In my 2023 retrospective, I talked about drawing or doodling. I’d never been any good at it but so what? It sounded like a fun creative path (that could still be about birbs!). I started with freehand pencil copying of some of my photos, then moved on colour crayons, then pencil tracing, then purely digital tracings and “recreations.” I’ve only completed two so far; the process is kind of intimidating and demanding, and I haven’t developed proper habits like I’ve done for photography, so the pace is much slower. Still, we move forward!
(however slowly)
And, one thing I didn’t talk about in my last retrospective: I’ve set up an online store, hosting over 150 of my very best photos.
>> Check it out <<
I’ve also been experimenting different photo settings (in particular, super short exposure times) and more careful post-processing. In some of my old photos I went too strong on light / tone / colour correction, sharpening, and similar stuff, but it took me a while to realise the end result didn’t always look that good. In that spirit, my original title for this post was “The year of the light touch.”
Okay, on with the show!
January 13: spherical Song Sparrow
Song Sparrows are very good at getting round, but this one took it to the next level! Reifel was suffering a nasty cold snap in the middle of January, causing ponds to freeze solid and driving away most ducks except Mallards and wigeons. Songbirds remained, though!
April 7: American Bittern
This is much more than a cool and shy predator, it’s a lesson in persistence! We were all ready to call it a day without having seen Tlahutum’s fabled resident bittern, but then we decided to take just one last look in the creek by the parking lot, just in case!
April 13: Stretching crane
I know they’re big, but my god those wings are big. Also, I love the crisp details, like the softer plumage on the back, and the orange / silver patterns on the wings.
May 11: Flapping Mallard
As I said above, I’ve been experimenting with super short exposure times (in this case, 1/3,200s) to properly capture some action scenes, like these ducks’ flappy flappy routine. It only works in good light, of course, and if the ducks are close enough — which usually means Piper Spit. This may be my fave duck flappy pic of them all: rich colours, crisp details, beautiful underwing texture, flying droplets, everything.
May 17: Tree Swallow
I just want to (gently!) stroke his shiny, lustrous back!
June 1: Mallard duckling
It is absolutely perfect, from the soft brown eyes, to the fuzzy stubby wings to the little mottled feet.
June 8: most of a Barn Swallow
Earlier this year, I swore a mighty oath that I would shoot a good photo of a swallow in flight before they all headed south again. It was a struggle to figure out the proper settings on my camera as well as ways to anticipate and track the behaviour of these zippy little guys. In the end I did get some good shots, but oddly my fave is this one. Sure, I cut off a bit of its wing but the details are exquisite; from the dark beady eyes, to the perfectly captured flight feathers, to the cool forked and spotted tail.
July 19: digital sparrow
My first digital art piece, and I’m super happy with it! Of course it’s a White-crowned Sparrow, I have to start with my spark bird!
August 10: Brown Creeper
My best Brown Creeper photo! It’s got the curvy-curvy beak, the wild back camo, and great light to tie it all together.
September 7: hungry heron at Trout Lake
This heron gave the Vancouver Queer Birders quite a show, as it struggled with this (probably) brown bullhead. Tried to swallow it repeatedly, dropped it on the ground and stabbed it a couple times. Finally it managed to get the fish down, and flew to another part of the shore to digest. Definitely the highlight of our day!
September 14: adorable kestrel
A special event at Iona Beach Park led to meeting this beautiful lifer! It literally took all my willpower not to give her skritchies like she was a kitten. Thank you to The Raptors!
September 21: Yellowlegs triptych
More experimenting with shorter exposure times and narrower f-stops gave me these sharp, stunning photos of Greater Yellowlegs in various poses.
September 21: Wood Duck portraits
September 21 was a productive day! Just after the Yellowlegs I managed two stunning Wood Duck photos, one female, and one male almost done transitioning back to his breeding colours. The details are perfect, the contrast between the two is perfect. Each looks great by itself, but they look amazing together.
September 28: Sandhill Crane portraits
The Sandhill Crane babies grow up so fast! In less than 3 months, they got to almost full adult size and could already fly pretty well. But as you can see, they still have some growing up to do!
November 15: Red-breasted Nuthatch
Do feeders count as cheating? Either way, I got my best photos of these teeny and adorable little birds at the Richmond Nature House. There was just the one hanging around the feeders, but it stayed long enough for me to get my fill!
I’m kidding, of course. I’ll never have enough.
November 21: Blackpoll Warbler
Not just a lifer but a vagrant, far from its usual range — the first reported on eBird in the Lower Mainland in over two years. And this pretty little birb just shows up on the tree outside my building, giving me some nicely crisp photos (especially given the so-so light)? Life is so weird sometimes.
November 24: magnificent pooping heron
I didn’t have high hopes for any good photo that day at Terra Nova, what with the clouds and the drizzle, but a passing heron gave me the best gift of all: fertiliser!
It’s so stupid but love this photo to bits. There’s raw, unfiltered Nature Which We Must Not Shy Away From, sure, but also the scattering poop is its own weird abstract work of art. It works on every level.
December 1: a tale of two kinglets
I went to Maplewood Flats looking for a White-throated Sparrow — unsuccessfully, it turned out. But I did run into two kinglets and got some pretty good photos, so that makes it all right! I guess white-throats will keep on being my nemesis for now.
December 21: the end of the shortest day
I’ll never get tired of this view. When the light is right it just hits you so hard.
December 28: Barred Owl
It seems Barred Owls are a bit more tolerant of light than some other owls. This is the second time I’ve seen one hunting in the daytime, but here it was mostly in the open, early afternoon with some cloud cover and quite a bit of snow around. Must have been a challenge!
This one was in my parents’ backyard. I first heard its calls, (along with the local squirrels’ alert calls) and tracked it as it moved a couple backyards down, unsuccessfully went after a squirrel on our property, then rested quite close as it considered its next move. I could get lost in its huge mysterious eyes!
December 31: White-breasted Nuthatches
Thank you to the family feeding birds at Mud Lake — even though they’re not supposed to — and got a whole swarm of chickadees and nuthatches orbiting around them, giving me the chance for some good photos. We don’t get White-breasted Nuthatches in my neck of the woods, so I treasure all my encounters with them. I love their beady black eyes, their densely patterned wings, and that weird little upturn thing their beaks seem to do (but don’t actually do).
On to 2025
So what comes next? I can think of a few things:
Keep with the digital art. I really do enjoy it, and I’m proud of what I’ve done so far. Sure, it’s frustrating and all that, but it’ll get less frustrating the more I do it. Let’s get a rhythm going!
Nurture my store. I’ve been adding photos regularly, but otherwise it’s been pretty neglected. Let’s spread the word and get more sales!
Keep blogging. I’ve been doing a better job of blogging lately, after a very on-and-off year. Let’s keep that up!
But it’s not just the writing, part of this site’s purpose is to host my best photos, in a way better resolution than you’d get on social media, and make them easily searchable. I’m way behind on that front, so let’s catch up! And while we’re at it, let’s maybe think of a new and improved photo workflow so I don’t fall too far behind in the future!