A post for Eileen's "Saturday's Critters" #90

Here are the critters I've photographed over the past week.  Many thanks to Eileen of Saturday's Critters for giving us a place to share our pictures.  This is her 90th post for that very entertaining meme.

These dogs were playing in Charleson Park a week ago Friday.

 A third dog tried to join the fun, but even with a ball, couldn't tempt these two.

 There was quite a size difference,

 but they were well matched in spirit..

 and energy.

Black Jack and Bill read the paper on a rainy Monday at Harrison Galleries.

We saw a hawk last Wednesday on the UBC campus.

 Apologies for reposting.  I'm hoping someone might help me identify it.

 Later the same day, we met this little dog on the False Creek walkway.

Sadly, Black Jack turned down his invitation to play.  She has always been more people-friendly than dog-friendly, but this has become more obvious lately.

On Thursday, a morning walk yielded some fun critter-sightings.  I think this cormorant may have been young and still working on flying skills.

 S/he seemed to be trying to lift off but did not succeed while I watched.

The bees were very active that morning,

and seemed to love these purple flowers.

 I have noticed three unusually large crows in the area lately.  I am wondering..

 if they might even be ravens but I haven't heard the classic raven call that I..

usually recognize.  The open mouth above did not yield any sound. They have some light colouring in their feathers and they do a lot of digging for their food.

As I was watching that bird, a dog came along behind us.  I heard his human say, "No, Hercules, you are not going in the water today."

 Hercules must have been hard of hearing.  :)

 It made me happy just to see his pleasure.  He stood in the water, not really playing but just enjoying its feel.

 Then he bounded out of the water.  His human was as happy as I was, and not..

 in the least disturbed that he had been disobeyed.

 I loved the swirl of water around Hercules's tail so I cropped the photo and added some definition to show that off a bit more.  If only I had managed to get Hercules's face in focus, this would have been quite a neat shot (I thought).

 Those are very tall steps up to the landing, but Hercules..

 had no problem..

 with them.

 He caught up to his human moments later.  I could hear the gentleman carrying on what seemed to be a one-way conversation, but I knew he and Hercules were communicating with perfect understanding.

Yesterday morning, I was very excited to see for the first time EVER, a hummingbird in the tree..

 outside our 2nd-floor balcony.  I had to get the shot pretty quickly.

 The bush tits were also active in the same tree.

 This one seemed to eye me, though I took the shot through the window.

 Such a cutie!

 When I told Bill, he planned our outing to arrive at Wild Birds Unlimited so that we could buy a hummingbird feeder.  We are not allowed to feed the birds from our building, but I think they might make an exception for hummers.  We parked our bikes and walked up a side street to the store.  My 500 mm lens was..

on the camera, so I had to take a picture of their storefront in two instalments. :)

This is Tabatha. They have had her for 15 years.  She is dearly loved.

Black Jack dragged us into the store, even though we hadn't been there for a couple of years.  She remembered Tabatha and was whining in Bill's arms to get a better look at her.  Tabatha eyed her calmly and then went back to..

daydreaming.  I love the way the stripes in her face match the ones in her legs.

There is a bird feeder web cam linked in the store and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the screen.  The 500 mm didn't work very well but still, I love this shot.  How amazing that we can see views like this!!

Wild Birds Unlimited is a great store with very friendly staff.  Black Jack was welcomed and they were really helpful about suggesting a feeder that can attach to our window with suction cups.  I loved their colourful birdbaths.

 This is a poor photo but it makes me laugh.  Bill had to take Black Jack outside because she wouldn't stop whining.  Here she is, trying to figure out how to get back in the store.

 We left the store and walked back to Granville Island, where we had left our bikes.  There are a lot of Cabbage Butterflies around lately.  I find it hard to pass them by.

 There's Black Jack prancing happily alongside Bill as he carries our new feeder.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a great weekend, everyone!