Is this a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail or an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail?

You won't find this butterfly in British Columbia.

Instead they have the Western Tiger Swallowtail.

Friends who went fishing gave us some fresh fish

I'm going to clean, cut, marinate, barbecue and fry it for them!

These fish are about 2 feet long.

Does anyone know what fish this is?

Marinating overnight wih a mixture of ground garlic, 

ginger, hot red chilly powder,

Kashmiri chilly powder, vinegar, turmeric, and salt

Frying it

And some on the barbecue

I prefer to grill meat like beef or goat with bone in it, rather than fish,

because fish is very fragile and can break up easily

Find more of my fish recipes here

Servicing the lawn mower

It's 7 years since i started using this lawn mower, and it's trouble-free even today!

I meet people very often whose lawn mowers fail after 6 months.

Why is that?

I prefer petrol-powered lawn mowers to electric ones,

because of their little engines,

And I also love the smell of petrol

😎

TodayI'm going to do some cleaning up and maintenance,

 in addition to the usual oil check-ups.

Although the spark plug is fine after7 years, i'm replacing it with a new one 

Part number is RJ19HX

Lately I notice the grass is getting a little brown after cutting.

This inspite of fertilizing and watering regularly.

Reason - the blade is blunt.

I can either replace the blade (if I can find one easily)

Or sharpen the existing one.

Part number is 942-0741A

Meanwhile, I have very close friends

Who've come to watch me.

"This is my work table my dear.

I need to put the lawn mower on it please?" 

😄

Easy to work underneath the mower when it is placed like this

Also, the oil and petrol won't spill

Remember to unplug the spark plug

Here's the blunt blade

Since I'm presently unemployed, I'm going to sharpen the blade

Instead of buying a new one 

Because it costs less, I have the time, and the motivation to fix it!

Also cleaning the air filter

With air 

All set to mow the lawn again!

It's raining and the wet black-capped chickadees are hungry

This one is doing pull-ups!

Listening to the birds chirping outside while painting the Indigo Bunting

The Indigo Bunting which is part of the Cardinal family,

migrates between Canada, USA, Mexico, West Indies, and South America.

This one was a rare sight outside, and it was certainly in migration

Sometimes i have to turn the painting upside down to get the right effect

Indigo Bunting on the Birch Tree

24"x24" oil painting on canvas

It's been a great day learning to capture the unique flying ability of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Testing my focus with a little bee over the roses

I changed the position of the feeder so that the sun shines on the birds back

While waiting, I can hear 

The female muttering something about me to her partner 

🙄

And here comes the hummingbird!

This tiny bird (about 2 inches long) with it's high wingbeat frequency 

Can not only fly forward,

It can also fly backwards and hover in mid-air, and it is very fast.

While hovering, the hummingbird wings can beat upto 80 times per second!

If you like these photos,

Here are my camera settings.

Shutter Priority (TV)

Shutter Speed 1/8000

ISO Auto

High Speed Continous

Standard

Cloudy

Focus Manual Selection

Evaluative Metering

AF Mode One shot

(The next time I must change this to AI Focus) 🤭

The hummingbird is now a regular visitor

Now the hummingbird has become a regular visitor!

Several visits during the day proves it loves the nectar, and the surroundings.

All sightings are marked on our calendar.

I have to get better at hummingbird photography, 

By trying to capture that high speed movement of its wings!

Will be taking lots of photos over the next few days

Got better details of the wings, and the little feathers on it's head 😄

Unlike the previous photos with a big Sigma telephoto lens on a tripod,

For these photos, I used a smaller Canon lens hand held

with these settings

TV (shutter priority)

Shutter speed 1/2000

ISO 2000

Hope the next series is clearer.