John Patrick

1 of 2 Photo: A black background with whitish dots of various sizes. The largest dot, in the lower right is the planet Venus. A slightly smaller dot in the upper left is the planet Jupiter. There are four tiny dots very close on either side of Jupiter (three above, one below) forming a diagonal line from bottom left to upper right. They are Jupiter's Galilean moons - (from bottom to top: Callisto, Europa, Io, and Ganymede. Below and to the left of Jupiter is a long diagonal line created by a passing satellite. There are other tiny dots scattered through the photo, they are stars.

2 of 2 (same as the first but now with labels!) Photo: A black background with whitish dots of various sizes. The largest dot, in the lower right is the planet Venus. A slightly smaller dot in the upper left is the planet Jupiter. There are four tiny dots very close on either side of Jupiter (three above, one below) forming a diagonal line from bottom left to upper right. They are Jupiter's Galilean moons - (from bottom to top: Callisto, Europa, Io, and Ganymede. Below and to the left of Jupiter is a long diagonal line created by a passing satellite. There are other tiny dots scattered through the photo, they are stars.

The conjunction of Jupiter and Venus this morning, with the bonus of a passing satellite!

Taken from UBC, Vancouver, BC, with a Nikon P1000.

#Jupiter #Venus #StarGazing #planets #Astronomy

Photo: A pre-dawn sky transitioning from blue/black at the top to pinkish orange at the bottom heralding the on coming dawn. In the fore ground are the silhouettes of tulip trees, cedars and firs. In the sky are two dots, the larger one being Venus and the smaller, and lower in the sky being Jupiter.

Here's picture I took of them early Sunday morning.
At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

1 of 2 Photo: An image of the predawn sky already lightening at the bottom of the picture to herald the on coming dawn. In the center of the picture are two white dots. One to the right and slightly larger is the planet Venus. The other is slightly lower in the sky and is the planet Jupiter. Around these two planets small dots the size of pin pricks are the stars in the constellation Gemini

2 of 2 Photo: a picture of the early morning sky dark at the top and lighter at the bottom heralding the on coming dawn. This image has a number of lines connecting small white pin pricks which are the stars in the constellation Gemini. Each star is labeled, as is the constellation and the planets Jupiter and Venus. From Left to right and top to bottom the labelled stars are Castor, Pollux, Theta Geminiorum, Tau Geminorum, Iota Geminorum, Upsilon Geminorum, Kappa Geminorum, Wasat, Mebsuta, Mekbuda, Lambda Geminorum, 1 Geminorum, Propus, Tejat, Nu Geminorum, Alhena, and Alzirr. The picture was taken by John Patrick on 10 August 2025 at 4:52 AM Vancouver time.

Jupiter and Venus are getting close together in the sky.
Here they are Sunday morning before dawn among the stars of the constellation Gemini.
Taken from UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Jupiter #Venus #stargazing #Gemini #Astronomy

Jupiter rising.

I was filming Jupiter and its Galilean moons the other morning just before sunrise when a satellite passed by.
Look to the left side of the video.
I've added a sound cue so turn your sound on.

Camera: Nikon P1000

#Jupiter #astronomy #satellite #GalileanMoons

Photo: A Red-breasted Nuthatch, in profile heading down the gnarled bark of fir, with its legs spread wide apart, holds its head out at right angles to the tree trunk.

A Red-breasted Nuthatch strikes a classic pose just before flying away.

In the woods at Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #RedBreastedNuthatch

Thanks! 🙂

A good article, but I can't find a mention in it of where she was born.

If you can find a copy, the memorial book made for the Vimy Pilgrimage, "The Epic of Vimy", is an interesting read, as it covers not just the unveiling, but the preparation for the pilgrimage and the other places on the tour where remembrance ceremonies took place, such as Mons and Valenciennes.

Photo: A Wood Duck Mother and one of her ducklings seen from three-quarters above face the upper left corner of the photo. They are paddling in a pond and are lit by sunlight coming in from the lower left corner.

A Wood Duck mother and one of her ducklings lit by the late afternoon sun as they paddle across the pond

At Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver.

#Birds #WoodDuck #duckling

Photo: A Mallard, in profile facing right, stands on a rock in the middle of a pond. The duck is balanced on one foot with the other tucked up with its toes pointing down.

A perfectly posed Mallard doing yoga on a rock in the pond at Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver.

#Birds #Mallard #Duck

Photo: Close up of an American Robin, in profile facing right, perched on the top of a chain link fence. In its beak are a pair of worms, a small black beetle, and two winged insects (possibly flying ants).

The early bird may get the worm, but the late afternoon Robin gets two worms, a beetle, and at least two winged insects.

At Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver.

#Birds #Robin #EarlyBird #worms #AmericanRobin

Photo: A Wood Duck duckling in a pond with its head and beak lying on the surface of the water. The duck is facing three-quarters to the left.

"Number 36: The Wood Duckodile"

A Wood Duck duckling does its best crocodile impression.

In the pond at Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #WoodDuck #duckling #Crocodile #Humor

Photo: A Wood Duck duckling facing three-quarters left standing on a leaf slightly larger than itself in the middle of a pond covered in small leaves with reeds in the background.

A Wood Duck duckling standing on a leaf in the middle of the pond.

At Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver.

#Birds #WoodDuck #duckling

Photo: A Chestnut-backed Chickadee faces the camera with his left side lit by the first light of dawn. The chickadee is perched on the stem of a leaf at the end of a branch at the top of a cherry tree. And he looks very smug about doing that.

A Chestnut-backed Chickadee atop a cherry tree at dawn.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #Chickadee #ChestnutBackedChickadee

Photo 1 of 2: At the muddy edge of a pond a mother Wood Duck standing on the mud at the water line "kisses" the cheek of a months old duckling, who is standing in the water.

Photo 2 of 2: At the muddy edge of a pond, a months old Wood Duck duckling tilts its head up to "kiss" the cheek of its mother.

Kisses.
Mama Wood Duck "kisses" her child and the child kisses her back.

At the edge of the pond in Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #WoodDuck #Ducks #kisses #kiss #duckling

Photo: A pair of Goldfinches in profile; one facing right towards the light, one facing left with its face in shadow, are perched on different branches of a cherry tree.

A pair of Goldfinches greet the dawn from atop a cherry tree.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #Goldfinch #Goldfinches #dawn

Screenshot: Post about a bushtit atop a sign. In the corner where the picture for that post the picture has a black cartouche with a check mark and OLD" where it should say ALT for alternate text.

Screen shot of post above prior to posting with "OLD" where "ALT" should be.

Photo: A tiny Bushtit is perched at the corner of a wheelchair access sign. The background of the top half of the picture is clear sky while the bottom half is deciduous trees.

A Bushtit atop a sign near the Planetarium in Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #Bushtit

(PS: When I went to add Alt text the button for Alt said OLD - anyone else have that appear when posting?)

Photo: A very young Wood Duck duckling swims through the leaves of a water weed in a pond. The duckling is facing three-quarters to the right.

A Wood Duck Duckling in the pond at Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #WoodDuck #duckling

Photo: A Cedar Waxwing, facing the camera with its head tilted, sits on a bare branch of a tree.

Here's a quizzical Cedar Waxwing.

At Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#birds

Photo: A fledgling Barn Swallow faces the camera while standing on a rock among rocks on a beach breakwater.

Here's a fledgling Barn Swallow waiting patiently for mom and dad to bring food.

At Jericho Beach, Vancouver, BC

#Birds #BarnSwallow

Photo: A very cute fledgling Barn Swallow stands facing 3/4 right on a round white rock.

A fledgling Barn Swallow among the rocks by the Jericho Sailing Centre, at Jericho Beach, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #BarnSwallow #fledgling #BabyBird #Swallow

Photo: The moon and the planet Venus close together in the pre-dawn sky. In the foreground are the silhouettes of trees that mirror the clouds rising from the lower left to the upper right. Also in silhouette is a low apartment building with a single light on directly below Venus. Covering the sky from the lower left in a curving angle to the upper right are tendrils of clouds.

The waxing crescent moon and Venus this morning before sunrise.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#moon #venus #morningstar #CrescentMoon #StarGazing

Photo: close up of a Red-breasted Nuthatch in profile facing right. It is perched on a wire at the top of a chain link fence.

A Red-breasted Nuthatch on a fence near the pond in Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #RedbreastedNuthatch

I'd not heard of #WaxwingWednesday until today, but it is appropriate as a flock of #CedarWaxwings were at Lelem Park today for the first time this spring.

At UBC, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #Wildlife #CedarWaxwing

Photo: A view across a pond. In the foreground three Mallards (one male, two female) are paddling from right to left. In the middle of the pond a pink and black aerodynamic biking helmet (the 'turtle' from the main post) is floating on the water.

Mallards paddle past an odd looking 'turtle' in the pond at Jericho Beach Park, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #turtle #bikehelmet

Photo of Mallard ducklings and their mom taken through a chain link fence. In the middle of the picture, surrounded by one of the links are five ducklings facing right. A sixth duckling has its back to the camera and its head turned to the left. In the upper right corner of the photo, separated from her children by the framing link stands the mother mallard with her body facing the camera and her head turned to the right.

Momma Mallard getting her ducklings in a row.

By the pond at Lelem Park, UBC, Vancouver, BC

#Birds #Mallards #Ducks #ducklings

Photo: An Anna's Hummingbird, in profile facing left, is perched on a leafless twig of a branch, with more leafless branches below and above it. Directly behind the hummingbird the half moon appears to surround the bird while set against a clear, blue sky.

An Anna's Hummingbird framed by the rising half moon.

At Jericho Beach Park, Vancouver, BC.

#Birds #Hummingbird #AnnasHummingbird #moon #halfmoon

Yes, yes it does.

Picture:: In the foreground is a Tree Swallow in profile facing right perched on the edge of the roof panel of a nesting box mounted on a post. In a tree in the background is a Great Blue Heron perched on a branch. Although separated by distance the heron is almost directly above the swallow. The Heron is in better focus than the swallow.

I was trying to get a picture of the Tree Swallow. I didn't see the Great Blue Heron until I got home. The camera saw the Heron and tried to focus on it.

#Birds #TreeSwallow #GreatBlueHeron