A Year in Review: 2023 Photography Wrap Up

My January was mostly spent at the Boundary Bay Dyke, though I did visit the woods a few times. This January was a great start to the year as I got to see my first Long-Eared Owl, and my first time photographing Coyotes at the dyke. I got a great shot of a Yellow-Rumped Warbler (which at the time was the nicest one I have ever seen), and got some nice mushroom action in the woods after some nice rainfall.

My coyote and harrier photo, while technically not a good photo, is one of my favourites for what it could have been. If the animals were just a little closer, or if I had seen the Northern harrier coming down and been able to focus on that in time, it would have been a very interesting shot. My experience in wildlife photography is that you’re going to take hundreds, if not thousands, of bad photos, but you will still get that good one, so don’t give up.

Just like in January, Boundary Bay was my main spot. I sort of got my first good look at the long-eared owl that’s been hanging around thanks to some camera magic. The sun was already gone, but thanks to the power of long exposures I was able to get a shot of her big beautiful eyes wide open. It was exciting to spend some one on one time with this owl, who usually draws a concerning amount of people whenever she’s seen in the daytime. I didn’t stay too long though as I could tell something was bothering her behind her, and I didn’t want to add to that in any way. Another exciting shot was this heron with a tasty vole. The day before this shot, several photographers had posted great shots of herons eating, and I hoped that one day I would get one of my own. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon!

I also got to visit Bowen Island for the first time, and I highly recommend it if you haven’t had the chance. At Seymour Bay, I shot ‘my most Canadian Photo ever’, with the two Canada Geese on the coast of the island, with the beautiful North Shore Mountains in the background. This photo is now featured in my shop. I will definitely be back to explore the island more than I was able to in the short time I was there, and hopefully, get some great photos of the deer that run the place.

March was the month of owls! Specifically, Barred Owls, with the return of my Baby Barred Owl Watch. I went to see these owls countless times, recording anything that happened in my blog (though there were many nights nothing happened at all!)

I also got some great shots of the Coyotes out on the dyke, with my favourite shot (possibly of all time?) being this one of a Coyote and a Short-Eared Owl facing off along the shoreline. The photo has lots of room for improvement, but they were so far away from my lens that I don’t think there is anything I can do to up the quality. Still, I am super happy that I was able to get the shot that I did.

Lastly, I got to see a bird I’ve been hoping to see since I started photographing birds — the Mountain Bluebird! I was only able to see it one day, and I almost missed it entirely if it weren’t for my dad noticing it. There was a crowd gathered to see this bird, and I wrongly assumed it was for a short-eared owl (another crowd drawer) and could have easily missed this fantastic bird.

Despite my ongoing baby-barred owl watch, my favourite photos of the month all came from Boundary Bay. I got my first decent photo of a Great Horned Owl, a fantastic shot of two Mountain Bluebirds (now featured in my shop!), a beautiful portrait of a Ring-Necked Pheasant, and a Savannah Sparrow hidden in the grass. April is not typically a salt marsh month for me, but this year we decided to continue going through the spring months, and were pleasantly surprised with birds we didn’t even know were there.

May was not an easy month to narrow down. It wasn’t that I took a lot of images, but the images that I got were just… better?

The first image in the gallery above is of a black-billed magpie, a bird I wish we had near my home. I get to see these birds while visiting the Okanagan, but since I’m normally visiting family I’m not getting any camera time in. On this particular visit we went for a walk along the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, and I managed to snap the photo.

May is the month that my barred owlets emerge from the nest, so there were plenty of good images of them, but the one that I chose just stood out to me in a different way than the others. This barred owlet was unafraid to be out in the open, with no leafy cover to conceal it. And it stayed there for several days, earning the nickname “Adventure Baby”. A few days later, I would take a photo of its mother catching a meal for them — one of the best photos I have ever gotten of a barred owl.

Also included for this month is a beautiful black bear from Whistler, a trip I specifically planned with bears in mind, and a silhouette of a common loon at sunset. As the name suggests, common loons are almost a guaranteed siting when I’ve gone to Blackie Spit, but they are usually a lot further out than this one.

Every year I find myself so excited for duckling season, and until now, it has always been a letdown. With ducks on the water, some of the best photos I see are always at level with the ducks, and the location where I go isn’t really ideal for that, so my shots are always slightly above. But this year I crouched on the shore among feathers and duck poo, determined to get the shot. What I wasn’t prepared for was the ducklings taking an interest in me — normally, they swim by as quickly as possible to catch up with their mother. But these two were determined to get so close my camera could no longer focus on them after this shot.

June is also the month of raccoons, who live here year-round, but only choose to hang out in my yard when the neighbour’s cherry tree offers some tasty snacks. They often bring their babies around too, which is always exciting.

The last three images are of course baby barred owls. Now fully ouf of the nest, finding the owls was more of a challenge. There was no guarantee that the place I saw them one night was where they would be the next, but it was always the first stop on my search for them. The three photos I chose I think really show the personality of owlets: the curious staring, the playfulness with their siblings, and the silly faces you often catching them in.

Going into July, I expected that my favourite photos would all come from my trip from my home near the BC coast to Alberta and back, and for the most part, that turned out to be true. Four of the size images for this month came from that trip, and I think given more time in Jasper or Banff, there would have been even more. But the real breakout star of the month is my favourite subject, the barred owl. Everything about this image (number 5 on the slides) was by chance — the owl happened to land on a branch that was not obscured by other branches, the sun happened to be shining perfectly through a gap in the trees, and I happened to be there. This moment would last only a few minutes before the sun continued to go down.

October was not an especially busy month, but I did capture some good shots. My favourite of the bunch is of the wood ducks (slide three), who are rather elusive in my normal local spots, but in other locations, are more than happy to hang around and even put on a show. These two wood ducks could definitely make a great Valentine’s Day card, with a duck-related pun on it.

The first image of the bunch features more northern pintails in one location than I have ever seen, with the beautiful backdrop of Mount Baker. We only walked about two kilometres of the dyke that day, but the ducks stretched across every inch of it, and continued on beyond what we walked.

The final image is just some seagulls, which I believe are ring-billed gulls, walking together along the shore. I’ve been wanting to experiment more with these bright images in the water, and even though seagulls are not a traditionally sought-after subject, I still think they look beautiful in the shallows.

Once November hits, I almost completely abandon the woods I love in favour of the more exciting salt marshes. This is the time of year when the short-eared owls make their return from the north, and settle down in the “warmth” we have to offer in southern Canada. Short-eared owls love to hang around the same spot, which means with some patience you can capture some action-packed moments. In the same area (on different days) I was also able to find a beautiful coyote, who was relatively close to us, but very calm and happy to go about its business. This photo is a significant improvement on my earlier coyote photos at the beginning of the year, though I think that can be attributed to better conditions and a closer shot than my own improvement. And lastly, I finally was able to get a belted kingfisher. I had seen one one time before, but wasn’t able to get a photo, so this was really exciting. Kingfishers are fast, so although my photo isn’t as sharp as it could be, I still think for a first attempt at a kingfisher in action it isn’t bad. Hopefully next time the bird is closer, which will really help with a sharp shot. Cropping in is not always your friend.

While I wasn’t able to get out as much due to the busy holiday season, I still managed to get some wonderful images of familiar favourites. The shot that I am most excited about is of someone unfamiliar — a pair of California sea lions that were hanging around Stanley Park in Vancouver. Despite living so close to the ocean, it isn’t often that I get to see marine mammals, and they were very unexpected.