Evening Outing at Boundary Bay

The tide was somewhat favourable so I made a post-dinner trip to 104 St on Boundary Bay. It was not a super productive outing, but I managed a few interesting photos.

The first is the scourge of the bird world, the Brown Cowbird. I've seen these birds a lot this year, which means many nesting songbirds are hosting unwanted guests in their nests. I guess it's part of the natural cycle.


Brown-headed Cowbird - 112 St near Boundary Bay, Delta BC

When I arrived at the dyke on 104 St. the first birds I noticed were Barn Swallows flying along the edge of the tide. This was my first opportunity in 2016 to take some photos of this common swallow.

Barn Swallow - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

There were some shorebirds present, but the tide was out a bit and it was hard to get good photos.
Here's a collection of various sizes.

Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin and Western Sandpiper - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Whenever a non-birder sees someone with a camera, binoculars or spotting scope, they always want to tell us where to see Eagles and Great Blue Herons. Well I found these two Eagles here all by myself.

Bald Eagle (Imm) - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC


Bald Eagle - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Finally, I got a shot of this most common species. I sometime forget how attractive the Male Mallards are.

Mallard - 104 St, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

That was it for this evening, the Barn Swallow was the best sighting of the night for me as I got to check it off on my 2016 spreadsheet.

Pitt Lake Revisited

Another visit to Pitt Lake, or Grant Narrows Regional Park as it's also known. I was accompanied by my friend Mary-Jean this time and there was some hope of more birds than my last visit two weeks before.

Our first stop was Catbird Slough, where I had seen the Osprey show that last time. The first bird we saw was much smaller than an Osprey, but maybe just as ferocious.


Rufous Hummingbird - Catbird Slough, Pitt Meadows  BC.

The next birds we saw were a pair of Gadwall. These ducks always seem to be seen together as a pair. The female is in the foreground.

Gadwall - Catbird Slough, Pitt Meadows  BC.

We then drove on to the Pitt Lake parking lot. As we were driving we saw a large brownish bird flying low through the marsh, it had powerful wing beats. Mary-Jean suggested Great Blue Heron, but it was too brown and was flying faster than a Heron does. A couple of days later she had done some research and suggested American Bittern. I tend to agree with that, but I don't feel I saw it well enough to add to my life list.

Updated May 30, 2016 - I saw a similar bird in flight in the same area with other birders. They confirmed it was an American Bittern so Mary-Jean gets credit for her ID after all. I was too slow to get a photo, but had a good look. This is lifer #418 for me and a lifer for Mary-Jean as well.

Once we parked, there was a more common bird on a wire overhead, a Brown-headed Cowbird. Since this bird is a nest parasite (it puts its eggs in other bird's nests), it is not a real welcome sight.

Brown-headed Cowbird - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

A sure sign of late spring is the arrival of Cedar Waxwings. These birds arrive in numbers and always appear in flocks. They are predominately berry eaters, so they are often quite visible as they feed. We both got some good photos, although the lighting was poor.

Cedar Waxwing - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

Cedar Waxwing - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

We saw a few other more common birds on the Nature Trail including a Song Sparrow, a Northern Flicker and a Tree Swallow on the same tree, and a solo tree Swallow.

Song Sparrow - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

Northern Flicker and Tree Swallow - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

Tree Swallow - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

We took a brief walk on the dyke back towards Katzie Marsh where we saw a group of Cedar Waxwings, perhaps the same ones we'd seen earlier.

Cedar Waxwing - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

Back at the parking lot, there was a Common Raven in an interesting spot.

Common Raven - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

On the drive back to Pitt Meadows, I spotted an old friend I'd seen two weeks ago in about the same spot on Rannie Road.

American Kestrel (F) - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

And sitting nearby was a small bird that should have been aware of nearby predators. 

White-crowned Sparrow - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

However, the Kestrel was unaware and we were on our way after a good morning at Pitt Lake.

Colony Farm - Good Start - Poor Finish

I try to visit Colony Farms Regional Park in Coquitlam during spring migration. It's a good place to see Black-headed Grosbeaks and Lazuli Buntings. I'd played golf in the morning, so I did not arrive until mid-afternoon, not the best time for birding.

My first stop was the parking lot off Lougheed Highway and the Mundy Creek trail. I heard some Robin like singing and was pretty sure I had a male Black-headed Grosbeak. But I could not locate the source of the call. I gave in and resorted to using an IPhone app to play the song back.

The bird reacted immediately and flew into another tree. I got off a few shots, this one being the best.

Black-headed Grosbeak - Colony Farm Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

As I was walking back to the car I saw a few butterflies, including this Red Admiral.

Red Admiral  - Colony Farm Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

I moved on to the area by the community gardens and went looking for Lazuli Bunting. The best location is near the Forensic Hospital (which is fenced off). I'd seen the Bunting here last year. I heard some singing but was not able to locate one visually.

This photo was taken in the same location on May 16, 2015.

Lazuli Bunting - Colony Farm Regional Park, Coquitlam BC (May 2015)

I proceeded east into the wildlife area of the park but it was late on a hot afternoon and very quiet. This Spotted Towhee was the only notable bird I saw.

Spotted Towhee - Colony Farm Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

This excursion was like many others this year. I saw one new bird for the year and not much else.

Richmond Birding on a Sunday morning

At this time of year I like to hit two spots in Richmond, the Richmond Nature Park on Wastminster Highway and Iona Regional Park north of the Airport.

First up was the Nature Park. It was early and no one else was there yet. I come here to check out the bird feeders to see some of the more common finches close up. I was not disappointed today. The first bird I saw at the feeder was the beautiful male Purple finch.


Purple Finch - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

This bird is identified by the Reddish/Purple colour that bleeds into the feathers on the breast. The call is also diagnostic and I had heard it singing. It can be easily confused with the similar House Finch.

Next up is a female Purple Finch along with an American Goldfinch. The female Purple can be hard to distinguish from the House Finch. The heavy bill and the streaky breast are good field marks.

Purple Finch (F) and American Goldfinch - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

There was a male House Finch here as well and you can see apparent differences in colouring and the breast area where the red is more contained.

House Finch - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

Also present was a Song Sparrow, a good specimen of the Pacific Coast variety.


Song Sparrow - Richmond Nature Park, Richmond BC

That was it for the Richmond Nature Park.

Sunday morning at the sewage ponds, does it get any better than that. I came here to see Blue-winged Teal, a small duck that had eluded me the last year. They had been reported here in the last day or two.

As I was walking in, the first sightings were some small sandpipers (also known as Peeps). The Least Sandpiper, as it's name suggests, is the smallest Sandpiper seen in the Americas. The distinguishing field marks are the size (although the other peeps are only marginally bigger), the yellow legs, a crouching posture (not seen in the photo below) and a short fine-tipped bill.

  Least Sandpiper - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

Also seen were Western Sandpipers, the most common shorebird seen here during Spring and Fall migrations. This bird has black legs, a long thick bill and a reddish colouration (especially in spring).

Western Sandpiper - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

I was still looking for the Blue-winged Teal, but the first ducks that caught my eye were these Gadwall. The one in the middle is a female, the other two are males. I'm not sure if the foreground one is a full adult or a juvenile.


Gadwall Ducks - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

Since ducks breed early in the year, there were a few families out on the ponds, including this Female Mallard and here brood.

Mallard - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

I finally spotted the Blue-winged Teal. they are very distinguishable with their colouring and the crescent moon white patch on the face.

Blue-winged Teal - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

At one point they were mixed in with Mallards and the size discrepancy between the small Teal and the larger Mallards as notable. This was taken with the IPhone through the spotting scope.

Blue-winged Teal and Mallard - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

My last sighting was this Dowitcher. I'm assuming it was Long-billed rather than Short-billed, but this is a guess based on fresh water (with sewage mixed in). These two species are very hard to tell apart, the best diagnostic is the call. This bird was silent. 

The photo captures how colourful the breeding plumage is, they will be much plainer when they return from the North in a couple of months.

Long-billed (?) Dowitcher - Sewage Ponds, Iona Regional Park

This ended a pretty nice Sunday morning birding trip.

Boundary Bay Shorebirds Part 2

I returned to Boundary Bay two days later after hearing that a breeding plumage Pacific Golden Plover had been seen in a ploughed field on 104 St close to Boundary Bay. It's not unusual for Plovers and some of the larger shorebirds to head for nearby fields when the tide is out.

I stopped and set up my scope by the Burlington Northern tracks and started scanning. I saw a good number of adult and immature Black-bellied Plovers but none of the rarer Pacific Golden.

After a while I noticed a reddish coloured medium size shorebird. it was constantly moving and was difficult to track in the scope. I tried a few digiscope photos, but they were poor. Another birder arrived and I told him I thought a had a breeding plumage Red Knot. These are a very common shorebird on the East Coast, but are uncommon here.

It took a while for him to locate the bird, then I showed him the bird using my IPhone app. He confirmed that it looked like a Red Knot. The bird came a bit closer and I managed a few photos with my real camera. The bird is in the foreground, the others are Black-bellied Plovers.

Red Knot - Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC

We then started scanning the rest of the field and Roger found some Whimbrel at a distance. There are more common large shorebirds with long down-curved bills. These poor photos are digi-scoped with the IPhone. The second shows Whimbrel and a Black-bellied Plover.

Whimbrel - Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC

Whimbrel and Black-bellied Plover - Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC

Boundary Bay Spring Shorebirds - May 5

I had planned to get out to Boundary Bay in Delta to see some spring shorebirds in migration. Finally, on this day, the tides worked in my favour. High tide was happening around 6:00 PM, which allowed me time to get out and see birds on the rising and falling tides.

I took my bicycle to the local Shell station and inflated the tires, it hadn't been used since last Fall. I arrived at Boundary Bay at 104 St, parked and loaded my gear onto my bike. I met a fellow birder in the parking lot, but he was walking so we went our separate ways.

I headed west from 104 St and encountered  a small group of shorebirds about halfway to 96 St.

I noticed a bird similar to a Killdeer in the flock and identified it as a Semipalmated Plover. These birds are closely related to Killdeer, but only have one neck stripe instead of two. They are also much more placid birds. Killdeer tend to be very energetic and fake injuries to draw you away from nesting locations. The Plover tended to ignore observers.


Semipalmated Plover  - 104 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

There was also a small group of Western Sandpipers mixed in with the Plovers. There are the most common shorebird seen on Boundary Bay during migration. A good percentage of the global population moves through Boundary Bay in spring and fall migrations.


Western Sandpiper - 104 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I ran into the other birder again and discovered he was from Chilliwack and a member of the Knopp family. He knew both my sisters and I knew his brothers and sister. Small world.

We spent a good deal of time scoping the shorebirds but the only other distinct species I saw and photographed on this day was this Dunlin shown below. These are a mid-sized shorebird that winters at Boundary Bay. The photo below shows one in breeding plumage with the Rufous sides and the black spot on the breast. It also highlights the size difference with the smaller Western Sandpiper.


Dunlin - 112 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I did see some Black-bellied Plovers through my scope, but I'll save them for my next post where I took some decent photos of this common species.

Sunday morning at Pitt Lake

I like going to Pitt Lake in May as it can be a good place to see migrating birds such as Yellow Warblers, Bullock's Orioles and Eastern Kingbirds. This trip was a bit earlier than usual , but I planned on returning later in the month if necessary.

Once you reach the rural area in Pitt Meadows, there is a long straight stretch through farmland and blueberry fields. I kept an eye on the telephone wires for early morning raptors. I saw a medium sized bird on a wire and pulled over as soon as I could. It appeared to be a small raptor, either a Falcon or an Accipiter. As I walked closer I took numerous photos so I could ID later if it flew.

But the bird remained on the wire and I got close enough to see it was an American Kestrel. It did not have the strong blue and orange colouration that I normally see on Kestrels in the Okanagan. I later discovered that this colouring indicated the bird was a female.


American Kestrel (F) - Rannie Rd, Pitt Meadows BC

My next stop was Katzie Marsh, about a kilometre from Pitt Lake. I've seen Eastern Kingbird and Cedar Waxwings here before. I noticed a photographer taking pictures of a large bird in a tree and quietly went over to join him. He was taking photos of an Osprey, which seemed agitated and was making loud noises.


Osprey - Katzie Marsh, Pitt Meadows BC

It appeared to be defending its territory. Soon three more Ospreys appeared overhead and started to make passes at this one. This action was too close to get photos with my long lens. However, when the first Osprey took flight, I took this flight shot. The lighting on this one was a happy accident.

Osprey - Katzie Marsh, Pitt Meadows BC

Eventually, the others were chased off and the Osprey returned to its perch.


Osprey - Katzie Marsh, Pitt Meadows BC

From the large to the small, my next photo was after parking at Pitt Lake. I love getting shots of hummingbirds on tree branches rather than at feeders.

Rufous Hummingbird - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

I then made the 1.8 KM walk on the nature trail to a viewing tower. The trail runs parallel to a large stream, but is quite claustrophobic in some places. The are large Cottonwood trees towering over you for much of the trail.

It turned out to be too early in the year for most of the spring migrants. I did see this Common Yellowthroat across the water. It was my first of year. This bird is classified as a Warbler, but has only one other member of the genus Geothypis in North America.

These birds are very difficult to photograph as they hide in the under-brush and are very aware when people are around.

Common Yellowthroat - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

At the end of the 1.8 KM walk there is a viewing tower offering beautiful views of Pitt Polder. This was taken in May 2014.

On the way back, the only photo that was worth posting was this pair of Tree Swallows. They are very numerous on parts of the Nature Trail.

Tree Swallow - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows BC

After a great start, the outing trickled off a bit. Hopefully my next trip here would be more eventful.