Glenn's Nature Photography Blog

I am pleased to announce my new book “Birds of Vancouver Island” is now available. The book is 10 inches by 10 inches and has 144 pages of my best images of the beautiful birds of Vancouver Island.

The book sells for $35 or two for $60 and can be purchased on my website or at a bookstore near you (if you live on Vancouver Island).

To find out more or order a copy today  – click here

What others have said about “Birds of Vancouver Island”

“What a delight! Glenn Bartley has captured the beauty and amazing diversity of the birds of Vancouver Island. And honestly, I’m not at all surprised. Glenn is among the most talented bird photographers working today. He presents action, color, and characteristic poses so well that it seems as if the birds will come flying off the pages. The people of Vancouver Island are lucky to have Glenn show them their birds.”
Matt Mendenhall, Birder’s World Magazine

“Glenn Bartley’s portraits of birds continue to amaze me! Beyond their technical excellence, each transcends photographic representation, becoming fine artistic expression. In what is an increasingly crowded field, he is one of the few nature photographers that I would consider to be truly gifted. Birds of Vancouver Island is a fabulous achievement.”
Ron Ridout, Bird Studies Canada

“Glenn Bartley’s Birds of Vancouver Island: A Photographic Journey is an amazing compilation of familiar birds as we wish we could see them. His beautiful photographs capture and hold still those fleeting moments birders live for.”
Ann Nightingale, Rocky Point Bird Observatory

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I have added a gallery of the best images from my cross Canada trip here…

I have also added a video blog here…

Enjoy!

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) perched on a cliff in British Columbia, Canada.

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I have just returned from an unforgettable 2 weeks up in Churchill, Manitoba.  What an amazing place. Between the birds, polar bears, icebergs and wide open expanses of tundra – it truly was an incredible experience.

I had a few days to explore Churchill on my own before the group of photographers that I was guiding around showed up.  I spent that time out in the field…every last second of it.  The days were long and exhausting.  Spending 15 hours a day in the field did yield some rewards though…

Once the group showed up we had a wonderful time.  Starting off with nailing our first target bird (Spruce Grouse) the week got off to a great start. Before long we had all photographed Red-necked Phalaropes, Stilt Sandpipers and Bonaparte’s Gulls too.

As the week went on we had some phenomenal opportunities at most of the Churchill targets.  Whimbrels and Willow Ptarmigans were especially photogenic.

Despite several searches the Smith’s Longspurs never did cooperate.  But we got Blackpoll Warblers, American Golden Plovers and quite a few other good birds.

After the workshop I had a few days to myself again and I immediately went out in search of one very special bird that, despite several attempts, proved to be too skittish to photograph with the group.  My efforts paid off and I was thrilled to capture this stunning female Pacific Loon on my last day.

I am now in Jasper and working my way back home.  Hopefully I’ll pick off a few more targets along the way.  Stay tuned to see what I get 

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Well…the weather did NOT improve in Brandon. In fact it got worse! Some areas near Brandon got 150mm of rain in about 36 hours. Needless to say I decided camping was a bad idea and I retreated to the shelter of a nearby motel. And then…The motel flooded too!!! It was a wet couple of days to say the least.

But the storm clouds finally cleared and I headed up to Riding Mountain National Park. The highlight of the three days I spent there was definitely a gorgeous Connecticut Warbler that I found singing on territory. Another nice find was an area that had recently been burned through a prescribed burning program. This was a great area to find both American Three Toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers.

Connecticut Warbler

Black-backed Woodpecker

After Riding Mountain I moved further north to Grass River Provincial Park and found a nice Bay-breasted Warbler to photograph. I was pretty excited about this as they are one of my favourites.

Bay-breasted Warbler

I took one night off from photography to go fishing with a really nice Manitoban that I met at the campground. We caught tonnes of fish and I hooked into this monster Northern Pike. I hadn’t been fishing in ages. It was fun!

35 inches of monster Northern Pike...

I’ll add a few more pics in too from the prairies that I have finally processed. Up next it is off to Churchill for almost 2 full weeks. Should be quite a trip…

Chestnut-collared Longspur

Cliff Swallow

Canyon Wren

Rock Wren

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The first week and a half of this trip have flown by.  Good weather, quite a few cooperative birds, and a whole lot of driving have made for a very fast pace start to the trip.

I write this now from Moose Jaw, SK where I sought shelter last night from a thunderstorm that was supposed to be rolling in.  It never did…but the weather does look pretty miserable for the next few days.  Maybe that will give me some time to go through the 5000 or so images I have taken so far

It’s hard to say what the highlights have been so far as there have been many.  But I think Mountain Bluebirds, A nice variety of shorebirds and some amazing waterfowl photo opportunities have been what really stands tom me.

I’ll attach a few pictures that I have taken so far.  Please note that I am using my old laptop which I really dont trust to edit photos on.  So these are straight out of the camera Raw to jpg conversions with no real processing.

Later today i will move on towards Brandon and hope for some better weather so that I can get after some more prairie birds.  After that I’ll be in Riding Mountain NP and then northwards for Thompson.

All the best!

Glenn

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It has been an awesome start to the spring here on Vancouver Island.  I have been absolutely loving spending so much time out in the field and working on some tough target species that had eluded me until now.  But as much as I love the Island…I am pumped for my upcoming road trip!!

Cassin's Vireo (Vireo cassinii)

Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni)

Tomorrow I leave for another great adventure.  This time I’ll be driving from my home in Victoria, BC all the way north to Thompson, MB (approx 3000km away). From Thompson I will board a train to Churchill, MB which is another 550 km further north on the shore of Hudson’s Bay.

The great thing is that I have a month to get to Churchill.  So I will be slowly working my way across Canada – stopping all along the way to photograph a huge list of target bird species.

Once I get to Churchill I am co-leading a week long photo workshop there with my good friend David Hemmings.

So stay tuned for more updates from the road.  I will try to post a few updates along the way

See you in July!

Glenn

The red line shows my route (more or less).

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The Rufous Hummingbirds have been back in Victoria now for a few weeks.  I wish I had a feeder setup so that I could try for some flight shooting…but for now these will have to do

While on the topic of hummingbirds…I have also added a new gallery on my website “Hummingbirds of the World”.  Check it out here:

http://www.glennbartley.com/naturephotography/articles/HummingbirdsoftheWorld.html

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) perched on a branch in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) perched on a branch in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) perched on a branch in Victoria, BC, Canada.

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I recently bought a pair of chest waders and am absolutely loving the freedom to get right in the water with the birds.  Two opportunities to do so presented themselves this week.

The first was for Marsh Wrens.  These little songsters can be really tough to get a clean shot of.  Being limited to shore was VERY frustrating.  But by observing their favourite singing spots and by having the freedom to get right in the marsh (up to my waist) I was able to get the image I was after.

Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) perched on a cattail in a marsh in Victoria, BC, Canada.

The second opportunity to bust out the waders came at my favourite golden pond.  Getting right in the water with my camera only inches above the water gave me a whole new perspective that had been previously impossible to achieve.

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) swimming on a pond near Victoria, BC, Canada.

Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) swimming on a pond near Victoria, BC, Canada.

Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) swimming on a pond near Victoria, BC, Canada.

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For me Pintail’s are one of the most elegant and beautiful ducks out there.  I just love ‘em.

This winter I really wanted to work on capturing more images of birds in flight – and Northern Pintails were one of my top targets.

Here are a few images from the past few weeks that I hope you will enjoy

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Hi everyone,

Since getting back from Trinidad I’ve had quite a few days out in the field here on Vancouver Island.  Mostly I’ve been trying to go after species that I didn’t have great images of from past years.  A few of my top targets have been the Green-winged Teal, Anna’s Hummingbird, Northern Pintail in flight and who can resist Buffleheads?

Hopefully you enjoy these few images

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) flying in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) perched on a branch in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) swimming on a pond near Victoria, BC, Canada.

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) swimming on a pond near Victoria, BC, Canada.

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