Richmond Birding on a Sunday morning

At this time of year I like to hit two spots in Richmond, the Richmond Nature Park on Wastminster Highway and Iona Regional Park north of the Airport.

First up was the Nature Park. It was early and no one else was there yet. I come here to check out the bird feeders to see some of the more common finches close up. I was not disappointed today. The first bird I saw at the feeder was the beautiful male Purple finch.


Purple Finch - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

This bird is identified by the Reddish/Purple colour that bleeds into the feathers on the breast. The call is also diagnostic and I had heard it singing. It can be easily confused with the similar House Finch.

Next up is a female Purple Finch along with an American Goldfinch. The female Purple can be hard to distinguish from the House Finch. The heavy bill and the streaky breast are good field marks.

Purple Finch (F) and American Goldfinch - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

There was a male House Finch here as well and you can see apparent differences in colouring and the breast area where the red is more contained.

House Finch - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

Also present was a Song Sparrow, a good specimen of the Pacific Coast variety.


Song Sparrow - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

That was it for the Richmond Nature Park.

Sunday morning at the sewage ponds, does it get any better than that. I came here to see Blue-winged Teal, a small duck that had eluded me the last year. They had been reported here in the last day or two.

As I was walking in, the first sightings were some small sandpipers (also known as Peeps). The Least Sandpiper, as it's name suggests, is the smallest Sandpiper seen in the Americas. The distinguishing field marks are the size (although the other peeps are only marginally bigger), the yellow legs, a crouching posture (not seen in the photo below) and a short fine-tipped bill.

  Least Sandpiper - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

Also seen were Western Sandpipers, the most common shorebird seen here during Spring and Fall migrations. This bird has black legs, a long thick bill and a reddish colouration (especially in spring).

Western Sandpiper - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

I was still looking for the Blue-winged Teal, but the first ducks that caught my eye were these Gadwall. The one in the middle is a female, the other two are males. I'm not sure if the foreground one is a full adult or a juvenile.


Gadwall Ducks - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

Since ducks breed early in the year, there were a few families out on the ponds, including this Female Mallard and here brood.

Mallard - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

I finally spotted the Blue-winged Teal. they are very distinguishable with their colouring and the crescent moon white patch on the face.

Blue-winged Teal - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

At one point they were mixed in with Mallards and the size discrepancy between the small Teal and the larger Mallards as notable. This was taken with the IPhone through the spotting scope.

Blue-winged Teal and Mallard - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

My last sighting was this Dowitcher. I'm assuming it was Long-billed rather than Short-billed, but this is a guess based on fresh water (with sewage mixed in). These two species are very hard to tell apart, the best diagnostic is the call. This bird was silent. 

The photo captures how colourful the breeding plumage is, they will be much plainer when they return from the North in a couple of months.

Long-billed (?) Dowitcher - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

This ended a pretty nice Sunday morning birding trip.