| Photojournal
- 9 June
2005
Long-lost
Leo
| On Thursday
the 9th, I went out prowling around my condo in search of photographic
subjects in the afternoon. I was in luck, too: I found my lost-long
friend Leo hanging out in the bushes. |
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Okay, maybe friend
is stretching it a little. It's more like he's a long-lost acquaintance.
I had met Leo twice, very briefly, a few years back. Between then
and now, he had moved out of the province, taking my pal Tammy
with him. He had only recently returned, and had made some arrangement
with my neighbor Cadbury to stay at her place for a while. Leo
was a little concerned about whether Tammy would get along with
Cadbury's assistant, James, but I haven't seen those two hissin'
and fightin' or anything, so I think it's working out fine.
After talking with
Leo and Tammy for a while, I headed on around the building and
found another kitty on the walkway right before it gets to the
river. This one's a white cat who I see around sometimes, but
whose name I've never caught. He was headed under the fence to
the field next door.
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| When I got
out to the riverfront, someone pointed out an eagle on a log boom
in front of Poplar Island. I took some photos, but he never really
faced my way. |
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I was feeling like
I should get some exercise, and I didn't want to walk down the
quay, so I decided to head out to a park. I ended up at Burnaby-Fraser
Foreshore Park, and I went for a walk around the meadow there.
I did take my camera, but it was more of an exercise outing than
a photographic one, so I only shot a few subjects.
First up was a male
Blue-winged Teal coming in for a landing at the pond by the meadow.
It's nice to catch the color on the wings of these guys.
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| And here
he is an instant later, folding those wings and hiding all that
pretty color. |
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| On the other
side of the pond, I stopped at a log that had two dragonflies perched
on it. It turns out that they were Common Whitetails. I was used
to the adult males, which indeed have a striking bluish-white abdomen.
The two beasts I found on the log, though, weren't adult males,
and so I didn't know what they were until I got home and looked
them up. This one, with its three dark spots on each wing, is a
female. I don't know if one can tell if she's juvenile or adult,
but I do know that I can't tell. |
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| And the
following one, with one spot and one wide band per wing, is a juvenile
male. Adult males have the same wing pattern with the white abdomen. |
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| A little
further along, I pulled out the camera again for a Savannah Sparrow
who had found a perch from which to say a few things. |
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| My last
subject at the park was an eagle who I had seen fly in over the
meadow. I went over near where he had gone into the trees and found
him up there, half in sun and half in shade. I took several photos,
knowing that with the sun and shade they would probably turn out
a bit iffy. Here's about the best I could do in Photoshop to bring
up the shadow detail. |
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After the trip back
across the meadow from the eagle, I headed on home. When I got
back, I found my kitty Zippy out on the walkway, keeping watch
over the courtyard. This is one of his favorite spots; it's one
story above the ground, giving great views, and it's right next
to a set of stairs, so he can easily go down and take care of
anything that seems amiss.
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It's also about three
meters from a window into my condo, so he's got an easy escape
route if some dog should come barking and running up the stairs
after him. It's a perfect place for a cat, really.
Always happy to see
old friends,
Tom
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