Red-necked Phalaropes

I received a text message one Sunday that there were dozens of Phalaropes off the beach at West Head. (Thanks Bill)   I had planned, like most Sundays to spend a few hours photographing birds and this sounded like a great opportunity. I ended up spending a couple hours taking shots and would gladly had stayed longer except I managed to get myself totally wet and it wasn't the most pleasant weather - cold and windy. There had been a storm in the preceding days that had managed to blow hundreds of these birds onshore.   I only witnessed a small portion of the total - Bill estimated about 1000 just off of West Head. Normally these birds would be well out to sea and on their way to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.
      Most of the sightings I've had in the past have been of juveniles and birds in Winter plumage  so it was a treat to see many in mostly full breeding plumage.  Given that they generally don't have much  contact with humans they don't seem to have much fear and are quite approachable which is always a bonus with photography. May 10.

Purple Finches - Late April

A collection of shots taken the last two weeks of April. 

Black-capped Chickadee - Evening Glow

Blue Jay - Portrait

American Goldfinches - Various Plumage Phases

These were all taken during the last two months of April as these birds were moulting into breeding plumage. The photos are ordered according to date, oldest first.

Downy Woodpecker - Male

This little guy has been a fixture at my suet feeder all Winter and into Spring. He usually has to wait his turn, only feeding after the Hairy Woodpeckers and Blue Jays have taken their fill. I have only ever seen one female Downy come to the feeder but she didn't seem to know what the other birds were feeding on and I haven't seen that bird since.

American Merganser - Females

From mid April near Matthew's Lake.

Pine Warbler

This little bird was a visitor to my yard on the last day of March, hanging around till the 1st of April when I took these photos. It's the first time I've had one here and the first I've seen in at least a couple of years.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

This hawk was harassing the birds at my feeders for a couple of days.

More Mergansers

From March 22, Matthew's Lake area.

Common Merganser - Drakes at Sunset

Great Horned Owl in the Snow

One of two Great Horned Owls seen in an area where they have been known to nest in the past. This is a comp of two images, the first grabbed focus on the snow, the second on the owl so I combined the two. The owls seem to have disappeared from the general area where this was taken, by now they have probably nested somewhere else.