Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake Regional Park), Richmond Nature House Weather: Cloudy, intermittent showers, around 8-10ºC
The Outing
The forecast told of doom (or at least rain), so we headed out with trepidation to our first stop, Piper Spit. To avoid getting drenched, we parked at the Nature House, which didn’t help our step count, but did keep us safe from a potential drenching.
There was a bit of a breeze and as a result it was rather chilly. It did sprinkle on and off a bit, but not enough to interfere with the shoot. We once again saw a mix of spring and winter migrants, though the buffleheads were nowhere to be seen today.
A new arrival at the lake was the cowbird, tangling with the geese for some seed.
We moved on to the Richmond Nature House and spent time watching squirrels gorging themselves at the bird feeders. A few birds used them, too, but mostly stuck to grabbing seed that was spilled onto the ground. Doves and finches were mixed in with the usual suspects.
The hummingbird count was way down, but one particular rufous hummingbird repeatedly stopped to assert control on its territory. Nic got a little too close one time, and the rufous dive-bombed him to make its displeasure known. No one messes with hummingbirds. The rain actually held off completely here, so we opted to press our luck further and go to Colony Farm after a bite to eat.
Alas, the weather turned while we were eating, with The Rains arriving, so we bowed out at that point. Overall, though, we got a lot more in than we might have expected, given how wet the day was looking.
The Shots
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- Blackbird
- Black-capped chickadee
- Cowbird
- Fox sparrow
- Golden-crowned sparrow
- House finch
- Mourning dove
- Purple finch
- Rufous hummingbird
- Song sparrow
- Spotted towhee
- Tree swallow
Waterfowl:
- American coot
- Canada goose
- Green-winged teal
- Lesser scaup
- Mallard
- Northern pintail
- Wood duck
Common:
- Pigeon
- Seagull
Non-birds:
- Red squirrel
- Douglas squirrel
