October 9 - International Birding

There had been some good sightings reported at Point Roberts recently, so I decided to try my luck there on this Sunday morning. I crossed the border quite early and drove over to Lighthouse Marine Park. I always have a sense of anticipation as I approach the park as I've had so many good experiences there over the years.

The first bird I saw was a bit of an ID challenge. I suspected female Surf Scoter, but when I saw the photos at home later on, I changed it to female Harlequin Duck. This species is common here, but I hadn't seen any in quite a while. The oval white patch is the diagnostic for the females, the male is unmistakeable with it's blue, white and orange plumage, but none were present.

Harlequin Duck - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The next photo is a Horned Grebe, a common sight here and at other places such as White Rock pier and Blackie's Spit. However, it was my first of the year. The photo quality is poor, but it is the year record.

Horned Grebe - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

There wasn't much else on the surf, but there was some activity near the shore - a flock of Goldfinches.

American Goldfinch - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Also nearby was a Golden-crowned Sparrow, a common fall and winter sight.

Golden-crowned Sparrow - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

I left Point Roberts and decided to make a side trip to Reifel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island in Delta. It was a short trip from Tsawwassen and the first thing I did on arrival was check out the Duck Ponds by the entrance. I got a nice shot of a photogenic American Wigeon male.

American Wigeon - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I headed south-west and passed by an area where the shorebirds congregate. I believe these are Greater Yellowlegs based on the size and the upturned bill.

Greater Yellowlegs - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I had now reached the West Dyke trail and saw some sparrows on the ground, a White-crowned and a Golden-crowned. Both were first year birds. The juvenile White-crowned causes ID problems for new birders as they have a brownish-red stripe on the head, making them look like Chipping or American Tree Sparrows.

White-crowned (Imm) and Golden-crowned (imm) Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I saw some more ducks in a nearby pond, Reifel is a great place to see numerous species in Fall and Winter. The first was a pair of Gadwall, a very elegant duck and one of my favouritesspecies. The male is on the left.

Gadwall - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Next was a lovely Northern Pintail male, I've never noticed the Orange before.

Northern Pintail - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I came upon another photographer who was taking photos of a group of shorebirds. He believed he was seeing a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, a rare visitor more commonly seen in Asia. We both took numerous photos of the bird, but upon review I concluded it as the much more common (but similar Pectoral Sandpiper. This was confirmed by a group of birders I met later in the day.

Pectoral Sandpiper - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I joined up with that group, it was the Sunday morning bird walk. Near the end we had an unusual trifecta. Out in the main viewing pond was a basking Western Painted Turtle. Nearby in the water was a Pied-billed Grebe. And perching overhead was a Great Blue Heron.

Western Painted Turtle, Pied-billed Grebe, and Great Blue Heron - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Here's a close-up of the turtle.

Western Painted Turtle - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I left Reifel and had one more photo opportunity - a Red-tailed Hawk along one of the rural roads in South Delta.

 Red-tailed Hawk - 34 St, Delta BC

October 2 - White Rock Pier and Blackie's Spit

By this time of year I plan my outings strategically. The goal is to visit sites that might have birds I have not yet added to my year list.

The White Rock pier is the best place to see White-winged Scoters. However, they are mixed in with the much more numerous Surf Scoters. And Blackie's Spit had reports for Long-billed Curlew and Marbled Godwit. I'd already see the Godwit, but the photos were very poor.

It was a nice day and I arrived just as the sun was coming up behind Mount Baker. There were numerous Scoters but they were far off from the pier.

 

I did see this female Surf Scoter close to the pier.

Surf Scoter (F) - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

It was pretty quiet this day, even this Bald Eagle seemed a little bored.

Bald Eagle - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

There's a lady who frequents the Pier who is a Pigeon Whisperer. As I was leaving, she showed up and the Pigeons flocked to her immediately.

Rock Pigeon  - White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

I took this shot as I was leaving, my Nikon Coolpix allows me to take scenery shots without carrying extra lenses.

White Rock BC

After a stop at Starbucks, my next destination was Blackie's Spit. I was confident I'd have better luck there.

One of the birds you're guaranteed to see there is the Common Loon. They come quite close to shore, presenting good photo opportunities. Sure enough, this was the first bird I saw after parking.

Common Loon - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

A bit further out on the spit I saw a pair of Loons, I suspect an adult and offspring. The adult still had some signs of breeding plumage, whereas the other was in Basic (non-breeding) plumage.

Common Loon - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

On the spit's grassy area there were some gulls hanging around. This one is a winter plumage adult California Gull. The distinguishing field marks are the black and red bill tip, and the yellow-blue legs.

California Gull - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

I was fortunate to see a Harbour Seal quite close off shore and took this shot.

Harbour Seal - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

I saw a photographer over on the east side of the spit and headed over to investigate. My mantra is "Don't look for the bird, look for the birders". Once again it paid off, he had a Long Billed Curlew in his sights. I joined him and took a large number of photos of the bird. Here are the best ones.

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

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


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

I had one more look at the Loon as I left. It was dining on some seafood.


Common Loon - Blackie's Spit, Surrey BC

I'd only added one bird to the year list (the Curlew) but the photos I took made it extra special.

September 25 - Lucky Life List Addition

On Friday September 23 a Rock Wren was reported at Maplewood Conservation area in North Vancouver. Although the American Ornithological Union (AOU) classifies them as abundant, I had only heard of one other report in the Lower Mainland in the last few years.

This species like areas of jumbled rocks and slopes, which makes them difficult to find.

I arrived at Maplewood early on Sunday morning and scanned the area around the a small footbridge where the bird was first spotted. The jumbled rocks were plentiful, but no bird was apparent. Another birder came by and asked me if I was looking for the wren. I said yes, and he pointed to a spot about 200 meters away where two other birders were located. He said, they're looking at it right now.

I made my over quickly, while attempting to be quiet and non-intrusive. When I arrived, the Wren was about 3 meters away in plain sight. I snapped off two shots with my Canon SLR as shown below.


Rock Wren - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver.


Rock Wren - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver.

The second photo reminds me of a miniature Burrowing Owl.

This last photo was taken with the Nikon Coolpix. It has a quite different look, richer in colour.


Rock Wren - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver.

The Rock Wren was lifer # 420 for my AOU North America life list.

Not much else was happening so I left to look for a Lewis' Woodpecker that had been spotted near the PNE grounds. I had no luck with that.

I stopped at the Hastings Park Conservancy on the PNE grounds for a quick walk around. This photo gives a feel for  the environment.



There has been a Green Heron reported here quite frequently, but all I saw were a few Mallard Ducks.


Mallard -  Hastings Park Conservancy, Vancouver BC

I headed for home to record my lifer, only my fourth of the year.

September 4 - Iona Ponds and Jetty

There were reports of a Wandering Tattler on the rocks near the end of the Iona Jetty, so I decided to spend the Sunday morning doing the 4 Km walk out to the tip of the Jetty.

Upon arriving, I made a quick diversion to check out the settling ponds in the Sewage treatment plant. There were no notable shorebirds there, but plenty of Sparrows. A Brewer's Sparrow had been reported, but I had no luck with that one. What I did see were many Savannah Sparrows.


Savannah Sparrow - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC


Savannah Sparrow - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

I also saw this House Finch.

House Finch (F) - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

I headed out onto the Jetty, scouring the rocks for any signs of a Tattler ( a rock dwelling shorebird) . 

Looking out to the north, I noticed this raft of Cormorants, an unusual sight so close to shore.

Double-crested Cormorant - Iona Jetty, Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

Near the end of the walk to the tip, I spotted some Common Loons. This one was still featuring most of its Alternate (breeding) plumage.

Common Loon - Iona Jetty, Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

I reached the tip and had no luck with the Tattler. It was quiet overall, but there were some Cormorants out on the rocks. One was sitting in the crashing waves.

Double-crested Cormorant - Iona Jetty, Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

It seemed to adjust its head position with the rhythm of the waves.

Double-crested Cormorant - Iona Jetty, Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

On my way back, I spotted some Ring-billed Gulls. They are quite common, but I had not taken many photos of them so far this year. They are identified by the black ring on the bill and the pale yellowish eyes.

Ring-billed Gull - Iona Jetty, Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

So ended the day at Iona.

September - Boundary Bay Shorebirds and other Migrants

This post details six separate visits to Boundary Bay in the month of September. Each visit was eventful in some way, but most had only a few photos worth sharing. Refer to my August posts on Boundary Bay for details of the annual Fall Shorebird migration.

September 1 - Ruff Revisited

Three days after seeing the Ruff and Buff-breasted Sandpipers, I returned with my friend Mary-Jean hoping to show her at least one of these two rarities.

Upon arriving, we met up with Logan Lalonde, a 16 year old birder from Kelowna. He was the assistant guide on my Okanagan birding tour in April 2015.

I felt the best strategy was to follow Logan as he has the knack of finding birds others would miss. Sure enough, about 15 minutes down the path towards 96 St, Logan and another young birder were stopped and taking photos. 

It was the Ruff, a lifer for Mary-Jean and possibly the first bird she has seen that is classified as Rare in North America (they are common in Europe and Asia). This shot is a bit better than any I took three nights previous.

Ruff - between 104 and 96 St. Bounday Bay Delta BC

The only other photo opportunity was presented by this Pectoral Sandpiper.

Pectoral Sandpiper - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

September 3 - Red Knot and Marbled Godwit

On this evening I met up with a local birder who had come to see a reported Red Knot and the Ruff. He is a hard-core lister and needed these two for his year list. I walked with him and we found the Red Knot west of 104 St in with a group of Black-bellied Plovers.

The term Knot originated in Europe over 200 years ago and may have something to do with King Canute. This species is seen in high numbers in Spring on the Delaware Bay in it's full orange-red breeding plumage. This one was a good sighting as it was still featuring some of that colour.

Red Knot, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

This was my second of the year, I'd seen one in May as detailed in this post:

Boundary Bay Shorebirds Part 2

This shot shows the size comparison between the Knot and Plovers.

Red Knot and Black-bellied Plovers, Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I also had a Marbled Godwit pointed out to me, this one was pretty hard to see. It had its head tucked in and was mixed in with a large number of Plovers. It's the bird on the right. This is my first and only sighting of the year to date.

Black-bellied Plover (left) and Marbled Godwit,  Boundary Bay, Delta BC

This photo was taken near San Francisco last year, showing what the bird looks like.

Marbled Godwit, Belmont Slough, Redwood Shores CA, USA

September 19 - Pacific Golden-plover

Another week night visit to Boundary Bay. I started at 104 St and met up with one of the local shorebird experts. Then a tour group from Minnesota showed up. My companion didn't like this and left to drive to 96 St. I stayed with the group and was rewarded when the tour leader spotted a Pacific Golden-plover.

It was quite far away, and only viewable through a scope. I was able to locate it and follow it as it moved westward. I shared my scope with some of the tour group so that everyone got a look.

This plover is listed as Common on the AOU checklist, and we usually get a handful each Fall in migration. Relative to the thousands of Black-bellied Plovers that come through, it's always a treat.

I took a digiscope movie of the bird and captured this snapshot from that.

Pacific Golden-plover - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Just as I left, I took this shot of a rainbow over South Surrey.

September 20 - Take the Other Turn

I returned the next night and pretty well had the entire bay to myself. I had a plan to head east towards 112 St and see if I could locate some American Pipits. I had seen them near the path and on the foreshore in previous years. Pipits are ground-dwelling songbirds that hunt for insects and small prey in fields and foreshore environments.

This was also the first night with my replacement Nikon Coolpix camera. The one I had bought in Alberta in July broke down after 6 days, and it took 7 weeks to get a replacement. I figured the zoom capabilities would be good for Pipits. 

After parking, I took this shot of a pair of Collared Doves, a sign that no Falcons were nearby.

Eurasian Collared Dove - Boundary Bay Airpark, Delta BC

After walking west about a kilometer I same some movement on the foreshore - Pipits. I struggled getting a photo as they were constantly on the move, this is the best one.

American Pipit - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

As I returned to 104 St, I captured this shot of the rear side of a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Playing with camera, I tried for close-ups of some nearby Plovers. This one's in basic (non-breeding) plumage.

Black-bellied Plover - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

On my way home, I took this sunset shot, something I could not have done with my Canon SLR with the 400mm lens.

September 22 - Out for a Lark

On this night I was accompanied by Mary-Jean and Celia, a mutual friend and co-worker. The tide was not right for shorebirds, but I hoped to find some more Pipits for Mary-Jean. We met up with a gentleman named Roger, who happens to be one of the pre-eminent birders in Canada. He led us to a spot west of 104 St. where there were a pair of Horned Larks.

Larks are usually seen on the ground, similar to Pipits. They are renowned for their song when breeding. In North America we only have the Horned Lark, which is plentiful on the Prairies in the breeding season. There is a small introduced population of the European Sky Lark on Vancouver Island near Victoria.

These photos are a bit on the poor side, but this is my first and only Horned Lark for the year.

Horned Lark - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Horned Lark - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

We headed towards 112 St. to look for Pipits, but our only sightings were some sparrows. The photo below was taken by Mary-Jean. At first I thought it might be a White-throated Sparrow (rare for here) but when she sent me the file, I changed my mind to Savannah Sparrow.

Savannah Sparrow - Boundary Bay, Delta BC by Mary-Jean Payeur

That was it for this night.

September 24 - One last visit

This visit was on a Saturday afternoon, so I had a bit more time than usual. I headed west from 104 St and met up with a group of 3 birders. Two of them were from out of town and were being guided by a well-known local birder. They were all members of the BC Field Ornithologists organization, a group I will consider joining when I have more time for birding.

The tide was ebbing but there were good numbers of Plovers not too far away. The guide picked out a golden plover and we got our scopes on it. We believe it was a Pacific Golden-plover based on the wing projection. It was too far for the cameras, but I took a couple of videos with the phone through my scope. It's difficult to tell which plover it is from these captures.

Pacific Golden-plover? - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Pacific Golden-plover? - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Further on we saw another Plover that was much closer to shore. This one we identified as an American Golden-plover based on the long wing projection past the tail. The bird was close enough for the camera.

American Golden-plover - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

The last bird seen was a Pectoral Sandpiper close to shore.

Pectoral Sandpiper - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

This was my last visit to Boundary Bay for the Fall season. I'll be back there occasionally during the winter and will try to catch some shorebirds in breeding plumage next spring.