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.
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:
Stay tuned for a 2017 Blog.
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