Monthly Archives: February 2013

Larry David strikes again!

  By packbawky | 18/02/2013 - 5:59 pm |
Leave a comment

Larry David the bald eagle, that is, not Larry David the bald…baldy.

While I was pursuing this eagle, I trod in a pothole that contained a puddle -- a deep enough puddle to fill my shoe to the brim, and splash my trouserleg. Several passers-by laughed, chortled, or giggled, leading me to wonder why, as they were clearly watching my progress, none of them thought to sound the warning. The real Larry David might've appreciated that.

While I was pursuing this eagle, I trod in a pothole that contained a puddle — a deep enough puddle to fill my shoe to the brim, and splash my trouserleg. Several passers-by laughed, chortled, or giggled, leading me to wonder why, as they were clearly watching my progress, none of them thought to sound the warning. The real Larry David might’ve appreciated that.

It’s becoming rather frustrating, this pursuit of eagles. They like to stay high in the sky. It’s hard to watch the eagle and watch one’s step, at the same time. And one can end up walking farther than intended. I haven’t managed to get lost yet, but I probably will, if I carry on this way.

In other news, there were six cormorants on the perch across the water, today, but no cormorants on my side.

Cormorants…SPOTTED! WTFerfowl…IDENTIFIED!

  By packbawky | 16/02/2013 - 11:26 am |
Leave a comment

The WTFerfowl! Of course! I should’ve known — THAT’S a cormorant! It’s a double-crested cormorant! And I saw it, this morning, exactly where Mother said it would be, perched on this weird arched metal jobbie in the middle of False Creek. (I’ve no idea what that is — a piece of modern art? A water pump? Something to do with boats?) Anyway, it’s a wee metal archey thing sticking up out of the water, and cormorants like to sit on it. Two of them were there, this morning, when I went to check. They’re still there, now. I can see them from my balcony, through my longest lens (just the shapes of them, not their markings) — but now I know where to look.

The next challenge will be to get a picture. Today, I went all the way down to the water’s edge, but the archey thing’s on the other side of False Creek. If I wanted a photo of the cormorants, I’d have to get closer, somehow. I tried to snap them from this side, but all I got were fuzzy black shapes, with orangey smudges round their beaks.

It seems I’ve got two options, if I want crisp, luscious snaps of cormorants:

a) cross the water, somehow;
b) haunt the seawall, till I spot one on this side.

I’ve seen them on this side, before, but always hiding between boats, or skulking under the jetty near Monk McQueen’s restaurant. They’re not easy to approach — the minute they see you coming, they melt into the shadows, or vanish behind some obstacle…obstinate birds! Getting a picture from this side will be challenging. That leaves…going to the other side. It looks like I could get within forty feet of their perch, from there. I could snap them all day, if I felt so inclined. But I haven’t been on the other side of the water since…well, since I lived there, which was ages ago. Four or five years, I think. What say? — time I went back?

Apparently, there are two other species of cormorant I might also spot around here, with a bit of luck: Brandt’s and pelagic ones. I’d particularly like to see the former…those do look a bit regal (for cormorants, anyway), all shiny, with yon blue patches.