Where: Centennial Beach (Delta), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Mostly sunny, some clouds, 9°C
The Outing
Centennial Beach
In our last outing of 2024, the weather was actually pretty decent–and milder than normal, to boot.
I am still working my way around using Nic’s (borrowed) old camera, but managed to get some decent in-flight shots of geese today, so progress. My hand/eye coordination has finally learned the shutter/back button combo for taking photos, too. My brain is growing!
Centennial Beach had a decent mix of songbirds, plus a passel of yellowlegs and even some surf scoters, though they were way out on the bay (as usual). The tide was also way up, so no traipsing across the mud flats today. I saw a (for me) rare common goldeneye in the li’l pond near the picnic area, but my shots were only so-so. I fared better with others, including a few decent shots of robins, to prove I could still do it. I would be more upset if I regularly took blurry photos of, say, birds of paradise.
And yes, I shot eagle bums. But also eagle fronts, too. They were a bit high up, but that’s eagles for you.
In all, Centennial Beach turned out to be perfectly cromulent.
Piper Spit
It felt colder here, mostly due to the wind, and clouds started blotting out the sun, making for darker, if moody, shots. The land mass remains intact and is still being claimed mostly by gulls and crows. We didn’t see as many songbirds, though there were chickadees darting about, and a few song sparrows.
Off the pier, most of the winter migrants were present, including a lone bufflehead, looking small and adorable, as is their way. Duck drama was a lot more toned down than on other recent visits. Maybe everyone has established their turf, or something.
We even saw two coots being…affectionate?
In all, a good visit, even if the light could have been a bit better. Here’s to brighter days of birding in 2025.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters). Rare, rarely-seen or recently returned birds highlighted in bold.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- Anna’s hummingbird (heard)
- Bewick’s wren
- Black-capped chickadee
- Dark-eyed junco
- Fox sparrow
- Golden-crowned kinglet
- Golden-crowned sparrow
- House finch
- Northern flicker
- Red-winged blackbird
- Song sparrow
- Spotted towhee
- Surf scoter
- White-crowned sparrow
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- American coot
- American wigeon
- Bufflehead
- Canada goose
- Common goldeneye
- Great blue heron
- Greater yellowlegs
- Green-winged teal
- Long-billed dowitcher
- Mallard
- Northern pintail
- Ring-necked duck
- Sandhill crane
- Scaup
- Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
- Assorted gulls
Raptors:
- Bald eagle
Non-birds:
- None?
