April 13 2016 - Lonsdale Quay

Today I had to take time off for a dental appointment in North Vancouver. To ease the pain I try to leave work early and do some North Shore birding. I only had time for one stop today, so the logical place was Lonsdale Quay, only a few minutes from my destination.

My target birds here would be Pelagic Cormorant and Pigeon Guillemot. The quay is one of the easiest places in the Lower Mainland to see the Guillemots. There is a small breeding population that build nests under the quay.

On arrival, it did not look very promising. However, as I walked to the east side I saw this female Common Goldeneye duck.

Common Goldeneye (F) - Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver BC

I then spotted a Cormorant in the water, but it was the more common Double-crested that I had seen on a few occasions this year.

Double-crested Cormorant - Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver BC

I then walked to the Northeast corner of the pier and spotted a Pelagic Cormorant. These birds are quite common on Burrard Inlet and also on False Creek. They like to nest on bridges and both the Second Narrows and the Granville Street bridges have many places to build a nest.

This bird had just caught a small fish and was attempting to hide it under the water until it could get under the quay. Unfortunately, a Glaucous-winged Gull was watching and swooped in for the steal.


Pelagic Cormorant and Glaucous-winged Gull - Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver BC



The bigger gull was successful, leaving the Cormorant angry and still hungry.




Pelagic Cormorant - Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver BC

If you look back at the Double-crested in the earlier photo, the differences in the two species are obvious. The DC is a bigger bird with a prominent Yellow/Orange bill. The Pelagic is smaller with a darker and smaller bill. the pelagic also has the white spot on the rear quarters.

My time was running out and I was still hoping to see Pigeon Guillemots.These birds are members of the Alcid family and are related to Murres, Auklets, and Puffins. I searched for the origin of the name but could not find any reason they were called Pigeon Guillemots, perhaps a vague resemblance.

Like all alcids, these birds live in the ocean and only come ashore for breeding purposes. As I was leaving I heard some interesting calls. I was in luck. This photo captures a Guillemot (I assume a male) calling for its mate.


Pigeon Guillemot - Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver BC

It's always a good move to show off your stuff in mating season.


The female must have liked what she saw and heard as she came out from under the quay.


I assumed that this was an already mated pair since they seemed to be familiar with each other.



However, since people were watching, decorum had to be preserved.


That ended my birding excursion, it was time to go get my teeth cleaned and be lectured about not brushing properly.