September 1 - Ruff Revisited
Three days after seeing the Ruff and Buff-breasted Sandpipers, I returned with my friend Mary-Jean hoping to show her at least one of these two rarities.
Upon arriving, we met up with Logan Lalonde, a 16 year old birder from Kelowna. He was the assistant guide on my Okanagan birding tour in April 2015.
I felt the best strategy was to follow Logan as he has the knack of finding birds others would miss. Sure enough, about 15 minutes down the path towards 96 St, Logan and another young birder were stopped and taking photos.
It was the Ruff, a lifer for Mary-Jean and possibly the first bird she has seen that is classified as Rare in North America (they are common in Europe and Asia). This shot is a bit better than any I took three nights previous.
Ruff - between 104 and 96 St. Bounday Bay Delta BC
The only other photo opportunity was presented by this Pectoral Sandpiper.
Pectoral Sandpiper - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
September 3 - Red Knot and Marbled Godwit
On this evening I met up with a local birder who had come to see a reported Red Knot and the Ruff. He is a hard-core lister and needed these two for his year list. I walked with him and we found the Red Knot west of 104 St in with a group of Black-bellied Plovers.
The term Knot originated in Europe over 200 years ago and may have something to do with King Canute. This species is seen in high numbers in Spring on the Delaware Bay in it's full orange-red breeding plumage. This one was a good sighting as it was still featuring some of that colour.
Red Knot, Boundary Bay, Delta BC
This was my second of the year, I'd seen one in May as detailed in this post:
This shot shows the size comparison between the Knot and Plovers.
Red Knot and Black-bellied Plovers, Boundary Bay, Delta BC
I also had a Marbled Godwit pointed out to me, this one was pretty hard to see. It had its head tucked in and was mixed in with a large number of Plovers. It's the bird on the right. This is my first and only sighting of the year to date.
Black-bellied Plover (left) and Marbled Godwit, Boundary Bay, Delta BC
This photo was taken near San Francisco last year, showing what the bird looks like.
Marbled Godwit, Belmont Slough, Redwood Shores CA, USA
September 19 - Pacific Golden-plover
Another week night visit to Boundary Bay. I started at 104 St and met up with one of the local shorebird experts. Then a tour group from Minnesota showed up. My companion didn't like this and left to drive to 96 St. I stayed with the group and was rewarded when the tour leader spotted a Pacific Golden-plover.
It was quite far away, and only viewable through a scope. I was able to locate it and follow it as it moved westward. I shared my scope with some of the tour group so that everyone got a look.
This plover is listed as Common on the AOU checklist, and we usually get a handful each Fall in migration. Relative to the thousands of Black-bellied Plovers that come through, it's always a treat.
I took a digiscope movie of the bird and captured this snapshot from that.
Pacific Golden-plover - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
Just as I left, I took this shot of a rainbow over South Surrey.
September 20 - Take the Other Turn
I returned the next night and pretty well had the entire bay to myself. I had a plan to head east towards 112 St and see if I could locate some American Pipits. I had seen them near the path and on the foreshore in previous years. Pipits are ground-dwelling songbirds that hunt for insects and small prey in fields and foreshore environments.
This was also the first night with my replacement Nikon Coolpix camera. The one I had bought in Alberta in July broke down after 6 days, and it took 7 weeks to get a replacement. I figured the zoom capabilities would be good for Pipits.
After parking, I took this shot of a pair of Collared Doves, a sign that no Falcons were nearby.
Eurasian Collared Dove - Boundary Bay Airpark, Delta BC
After walking west about a kilometer I same some movement on the foreshore - Pipits. I struggled getting a photo as they were constantly on the move, this is the best one.
American Pipit - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
As I returned to 104 St, I captured this shot of the rear side of a Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
Playing with camera, I tried for close-ups of some nearby Plovers. This one's in basic (non-breeding) plumage.
Black-bellied Plover - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
On my way home, I took this sunset shot, something I could not have done with my Canon SLR with the 400mm lens.
September 22 - Out for a Lark
On this night I was accompanied by Mary-Jean and Celia, a mutual friend and co-worker. The tide was not right for shorebirds, but I hoped to find some more Pipits for Mary-Jean. We met up with a gentleman named Roger, who happens to be one of the pre-eminent birders in Canada. He led us to a spot west of 104 St. where there were a pair of Horned Larks.
Larks are usually seen on the ground, similar to Pipits. They are renowned for their song when breeding. In North America we only have the Horned Lark, which is plentiful on the Prairies in the breeding season. There is a small introduced population of the European Sky Lark on Vancouver Island near Victoria.
These photos are a bit on the poor side, but this is my first and only Horned Lark for the year.
Horned Lark - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
We headed towards 112 St. to look for Pipits, but our only sightings were some sparrows. The photo below was taken by Mary-Jean. At first I thought it might be a White-throated Sparrow (rare for here) but when she sent me the file, I changed my mind to Savannah Sparrow.
Savannah Sparrow - Boundary Bay, Delta BC by Mary-Jean Payeur
That was it for this night.
September 24 - One last visit
This visit was on a Saturday afternoon, so I had a bit more time than usual. I headed west from 104 St and met up with a group of 3 birders. Two of them were from out of town and were being guided by a well-known local birder. They were all members of the BC Field Ornithologists organization, a group I will consider joining when I have more time for birding.
The tide was ebbing but there were good numbers of Plovers not too far away. The guide picked out a golden plover and we got our scopes on it. We believe it was a Pacific Golden-plover based on the wing projection. It was too far for the cameras, but I took a couple of videos with the phone through my scope. It's difficult to tell which plover it is from these captures.
Pacific Golden-plover? - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
Pacific Golden-plover? - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
Further on we saw another Plover that was much closer to shore. This one we identified as an American Golden-plover based on the long wing projection past the tail. The bird was close enough for the camera.
American Golden-plover - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
The last bird seen was a Pectoral Sandpiper close to shore.
Pectoral Sandpiper - Boundary Bay, Delta BC
This was my last visit to Boundary Bay for the Fall season. I'll be back there occasionally during the winter and will try to catch some shorebirds in breeding plumage next spring.
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