Barn Swallow

Hirundo rustica

Appearance:

Steel blue upper parts

Long, forked tail with white spots

Dark orange forehead and throat

Pale orange underparts

Tiny bill

Listen to its call.

Having had difficulty photographing swallows in the past, I was delighted to find a group of these birds sitting on the ground at Panana Flats this afternoon. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't until I had walked all around the area trying to get photos of them in the air that I noticed these ones.  Luckily, they don't flit around as much as some of the other types of swallows I've seen, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Learn more about the Barn Swallow.

Additional photos:

Juvenile



nestlings

Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

male

Description:

Large bird of prey

White chest and belly

Dark back and wings

Dark tail with white bands

White head with black face stripe

Short, hooked beak

Dark streaking on throat (female)

Listen to its call.




If you happen to be driving past the University of Victoria in the near future, take a look at the lights over the playing fields off Sinclair Road. This bird has built a nest on the top of one of them. Pretty strange place to build a nest, if you ask me, right out in the open like that.  Apparently, this is quite common though; Osprey readily build their nests on man-made structures. Since their diet consists almost entirely of fish, I guess the lack of rabbits on campus this spring didn't discourage these birds from moving into the neighbourhood.

female

Learn more about the Osprey.

Additional photos:

Glaucous-winged Gull

Larus glaucescens

Appearance:
Adult:
Large gull
White head and underparts
Light gray back
Gray wing-tips with white spots near tips
Thick, yellow bill with red spot near tip
Dark eyes with pink eye-ring
Pink legs

Listen to its call.


Flocks of gulls are a common sight, so common in fact that we frequently ignore them altogether. However, if you do take the time to study them, you will notice that although most of the ones around Victoria look very similar to this one, there are a number distinguishing features. These include their size, the colour of their legs, the colour and size of their bills and the colour of their wing-tips and backs. One of the main problems with identifying these gulls is the large number of hybrids around, crosses between Glaucous-winged Gulls and Western Gulls or Herring Gulls. I believe this bird is a pure Glaucous-winged Gull as its wingtips and back are a close match in colour. Hybrids usually have darker wingtips, which makes it difficult to differentiate them from Thayer's Gulls. It seems odd to have the different species of gulls cross-breeding. Perhaps they have as much trouble telling each other apart as we do!

Learn more about the Glaucous-winged Gull.

Additional pictures:



Nest with two baby gulls



Bald Eagle

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Description:
Large bird of prey
Adult:
Brown body
White head and tail
Large, yellow, hooked beak
Yellow eyes and feet
Immature:
Dark brown and white, mottled
White in wings in linings,
     not in flight feathers
Blackish-gray bill
Dark eyes
Yellow feet and lower legs

Listen to its call.

Taking advantage of the sunny weather on the weekend, I was wandering around Swan Lake when I saw this bird in pursuit of a gull. After much swooping and squawking, the eagle gave up chase and retired to the top of a tall pine where he remained perched for some time, surveying the area. I know it's natural for birds of prey to kill other birds for food but, I'm not ashamed to say, I was definitely rooting for the gull.

Learn more about the Bald Eagle.

Additional photos --


Bald Eagle's nest -- Victoria Golf Course

Beacon Hill Park







Immature Bald Eagle: