Spotted a Tyrannosaurus Cloud stalking through the sky.
What was it looking for? Tri-cirrus-tops.

At Vancouver, BC, Canada.

#CloudWatching #Clouds #Dinosaurs #TryannosaurusRex #Pareidolia

Photo: A juvenile Bald Eagle is sitting on a Muddy rock at the water's edge of a dirty pebble strewn stretch of beach. The Eagle's body is facing the picture's left and the water with its head turned to face the camera. A Crow with its beak open stands on the beach facing the Eagle directly in line with where the Eagle is looking.

"Yo Mama . . ."

This juvenile Bald Eagle was just sitting there minding its own business watching the tide roll in when this Crow sauntered up and started insulting its mother.

At Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC,

#Birds #BaldEagle #Crow

Photo: image of two Wood Ducks: a male Wood Duck, its body facing the camera, leaning forward slightly as it stands on a wood railing with one foot cupping the leading edge; and a female Wood Duck in mid leap with her wings outstretched. She is to the picture left of the male and she is looking at the camera and her left wing is covering most of the male Wood Duck.

"Not Him. Take a picture of ME!"

I was about to take a picture of a male Wood Duck on the railing around the viewing deck at Lelem Pond when a female Wood Duck, also on the railing, photobombed my picture as she spread her wings and jumped to the deck.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC

#Birds #WoodDucks

Photo: A pair of Canada Geese, one, on the right, facing the camera the other, beside it to the left, facing away, with their heads turned to the right side of the picture, are standing on the corner of flat roof. To the picture right is the top of a cedar tree, and in the background are several out of focus evergreens.

A pair of Canada Geese have stationed themselves on the roof of the apartment across the street this morning. And every few minutes they start honking. A wake-up alarm you can't shut off.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada

#Birds #CanadaGeese

Photo 1 of 2: The night sky with the reflected light of the moon brightening the lower right corner as it rose between several fir and cedar trees. Above the moon and leading ln a shallow rising angle from right to left is the contrail of a high flying jet that extends two thirds the way across the picture. The lights of the plane are at the tip of the contrail. To the left of the contrail in a vertical orientation is the constellation of the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major, though only the stars of the Big Dipper are visible. At the bottom of the picture some are the upper floors and roofs of several buildings. At the lower left are some mountains, one of which has lights on it, this is Grouse Mountain. The picture is signed at the lower right: John Patrick 02-March-2026

Photo 2 of 2 - same picture as 1 but with Labels: The night sky with the reflected light of the moon brightening the lower right corner as it rose between several fir and cedar trees. Above the moon and leading in a shallow rising angle from right to left is the contrail of a high flying jet that extends two thirds the way across the picture. The lights of the plane are at the tip of the contrail. To the left of the contrail in a vertical orientation is the constellation of the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major, though only the stars of the Big Dipper are visible and labelled. At the bottom of the picture some are the upper floors and roofs of several buildings. Near the moon two stars in the constellation Leo are visible and labelled, Algieba and Regulus. At the lower left are some mountains, one of which has lights on it, this is Grouse Mountain. The picture is signed at the lower right: John Patrick 02-March-2026

I didn't see the lunar eclipse, but I did get a nice shot of a plane leaving a contrail across the sky from the moon to the big dipper on Monday evening.

From UBC, Vancouver, BC, looking east.

#Moon #FullMoon #BigDipper #contrail #NightSky

Thanks! 🙂

For #TwoSpeciesTuesday, a Barrow's Goldeneye and an American Wigeon swimming together

At Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC.

#birds #BarrowsGoldeneye #AmericanWigeon #ducks #BirdsSeenin2026

Photo: A Crow is flying from right to left across the picture. In the foreground the roofs of several buildings are visible. behind the buildings are the tops of several fir and cedar trees covering the lower third of the picture. At the left of the picture one cedar (much closer than the rest) rises to the top of the image. Just to the right of the cedar and below the crow the waxing gibbous near full moon is barely visible against the pale blue of sky.

A Crow flying over the newly risen moon.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

#Birds #Crow #Moon

Photo of Song Sparrow standing a rock in a small stream surrounded by other rocks and a tuft of grass. The stream is flowing over the rock like a waterfall, and the sparrow is looking down over the edge to the next level, which is only a few centimeters below.

A Song Sparrow debates whether or not to take a plunge.

In a small tributary to Canyon Creek on Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #SongSparrow #

Photo: A Bald Eagle in flight with its wings making a V shape against a pale blue sky. In the background is a small passenger seaplane - far enough away from the camera that it looks tiny compared to the eagle.

In hot pursuit!

A Bald Eagle leads a seaplane.

Over Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

#Birds #BaldEagle #Eagle #seaplane

Photo of the half moon against a blue sky.

Tuesday night's half moon in the late afternoon.

#Moon #HalfMoon

Photo: Seen from below a Bald Eagle is perched on a thin branch of a tree in daylight with the half moon by the eagle's shoulder to the top right side of the picture.. The Eagle's body is facing the camera three-quarters to the left while its head is turned three-quarters to the right facing the centre of the moon. If the moon were full the eagle's head would be surrounded by it.

A Bald Eagle and the half moon.

At Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC, Canada

#Birds #BaldEagle #Moon #HalfMoon

Photo: Surrounded by bulrush stalks, a small bird, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, is perched on the bent stalk of a bulrush at the top centre right of the picture. Its body is facing the camera while its head is turned to the picture right. The picture was taken the 20th of February 2026

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet among the reeds in the pond in Lelem Park.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #RubyCrownedKinglet #bulrushes

Photo: A Dark-eyed Junco, facing right with its beak open is perched on the thin upper branches of a tree. Each branch has some snow on it and snowflakes, appearing as short streaks, can be seen falling around the bird.

Here's a Dark-eyed Junco singing among the snow dusted branches during yesterday morning's brief snowfall.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #DarkEyedJunco #Snow #Singing

Photo: An Anna's Hummingbird, in profile facing left, is perched on a thin branch of a tree, surrounded by other thin branches all crisscrossing. The branches are all covered in a light dusting of snow.

Here's an Anna's Hummingbird on a snow covered branch this morning. The snow was gone by the afternoon.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #AnnasHummingbird #Hummingbird #snow #NaturePhotography #Winter

Photo of Two Barrow's Goldeneye ducks, one male & one female swimming away from the camera to the left of the picture. Their heads are turned to the right. The male is in the foreground with the female one duck width behind. Their poses are matched such that they look as if they are taking part in a synchronized swimming event.

A male and a female Barrow's Goldeneye swimming together.

At Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #BarrowsGoldeneye #ducks

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad