The weather wasn’t exactly promising when a bunch of people from Vancouver Queer Birders and a guide from the Georgia Strait Alliance met at Terra Nova Rural Park to look for Snow Geese. I was surprised there was any chance of seeing them, but apparently a sizeable minority (10’s of 1000’s) of Snow Geese winter around the Salish Sea, wandering back and forth between the Lower Mainland and Puget Sound.
Alas, none of them deigned to show up where we were!
Still, we had company: various ducks off shore, a couple Trumpeter Swans, the usual assortment of gulls and crows… a couple of Peregrine Falcons, too, which is unusual. But the guide explained that there was lots of prey around, with migrations still ongoing, so these two could share the territory — reluctantly, no doubt.
And of course, we had herons. One of which was sitting quietly on a log not far from the trail, but took off as soon as a couple dozen queers got close.
Later on, another heron flew over us heading out into the marshes. I started tracking and clicking away, not having very high hopes as to the quality of my photos in this light… and then a miracle happened.
Magnificent. Glorious. Transformative. It made the whole dreary morning worth it, and I truly believe this could be my masterpiece.