Spring Is Coming

It looks more and more like I’ve been slowly creeping my way into becoming a birder. Not totally a true birder, but I do really enjoy getting outside with my camera and shooting the various birds in our area.

As I write this, I do believe I do have a couple more posts to do about the Winter Olympics here in Vancouver. I hope that I can get out and see what is going on with the Paralympics too, but in the mean time I did get outside today for a walk around our beloved Lost Lagoon.

It’s been a little over 2 weeks since I have actually taken photos of birds (at least that I can remember anyway). Though today I managed to run into a little character whose noises I will now be able to pick out on my walks.

The Anna’s Hummingbird. As I was walking around the Lagoon I kept hearing this clicking noise. I knew there had been a hummingbird nest nearby before and as I searched around I finally spotted her. She was flying around creating a ruckus with her clicking. It wasn’t until a little later did I notice she was trying to drive away to crows that were hanging out nearby.

One thing I remember from last season is that hummingbirds (if you’re near the nest) will come back ever 15-20 minutes to feed their young. According to one of the local naturists/photographers in the area that I ran unto, this particular female had her offspring a week earlier than last year and she was still around the nesting area.

It’s amazing seeing these little birds darting about, hovering and then pretty much vanishing. To see them still enough to take photos is a pretty patient thing to do. I did manage to capture her in flight, but those photos were back-lit and you can only see her silhouette. Perhaps I’ll play around with those and see if I can bring out any detail.

If you want to see the rough location of where I saw this female Anna’s Hummingbird you can check out the map below:

View Larger Map

I wonder what else Spring will bring to Lost Lagoon and the surrounding Stanley Park area.