Great Blue Heron in Flight

Great Blue Heron in flight near Last Mountain Lake.© SB  

A Great Blue Heron rose from the water beside me and took flight. But I suspect I was more startled than it was. These magnificent birds are huge. (And I was fairly close when it lifted...)

What is this? A Great Blue Heron 

Location: Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: October 1, 2012. 

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Purplish Copper Butterfly on Canada Goldenrod

A summer image to banish the cold: Purplish Copper Butterfly on Canada Goldenrod.

And all those colours in the insect's name? That's its full name, not just its description. I searched for this butterfly by colour, patterns, wing shape, spots and location, and from that, identified the Purplish Copper (aka Lycaena helloides). 

This butterfly is found in Saskatchewan — and from the Great Lakes area across the Prairies/Plains to B.C. and California.

Purplish Copper on Canada Goldenrod 

Oddly, one of my best sources of information, with a clear confirming image, was based somewhere this butterfly is, in fact, endangered: In Ohio. (The Toledo Zoo houses the last population in the state.)

Do we always value what we;re losing — or don't have — more than what flutters frequently around us?

What is this? Purplish Copper Butterfly, aka Lycaena helloides, on Canada Goldenrod
Location: Last Mountain Lake Wildlife Area,Saskatchewan. 
Photo dates: September 17, 2011. 

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American Avocets: elegant bluestocking birds

Going back through my photo files, I found an old picture of an American Avocet  — an image that shows me two things:

• How striking this bird is in its bright spring colouration — rust, white and black, with long blue legs; and
• How much better my pictures are now, with a better camera. 

The more recent, slightly larger, and much sharper picture of an Avocet, below, shows the bird's fall colours, a calm palette of black, white, blue and gray. 

Spring, at Wascana Lake

Fall, at Last Mountain Lake 

What are these? American Avocets — Avocette d'Amérique — in bright spring and dull fall plumage. Location: Spring: Wascana Lake, Regina, Saskatchewan; Fall, Last Mountain Lake Wildlife Area,Saskatchewan. 

Photo dates: Spring: April 27, 2009; Fall: September 17, 2011. 

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Double-Crested Cormorants: Last Mountain Lake

In mid-September, we drove past a small flock of double-crested cormorants swimming in a pond near the Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area.

Although I was hoping the birds inside the wildlife area would put on even more dramatic displays, we stopped to take a few photos — and I'm glad we did.  The park itself appeared to be neglected, and on that end-of-season weekend, most roads were still closed from spring flooding. Without the car as a blind, we quickly frightened these huge black birds, and they flew off in clatters of wings and croaks.

I love the up-tipped tilt of their heads, and what looks like a smirk. 

Drying wings for flight

Flying over the Wildlife Area 

What are these? Double-Crested Cormorants. 
Location: Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan. 
Photo dates: September 17, 2011. 

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