Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Belted Kingfisher and A Phildelphia Vireo of The Vermilon River. A Post To WBW.

Belted Kingfisher.
 With the dry weather, I was able to actually enter one of the East Track Wetlands without sinking up to my knees, or even deeper. Paying attention to the trail, I caught movement in my eye and managed to capture these shots of a Belted Kingfisher. I think it's a male as the band doesn't run all the way around his chest.
The photos of the Philadelphia Vireo were taken earlier along the feeder creek to the East Track Wetland. Both the Kingfisher and the Philadelphia Vireo are firsts for me, made even more exciting by the photos. This year has been an incredible year for new sightings. Thanks to NWO Birds for help with the Vireo which is very close to a Tennessee Warbler.

A Post to WBW @ http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/

I had not intended to answer some of the replies to my Tuesday post quite so soon. But let me try the easier ones and at the risk of losing some friends  To Grace: Virtual doesn't appeal to all the senses that the forest does, and virtual is an inertia of body, mind and soul ( no religion intended).The xbox war games, with their easy virtual kill illustrate this; just try looking at them and then ask any combat vet from any war what they think of them. Besides virtual leads to that 21st century disease called " fat-assism or spectatorism". To Kay: I think I have been in almost all Canadian major cities, and probably most of the secondary cities, and if I can't get out on the water or in a forest within an hour, then I'm not trying. Even New York has central park. The point I'm making is that I want our government to spend money to get people out to the forest, to both fight ignorance and "fat assism" mentioned above. To Ladyfi: the population of Sweden is 9.3 Million people in a land mass of 174,000 square miles. The population of Canada is about 3.9 million in a land mass of 32 million square miles, or 20 times that of Sweden with almost one half the population. The bulk of the population lives along the Can/U.S. border. Our heritage is the forest, I'm emphasizing that the forest is a stewardship, not an ownership. To Stewart & Airja: I listen to Radio Australia in the early A.M. My impression is that Australia is suffering desperately from global warming and the excesses of mining, which your Labour Government is trying to reverse with at least a carbon tax. Nor do I get the impression and correct me if I'm wrong that the Australia population, apart from their own suffering, is terribly committed to green and all that it involves, with involve being the operative word. Be aware I'm not convinced that a majority of Canadians , although the number is growing, are committed to a green approach either. To Louise: It's great that you can see hope in local iniative, but I don't see much hope in that most of  the land is gone, except for the parks and they're going because of republican fiscal constraint, which is a crock by the way, and the climate etc is all secondary to a dying economy based on cheap energy and extreme comsumption, and a firm committment to reward the rich and corporations with tax deals. Gee do I sound like a Democrat?
Side View.

Profile.

Belted Kingfisher.

Philadelphia Vireo.

20 comments:

  1. A wonderful post Gary... heartfelt.
    Lovely images of your lifers... Kingfishers are so hard to capture in flight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm with Andrew:) Wonderful post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have never seen a kingfischer, he/she is really beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very nice to see and photograph two new birds. Great in-flight photos of the kingfisher especially.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Virtual doesn't appeal to all the senses that the forest does, and virtual is an inertia of body, mind and soul". Ah see, you have put it in better words. It's true that one of the major differences between the hubby and me is that I perceive my world sensually, where he is all up in his is head and very disconnected from the body, so I guess that's why it's not such a gaint leap for him to interact in that way; whereas I just can't lose myself in it . . . although I can in a book . . . and I'm sure there some similarities there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi there - not going to lose any friends by being honest! I think that one of the real contradictions of Australia is its constant reference to "The Bush" as a cultural touch stone and the almost complete lack of involvement with the natural world for many of its residents - like most Australians I live in the suburbs (I think we have the highest % of population live in cities of any country)- I used to teach biology and take kids on school camping trips - and I always came away with a feeling that they viewed the natural world as something that happens to other people (I could say the same for many kids in the UK as well) - and the outdoors was to be endured not enjoyed.

    Very few of the other kids in my kids school classes go and do the kind of trips we do.

    By the way - nice pictures of Kingfishers!

    Cheers Stewart: M - Australia

    ReplyDelete
  7. That kingfisher is really a beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love the Kingfisher, it is a cool bird. great shots.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your comment, Gary: well said! I hope the current weather catastrophes will bring people to their senses and start thinking about preserving the natural world, and, quite apart from all the scientific evidence that's already existing, make people take climate change seriously. Unfortunately in some people's mind "scientific" falls into the same category as "liberal" or "Democratic". How dumb!

    Terrific capture of the Belted Kingfisher in flight!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great pictures of the flighted kingfisher...and Amen to your sense of our peril as we become lost to the virtual equivalents to our natural world. Canada is fortunate not to have an overpopulation problem but certainly there are major environmental challenges facing your vast territories. The tapping of the tar sands to name one. The rise of the corporate bottom line as the moral end all to political decision making is responsible for so many inane short sighted decisions. When the latest voting on American Idol garners more news time on our local stations than our decrepit schools, I shiver.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I envy you your kingfisher shot. It's beautiful, and I know how hard they are to catch in a photograph. Never have been able to catch one, myself.

    I get your point, and I agree. Canada still has a chance to save it's great natural areas, while we have lost most of ours. So, we have to focus on saving what we can. I sincerely hope that you do better than we did. I'm feeling kind of depressed today because of a dustup I had on a message board with a supposed liberal(I consider myself a liberal) whose "I'm glad all of those Conservatives in Texas are suffering from the fires" attitude made me even more aware of how divided we really are here in the US. I'm very much afraid that our very divisiveness and hatred will destroy us and this beautiful land we were given.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congratulations on these two sightings! Lovely captures!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your photos caused me to hold my breath. Excellent captures and story, Gary! Give Boomer a pat from me.:)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love Kingfishers and these shots are fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Gary

    Great shots of the kingfisher and vireo. I always have trouble with small birds.

    Hi to Boomer.

    Guy

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great shots Gary!
    I admire you for your beliefs and convictions - no lost reader here. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I haven't got a decent capture of a Kingfisher yet. :(
    Fantastic captures.

    ReplyDelete