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.