More winter sights

My quest to find bird photos took me to new places this weekend.  I know it sounds cliché but I really let the car take me where it wants to go sometimes.

I had intended to go to a beach we often walk but I turned the wrong way. So, I (or the car) continued to the end of the road at a secluded spot on the water - Gonzales Beach. 

 I wasn’t happy with the selection of birds so I drove up the hill to Walbran Park. It offers a spectacular 180 degree view of Victoria looking south and west.  I walked around the park and could hear tweets and songs of small birds but couldn’t see any.  Then I spotted…

I took several photos of this beautiful Bald Eagle. People walked around the park, came and went, but I was the only person who spotted this majestic creature. Of course s/he saw everyone.

Sea birds

Keith and I walked along the coast on a blustery afternoon in search of sea birds for me to shoot - well not literally... with my camera!  There wasn't a great selection as it was windy and wet.  Here's what I found:

Glaucus-winged Gulls - the young ones are brown 

Cute little Black Turnstones scurried across the rocks and driftwood.

Hummingbirds in Winter

Just before Christmas my camera stopped working.
I checked out the Boxing Day sales and decided to purchase a better camera with more features.

In order to learn how to use it and improve my skills I  joined a photography group.

The group sometimes gets together to take photos.  In between our meetings we are encouraged to go out and take pictures in a certain style or of a certain subject.  We post a couple of photos on-line and give each other feedback on our shots.

This weekend the subject was winter birds.

Here are some samples of my study of the Anna's Hummingbird that winters in Victoria.  This photo is of the little bird high up in a tree.

The remaining photos were taken through our kitchen window where a feeder is attached on the outside.

The birds are timid and aware of our presence. I have to skulk around to get a shot.  Yet this female bird held the pose for a long time, perhaps out of fear or vanity?

Anna's are one of the many Hummingbirds where the male has a beautiful jeweled throat and head.

My favourite shot, the female ready to fly away!

Winter on the West Coast

El Nino winds have been blowing around the world, keeping parts of Canada warmer than usual.  For the west coast it has resulted in wet, grey and windy weather.

Looking south to the Olympic Mountain Range, faint in the clouds.  

Not the big sky of the Prairies but beautiful nontheless. 

Calm waters and low tide.

We went for a walk  on a beach near us and found it littered with the wreckage of sailboats that had broken from their moorings in the high winds and crashed into the shore.

 

We went back today and the tide was the highest we'd ever seen it. There was no beach to walk on! 

Children were playing on this wreckage yesterday

 Everyday the beach is different.
The power of Mother Nature and the beauty of clouds, spray, wind and foam.

Happy 2016!

Keith and I welcomed the New Year with friends at Hermann's Jazz Club. Typical of Victoria, I think the eight of us at our table were the youngest in the house.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, was dancing and grooving to the music.

We listened to a versatile band play a range of songs from Latin music to Auld Lang Sine to Bruno Mars!

Enjoying the music! 

Keith the party animal 

As has become our New Year's day tradition - well for two years anyway - we went for a walk in a local park.  It was chillier than last year but the sky was a vivid blue.

 Beautiful Arbutus trees

Thetis Lake 

Moss and fern covered tree

No snow but Snowberries 

Mount Baker, Washington

Some crazy guy who thought there was a Polar Bear Swim! 

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2016!

Christmas and the Polar Express

Several years ago my daughter and I saw the movie The Polar Express when it first came out.
We fell in love with the movie.
So when Stefanie came up to Victoria for Christmas she asked if we could go and see it again at the IMAX Theatre.

If you haven't seen it, the movie is about believing in Santa Claus and other miracles of life one cannot see.  Santa's sleigh bell is the symbol of belief.

On Christmas eve we were with Keith's family. Two little people in Santa pajamas were getting excited for Christmas but their mother told me that they don't make a big deal about it.
Despite Christmas being a commercial undertaking, I've noticed that more people value the simple things in life like:

Experiencing a white Christmas when you live in a wet, green climate.

Andrea walking in her new neighbourhood

Jason, Andrea and Stefanie skating

Spending time with family and being able to afford turkey dinner with all the trimmings for 13 of us.

Keith's, Jason's and our family together enjoying the first Christmas dinner in Andrea and Jason's new home

Spending time with children who still believe.
In the movie, the conductor says: "Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see."

Mary enjoying a book with her grandparents 

Friendship. In the movie the conductor says: "There is no greater gift than friendship."

Getting together with some of my friends 

Santa Claus says: This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas - as am I. Just remember the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart.