Exploring Canada by Canoe

 I just got back from a week exploring some small lakes in British Columbia, by truck and by canoe.  Lindsey and I drove up to the area around Kamloops, and paddled around.  We found some nice birds!  First off, every lake up there has a few Spotted Sandpipers.  I've seen these around in the tidewaters of Southeast Alaska, but this was a nice find to see them up in the fresh water.

 Then there is the Yellow-Headed Blackbird.  This one is pretty self explainatory in terms of coloring, but the noises it makes are astounding.  I'd been familiar with the Red-Winged Blackbird, but this one I've only seen east of the Cascades.

 Another Spotted Sandpiper.  They do a funny flight path where they sort of hover and sort of fly, so they go real slow, but its really cute.  They also do a butt dip, and keep their heads in the same place, which is a nice dance move.

 The Red-Winged Blackbird is of course a favorite of the marshes around the lakes. 

 And the Marsh Wren, loud and feisty and when you see them, quite tiny.  This one was cursing us out for a while, upside down, clinging to all sorts of rushes and at a volume cranked up to 11. 

Then we saw this guy, who baffled me for a while, but I looked it up, its a Yellowthroat.  I love the mask he has on, looks like a criminal mastermind in a cartoon.  Also a tiny bird.

 Then we get to Loons.  The Common Loon is found in every lake we came to that had fish populations in it.  We explored a few lakes that didn't have any fish, and surprise!  No loons.  But every one that did have fish, there was that ominous black and white enormous shape lurking through the ripples.  Its nesting season too, and the birds were sitting on chicks!

 The nests are right at the waters edge, in a spot that is seldom visited from land, and the birds sit very still, so are hard to spot.  The colors stand right out, but perhaps with the black and white, the birds are invisible to predators that can't see color, but still bold and sexy looking to each other...?

 This shot shows the size sideways of the loon. Its very wide and not just in the wings.  They are really heavy birds and have a lot of trouble flying, but of course are fantastic in the water.

 The eye is red, and this, I assume, is to allow it to see underwater at depth easier.  Or maybe to make the eye disappear as the bird dives under water.  Red is the first color to go away as you go deep.  So a red eye would turn black, like the head, making it hard to see where the eye is looking. 

 We found some of the baby loons out for a ride with their folks, riding piggyback

 And on a closer look, one of them poke its head out to say hello

 Another look at the Red-Winged Blackbird

 This shot is a bunch of Goldeneye.  Since they are Female, I can't really ID them, but I like the lighting here.

 And this one showing off her golden eye.

 Here's a Ruddy Duck, doing a display.  Ducks have such bright colors and funny looks when they are trying to find a mate. 

 Here's a Mountain Bluebird.  I've only ever seen these up in Canada, but they sure are pretty.

 And some Lesser Scaups.  They are a large number of the ducks in the lakes up there.

 Here's a photo of the canoe we used, I borrowed it from my brother.

 And finally, we got a good look at a Western Tanager, who has bright colors and moves just before you can get the focus right and snap a picture.  This was the last lake we looked at, and on the morning of our departure, we found another loon nest and got up right close.  Here is a good look at the eye of the loon.  A fitting icon for the Canadian lakes.