Monday Morning at Pitt Lake

I took the day off work to play golf at Pitt Meadows Country Club in the afternoon. This gave me time to spend an hour or two at Pitt Lake. As I pulled up to the parking spot near Catbird Slough, another car arrived with two birders I knew quite well, Floyd and Peter. We set out together.

I was relating to them my possible American Bittern sighting on May 15th and they said it sounded like one. And then, one flew by. It was very similar to what Mary-Jean and I saw, and they confirmed it was a Bittern, another tick for my life list. I called Mary-Jean on the spot to give her the good news. I did not get a photo as it happened too fast.

We started looking for other birds, the first one seen was this Common Yellowthroat.


Common Yellowthroat - Catbird Slough near Pitt Lake, Pitt Meadows BC

Another bird in the distance was a Belted Kingfisher. This species is notable for the females having more colourful plumage than the males.


Belted Kingfisher (F)  - Catbird Slough near Pitt Lake, Pitt Meadows BC

Another bird seen and heard was a Willow Flycatcher (or Fitz-bew as Floyd calls them). This is a better picture than the one in the previous post from Grouse Mountain.


Willow Flycatcher - Catbird Slough near Pitt Lake, Pitt Meadows BC

We got back in our cars and parked at Pitt Lake. Then we walked north on the dike along the River. We heard Gray Catbird, but had a tough time spotting it and getting any kind of photo. This was the best I could do for my first catbird of the year. I'd see a few more in the Okanagan in early June.


Gray Catbird - Pitt Lake, Pitt Meadows BC

Once again I spotted a lone male Rufous Hummingbird perched on a tree. Seems like every outing has to have one.

Rufous Hummingbird - Pitt Lake, Pitt Meadows BC

By this time I had to head for the golf course while Floyd and Peter carried on. I spotted this female Common Yellowthroat on the way back to my car.

Common Yellowthroat (F) - Pitt Lake, Pitt Meadows BC

That's it for this post. I spent early June in the Okanagan on a golf and birding trip. That will be detailed in a separate blog. There's one more post coming for this blog - Columbia Valley and the Ryder Lake Ramble.

Maplewood Conservation Area

I was out of the house early on this Sunday morning and headed for North Vancouver to visit two birding locations. My first stop would be the Maplewood Conservation area and then  up to Grouse Mountain to walk the Powerline Trail. I added one more stop at the end of the day in Vancouver.

My target birds were migrating flycatchers and warblers at Maplewood. For Grouse I hoped to see Willow Flycatcher, Western Tanager and possibly Band-tailed Pigeon. There was also a chance of Warblers.

I've  had very mixed results at Maplewood with more poor outings than good ones. It is located off the Ironworkers Bridge heading towards Deep Cove, situated on Burrard Inlet. It is split in half by a small salt water inlet.

I was poking around on the East side when I noticed a large bird up high in a tree. My first thought was a Hawk, but it was a Turkey Vulture. It seems that these birds have pretty well spread all across the US and Canada now. It's rare to see one perching so close.

Turkey Vulture - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

I crossed the footbridge over to the West side and heard a few woodpeckers high above. At the marsh I saw this Mallard and her ducklings.


Mallards - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

It's not unusual to see deer on the grounds, I believe this is a black-tailed.


Black-tailed Deer - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

I was almost back at the bridge when I heard an unfamiliar call. There had been reports of migrating flycatchers and sure enough, this was a Western Wood-pewee. Flycatcher ID can be tricky, the Willow Flycatcher is the most common flycatcher in the Lower Mainland. This bird had a different call and behaviour. It would perch on a branch and then sally out to catch bugs on the fly. I used my IPhone birding app to confirm the call I'd heard. It was a Western Wood-pewee.

Western Wood-pewee - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

For a change, I had opportunities to take some close-up photos as the bird was not bothered by my presence.

Western Wood-pewee - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

I took my leave of the Pewee and walked back across the short bridge. There was a couple there who had spotted a mammal in the stream below. I zoomed in and took some shots and showed them the results. We agreed it was an Otter, not a Beaver. After a bit of research at home I concluded it was a River Otter.

River Otter- Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

River Otter- Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

Another photographer tried to get closer and spooked a nearby Great Blue Heron. It flew up to the bridge and landed on the railing, about 6 feet away from me. This was all I could get with my lens from so close.

Great Blue Heron - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

I left Maplewood and headed for Grouse Mountain, unaware they were paving Capilano Road. After a detour through residential areas that took about twelve turns, I arrived. The Powerline trail straddles the base of Grouse Mountain. There is a bit of a climb, but nothing like going up the Mountain on the Grind. Overall it was quiet for birds. I did not see or hear Western Tanager but managed a few shots of other species. The one species I saw but could not photograph was Orange-crowned Warbler. 

The first bird I saw was a Rufous Hummingbird perched on a wire. I've seen Male Rufous in many locations this year, most of them away from Hummingbird feeders.

Rufous Hummingbird - Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver BC

Also on the wire nearby was a Willow Flycatcher. These flycatchers like to sit on a higher perch for long periods and sally out when something appealing flys by. Their call of a loud Fitz-bew is unmistakeable. 

Willow Flycatcher - Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver BC

I got to the end of the trail and turned around to come back. I heard some rapid twittering coming from nearby, it was a flock of Bushtits. One of them was very cooperative and posed for me nicely.

Bushtit - Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver BC

Bushtit - Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver BC

On my way back from North Vancouver I decided to make a quick side trip to the PNE grounds. They had added a nice conservation area a few years ago and someone had recommended it to me. The area was quite nice, but I was probably a bit late in the day (and season) for any special birds.

I did see these immature Canada Geese swimming on the pond.

Canada Geese - Hastings Park Sanctuary, Vancouver BC

And here's a Double-crested Cormorant with what looks like a first year bird.

Double-crested Cormorants - Hastings Park Sanctuary, Vancouver BC

That ended a long day of birding with lots of driving and a good walk in the middle of the day.

Tourism Challenge - Vancouver and Squamish

As mentioned in a previous post, Edith was participating in a Tourism Challenge and I took a couple of days off to accompany her on outings in Vancouver, Squamish and Britannia Beach.

Day 1 was spent in downtown Vancouver around Canada Place and the waterfront. I did not see any birds there, but in the afternoon we walked west to the Bayshore Hotel and then went on a Zodiac Cruise of Burrard Inlet and False Creek.

The most common Gull in Vancouver is the Glaucous-winged. Here's a nice specimen near the Bayshore Hotel.

Glaucous-winged Gull - Vancouver BC

I was hoping to see some grebes or ducks on the Zodiac tour, but no luck there. However, I also expected to see Pelagic Cormorants in False Creek and I was not disappointed. They are colony nesters and love the bridges along False Creek, nesting in the girders and gangways underneath the bridges. They are easily identified by the white patch at the base of their tail. Here's a couple of photos taken from the zodiac.

Pelagic Cormorant - Vancouver BC


Pelagic Cormorant - Vancouver BC

The next day, the tourism challenge took us to the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish. For views of Howe Sound and the Chief (backside) it's hard to beat. This is the day lodge at the top of the Gondola.


While Edith waited here, I took a brief walk on the Panorama Trail. It was quite cloudy so none of my scenery photos turned out. I did see some wildlife, starting with this Chipmunk.


Yellow-pine Chipmunk - Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish BC

Last year on our visit I saw a Sooty Grouse, so I was watching the ground nearby for any signs of movement. Something caught my eye, not a grouse, but a Varied Thrush. I only managed one poor shot.

Varied Thrush - Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish BC

Another small mammal popped out, this time a Squirrel.


American Red Squirrel - Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish BC

Finally a couple of birds appeared in the tree branches above me.The first was a Junco, a common visitor at home in the winter, but now at higher altitude for nesting season.


Dark-eyed Junco - Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish BC

And then a good look at a Yellow-rumped Warbler. This is one of the Western Audubon's race as told by the yellow on the throat. The Eastern Myrtle race has a white throat.


Yellow-rumped Warbler - Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish BC

We took the gondola ride down and headed for the Britannia Mine tour. No birds were seen, but this photo shows the stairs the workers had to climb in the morning, fully loaded down with all the gear they needed for the day. They go up much higher than the photo shows.

Britannia Mine Museum, Britannia Beach BC

That was the end of our tourism challenge mini-vacation. It was back to work the next day and back to regular birding on the weekend.

Victoria Day at Iona Regional Park

Where better to spend a holiday Monday than a sewage lagoon? Actually Iona also has some good habitat outside the lagoon and is very popular with cyclists and walkers.

However, I punched in the secret code that allowed me in to the sewage facility to start my morning. There are four settling ponds on the complex, filled to varying depths of water. The South East and South West ponds are good for shorebirds and dabbling ducks. The diving ducks prefer the deeper North West pond.

As I came in by the SW pond, I saw four Blue-winged Teal. They were in my post on May 8th, but this time they were a in closer camera range. You can see a small bit of the blue on the wings of the left-most duck.

Blue-winged Teal - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

In the same ponds were some mallards, including the white one on the right. This duck is leucistic, a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy colouration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes. (Thanks to Wikipedia).

Mallard - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

The best photo of the day was the Pectoral Sandpiper below. This shorebird was likely on the way north to breed. The bright colours of the plumage are notable, when it returns south in a couple of months it will be much duller and browner.

Pectoral Sandpiper - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

That was it for the sewage ponds, I then took a walk around the Outer Ponds by the parking area and restrooms. I used to depend on a trip to the Okanagan to see Yellow-headed Blackbirds, but discovered a couple of years ago that a few of these birds nest at Iona.  It did not take me long to find a male in the marsh area making his distinctive klaxon like call.

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

Another common bird in the marsh is the Common Yellowthroat, as small warbler. They are much easier to hear than see, but will pop up to a pishing sound (but only once). The male is very striking, a female will be featured in a future post.

Common Yellowthroat - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

Many of my recent posts have included Rufous Hummingbirds away from bird feeders. It's nice to catch them in a natural setting. It is primarily solitary males that I've seen. This may be explained by their total non-involvement in rearing the young after breeding.

Rufous Hummingbird - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

My next stop on the circuit was by the Fraser River, where there are Purple Martin nesting boxes mounted on pilings in the river. I assume this is to prevent land-based predators from climbing up and attacking the young. 

The Martins are colony nesters, so boxes are clustered together. Unfortunately, they were sparsely occupied this year. I did photograph a few of these largest members of the Swallow family. The male is the darker of the two birds.

Purple Martin - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

The next photo photo shows two males, a female and possibly a younger bird.

Purple Martin - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

On the same cable further to the left were a couple of Swallows.

Tree Swallow - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

Barn Swallow- Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

I had now circled back to the sewage ponds and made my way back to the car after a good day of birding at Iona.

Sunday drive to Hell's Gate (and Back)

Each year my wife Edith volunteers for Bard on the Beach. One of the perks is a free BC Tourism Challenge passport. She gets free entry for two at various tourism sites in the province. She has to answer a quiz at each site to earn a stamp on her passport.

It was a rainy Sunday morning when we departed for the Hell's Gate attraction near Boston Bar. The tram  shown below takes passengers across the roaring Fraser River at one it's most treacherous locations. We'd seen a few birds here two years ago, so I brought my camera gear.


Hell's Gate Tram, near Boston Bar BC

On the ride across the river, there happened to be a train heading south. The cars had an eerie robotic look to them.

And here's a look at the Fraser River from the Tram. The suspension bridge is open to guests to walk over the river and get a close-up look.

Ot course, my primary focus is looking for birds and other creatures. The first one I spotted was this Chipmunk.

Yellow-pine Chipmunk - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

There were seed and nectar feeders near the restaurant and there were some birds at each.

Pine Siskin - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

The nectar feeders had male and female Rufous Hummingbirds competing for access. How this species reproduces is a mystery to me. The males were a bit camera shy.

Rufous Hummingbird - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

The female was more willing to come out and show herself.

Rufous Hummingbird (F) - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

On our way home we stopped in Yale for a tour of the Historic site. The only bird present was this Robin.

American Robin - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

This ended out day's outing as we drove home in the rain. We'd be doing more tourism challenges later in the week, enough for a couple more blog posts.

Evening Outing at Boundary Bay

The tide was somewhat favourable so I made a post-dinner trip to 104 St on Boundary Bay. It was not a super productive outing, but I managed a few interesting photos.

The first is the scourge of the bird world, the Brown Cowbird. I've seen these birds a lot this year, which means many nesting songbirds are hosting unwanted guests in their nests. I guess it's part of the natural cycle.


Brown-headed Cowbird - 112 St near Boundary Bay, Delta BC

When I arrived at the dyke on 104 St. the first birds I noticed were Barn Swallows flying along the edge of the tide. This was my first opportunity in 2016 to take some photos of this common swallow.

Barn Swallow - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

There were some shorebirds present, but the tide was out a bit and it was hard to get good photos.
Here's a collection of various sizes.

Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin and Western Sandpiper - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Whenever a non-birder sees someone with a camera, binoculars or spotting scope, they always want to tell us where to see Eagles and Great Blue Herons. Well I found these two Eagles here all by myself.

Bald Eagle (Imm) - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC


Bald Eagle - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Finally, I got a shot of this most common species. I sometime forget how attractive the Male Mallards are.

Mallard - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

That was it for this evening, the Barn Swallow was the best sighting of the night for me as I got to check it off on my 2016 spreadsheet.