antics

On my way back to the Lost Lagoon and downtown Vancouver I took the Tatlow Trail through the park. I always find the antics and activities of birds and animals interesting. Above, a grey squirrel played what seems to us as peek-a-boo but when it realized I had no food for it (its all about the food you know!), the squirrel went on its way.

I tried out some of the early salmonberries (above, related to the blackberries) but they're a bit tart yet. The birds (and others) have wasted no time in trying them just the same.

Then I took photos of a mallard duck (hen, the female) taking in some grit. She was very patient about the whole thing. They use the grit to grind their food as part of the digestion process. After that I ended up at the north end of the lagoon and headed on into the downtown to complete the last errand before heading home. - V.

Another mist-shrouded day

Time ran out for me yesterday but I made it a point to visit Vancouver's Stanley Park today (Sunday). It was sunny with a bright blue sky but near rivers, lakes and the ocean there was plenty of fog/mist. The small pond in the photo above is located just north of the Lost Lagoon. The mist you see is coming from English Bay via Lost Lagoon. The low-hanging mist obscured the sun near the water as you can see in the photo below (Lost Lagoon).

Lost Lagoon, a pond now that its long been land-locked, was frozen over for the most part and not as many birds were seen as would normally be the case. This will change as we get into February and March but there were swans, coots, mallard ducks and other fowl to be seen.

This grey squirrel looking for handouts was spotted in the shrubbery near a bridge about halfway between Coal Harbour and English Bay's 2nd beach. The photo below captured one of the many chickadees to be seen in the park. They travel in flocks and can be spotted by listening for their distinctive call which gives them their name. I hope you all had a lovely weekend what ever it is you chose to do. Have a great week!