Eagles are starting to gather at their winter hunting grounds, the dump

 Once again the eagles are starting to gather for the winter.

 The salmon run is over and the eagles go for an easy sourse of food.

 And the dump is an easy sourse

Some seagulls are also there, fighting over every scrap

 And the winner gets all he can eat. Must be a seagull thing.

I don't know if there is any harm in them eating at the dump. I truly hope not.

 They all seem to be pretty healthy. And its a place where I can go and watch these great birds

Black bear in my back yard

Last week I finally got a look at the bear that has been visiting my back yard. There were a few sunflower seeds in the feeders. I should have taken them down. At this time of the year the bears are looking for anything and everything that is edible.He started in next doors yard in the crab apple tree.

 Then moved into my yard. Here hes looking at an empty feeder.

Disappointed he moved on.

Here he is beside a stump and a feeder that he pulled donw from the tree.

I wonder if he expects me to repair and fill it.

 No I'm not going to

One last look

 And over the fence he goes.

I don't mind having the bears around. But we all worry about the kids that are around the area. I should have had my feeders down and put away untill the bears are asleep. I will do this in the future.

Great blue herons

While visiting Victoria BC I went to Beacon Hill Park. It is a very beautifull park. I was walking around a pond trying to find some great blue herons, when I ran across momma raccoon and three young.

They nosed around and scared the ducks away

They didn't seem to be stockingt the ducks. The ducks just stayed out of their way. The finally swam away to a small island.

Also saw a peacock just wandering around.

There were turtles

and sun fish.

Lots of ducks

But the main thing for me was the great blue herons. They come to the park to nest.

Since I was a kid in Ontario I have been fasinated by these big birds. We didn't see them very often so seeing all these birds in one place was a real thrill for me. I will be sure to take a trip to Victoria next year.

I was lucky the first day I saw them as they were on the ground by the pond.

In the following couple of days I visited the park they were all up in the trees

If you look closly, in this photo you can see two young ones still in the nest.
The photo below is a very light colored duck. There were three or four of these birds in and around the pond. I have never seen one like this.  All in all a great visit to Beacan Hill Park. If you visit this park remember not to disturb the birds.

David and Jenn's back yard

I went down to Victoria BC to visit My son David and his wife Jenniffer. Had a great time as always. I spent a lot of time in their back yard. They have a beautifull yard. David who is a landscaper and gardener has done a lot of work there and it shows. The humming birds seem to appreciate the work he has done. I could have spent weeks just watching the birds.