November 6 - Point Roberts revisited

November is a challenging month for bird-watching for weekend birders like myself. There have been good reports of exciting birds, but the weather has been very wet. On this Sunday morning, the weather was good and there was actually some light for photography.

A Yellow-billed Loon had been seen at Point Roberts, a very rare visitor from the north. There was one possible brief sighting just as I arrived, but the bird dove and never reappeared. Loons can stay under for long times and cover great distances before surfacing.

I took advantage of the good conditions to get some better photos of birds I had seen this year. This first of these was the Red-breasted Merganser, a common sight at Point Roberts in Fall/Winter. My only photos had been flyovers a couple of weeks earlier. This time they were in the water fairly close to shore. I believe this is a female on the left and a male in non-breeding plumage on the right.


Red-Breasted Merganser - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

Red-Breasted Merganser - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

Next was a male Harlequin Duck. They're always a challenge to photograph as the face is quite dark and the eyes are dark as well. This ones looking at the camera, you can just make out the eyes.

Harlequin Duck - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

As I was scoping for the loon, a flock of Sanderlings flew by and landed close to my position. I love the looks of these birds with their distinctive grey and white basic plumage.  
Sanderling - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

I like to colours in this next shot.

Sanderling - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

While scoping for the rare loon, I did see a couple of other species. Here's a digiscope with my IPhone. This is a Common Murre, a medium size Alcid. The spend most of their life in the water, only coming to land to breed. 

Common Murre - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

The next bird was the best of the day, a group of six Pacific Loons about 100 meters offshore. Once again the photo quality is not the best, but this is the first time I've seen this species since 2009, when it was a lifer. This was taken with the Nikon at 83X magnification. The key field marks are the rounded head shape and straight border area on the neck.

Pacific Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

Much closer to shore was a Common Loon where you can see the flattened head and crooked neck stripe.

Common Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa

Another good day at Point Roberts. The Yellow-billed Loon is still being reported as this is written, hopefully there will be a blog post for it coming!

November 4 - White Rock Pier

I took this Friday afternoon off as I had a noontime appointment in South Surrey. There had been reports of crazy numbers of birds off the White Rock Pier including a rare Clark's Grebe. I discovered later that the cause of the activity was a run of Smelt.

As soon as I hit the pier I started scanning for White-winged Scoter, still needed for the year list. There were good numbers of Surf Scoters nearby including this male.

Surf Scoter - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

This immature Scoter had caught something. Their bills are well adapted for breaking shells open.

Surf Scoter - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

Further out, I finally spotted my White-winged Scoter. I was using the Nikon camera and it was tricky to spot and focus on a bird that was about 50 metres away. After a few misses I finally got a shot. The feathers around the eye are distinctive on the male.

White-winged Scoter - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

I believe this bird is a juvenile White-winged Scoter. None of my field guides are totally clear on this identification.

White-winged Scoter (Imm) - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

I reached the end of the pier and saw Bonaparte's Gulls in the water and flying around frantically. In breeding season these Gulls have a predominately black heads, but in Fall/Winter the head is white with a dark cheek spot. They are noticeably smaller than the common Glaucous-winged Gulls that are at the pier year round. Their call is a squeak compared to the larger gulls.

Although they were there in good numbers, this is the only good photo I got. The Black Bill is also different from the common gulls. The Gull is named for a French Ornithologist who happened to be the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte.


Bonaparte's Gull - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

Another bird caught up in the frenzy was the resident Belted Kingfisher, perched nicely on the rigging of a boat moored at the end of the pier.


Belted Kingfisher (F) - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

There were numerous Western Grebes further out (along with the one rare Clark's Grebe). this one's a Western, I did not see the other.

Western Grebe - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

Closer to the Pier was this Horned Grebe.

Horned Grebe - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

On my way back, I saw these ducks, not ones I normally expect to see in salt water.

Mallard - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

September-October Backyard Birds

This is another post on birds I've observed in our backyard. One of the features of my Nikon Coolpix camera is the ability to remote control it from my IPhone. This allows me to put the camera on a tripod, pointed at a feeder or a bird bath, view what's it's seeing from my phone and take photos. It also allows zooming in and out.

However most of these photos were taken the old fashioned way with camera in hand.

The first photos date back to early September when we still had American Goldfinches coming to our feeder. This is their Basic (non-breeding) plumage.

American Goldfinch - Backyard, North Delta BC

American Goldfinch - Backyard, North Delta BC

In the same time frame, our Anna's Hummingbird was a regular visitor, it has not been seen since then.

Anna's Hummingbird - Backyard, North Delta BC

October 9

The next set of photos were taken on October 9th, a day described elsewhere in the blog. After getting back from Reifel Bird Sanctuary, I was sitting on the deck with my camera and binoculars. I saw something in the Apple tree and tried to locate it. When I finally saw it I realized I had something special, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This was a first for our yard.

These are very small birds, about 2/3 the size of a Chickadee. They are not seed eaters, this one must have found a good feast of bugs in the apple tree.

I had my Canon SLR and was able to focus on it a take a few shots:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Backyard, North Delta BC

The broken eye-ring is a good field mark, as this bird is very similar to a Hutton's Vireo. The Ruby patch on the crown is usually suppressed, you can see a hint of it here. 

It wasn't good enough for it to be in a tree, it decided to have a bath.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Backyard, North Delta BC

I tried to get a photo if it in the bath but it moved whenever I pointed the big lens that way. So I ran in and got the Nikon Coolpix and got this shot. The colour saturation with this camera is more pronounced, although the bird was wet at this time.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Backyard, North Delta BC

October 29 - Remote Control trial

As mentioned, I can remote control the Nikon using a wireless connection to the IPhone. I set it up in our sunroom pointing at the seed feeder. The one problem is that our window was quite dirty and if I took it out, the birds could enter our house. I cleaned as much as I could with it partially open, but it did affect the shots.

The two species that were using the feeder were Black-capped Chickadee and Dark-eyed Junco. The chickadees tend to come to the feeder, grab a seed and bolt. They are known for caching food in tree cavities and trunks, saving them for later. So capturing them was tricky.

Black-capped Chickadee - Backyard, North Delta BC

The Juncos would stay longer and eat the seeds while perched, a bit easier to deal with.

Dark-eyed Junco - Backyard, North Delta BC

I took numerous photos, all very similar. 

A bit later I was back out on the deck with the Nikon in hand and took these shots.

Black-capped Chickadee - Backyard, North Delta BC

We have resident Downy Woodpeckers that can been at the Suet feeder every day of the year (as long as there's suet there). Here's the male looking for bugs in the Apple tree.

Downy Woodpecker - Backyard, North Delta BC

The last bird of the day was a Steller's Jay, who announced its arrival very loudly.

Steller's Jay - Backyard, North Delta BC

The Jay was here for a bath and I was lucky to capture it on video. Hopefully it play's properly on the blog.

October 29 - Rainy morning, Sunny afternoon

The day started with heavy, heavy rainfall. I had to go to Burnaby for another reason, but took my camera and binoculars with me. I stopped at Piper Spit in Burnaby Lake Regional Park, normally a very busy place. There was only one other car in the parking lot. I ventured  out to the boardwalk and took a few shots in the rain.



There were some ducks and other birds around. Normally they would be closer, but no one was feeding them on this wet day.

I noticed a group of shorebirds huddled together. I'm calling them Long-billed Dowitchers based on them being in fresh water. They are very difficult to tell from Short-billed, which prefer salt water. And the bill look pretty long!


Long-billed Dowitcher - Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Regional Park, Burnaby BC

One duck that came a bit closer was this female Wood Duck:

Wood Duck (F) - Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Regional Park, Burnaby BC

I came back to my car and noticed some activity in the bushes and tree nearby. I got a nice close-up of a Chickadee.

Black-capped Chickadee - Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Regional Park, Burnaby BC

Upon returning home, I spent some time taking photos in our yard using my Iphone to remote control the Nikon Camera. This is detailed in another post.

The afternoon got sunny and I decided to head out again, this time south to Blackie's Spit at Crescent Beach in Surrey.

As usual, I spotted someone taking photos on the east side of the spit and quietly joined him. He was shooting a small shorebird, which I identified as a Dunlin in winter plumage. These are the most numerous shorebirds on Boundary Bay in late Fall/Winter. 

Dunlin - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

Also in the area were numerous Wigeon ducks, mostly American but a few Eurasian mixed in. This photo shows a Male Eurasian Wigeon defending his territory from a competitor. The background bird is a female.

Eurasian Wigeon - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

We had already seen a few Marbled Godwits mixed in and I had taken some so-so photos. This is the best one I managed. I had seen them earlier in September at Boundary Bay but at long distance.

Marbled Godwit - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

Also joining the party was the Long-billed Curlew, which had been seen here earlier in the month. A fine way to end the day.

Long-billed Curlew - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

October 23 - Richmond, Tsawwassen, and South Delta

October had been very busy at work and rainier than normal. This constrained my birding activities to Sundays only for most of the month. 

There had been a report of a Townsend's Solitaire at the foot of Blundell St in Richmond. This was familiar territory for me as I had lived in the area from 1977 to 1983. 

I parked and headed down towards the dike, checking out the Mountain Ash trees which were loaded with berries. Alas, there were nothing but House Sparrows and Starlings present.

I took this photo of the foreshore to the west of the Richmond Dike.

As I was leaving, I ran into one of my occasional birding buddies, a fellow named Floyd. He suggested we go to the foot of Steveston Highway as there was a good chance of seeing Wilson's Snipe there. 

We were disappointed again as there were only a few Mallards in the area on this day. We did see these interesting looking cattle which turns out be be a Scottish breed.

Belted Galloway - Steveston Highway, Richmond BC

There were a couple of juvenile snow geese off the dike, so it was not a complete washout.

Snow Goose - Steveston Highway, Richmond BC

I parted company with Floyd and drove through the Massey Tunnel and headed for the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty. There had been reports of a Lapland Longspur in the boat launch area, and also huge rafts of Brandt's Comrmorants out on the bay.

I did not see the Longspur, but did get my scope on the Cormorants. They were about 1 Km out, so it was difficult to see the detail. I am counting this on my year list based on the reports by expert birders. Here's the best shot I could manage using the IPhone and spotting scope.

Brandt's Cormorant - South of the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty, Delta BC

On the north side of the Jetty, I did capture this shot of an immature Horned Grebe.

Horned Grebe (Imm) - Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty, Delta BC

I made one last stop on my way home in rural Delta. Just after crossing Highway 99 and taking River Road, there are some cross streets. 68th Street takes you into a farming area where birds congregate in the winter.

Great Blue Heron - 68 St. Delta BC

There is an area on 68th St where I have seen a resident Belted Kingfisher a few times. Today was no exception. The bird is very aware of you and does not like having its picture taken. I took this one before it flew off. 

Belted Kingfisher - 68 St. Delta BC

This was the last bird for this day.

October 16 - Return to Point Roberts

Another Sunday morning at the border crossing. There had been reports of Heerman's and Bonaparte's Gulls at Point Roberts, both needed for the year list. Unknown to me was an additional report of a Brown Pelican there the day before. When I turned up, there were a number of birders already there, some of them members of the Delta Naturalists.

Their primary target was the Pelican, but no one saw it on this day. I spent some time with a woman who had never seen a Heerman's Gull. I described it to her, emphasizing it was smaller than the common Gulls we see, and that it had an Orange bill and black feet. We looked at the gulls on the shoreline, but they were all the common Glaucous-winged variety.

These two are both immature, the left is likely in its third winter, the other probably in it second.


Glaucous-winged Gull - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

This one is an adult:


Glaucous-winged Gull - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

We had just about given up on the Heermans, when she called out that there was one right there mixed in with the Glaucous-winged Gulls. I only had time for a couple of shots and only one turned out. This was a lifer for my friend and a year-list addition for me. I got credit for describing it well to her so she recognized it when she saw it.


Heerman's Gull - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Another bird missing from my year list was Red-breasted Merganser. They are reliably seen at Point Roberts in Fall and Winter but so far I had not seen any. They are normally visible on the surf fairly close to shore.

I saw some birds fly past overhead and thought they might be Mergansers. I was ready the next time they came over and took a couple of flight shots. Although easy to tell from Common Merganser when seen in water, these flight shots are not conclusive. The key differentiator is that the Red-breasted is a salt-water bird while the Common prefers fresh water.


Red-breasted Merganser - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA


Red-breasted Merganser - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

I had already added two species to my year list, but a third was about to appear. I took this first photo assuming that that birds were grebes. It was only on taking the second and seeing the bird close up that I realized they were Red-throated Loons. This was species #200 on my 2016 list.


Red-throated Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

You can see a bit of the Red-throat on this close-up. It is much more prominent in breeding season.


Red-throated Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

So ended another great morning at Lighthouse Marine Park in Point Roberts.