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.