Where: Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Blakeburn Lagoons Park (Port Coquitlam), Traboulay PoCo Trail/DeBoville Slough (Port Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 25°C
Tlahutum Regional Park
For a change of pace, we started at Tlahutum and Nic managed to get a shot of what might be a Calliope hummingbird. Merlin was not sure and neither are we.
Despite being morning, it was already fairly warm, but also kind of muggy. This would be the unofficial theme of the day. Also the official theme of the day.
The other official theme of the day was yet to come–more on that below.
We actually did not see a lot of birds at Tlahutum, but we shot many pollinators, giant, scary sunflowers and the scenery.
The highlights were a pair of raptors, an osprey that generously flew right overhead, and a turkey vulture, which is a bird I rarely see. It did not fly directly overhead, but if you zoom in, you can clearly see its turkey-like head.
Blakeburn Lagoons Park
We went to Blakeburn because a green heron has been seen there, and we wanted to get award-winning photos of it. We did see it, briefly, flying across a lagoon, never to be seen again. The animal signs at each viewpoint tease a number of species we’ve never seen, though to be fair, most of them are not birds. We consoled ourselves with scenery, some ducks and then headed out again.
Traboulay PoCo Trail/DeBoville Slough
Today we ventured all the way up the trail and hooked a right to the viewing platform at the end overlooking the Pitt River, before heading back.
It was here that we encountered the other official theme of the day: flycatchers, and plenty of them! They were in abundant numbers and often surprisingly close, so we had no issue getting good shots. There were also multiple kingbirds showing themselves, too.
At one point, a goldfinch appeared and briefly landed on tall grass right in front of us–so close that I didn’t have time to focus on it before it thought better of where it was and took off. Alas.
At one point we saw several people, including someone with a VLL1very long lens, all looking off to the side of the trail toward some trees. We approached, wondering what exotic birds had captured their attention. But surprise twist, it was actually a young black bear, well up a tree and looking somewhat unsure of itself, or maybe very sure of itself. I can’t read bear faces well. It was gone by the time we returned, so I assume it was just exploring and having some fun. We also saw a significantly larger back bear, but it was trundling along in a field and was not interested or really close enough to eat tasty humans. Note to future bears: I am not tasty.
We saw more ospreys here, along with a good number of purple martins, so it proved to be a fruitful, if long and sweaty trek. Plus, the scenery is always nice, especially when the jet skis get out of hearing range.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American Goldfinch
- American robin
- Black-capped chickadee
- Black-headed grosbeak
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Calliope hummingbird (?)
- Cedar waxwing
- Eastern kingbird
- House finch
- Purple martin
- Song sparrow
- Spotted towhee
- Willow flycatcher
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
American coot(not yet!)- Great blue heron
- Green heron
- Mallard
- Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
- European starling
Raptors:
- Osprey
- Turkey vulture
Non-birds:
- A small black bear and a very large black bear
- A fuzzy caterpillar
- Woodland skippers and cabbage butterflies
- Copious other pollinators
- Humans on noisy jet skis
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