Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary and Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (both in Delta) Weather: Sunny, 5-8°C
The Outing
It was sunny but cool in that mid-fall way today, with the temperature a mere 5C to start and only climbing up to 8C in the afternoon. I wore my lined hoodie and was fine, mostly due to there also being very little wind.
We started at Reifel and were delighted to see the Sandhill cranes right at the start, though one of them mostly kept its head in a Rona bucket filled with food. We moved in and it was sleepy time for most of the ducks.
The Chickadee Empire is still in force, with many of its loyal citizens gathered around one apparently very interesting bench (probably because of nearby seed). Towhees, juncos and various sparrows were joining in as well.
Several ponds were curiously empty, though, and we did not see any wood ducks the entire day. Maybe they all went to Piper Spit on a field trip.
We think we saw five–not just four!–avocets in the pond adjacent to the West Dyke trail, but were unable to confirm 100% as they were snoozing, with their heads tucked in and their legs completely submerged. We also saw some harrier activity and would see even more at Boundary Bay.
Most of the winter migrants have arrived now, and we could only count scaups as a notable omission. Apart from the missing wood ducks, we actually saw quite a large variety of birds at Reifel, everything from grebes to pintails, ring-necked ducks and a few white-crowned sparrows.
For the first time that I can remember, we saw sparrow drama, so it looks like all birds can be dicks, just like people! There was no coot or goose drama this time out, however.
We started our trek around Boundary Bay at Beach Grove Park, which we hadn’t done for quite a while, going as far as just before the golf course before turning back. The tide was out, so we ventured onto the flats to start to get some scenery shots before moving back up to the trail. At first, the picking were pretty slim, but eventually we saw a lot of birbs and birds, including some we hadn’t expected, like yellow-rumped warblers, cedar waxwings and a Cooper’s hawk apparently picking on a northern harrier. We also saw the first bufflehead duck of the season.
Overall, today’s outing was a bounty of birds, and the cold weather actually wasn’t that bad. I could still feel my fingers when using the camera! However, I had a weird and higher-than-average number of blurry shots, so boo on that. I will try to camera better next time.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American blackbird
- American robin
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Black-capped chickadee
- Ch
estnut-backed chickadee - Dark-eyed junco
- Golden-crowned sparrow
- House finch
- Lincoln’s sparrow
- Savannah sparrow
- Song sparrow
- Spotted towhee
Steller’s Jay
Waterfowl:
- American wigeon
- Bufflehead duck
- Canada goose
Cormorant- Great blue heron
- Hooded merganser
- Mallard
- Northern shoveler
- Pied-billed grebe
- Ring-necked duck
- Sandhill crane
- Snow goose
Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
Rock pigeon- Seagull
Raptors:
- Bald eagle
- Cooper’s hawk
- Northern harrier
Non-birds:
- Fuzzy caterpillar
- Gray squirrel
- Various fixed-wing birds in and around Boundary Bay Airport
