"So heavy
is the long-necked, long-bodied heron,
always it is a surprise
when her smoke-colored wings

open
and she turns
from the thick water,
from the black sticks

of the summer pond,
and slowly
rises into the air
and is gone."

from Heron Rises From The Dark, Summer Pond

Mary Oliver

I was of course fascinated by the Great Blue Heron

Rookery by the entrance to the park, it is not in an

isloated location but actually quite close to a number

of buildings, tennis courts and lawn bowling greens.

This means the birds can be found through out the park

for any interested birders or photographers to enjoy.

"Stanley Park is home to one of the largest urban

great blue heron (Ardea herodias fannini)

colonies in North America. They have been

nesting at their current location since 2001

and have been documented nesting in various other

locations in Stanley Park as far back as 1921.

Today, sightings of these majestic birds in and

around the park are common place"

from the Stanley Park Ecology Society

http://stanleyparkecology.ca/conservation/urban-wildlife/herons/

more shots of the coloney can be found at

http://www.greatervancouverparks.com/StanleyHeronColony01.html

"According to the Stanley Park Ecology Society in 2012,

117 great blue heron nests were counted in Stanley Park, of which

86 were occupied by breeding pairs."

Central Park: Herons return to Stanley Park colony
The Vancouver Courier

March 21, 2013

Sandra Thomas

Read more: http://www.vancourier.com/news/Killarney+pitches+call+action/7870838/story.html#ixzz2PhyymAZ5

The very first time I saw Spotted Towhee, was I believe in the

yard of our friends Bud and Jo, I was ecstatic it was scuffing

around in the leaf litter exactly as advertised.

"When God looked down upon His land
He saw the lakes and trees.
He said I've made my peace
but next time I'd do it differently."

from Second Son

as performed by Jim Cuddy

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in where nature may   

heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul"

                                                                                     

                                    John Muir

I have combined the photos from two trips to

a duck pond in the park. The ducks are quite tame

a lot of people seem to be feeding them. Even

thought it is not really a good idea to get them so

accustomed to people you can get close enough

to really see the beautiful patterns of the feathers.

The raccoons here are also quite tame one year

on a quiet evening Helen and I sat on a bench

we saw one then another until a small group of

raccoons sat in a semi circle in front of the bench

like family dogs. This raccoon came down because

a young man was feeding the ducks once the raccoon

finished some bread the fellow produced an egg from

his pocket, from the egg shells scattered around it

seems they are old friends.

Mallard

 

I had never appreciated the lovely colours and

beautiful feather patterns of the Coot until now.

Lesser Scaup, male and female

Common Merganser

American Wigeon

" Hold your hands out over the earth

as over a flame "

        from  The Outermost House

Henry Beston

“The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.”

Rachel Carson

Helen and I went for a walk along the seawall

one evening

Where we saw some of the birds we often

see there the Cormorant and the Song Sparrow.

But you are never far from the forest

and the mythagos it shelters.

 Then evening and ships on the bay.

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more

                                          mystical concept of animals. In a world older and
                                        more complete than ours they move finished and complete,

gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never

attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are

not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations,

caught with ourselves in the net of life and time,

fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

 

  The Outermost House

Henry  Beston

"We see them

and never see behind them

how flat they are

static

immobile     immovable

cold    calculating

inhuman

 

O the flat platitudes

of the camera!"

 

from Postcard Mountains

Dorothy Livesay

 

Still ( and for a lot of entries, at the Sylvia).

 

I have not decided whether you become

accustomed to this landscape I assume people

can. But for me, whether it is the transition

between land and sea, the different plants,

the fact that in the mornings after high water

the park crew, seen only by the crows, the gulls

and the early morning wanderers, come down with

a big yellow machine to collect the great cedar logs

that have washed up on the shore but I have not

tired of it after several visits. Most of the birds

are not exotic new species instead those I see

are old friends that I greet anew in a strange

landscape that has been reshaped each night thru

the intersection of waves and wind. I find there is

always something new, ducks in the bay, birds on the

rocks and the entire enchanted forest beckoning me,

to explore, to see

 

let's look.

 

 

Down to the seawall.

 

 

Song Sparrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Those left on land

watch

for a blue breath blown

from the sky's sighing

sea ripple in still light

sail furling out and flying."

 

                            from Parting

                                 Dorothy Livesay

 

Barrow's Goldeneye

 

Large dead trees in the park are sometimes topped

but left standing for woodpeckers. They can become

gardens.

 

 

Or stages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" His irritable hoarse

coughing cry

contradicts the slow    sure

heavy flight

weighted with wisdom

plumbed calm"

 

from Unmusical Bird

               (blue heron)

 

Dorothy Livesay