Critters and Birds

I am linking to two memes today.  Many thanks to Eileen for Saturday Critters and Stewart for Wild Bird Wednesday.  They are both extraordinary because of the huge effort they put into bringing pets and wildlife to us from across the world.

Lots of Canada Geese this week.  This one white goose (?) was swimming confidently,

 perfectly comfortable with the fact that s/he looked entirely different from the others.

S/he was about the size of a seagull.  I even wondered if s/he was a goose-seagull hybrid :) 

The geese swam off into one of the most beautiful skies I've seen for a while.

 A young couple was trying to get this dog to pose. 

 

 There was a lot of action around, and the dog (understandably) was distracted.

 I confess that I've always loved a rebel :)  The couple yelled at the dog here, 

 

but it was too late.  He was off and running, with the most wonderful glee.  Sorry about the over-exposed sky.

 Then, the geese were off and flying.

 Another day, we enjoyed a misty beach run with Black Jack.

 A lone heron stood sentry.

 A pair of Mallards flew..

 off together..

 into the mist.

Love the skipping steps..

 as they made their way..

 across the bay.

 We saw this Jay the following day by Coal Harbour.

 The geese were active that day..

 as well.

 I tried to capture the long eyelashes of this Stanley Park team member and then..

 we walked to the water's edge where we saw this lone Grebe.  Bill checked out my book,

 and came to the conclusion that s/he was a..

 Western Grebe.

 S/he waved a leg goodbye here.

This looked like mating behaviour to me, but alas there was no mate.

Just this one happily married American Wigeon couple.

 These Double-Crested Cormorants skimmed the ocean another day..

 when we biked around the Stanley Park Seawall.  I loved watching the seagulls,

 and noticed a few different varieties,

 though I can't name them.

 I think this one is the same type as the one in the previous shot.

There have been such large flocks of geese lately.  Just a few represented in this shot.  Bill says they need "V-formation" lessons.

 Bill says he likes the shot below but doesn't know why.  :)

 Just as I've always been amazed to see airplanes lift into the air, I'm equally impressed to see geese lift their huge bodies up so gracefully.

We got off our bikes and played on the beach with Black Jack.  These same horses are..

becoming like old friends as we often look up from the beach to see them passing by.

 The blog is, after all, titled BIKESbirdsnbeasts, so I'm making sure here that you admire our beloved bikes too.

 Black Jack was..

 having a wonderful run..

 and beach exploration that day. 

 A bit further around the seawall, and right under the Lions Gate Bridge, we stopped to admire the Cormorants.  Eileen commented on my last post that there are a couple of varieties of them and I appreciated that and wanted to investigate more.  I'm beginning..

 to think most of these may be Brandts, though the photos are not really clear enough..

 to be sure.  Eileen, up until your comment, I had assumed we only had the two kinds of..

 cormorants in this area.  We rarely see the Pelagic ones but I usually recognize them because of what I call a topknot :)  Anyhow, all to say..  many thanks, Eileen!

 There's Bill keeping Black Jack safe in her basket while I study cormorants.

 As I watched them, a Kingfisher dove into the water.  They are lightening quick..

 at capturing prey.

I was lucky to catch one flying shot the next time it spied something.  

 Another day, also going around the seawall, we spied these Harlequin Ducks.  I didn't get..

 good shots, but they are the only ones we've seen this year.

 This cute little Dachsund eyed me jauntily..

while a Blue Heron said "hi" to some kayackers. .

 On another gorgeous day, we again watched cormorants (I think Double-crested) near our apartment building along False Creek.

 The police horses were taking up both the bike and the pedestrian lanes, but nobody..

 minded.  These riders have such a good time when they go out, and always stop if people want photos.

 I loved the way the sun caught the mane and tail..

 in these last two shots.

We stopped off at the pet store and saw that they had quite an assortment of Hallowe'en costumes for dogs.  What will they think of next??  Have to admit, Black Jack..

 looked pretty darned cute and Bill's not bad either :)  Just have to get him a new hat..

 to go with Black Jack's.  That's it for today.  Many thanks for stopping by.  Hope to see you next week!