Mandarin Duck: From Molt to Magnificent

This gallery contains 5 photos. Over the course of several months this year, I had the privilege of witnessing one of Nature’s most stunning creatures undergo a stunning transformation from egad-what-on-earth-is-that to drop-dead-gorgeous. 

Wood Ducks

This gallery contains 6 photos. As often as I have seen adult Wood Ducks in Metro Vancouver for the past six years, seeing their young up close was still an elusive experience for me.

Green-Winged Teals

This gallery contains 3 photos. Teals are small ducks, and the Green-Winged Teal is the smallest species of [dabbling] duck found in North America. The adults look like ducklings 

Cinnamon Teal

This gallery contains 3 photos. Perhaps the most elusive of the Teals and the hardest to photograph in the Pacific Northwest is the Cinnamon Teal. I have only ever encountered one or two

A Curious Bufflehead Drake

This gallery contains 2 photos. This is the famed Bufflehead drake sentry that calls Burnaby Lake home, and he takes his patrol duty very seriously — giving me a quick onceover as he swings by the floating dock. Buffleheads are

Blue-Winged Teals

This gallery contains 3 photos. I’ve only met the Blue-Winged Teals this year … the first one at Iona Island, followed by 9 at Reifel, and 4 more at Piper Spit; each encounter brought me progressively closer to these

Toning It Down

This gallery contains 2 photos. In late summer, male ducks shed their often bright iridescent colours for less flashy plumage. This is known as eclipse or non-breeding plumage, and during this period, the guys resemble

Holy Giant Hibiscus, Batman!

This gallery contains 4 photos. Bigger than a dinner plate is this giant pink hibiscus. Things that are small inspire a solemn wonder at the amazing versatility of nature to create such intricacy and complexity in a microcosm.