Hooters

This was a nice big pair.


This week we headed down to the sea dike on Boundary Bay, twenty-five minutes south of Vancouver, to check out the Arctic Snowy Owls. These huge birds live in the Arctic tundra. They occasionally come south, however, when the Arctic lemming population declines.  


Apparently, lemmings are easier to find closer to the States.

Just down the road from the dike is the Owl Rehabilitation Society, for birds who, for whatever reason, no longer give a hoot.

True to their tundra origins, Snowy Owls roost on the ground, not in trees.

They generally tend to sit there like, well, bumps on a log

Males tend to be whiter; females tend toward a mottled, more fashionable coat.

Hootie was a loner after he left the Blowfish.

It takes a bit of patience even to get a walking shot of one of these birds, who rest to store energy for the long flight home. Check out the nice matching spats.

There tended to be groups of at least two. I'm assuming these two were a couple, but they might just be logging time together.

I've run out of stupid owl jokes, so this is the caption you get for this shot.

There was other wildlife on the dike that day. Some bipedal predator  primates.

Apparently, the measures meant to keep this species in check weren't working very well.

Some of these bipeds also had tripods. I can't say I was without telephoto envy, with my teeny weeny point-and-shoot.

Patty, and our friend Alana (fellow primate), who joined us for our second outing.

These salt flats attract a lot of birds, including this bald eagle....

....and this more ordinary barn owl (about a third the size of the Snowy Owl).

Not sure what this bird is, or what kind of apple tree it's perching on. So much for an informative blog, eh? However, I liked the colors.

On our first outing, we followed up with lunch at The Beijing Noodle house. I had soup noodles with veggies (青菜面汤).

Patty had the Dan Dan Noodles (担担面).

Their scallion pancakes (葱油饼) were freshly made and quite delish.