Personalized Gifts

With its wide open spaces, the Boundary Bay Wildlife Management Area is home to many different species of songbirds as well as several raptors. I found the brown-tinged feathers on this rather bold Black-Capped Chickadee--who was anticipating a free handout of seeds--rather interesting. Perhaps a hybrid with a Chestnut-Backed Chickadee was one of its parents (or grandparents)?

Profile of a Black-Capped Chickadee

My closest encounter with a magnificent male Pileated Woodpecker, who was busy carving out a hole in a very tall tree. Rather than be spooked by the presence of a photographer nearby, this largest of North American woodpeckers would stop briefly to see who was rustling the dead leaves on the forest floor, and then resume his woodworking activities. Photographed on Galiano Island in the early evening of July 3, 2017.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Beautiful Pileated Woodpecker on the Tree

Metro Vancouver's second snowstorm of the winter season finally brought the lovely and much anticipated male Varied Thrush to my backyard, where he spent the greater part of the day excavating the white stuff for tasty grubs. With their dazzling palette of orange, grey, and black hues, this reclusive songbird is a welcome sight during the monochromatic winter months. Photographed in mid-February 2019.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Stunning Varied Thrush Songbird in the Snow

A White-Crowned Sparrow welcomes the day (and enchants its rapt listeners) with a simple but sweet song. As spring turns into summer, we see more and more of this beautiful songbird, who often forages solo, too.

A White-Crowned Sparrow Sings to the Sun

If the legendary celestial phoenix had an earthly form, it would have to be this creature. Golden Pheasants are showstoppers, wherever you see them. In their natural environment, these shy creatures seek the underbrush in the day and roost high in trees at night. As with most birds in the avian kingdom, the males are the ones who dress to impress, and this uncharacteristically bold fellow is no exception. This is the red gold variant. 

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Stunning Profile of a Red Golden Pheasant

This little lady prefers blueberry blossom nectar over sugar water, giving this potted bush a thorough going over on a sunny spring afternoon and myself the opportunity to photograph a Rufous Hummingbird, nearly vertical with the tiny, bell-shaped white flowers she sips from. The backyard is just starting to come alive with birds after being relatively quiet for the past five weeks. Photographed in mid-May 2017.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Rufous Hummingbird Sips Blueberry Blossom Nectar

We had our first trio of Rufous hummingbirds arrive in the backyard in early April 2017. This adult male was uncharacteristically taken with the early-blooming flowering currant bush and the sextet of hummingbird feeders scattered throughout the area, and stayed for a week--a real treat, considering most of the adult males usually only stay a day, passing through to more northern climes (Alaska) for the breeding season. Getting a decent shot of him has been a cat-and-mouse game, however, and this pose of him on the cherry tree (with his flashing reddish gorget and rufous feathers) was only possible because my subject did not know that he was being photographed.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Stunning Rufous Hummingbird on Cherry Branch

The lone representative of its species (a recently recognized and separate species of the black geese family), a Cackling Goose (once considered a Canada Goose subspecies), plies the waters of an inner pond at Jericho Park on a sunny and surprisingly warm-for-winter afternoon. A much shorter bill and smaller body size set this goose apart from its larger Canada Goose cousin.

Profile of a Cackling Goose

Add a touch of nature to treasured memories and moments with this food-themed binder! 

Yes, Virginia, yellow tomatoes do exist, blemishes and all ... and they have green freckles, too, if you look closely. Some of the delicious bounty to grace our lunch and dinner plates this summer. I have never seen non-red tomatoes as big as beefsteak tomatoes before.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Red Tomatoes, Yellow Tomatoes 3 Ring Binder

Make pjs, bedroom decor, bags, and so much more with this fabric, which features that iconic harbinger of spring, an American Robin.

It's always a wonderful moment when our subjects seek us out instead of the other way around! A particularly bold American Robin approaches our picnic table to stare at us -- perhaps he was hoping that we had worms or berries with us?

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

A Curious and Hopeful American Robin Fabric

Bring a bit of nature with you, wherever you go, with this whimsical, wildlife-themed tote! 

Red squirrels on Galiano Island are undeniably bold and saucy, even going so far as to scold photographers and other two-legged creatures who wander into their territory. Photographed on Galiano Island in the early morning of July 4, 2017.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Saucy Red Squirrel in the Fir Tote Bag

A presumed hobby farm escapee, this adult male Mandarin Duck has been seen in the company of the Wood Ducks of Piper Spit. He has called Burnaby Lake home since he was first spotted in 2018. His stunning pastiche of ruffs, dazzling color palette, and "fins" make him such a dreamboat to photograph. Mother Nature left nothing to the artist's imagination when she made this creature! Photographed at Burnaby Lake in early March 2020.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Stunning Mandarin Duck at the Pond Greeting

Show off your love of nature with this whimsical, wildlife-themed pinback button that features a young Blacktail deer fawn! 

My second visit to the Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver produced meetings with not two, but six blacktail deer in a clearing ... four fawns and two does who seemed completely at ease with the small group of photographers in their midst. The younger ones seemed almost as curious about the humans as we were about them! This fawn was extremely happy to be alive, bounding in a very Bambi-esque manner through the forest! Photographed in late August 2016.

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Vignetted Portrait of Smiling Blacktail Deer Fawn  Button

The very social, curious, and bold Java Finch (also known as the Java Rice Sparrow or Java Rice Bird) hails from Asia. For hundreds of years, it was a very popular choice as a cage bird, and that popularity even extended to the U.S. This one exhibits the wild (normal) colour mutation.

Beautiful Java Finch Songbird Magnet

Vignetted Portrait of an Inquisitive Saker Falcon Label

Vignetted Portrait of an Inquisitive Saker Falcon Keychain

Vignetted Portrait of an Inquisitive Saker Falcon Notebook

Vignetted Portrait of an Inquisitive Saker Falcon Tote Bag

Vignetted Portrait of an Inquisitive Saker Falcon Canvas Print

I was privileged to see a Saker Falcon in the feathers a couple of years ago. This female was so well-mannered with the large (and often noisy) crowds in attendance, as a matter of fact, that her handler rarely needed to be present to tend to her feathered charge! Chosen for thousands of years as a popular falconry bird for its exceptional trainability, this large, pale Eurasian beauty is sadly--despite being endowed with great hunting prowess, power, and speed--an endangered hierofalcon species thanks to loss and destruction of its habitat. 

Based on the original photography of W.H. Sim. All Rights Reserved. See more at zazzle.com/walkswithnature

Profile of a Black-Capped Chickadee

Profile of a Black-Capped Chickadee

More from Walks with Nature

Other personalized gifts from various stores