Blue-Eyed Darner

Maplewood Flats Bird Sanctuary is rife with dragonflies flying hither and thither. Near the beach there is a lovely fella who patrols his patch. I reckon I sit in his territory because quite often he will hover quite close giving me the once over before doing his loop circuit. Since I am sitting quietly, barely moving while I sketch, I am allowed to stay. I thought that dragonflies patrolled areas around fresh water such as lakes, ponds and streams, but here, this fellow patrols a salt-water beach.

Blue-eyed_darner

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An Afternoon at Lighthouse Park

Lighthousepark
This is the view from the smooth rocks at Lighthouse Park. Well, usually there is more of a view but it was very hazy. Actually, we had the occasion to observe two navy choppers doing their manoeuvrings on and off a warship. Of course, my friend and I just made smart remarks like, " Oh, can we go back, I forgot my wallet?" and " Oh, I have to pee, can we go back? " and "I hate these khakis, can we fly back so I can change into my other khakis?"  Yes, we are so mature.
Anyway, by the time I finished wiping watermelon juice from my hands and pulling out my gear, the ship and choppers had up and gone, hence the expanse of water in the picture.  Never underestimate the power of withering scorn. Or more likely, never underestimate the power of procrastination.

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Baby Sparrow

Babyhousesparrow
My next door neighbour called me over to put a baby bird back into the nest. It was a house sparrow that had fallen out of the low rafters and had survived the fall to the concrete. My neighbour couldn't manage to do it as he had broken a rib and being the soft-hearted caring fella he was he called me from over to help.  After groping blindly with a tentative hand above my head, I managed to figure out where the occupied nest was ( there seemed to be several nests on the go) and felt the beak of another nest-mate ( they were all being quiet and holding their breath while this monstrous thing groped around) and then I simply tipped the bird back in and you should have heard all the peeping from his siblings. And yes, I know house sparrows are the bane of existence, right up there with starlings, ivy and purple loosestrife, but I couldn't let the little thing bake in the 32 degree heat. No way.
For all my bitching about invasive species, at least I know I'm a hypocrite.

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Local Tree

Boulevard_tree

Plunked myself down on the boulevard with the dog. She was too hot to walk far and she seemed to like to watch all the activity of the joggers and walkers going up and down the central path.
I think this tree was an oak of some kind. Had a little fun with with my new paints.

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Sempervivums

Hens_n_chicksI think everyone likes Semps, whether they are growing in a pot or in a rock garden. There are so many varieties from which to choose too, which is also nice. You can really get a good colourful display going with all the blues, greens, silvers reds and greens. Unfortunately, not all of them are winter hardy here in Vancouver and even bringing them inside on a southern windowsill is no guarantee since it rains for most of the winter. The southern windowsill isn't sunny is what I'm trying to say and the plants tend to get too decrepit to make it through the season. Ah well. The usual green-red ones are the hardiest around here and pay no-nevermind to rain or snow.

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Mason Bee Time

I have a couple of Mason Bee houses by the patio and they are all a buzz with industrious bees making their nests in the tubes. I was busy potting up some plants when I heard a furious buzzing, a really high-pitched buzz-whine of a bee. I thought it sounded rather odd so I followed the sound back to one of the house and gingerly lifted the house off its peg, thinking that maybe a bee had gotten itself trapped somehow around the back or caught in a spiderweb (sorry spiders, you aren't allowed to eat my bees) and was trying with all its might to get out. As I was standing there, house in hand, staring dumbly at it, out flew the bee. "Ahhhgh!", I said. "Ahhhgh!", said the bee. "What are you doing messing with my house?"
It wasn't in distress, it was big, fat and shiny and very black-blue. A glorious specimen. I now wonder if the furious buzzing was coming from her fanning dry the mud-plugs by which she blocks off each egg from the other in the nesting tube.Masonbee_wc

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Magnolia

All the magnolias are out in bloom here now, some, the early 'Star' magnolias have even finished. It is so easy to spot a magnolia obviously, now in spring, but come summer I won't be able to remember which is a magnolia tree. I will have to do some leaf drawings I reckon and that will really help to fix it in my mind. If I had my own house, not just a rented place, I would plant every kind of spring flowering tree. It would be a haven for me... and the bees. It would be good times.
Magnolias

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