In which I got a slight sunburn!
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Boundary Bay Weather: Sunny, 15ºC
The Outing
The weather for today was unusually mild–it got up to 17C in New Westminster and was around 14-15C at peak at Reifel and Boundary Bay, with little of the wind we saw last time. This is actually record-breaking territory, and one of the few exposed part of my body (the back of my neck) actually got a little sunburned. It’s still technically winter!
The sun meant for lots of light, which was a nice change, but also presented issues with shadows we haven’t had to deal with lately. Still, it was a treat to both have bright light and mild temperatures.
There was some work in the waterway being done near the entrance, with heavy equipment and steel plates being inserted into the water, but I can’t find anything about the work on the official site. I am guessing they are reconfiguring the layout of some of these smaller water bodies for some reason. We were going to ask a staff member, but they were busy helping others. A semi-mystery for now!
Boundary Bay was a complete 180º from the last visit–calm and mild. People were on the golf course wearing t-shirts. In March!
Both Reifel and Boundary Bay yielded a few seasonal returns, notably tree swallows. We did not see a Rufous hummingbird at Reifel, despite the official site confirming their presence, much to Nic’s dismay. But we did spot both a marsh and Bewick’s wren (I got a few decent shots of the latter).
We also observed a weird Sandhill crane, who I figured was going through a rebellious teen phase. There were three cranes alongside the southwest trail and one of them was constantly vocalizing. It then split from the others to come up directly onto the trail ahead of us. The others eventually followed. After a few minutes, the surly teen took off and flew around, landing in the large pond west of the trail. It then made its way back and didn’t quite rejoin the others, staying slightly back because it was obviously too cool for its (possible) parents. It finally joined them and we made our way past the gang.
Also, the geese were back and everywhere, honking and blatting as is their way. A lot of them appeared to be paired up for some sweet spring lovin’. Baby poopmonsters inbound!
The Shots
The Birds (and other critters)
All birds seen at Reifel Bird Sanctuary unless otherwise noted.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American robin
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Bewick’s wren (rare)
- Blackbird
- Black-capped chickadee
- Dark-eyed junco
- Golden-crowned sparrow
- Marsh wren (semi-rare)
- Song sparrow
- Spotted towhee
Raptors:
- Bald eagle
- Northern harrier
Waterfowl:
- American coot
- American wigeon
- Bufflehead duck
- Canada goose
- Gadwall
- Great blue heron
- Green-winged teal
- Hooded merganser
- Lesser scaup
- Mallard
- Northern pintail
- Northern shoveler
- Sandhill crane
- Wood duck
Common:
- Crow
- Pigeon
- Seagull
Non-birds:
- Black squirrel
- Gray squirrel