Wandering around the parks in Richmond...

The surprising but much anticipated snow finally arrived last night. This morning, the entire region is covered in the good white stuff.

After procrastinating about going out and do some wildlife-watching, I hopped on the bus in the afternoon and headed towards Richmond Nature Park. When I approached the second bus stop for the transfer to RNP, the bus drove away from me. So I slowly walked along No. 5 Road and took out my camera just in case.

Long behold, there was something walking in the snow covered field. It was a Coyote!

Haven't seen these beautiful animals in the longest time. This one looks in good condition - no mangy furs. I watched it hunt unsuccessfully a couple of times before it disappeared behind the trees.

Then the next bus arrived and onto RNP I go, which was almost empty when I got there. First stop, look at the bird at the feeders. It was full of towhees, juncos, sparrows, and chickadees.

Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)


A Song Sparrow, thanks to Rick (of Aimophilia Adventures) for identifying it.






The abundant Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus)


House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)


A touch of red amongst the blacks, whites, grays and browns was a welcoming sight.

Then it was time to explore the trails.

Bokehs.

A bird was flying in front of me, what is it??

A Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) with a stick blocking the view!


Move to a different spot to avoid the stick in front of the bird. The lighting wasn't very good in the forest, but I like the bokeh background.

Powdery fine snow!


The colors really caught my eyes.

Heading out of the trails.

One last look at the feeders, and I spotted a Brown Creeper far away foraging.

A collage of the blurry bird movements! I think they tell interesting stories.

Since there was still some light, I took the bus to Garden City Community Park next.

Warmth of the sun reflecting from the buildings.

The park was decorated with several snowmen. This, however, was the snow-dinosaur that deserved a worthy mention! Incredible attention to the details, especially with the teeth and the tail (not in the picture).


Sunset.

Then I walked to Paulik Park. And only photographed the poem in the rock.

Bought a simple dinner and time to go home.

Not before I got a shot of the near-full moon.
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