Darren Kirby

Done!

I don't, but I do curse myself, loudly.

Yes! Noticing something new everyday. Say's Pheobe is back, and flower flies are flying.

Thanks!

Whoa! Wildfires already, or controlled burns?

Merlin is great, but it's only 90% accurate or so. Be careful for that 10% haha.

It seems to be coming in waves here...strong, sustained gusts for 30s-1min, then relative calm for 5-10 minutes.

My memory may be failing me, but didn't Westmount already have something of a big-box conversion some time ago? The north part anyway, with the Home Depot and Target/Zellers/whatever was there?

Moments after posting this the wind picked up dramatically. I see that a good portion of the southern interior is under a wind warning.

A mottled butterfly of mostly warm orange and buffy shades. It is perched on a purple thistle, and the background is a wash of greens.

A Zerene Fritillary (Argynnis zerene) high in the hills above Rock Creek on Fiva Creek Main. This is from August 3 of last year. #Butterflies

The finches, nuthatches, chickadees, and juncos that braved the winter here have started singing. I'm starting to notice the insects flying again. Wasps are out, but I've not seen a bee yet (good, as there's not yet anything for them to feed on).

I guess I didn't realize how much I need this...

Yesterday and today are the first days this year I would call 'warm'. It reached 18 yesterday. A bit cooler today, but still sunny and nice. The Violet-green swallows have returned in numbers. I saw meadowlarks on grassy Anarchist pass, but have not seen or heard one at valley-bottom yet.

I dunno. I kind of like the idea of using someone's funeral as a platform to be a petty-bitch about my own failings. Just waiting for someone appropriate to die....

It appears to be shitting a Q-tip...

I'll say. The lighting in this shot is essentially perfect!

A female hairy woodpecker perches on the side of a spruce tree trunk. She is black and white with a long sturdy beak for digging into the trees looking for bugs. The background is orange from the late evening sun.

We are fortunate to have both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers around all year, but they are particularly active in the winter.
This female Hairy Woodpecker arrived with a few loud PIPS, to forage for snacks on or in the trees!
#Birds #photography #wildlife 🪶

My goodness. How did you convince it to come into your home studio and put up with the strobes?

So....a strip mall. None of those in Edmonton 🙄

Thank you. Added. Apologies for the delay.

This is the first of yours I've been able to solve. Still took me 3 and a half minutes.

I've made the trip as far as Whitehorse hundreds of times, but haven't made it to Tuk yet. What I do know is the road is notoriously hard on tires, and it's recommended to have 2 spares (full-size, not biscuits).

A barred owl is perched on a bare diagonal branch, looking over its shoulder at the camera. To the left of the owl a Steller’s jay has its beak open, mid-squawk. The background is a jumble of green leaves and brown branches, mostly out of focus.

A surprisingly common #MixedPair. When barred owls hang out in the woods the Steller’s jays are often nearby, sounding an alarm. #birdoftheday #nature #ThursJay #birds #photography

It truly is...but it's on the other side of town on a section signed as 97C. That said, if driving this section, best to pull over to gawk, rather than drive into the ditch whilst mesmerized by the giant pit...

The quick drop into Ashcroft affords amazing views as well.

Holy shit! I've been corresponding with Roshan for like 20 years now. Even chatted on the phone with him once. I lost touch with him when I nuked my FB. This is really sad. He was a good dude. Wow.

I used to haul drill casing fairly regular from the port in Vancouver to FSJ, and I absolutely dreaded this part of the drive. In winter, it always seemed to be a coin-flip whether the highway was closed for hours from a catastrophic truck crash. Many bad memories of sitting at the HH in PG waiting.

Not sure why they've called this the 'Alaska Highway', as it's demonstrably not, but I will say that after ~20 years of professional trucking, the Pine Pass section of the Hart Highway was consistently one of the worst stretches of highway in BC. Narrow, twisty, and always iced up. A nightmare.

Oh, so the professional lying liar lied again? That's surprising...

Side view of a bumble bee collecting pollen from the large cone of a bright yellow flower.

'Rear view' of the same bee, which shows the red belts on the bee's abdomen.

A Red-belted Bumble Bee (Bombus rufocinctus) collects from sneeze weed (Helenium autumnale) near the shore of the Columbia River in Castlegar, BC, last August 8. 🐝

😂 Don't let the cuteness fool ya. Every one of these would bite the fingers right off your extended hand. Except the bison, they'll gore you.

Thanks, Shell. You are very sweet and kind. Looks like we're finally on the cusp of better weather, so hopefully I'll be inspired to get out there. I've not really taken a pic since last September 😬

Thanks, Kim! 🙂