We had a bright sunny day here in Metro Vancouver. What a change from the cool, rainy spring we’ve had. It wasn’t that warm, but I got by with a singe fleece jacket, as long as I stayed out of the wind.

I drove along the Fraser on river road looking for signs of spring. About all I found was this gas storage facility, with some grass greening up in a field in front of it. Most of the trees still had tight buds, albeit the alder catkins were out.

I carried on toward the road to the Delta Airport coming off Ladner Trunk Road. I saw a bunch of cars pulled off at the gate to a park, but above them I noticed this young eagle rise from a branch and take off. As I pulled off to the side of the road to see what he was up to, he came sweeping back in to land on the branch again. He seemed interested in all the people coming out of the park and standing around to see him. Too bad I didn’t have my 400mm Sigma lens with me. As good as it is, I couldn’t fill the frame with the bird using my Nikon 70-300. Anyway, this shot is hand held, looking up the tree from the road. I tried a 1.4 teleconverter in an attempt to get closer, but when I use that, the VR on the lens stops working. Too much shake when I try to get a shot when fully extended at 300mm.

All in all it was a good afternoon. Warm, sunny, and the first signs of a real spring beginning to show. That means more and more trips out to take pictures around this lovely city of ours.