Mostly green. And brown.

Well, I'm back. It was a good rest, and I'm feeling more hopeful. I'm remembering the last sentence of Wyndham's "The Kraken Wakes"; "I think we've been here before ... And we got through last time." We did. And maybe we will.

I walked in the forest over Elk Falls on Friday. Green, cool, quiet. Footsteps and chatter; more visitors, I think, than I've seen there before. And birds calling in the branches overhead. Scents of moss, evergreen sap, wet wood, and dusty gravel; the seismic upgrade on the tunnel from the BCHydro dam to the river below is well on its way. (More on this, later.)

Hillside above the trail.

Red-belted polypore, Fomitopsis mounceae, and two mosses.

American Red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. This is the only native species found on the island.

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys in a young cedar tree.

Textures and colours on an old stump: bark, burned bark, Cladonia lichens, Douglas-fir needles.

Here's that sparrow again, blending in to his environment, except for that showy cap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bueno, ya estoy de vuelta. El descanso me revivió el ánimo. Tengo mejores esperanzas; estoy recordando las últimas frases del libro "The Kraken Wakes" (Wyndham); — Creo que hemos estado aquí antes ... Y salimos vivos la última vez. — Cierto. Y ya veremos.

Andaba en el bosque arriba de las cataratas Elk el viernes pasado. Todo verde, fresco, tranquilo. Se oían los pasos de otros visitantes, sus voces; no he visto antes tanta gente en este sitio. Entre las ramas, los pájaros anunciaban sus terrenos propios. Olía a musgo, a savia de árboles coníferos, a madera podrida húmeda. Y también a grava y polvo; la obra de proteger el sistema de túneles y la planta hidroeléctrica va avanzando. (Escribiré sobre esto, más tarde.) 

1. La ladera al lado del sendero.
2. Un hongo políporo, Fomitopsis mounceae, y varios musgos.
3. Ardilla roja, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. Esta es la única especie nativa de ardilla que se encuentra en la isla.
4. Gorrión de corona blanca, Zonotrichia leucophrys, en un cedro juvenil.
5. Las texturas y colores de un tocón viejo; corteza y quemaduras, líchenes Cladonia, y agujas de aliso de Douglas.
6. El mismo gorrión otra vez; si no fuera por la cabeza tan marcada, la cámara no lo habría visto, pues no le informa el movimient, y los colores se mezclan con los del ambiente.

Birds from here and there

This is just a collection of the birds I've been seeing recently. In no particular order (I let the blogger program choose.)

Harlequin duck, female. The male was hiding behind the rock.

Great blue heron waiting for low tide in a tree.

I stopped to look at fireweed and saw this hummingbird.

Mergansers. They would sit still in a group, then suddenly, all together, dash along the surface for a few seconds. As if they were attacking something invisible. Then they'd rest quietly again. Repeat. No apparent reason.

Red winged blackbird, male, singing for his mate in the rushes.

Showing off his red patch.

White-crowned sparrow, with goodies for the nestlings.

All fluffed out after an energetic bath.

Gull on seaweed, at low tide.

There were more; there are always more, but they don't often wait for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Estos son unos de los pájaros que he visto recientemente.

1. Una pata arlequín. El macho se escondió tras la roca.
2. Una garza azul, esperando a que baje la marea, en la rama de un árbol.
3. Me detuve para mirar las flores y sorprendí un colibrí.
4. Serretas grandes. Descansaban, quietecitas, y luego de repente todas se echaron a acelerar sobre la superficie del agua por unos pocos segundos, como si atacara algo. Pero no había nada. Después, ahi se sentaron tranquilamente hasta que, quien sabe por que razón, otra vez atacaron al objeto invisible. Y otra vez, y otra ...
5. Un sargento alirrojo, cantando para su hembra, ocupada con la cria entre las juncáceas.
6. Aquí nos muestra su mancha roja.
7. Un gorrioncito de corona blanca con el desayuno para sus polluelos.
8. Otro, recién bañado.
9. Y una gaviota en una roca cubierta de algas marinas variadas.

Había otros; siempre hay otros, pero tienen poca paciencia, y no se quedan quietos.

Just birds

 Seen at Miracle Beach:

White-crowned sparrow on a log.

Sandpipers in toe-deep water.

And a gull overhead, wheeling, wheeling.

~~~~~~~~~~

Pájaros vistos en la playa, sin comentario.

1. Gorrión corona blanca.
2. "La menudilla, becacina, tinguís, patudo, correlimos enano​ o chichicuilote es una pequeña ave de la familia de los escolopácidos." (Wikipedia) Y en inglés, comunmente, "peeps", por su canto.
3. Una gaviota.

Substitute for a flock

This afternoon, I was looking out the window, trying to second-guess tomorrow's weather,  when a small flock of birds flew past, up against the blue sky. The dying sunlight caught their wings, small and sharp, flashing black, white, black, for a few seconds. Then they were gone.

I didn't get a photo, of course. There was no time, no time even to identify the birds. It didn't matter. The sight of them lifted me out of the doldrums I'd fallen into after a dull, grey day and too much doom-scrolling. I'm sorry I can't post a photo, but shut your eyes and imagine them: sharp white flashing triangles alternating with black ones, up against the blue with afternoon sun warming the white. Four seconds, maybe five. There; weren't they beautiful?

In the absence of flying flock photos, here's a white-crowned sparrow on a stick:

Afternoon at Oyster Bay

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Esta tarde, mientras miraba por la ventana, tratando de adivinar si va a llover mañana, pasó volando muy alto una bandada chica de pájaros, ahí en el cielo azul, con la luz del sol poniente alumbrándolos desde abajo. Las olas eran puntiagudas, blancas por debajo; el conjunto brillaba primero blanco, luego negro, blanco otra vez ... Y luego desapareció.

No saqué fotos. No hubo tiempo, ni siquiera tiempo para identificar a los pájaros. No importa. Su visita me levantó de la tristeza de un dia gris y demasiadas horas pasadas leyendo las noticias.

Siento no tener foto. Pero te lo puedes imaginar: cierra los ojos y mira; triángulos blancos alternando rapidamente con negros, sobre el fondo azul, todo bañado con la luz clara del sol. Cuatro segundos, tal vez cinco. Eso es todo. ¿Lo ves? ¿No que era bello?

Con la falta de fotos de la bandada, aquí hay una de un gorrión de "corona blanca" en una rama seca.

Sparrows on a log

On Tyee Spit, between the rains ...

Two white-crowned sparrows

One white-crowned sparrow.

... And then there were none.

Small doings

The new BirdCam has taken dozens of shots of chickadees and white-crowned sparrows taking their baths. A grand display of splashes and wet feathers and dunked heads; they've all been having fun.

This youngster wasn't so sure about the whole procedure.

"Well, I've got my feet wet; now what?"

Here's the mother. She's just given her kid a full demonstration, but he's not ready yet.

And I never expected the camera to pick up this:

Bald-faced hornet, getting a drink. He, or one of his family, came back several times when the birds had finished their baths and dinner.

BirdCam upgrade, with sparrow

I bought my backyard Bird/RaccoonCam three years ago. It is a bit primitive; three distance settings, no viewfinder, fixed size, and strange colour balance, so when I saw a new model in the Lee Valley catalog I ordered it, and set it up yesterday.

It's still a bare-bones camera, but the resolution is better, and there are a few options, like shape and size of the image, and more distance settings. The first batch of photos, with the camera set to 11 inches, turned out more or less ok; noisy, but more or less in focus, and the right colour.

White crowned sparrow, with hulled sunflower seed.

And I learned something.

Chickadees are very polite birds. They take turns dropping down to pick up one sunflower seed, and fly away to hull and eat it on a branch, leaving the rest for others. When they're done, they come back, pick up one seed, and go away again. Everybody gets their share.

This white-crowned sparrow is not so considerate. He stays put, eating until there is nothing left. And in photo after photo, he had stuffed his bill with three or four seeds at once.

"Mine, mine, mine!"

Just like a kid with candy. Or Tex, the hermit crab. Is it greed, or gluttony? Or just bad table manners?

Out on their own

... but not quite grown up yet. Sparrow chicks, New Westminster Quay

House sparrow, eating grass and weeds growing between the paving stones.

Still wearing his baby feathers.

A white-crowned sparrow chick, still fluffy.

White crowned sparrow chick ...

... waits not-so-patiently as Mamma takes a refreshing bath.

She's been working hard, with three hungry mouths to feed.

Crowned heads

Our juncos have gone north for the summer, but the crowned sparrows have arrived to take their place. Today there were a dozen or so white-crowns in my garden:

Adult sparrow, whether male or female, only they know. Not a sage, whatever the sign says, although s/he's wearing  a thoughtful look.

They like my flower pots.

Bath time.

"Are you still watching?"

The few Golden-crowned sparrows are more elusive ...

Even a wire fence helps to hide. At least, it confuses the camera.

Caught dashing across the cement, to check out the crumbs from the chickadee feeder.

The eyebrow markings are solid black, without the white stripe of the white-crowned sparrow.

Another pair behind the "fence".

From Cornell, "All About Birds":

White-crowned Sparrow
Adult:

• Bold black and white head stripes
• Clean gray throat and breast
• Gray face and nape
• Pink or orangish bill

Adult Pacific form has:

• Brown sides and flanks
• Yellowish bill

And,

Golden-crowned sparrow
Adult Description

• Large sparrow, small songbird.
• Yellow crown, bordered by black.
• Gray face and chest.
• White wingbars.
• Back brown with black stripes.
• Long tail.

Independence? Not yet!

I looked up from supper to see this white crowned sparrow family, three youngsters and a hard-working parent, getting their own meal outside my window.

Waiting his turn

The chicks are as tall as their mother.

When the mother's back was turned, the chicks kept busy picking up seeds and eating them. As soon as she came close, though, they immediately became helpless, and stood waiting to be fed. Little con artists!

Shady pool, cool dip.

White crowned sparrow, bathing before dinner:

We have been gardening, pruning, potting, rearranging garden tools, doing a spot of carpentry, and hanging new curtains and rods on the glass doors to the back yard. This sparrow and her (his?) mate got tired of waiting for us to go away, and splashed away happily a few yards from me.

And I am tired, tired, tired. And sore all over. I'm loading up on painkillers and going to bed. G'night, all!

Company for supper

I was on the road most of the day, yesterday*. It was good to come home and find company waiting for me:

White crowned sparrow, looking for supper. His mate was more timid, and waited in the shade of the hedge. 

Carpet beetle, just finished his supper on the cut edge of an African violet leaf.

And today, we're going to the antique fair. We're sure to find something interesting to show you.

*Friday, that is. Even though I haven't gone to bed yet, it is Saturday morning. I wish the days ended a few hours later, after I'm sleepy enough to go to bed, so I could avoid this confusion!