a few wet birds from a wet morning in Ladner BC

American Goldfinch, Red-shafted Flicker, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow -- all were taken at either 3200 or 4000 ISO

White-crowned Sparrows

passerines Quadra

when the rain finally stopped there was an amazing appearance of passerines along the coastal strip with flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos (all Oregon types), Audubon's Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Golden crowned Kinglets, Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhees dominating -- a flock of Band-tailed Pigeons landed in a tall tree but gave typical poor views -- 

Waterton Lakes National Park

arriving early afternoon it was still a beautiful day so ambled around some of the scenic areas and bumped into the first of several 100 Columbian Ground Squirrels but failed to see the cinnamon Grissly that was reported by the stop sign near the washrooms -an American Dipper was at the foot of the waterfall but not close enough for  a shot --- went up the wrong canyon far to far failing to see any bears then by the time we got to Red Rock Canyon road the weather was going down hill fast with rain showers setting in -- the beaver was swimming near its dam, the odd White-crowned Sparrow and Swainson's Thrush were singing and flocks of Pine Siskins were feeding on the dandelion heads but bears were thin on the ground -- then we rounded a bend a big cinnamon Grissly was stood off to the side of the road -- grabbing the camera at this point the heavens suddenly opened and with hail and torrential rain hitting it the bear ran for cover and was never seen again! A Belted Kingfisher was the first of the trip and 300+ Cliff Swallows were feeding around the bridge on the approach road ; three American Black Terns over the road seemed to be in an odd location-- Waterton is regaled as one of the most scenic of the National Parks but in wet weather nothing looks at its best and we need to go back again