Hummingbird heater and photobombing

I got a new heated hummingbird feeder which I like mostly because it means I can sleep in during the winter without worrying about my hummers.  I hung it up last week and so I've been spending more time checking on the backyard during the current cold snap to be sure the hummers have adjusted to the change.  Yesterday, when I went out to the backyard to check, I noticed this really peculiar icicle sticking up out of the bird bath and decided to take a picture of it.  Apparently, Bob, the primary hummingbird, noticed me and decided to keep an eye on my activities.

Bob photobombs for the win

I didn't see him in the shot when I took it but I also got a couple of good shots of him in the plants in between the bird bath and the unheated feeder.   He's apparently fending off multiple other hummingbirds so he spends a lot of time buzzing about the yard.  

Here's the daytime shot of the heated feeder.  A feeder this size holding 16 ounces of sugar solution costs about $20.  The heated one was $32 with shipping.  And 2 days after I put it up, someone shared their DIY solution on FB in the Western Washington Bird group.  They used a large red solo cup, carabiners, and paper clips to put a small lightbulb inside the cup and attach the cup to the bottom of their feeder.  

The wiring on both the purchased one and the DIY one is not weatherproof so that's why it's hanging under the porch eave.  And it seems to be working pretty well, judging by how fast the level of sugar solution is going down.  I gotta admit, the best part of it was seeing it at night, when the little bulb lights up the whole thing.  "Look, Ma, it's a UFO!"  

Here's hoping your winter holidays are happy too.

Birding BC: Englishman's River Estuary

After two days of heavy fog, we finally got a clearer day.  Still overcast and cold but much better for birding.  And since this is the last birding day for this vacation, we headed for Englishman's River Estuary at high tide.  This meant the river birds were further up the river and there were lots of birds at the mingling zone.  The drawback to the weather was that lots of the birds were sleeping in or waiting for it to warm up.

I did get excited about seeing a whole group of Northern Pintail ducks.  Their breeding plumage is elegant and distinctive with the male having a white streak extending from the breast up the neck and then curling forward on the head.  I got some nice close shots of one who was doing some preening and morning bath stuff.

Both sides of the river have public park access so we started with the further side (off of Shelly).  It's mostly forest and has more of the marshy part of the estuary.  Apparently the cold kept everything but ducks, gulls and geese from being out although we heard a couple of birds in the woods but didn't pursue them because of the mud.  The walk back was unproductive of birds and fairly chilly so we took a small side trip to Tim Horton's in Parksville which does not have lattes in decaf.  So I had hot chocolate instead.

Fortified by our trip to Timmy's, we proceeded to the Plummer Road access side where there were many more birds and a viewing stand which gave me excellent views of gadwalls, wigeons and the already mentioned pintails.   It was a good finish to this vacation and now I can turn my birding attention to the reported Painted Bunting in Bellingham.  Here's hoping the bunting hasn't moved on yet and I can find it easily when I get back.

Birding BC: condo day 2

I had all kinds of plans to join a local birding group on an outing this morning, but apparently my back disagreed.  So, after appropriate amounts of aspirin, heating pad and sleeping in, I went out to check out the bay just a few feet from our condo.  Again, I missed the high tide but got another shot of a female merganser fishing close in and since she was apparently trying to drown it, or wash it really well, I got several good shots of her with her fresh caught lunch.  But first, I have to share the new bird for the year, a small red-breasted sapsucker.  I heard the pecking on the tree and spent a few minutes trying to find him.

Once I found him, I had to try and get the camera to focus on the bird, not the branches.  As you can see above, there are a lot of branches.  I threw away about a dozen bad shots before I got the technique I needed down pretty well.

And here's a nice one of the merganser having lunch.  Once I figure out how to crop my photos in gimp, I'll probably do a post with the series of photos of her fussing with her fish before she eats it.

I'm hoping to add a few more birds to my year list while we're here.  I'll be doing some research on ebird and see what the group saw today and see if there's any birds I'd particularly like to see.  Right now, I'm going to go search through the scoter pictures and see if there's a black scoter lurking amongst all the surf scoters.  Here's to getting lucky on vacation!

Birding in BC: Parksville area

Having left our house and cats in the capable hands of our son, Jeff and I are off on a week in Canada.  Just outside Parksville, BC to be exact.  This is one of our favorite spots because the condo we use is right on the water.  So I got to walk down to the water and watch lots of birds.  Unfortunately, I missed the high tide this morning so most of them were too far away for a good photo.  But not this red-breasted merganser.  I snapped several shots to help identify him and was lucky enough to catch him with a fish in his bill.

There are more pictures, lots and lots but I have gimp instead of photoshop and I'll have to figure out how to crop the pics.  Zoom in on this guy to see the fish.

The restaurant on site has changed their menu again.  We decided they must change chefs and let them redo the menu but they keep the name.  This year, the menu features tapas which seem to be entrees without the sides.  For example, 5 shrimp wrapped in bacon on a skewer with bbq sauce for $14.    We also got the seared scallops with a nice sauce and the cheese plate.  There are also full dinners on the flip side of the menu so I'll be trying one of those later this week.  

And tonight, we go out to try the steakhouse restaurant in Parksville, Kalvas the Loghouse.  The grocery store manager recommended it as having good food and a nice fireplace so we'll see how the food and ambiance are in a couple of hours.