Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 6°C
The Outing
Piper Spit
Today the forecast was for mostly sunny, so I packed up my camera and walked the 6 km to Piper spit, intent on an hour or so of bird and birb photography.
It ended up being mostly cloudy, but at least there was no threat of rain. Initial results were good, with multiple towhees hopping all around and sometimes right up to me, possibly hoping my pockets were full of yummy seed (they were not).
When I arrived at Piper spit, a woman with a gigantic telephoto lens advised me that a pair of cormorants were out and aboot. They don’t usually come near the spit, so that was neat.
But I never saw them.
I did see lots of other waterfowl and began my initial series of photos, working my way along the pier. I shot a group of dowitchers off in some poor light, then lined up what would have been Shot #79. I pressed the shutter button halfway down to focus. I then pressed the rest of the way to take the photo and…nothing happened. Well, that’s not strictly true. What happened is the EVF1Electronic ViewFinder briefly went black, then switched back to the regular view, with no photo taken, so satisfying shutter sound, nothing. I tried a few more times. Same result.
I did all the troubleshooting I could, most of which I knew would have no effect:
- I turned the camera on and off (Tech troubleshooting 101)
- I swapped lenses
- I swapped batteries
- I petted the camera and told it that it was the best camera
None of these things worked. So I left.
When I got home, the issue persisted, but the camera was still cold and if the cold was responsible, what would happen once it had been home for a while and got all cuddly warm again?
I tried and the issue persists. Alas.
My next step is to search the vast riches of the internet for answers. Or just curl up in a ball on some nice carpet. I haven’t decided yet.
In the meantime, how about them coots?
The Shots
The Birds (and other critters). Rare, rarely-seen or recently returned birds highlighted in bold.
NOTE: This list may not be comprehensive, due to my shortened time on the pier.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- Black-capped chickadee
- Dark-eyed junco
- Red-winged blackbird
- Spotted towhee
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- American coot
- Green-winged teal
- Long-billed dowitcher
- Mallard
- Northern pintail
- Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
- Rock pigeon
- Various gulls
Raptors:
- None!
Non-birds:
- Douglas squirrel