Jesperson Dike Jackpot

[nickinthegarden]

My thanks to Jon for suggesting Jesperson Dike in Chilliwack. I visited there several days ago and found many Common Yellowthroat and sparrows hanging out in the blackberries between the dike and the hay field. When I visited the farmer was cutting the hay.  I was able to get a nice image of a Red-tailed Hawk in it's spring feathers. Earlier it had managed to snag some kind of prey away from several crows.

Red-tailed Hawk by Nick, on Flickr


I did see 4 and then 6 Turkey Vultures circling in the sky above. This morning when I visited I spotted a Turkey Vulture coming in for a landing in a field northwest of Jesperson Road and where it crosses the dike. It was then joined by another and another and another, they seemed to be congregating by a watering hole, eventually there were 18! Almost twice as many as I have ever seen at one time. In this field there is a very large tree perhaps this is their roosting spot and they were getting there morning drink before heading off to look for breakfast.

I was only able to get 16 of the 18 in one image, I needed to be using a wide angle lens.


A lot of Turkey Vultures by Nick, on Flickr


But the best part of the morning was finding Lazuli Buntings, I saw two but there might have been a third which kept doubling back. 

First shot of the season.


Spring time favorite! by Nick, on Flickr


Hopefully I can find another location closer to home in Abbotsford but Jesperson is a very quiet peaceful spot, no trains, no planes and little traffic.

[dpeppar]

Nice - were is the dike exactly.

DaveP
chilliwack

[Ben]

Here's the spot: maps.app.goo.gl/Su1j7P9Fx2c774vMA

It can be busy there due to offroading, but with the river so high, that probably isn't the case at the moment.

[dpeppar]

Thanks Jon......

[oldfulica]

[quote author="nickinthegarden" source="/post/51388/thread" timestamp="1589136734"

Spring time favorite! by Nick, on Flickr


Hopefully I can find another location closer to home in Abbotsford but Jesperson is a very quiet peaceful spot, no trains, no planes and little traffic.[/quote]

Nice compositions Nick. Especially the bunting. Rule of thirds?

[nickinthegarden]

Yes Len I am old school and I still use some of the old rules I learned many years ago, but if it looks right to my eye that will decide how I crop and compose! I am not a big follower of stripping the background to just highlight the subject, minor removals are okay in my book but I will not scrub the background and create a fake backdrop. Every photographer has a style they like and sometimes I find myself on Flickr trying to like my own images!

[Randy]

Well done Nick! One of my favourite species!

[Chris]

Great photos. I enjoy walks at Jesperson as well. As others have said great spot for Lazuli.