2016 - Best of the Year

I'm ending the year with a retrospective featuring my best photos of the year, along with a very nice surprise in November (you'll have to read most of the post to see it).

I picked out the best one or two photos for each month of the year. Many of the birds are quite common, which makes them easier to get good shots in optimum conditions. However, there's a couple of life list birds included.

January

This bird was a lifer of sorts. I'd seen it before in France in 2009, but the Black-headed Gull I saw at Trout Lake in January was the first for my North American list. We get the occasional stray of this Eurasian species every once in a while. In this case it was very accessible with good light. In the summer the gull has a completely dark head.

Black-headed Gull - John Hendry Park (trout Lake), Vancouver BC

February

This is one of two photos in this post that was taken with an IPhone through my spotting scope. This is a male Northern Harrier seen at 72 St on Boundary Bay. Something about this shot really gets my attention.

Northern Harrier - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

March

This is the start of mating season and males are singing to declare territory and attract a female partner. These were both taken at Iona Regional Park in Richmond.

Marsh Wren - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

Song Sparrow - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

April

April's birding highlight was a trip to the Okanagan with my friend Mary-Jean for a 3 day guided birding tour. We saw many great birds, but I've found it hard to take really great shots due the rushed nature of the tour. The best photo I took was on the way home when we stopped at Manning Park for lunch. I just love the detail on this Common Raven. I'm not sure if this is before or after Mary-Jean fed it here leftover avocado.

Common Raven - Manning Provincial Park, BC

May

By this time of year, breeding season is in full swing on the West Coast. I'm not sure it this Common Yellowthroat female was protecting eggs or nestlings, cut she was avoiding attention as much as possible. This was taken at Pitt Lake looking down from the centre dike trail.

Common Yellowthroat (F) - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

I couldn't resist posting this one again, the colours on this male Purple Finch really stand out in breeding season. 

Purple Finch - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

June

I was back in the Okanagan for my annual golf trip. I stayed a couple of extra days for birding and saw many great birds. 

The first was this Veery seen near Peachland. I believe this was a very recent migrant as it appeared to be tired and was out in the open, which is rare this and related Thrush species.

Veery - Hardy Falls Provincial Park, Peachland BC

Another great photo happened at Manning Park on my way home. The detail on this Steller's Jay is comparable to the Raven from May.

Steller's Jay - Manning Provincial Park, BC

July

Edith and I travelled to Alberta to visit family in Calgary. I had some great birding there and took a lot of great shots. I also bought a second camera for my birthday, a Nikon P900. It only lasted a week before it broke down and I didn't get a replacement until September. 

However, I took this shot with the original at Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta. This camera excels with close-ups, this Cedar Waxwing was about 6 feet away when I took this.

Cedar Waxwing - Waterton Lakes National Park, AB

August

The migrating shorebirds start arriving from the north in mid to late August. I spend a lot of evenings at Boundary Bay in the Fall as many uncommon species show up. Late in the month I was fortunate to be present when a Ruff was found close to shore at high tide. This is another rare (for here) Eurasian bird that appears here every one or two years. The best shot I took was another digiscope with the IPhone.

Ruff - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

September

Many times when you see a life bird for the first time, you scramble to get any kind of shot you can. In late September, an alert was out for a Rock Wren seen at Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver. In this case, I found the birders watching the bird and quietly joined them. The Wren was 4 - 6 ft away and unconcerned with our presence.This shot was waken with my replacement Nikon, which had arrived about a week earlier.

Rock Wren - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

I wouldn't need to wait long to see my second Rock Wren, stay tuned for my 2017 Birding Blog.

October

Blackie's Spit is another good site for shorebirds in the Fall, especially the larger ones like Godwits and Curlews. I was able to get quite close to this Long-billed Curlew on a Sunday afternoon. 

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

November

I make many trips to Point Roberts throughout the year. The open ocean and Rocky shoreline at Lighthouse Marine Park provide a different habitat that the shorelines around the lower Mainland. I took this shot I took of some Sanderlings that suddenly appeared as I was scoping for Loons and other seabirds.

Sanderling - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts Wa.

This photo appealed to my friend and former co-worker Margaret Roberts. I didn't know she had artistic talent until she emailed me with a photo of a painting she did of the scene. She's given me permission to post it here.

Sanderling by Margaret Roberts

December

In the winter birders are on the watch for irruptive species that come down from the North to enjoy a bit of our milder winter weather (this year may have surprised them). One of my favourites are Bohemian Waxwings. I made a fast Sunday morning trip to Pitt Lake and was lucky to find a large group of these birds. The lighting was surprisingly good resulting in shots like this.

Bohemian Waxwing - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

And finally, I have to include my Christmas bird, a Pacific Wren seen on a brief outing at Deas Island Regional Park.

Pacific Wren - Deas Island Regional Park, Delta BC

This wraps up the 2016 Blog, you can see an index to the three blogs I created on my website here:

2016 Bird Blog Index

Stay tuned for a 2017 Blog.

Last day of the Year at Reifel

I decided to spend my last birding day of 2016 at Reifel Bird Sanctuary. I knew I'd see a good selection of birds there, and I could start chasing rarities again in the New Year. I hoped to see some of the winter Owls, but that was not in the cards.

The first notable birds I saw were these two Bald Eagles. They performed a near simultaneous landing in a treetop. I suspect they were a mated pair.

Bald Eagles - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

In the nearby pond on the north side of the sanctuary I spotted  a number of Hooded Mergansers. These ducks feature very interesting crests. The showy male is on the right, the female is striking as well.

Hooded Merganser - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I assume there was some courting action going on with the males trying to impress the female audience.

Hooded Merganser - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

As I headed on the path toward the North Dike, I spotted some Wood Ducks above eye level. They come by their name for the practice of nesting in cavities or boxes in trees, usually around water. This shows two males and a female on the right.

Wood Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Since Reifel has so many visitors, many handing out bird seed, the songbirds are less shy here compared to wilder areas. This affords one to get some nice close-ups of seed loving sparrows, including Towhees.

Spotted Towhee - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Here's another example, a Golden-crowned Sparrow. This species is only seen west of the Rockies. Whenever I post a photo on a site based out of Montreal called BirdViewing , I always get oohs and aahs. Of course they have many more Warbler species than we do.

Golden-crowned Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I took a right turn down to a blind where I'd seen and photographed a Kingfisher in a previous post. This time the pond was frozen over, something this immature Bald Eagle was trying to cope with.

Bald Eagle (Imm) - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

A bird that really looks miserable in cold weather is the Great Blue Heron. I've seen many birds looking like this one in rural Delta since the cold snap started.

Great Blue Heron - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I circled back to the larger ponds and spotted some Ring-necked Ducks. I've mentioned that they seem misnamed in previous posts, but the photo below does show the ring on the male.

Ring-necked Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The female does not have a discernible ring in this shot.

Ring-necked Duck (F) - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The last ducks I saw were Common Mergansers, once again in courting mode. Little do the females know that the Males (on right) will take off and leave them with a dozen or so chicks to take care of.

Common Merganser - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

This ended my last outing of the year, but not necessarily the last post on this blog.

December 30 - Quest for the Gyrfalcon

I mentioned in my November 19th post that I had missed out on seeing a Gyrfalcon at Brunswick Point because I had to leave to go work: Nov 19 - Brunswick Point . I tried again on December 3rd but had no luck.

I was off from work until January, so I had more time to spend on this day's outing. On my way to Brunswick Point I stopped in a rural area that can be productive for Raptors and possibly Shrike.

My first bird of the day was this Red-tailed Hawk. it looks quite threatening in this photo but it was just stretching its wings and was not threatening the photographer.


Red-tailed Hawk -  33 Ave and 34 St, Delta BC

There were many cars parked on the side of the road as Brunswick Point is popular with duck hunters, dog walkers, and birders. It is also popular with photographers whose one goal is to shoot Short-eared Owls.

The first bird I saw was virtually ignored by most people even though it was out in the open. It was a Cooper's Hawk, a small Accipiter that hunts songbirds and small mammals. Although I had seen a couple of them this year, this was my first opportunity to get some photos. This one was taken with the Nikon.

Cooper's Hawk - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

The other common species out on the foreshore is the Northern Harrier. They compete with the Short-eared Owls and often steal their catches. 

Northern Harrier - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

The Gyrfalcon  location was about another kilometre along the trail, farther than the casual trail users go. My mantra for rarities is  "Don't worry about finding the bird, just find the birders". This paid off once again as there were three people up ahead looking into the tall trees that surround a berry farm.

The Gyrfalcon was in the trees, but was sitting in an obscured location that was poorly lit. This photo was taken with the Canon SLR and cropped after downloading. The dark colouring indicates that it is a juvenile as adults are mostly gray or white

 

Gyrfalcon (Imm) - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

After a while the bird moved to a more open location and I was able to get this shot with the Nikon zoomed out to the maximum.


Gyrfalcon (Imm) - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

The Gyrfalcon is the king of the falcons with a wingspan of about 4 feet and weighing about 3 lb. A Peregrine Falcon is about half the weight, although the wingspan is just a bit less. At this location it would hunt both the Ducks and shorebirds along the coastline.

As I made my way back to the parking area I spotted this male Common Goldeneye in the Fraser River.


Common Goldeneye - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

Right by the parking area were a couple of Swans in a farmer's field.

Trumpeter Swan - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

The Gyrfalcon was the last bird I added to my 2016 year list, it was number 209.

December 27 - Boundary Bay Owls and Raptors

I had some errands to run in the morning and decided it was time for an afternoon visit to Boundary Bay in Delta. In the winter, the dike at 72 St. is a great location to see Short-eared Owls. There's usually a good collection of raptors there, too. The weather was quite clear which made for good photographic lighting conditions.

My first sighting was an American Robin, showing the quality of the light.

American Robin - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

A common bird in the winter is the Golden-crowned Sparrow. This is probably a first winter bird.

Golden-crowned Sparrow - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Since this post is supposed to be about raptors and Owls, here's an adult Bald Eagle that flew overhead.


Bald Eagle - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Next, I heard a loud commotion overhead and saw two juvenile Bald Eagles, one chasing the other. I don't know if this was a sibling battle or if food was involved, but the higher one definitely was the chaser and seemed to have the advantage.

Bald Eagle - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

North of 72nd St just off the dike is a BC Hydro Electrical compound. The Owls like to come here and perch on the fence posts. 

BC Hydro Compound - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

It's also a good location for Northern Harriers looking to steal prey from the smaller Owls.

Northern Harrier - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

The Short-eared Owls were actively hunting, but were staying out in the open field just out of camera range. One did fly a bit closer in allowing me to take this shot.


Short-eared Owl - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Finally this or another Owl came into the compound and landed on one of the taller posts in the back. I had time to get off a couple of shots using the super zoom on the Nikon. This is a bit soft, but the best of the day.


Short-eared Owl - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

This was the only close-up opportunity for the day. I took some other shots as the sun faded but nothing that would follow this one very well.

Watching the Owls and Harriers fight over the food made me wonder how they have the energy to survive. The Owls chase each other, and the Harriers chase the Owls.

Boxing Day - birding in the snow

The day after Christmas the snow started falling in the morning so it seemed like a good idea to stay close to home. I have snow tires, but this doesn't protect me from cars without them.
I drove down to the Delta Nature reserve which is part of Burns Bog. The ambience was beautiful with the snow.

Delta Nature Reserve, North Delta BC

I didn't have high hopes for many birds in these conditions, but after about 15 minutes I heard loud tapping nearby signalling the presence of a woodpecker. It took a bit of time to locate the source as it was lower than I thought. It was a Pileated Woodpecker. I was so close that I could only photograph the top part of the bird.

Pileated Woodpecker - Delta Nature Reserve, North Delta BC

On the way back I spotted two Hairy Woodpeckers, but it was snowing too heavily to take a good photo by this time. Here's a Hairy in our backyard taken on Christmas afternoon.


Hairy Woodpecker - Backyard, North Delta BC

Our resident Anna's hummingbird did well with all the snow. I made sure we kept the feeder unfrozen, bringing it in at night when necessary.


Anna's Hummingbird - Backyard, North Delta BC

Christmas Day Excursion

It was just Edith and I on Christmas morning, but we were hosting 12 for dinner. After opening our gifts, Edith told me I had 1 to 2 hours before anything else was scheduled. I decided to check out the Fraser River for ducks along River Road and perhaps have a quick peek at Deas Island Park.

By this time of year Ducks are paired up and getting ready for nesting. On Christmas day, River Road was not busy so I was able to stop and take some photos. The first pair I saw were Gadwall. The male is on the right followed by the female.


Gadwall - Fraser River, Delta BC

A bit further along was a larger group of ducks including this Mallard pair.


Mallard - Fraser River, Delta BC

And a larger group of Northern Pintail, probably two mated pairs.


Northern Pintail - Fraser River, Delta BC

I arrived at Deas Island Park and had the place all to myself.  I'd birded here before but never had much luck. Today that would change.

I normally head to the south side of the island, but the trails looked very icy, so I took the north fork instead which led to the Island Loop trail..


Island Loop Trail -Deas Island Park, Delta BC

There were a few bird sounds coming from the woods so I made some pishing noises. A small bird popped out nearby. I was pretty sure it was a Wren, most likely Pacific. Since no one was around, I decided to try a little playback of the call on my phone a bit further along on the trail. This brought the bird out and I took a few shots with my Canon.


Pacific Wren - Deas Island Park, Delta BC

Pacific Wren - Deas Island Park, Delta BC

I also had my Nikon Coolpix and got one shot off with it. The result was quite surprising.

Pacific Wren - Deas Island Park, Delta BC

I'm not sure how the camera made this transformation, but the results are impressive. I have to admit that the other two photos more closely match what I was seeing.

There were a few other birds around but it was time to leave. As I was walking back to the car, I saw this Junco on the a patch of ice. It looks like someone had thrown some seed down for the birds.

Dark-eyed Junco - Deas Island Park, Delta BC

That was it for Christmas birding, the Wren was an unexpected gift.