Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 14-19°C
The Outing
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
We made good time heading out, though ominously a few light showers began as we travelled the highway. They didn’t last long and it ended up being mostly sunny for the rest of the day, which was also the last day of summer. Goodbye, summer, I’ll miss you!
It was a fair bit cooler at Reifel than last time, but still warm enough by the end to doff our jackets and hoodies.
Unlike our last visit, we got to see the Sandhill cranes, both on the ground and in the air. Also right up front was a healthy mix of shorebirds, including Greater Yellowlegs, some dowitchers and maybe a few others tucked in. Nic got some great shots of the yellowlegs flying (they were often flying in little spurts across the pond) and may post some of the photos in his store. BUY THEM ALL AND MAKE HIM RICH.
Chickadees were present, but elusive, while the first juncos, fox sparrows and golden crowns of the season made appearances. Yellow-rumped warblers were in numbers plentiful enough that even I got a few respectable shots.
Blackbirds did not seem as numerous as usual, so they may have gone off to wherever it is they go off to (it doesn’t seem to be far, because they always come back). In their place were a lot of house sparrows.
The geese were honking, but drama was on low. I got approached by several geese with mouths agape, but I think they were hoping I’d toss seed into their maws. I feel kind of bad when they do this, because I never have seed. I’m hoping they don’t have good memories.
After Reifel, we went to Blackie Spit in surrey, only to find a rowing event in progress and no parking. I suggested Boundary Bay, so we headed off there, and lo, there was parking.
Boundary Bay Dyke Trail
The downside for me with Boundary Bay is the birds we see are usually never close. The upside is I can shoot prop planes up close basically forever. And I did.
We also saw some robins, which have been pretty rare in the places we’ve visited over the summer, plus a few remaining Savannah sparrows. We also saw a cute li’l bunny just as we started out, which I was not expecting, although if I think about it, I’m never really expecting bunnies.
Nic got weird and took a photo of people golfing. People! Like, humans, not birds. He rejected all of my suggestions for captions:
- People with tiny balls
- Swingers
- The Last Putter
- Foreplay
I mean, one of them wasn’t even dirty.
I also opted to put on sunblock here, which I think was both the right call, as well as my own final salute to summer. Tomorrow, I put on my parka.
In all, a good day for birbs, with multiple migrants returning, pleasant weather, and some good shotss all around.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters). Rare, rarely-seen or recently returned birds highlighted in bold.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American robin
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Bewick’s wren (heard, not seen)
- Black-capped chickadee
- Cedar waxwing
- Dark-eyed junco (returned!)
- Fox sparrow (returned!)
- Golden-crowned sparrow (returned!)
- House sparrow
- Red-winged blackbird
- Savannah sparrow
- Song sparrow
- Spotted towhee
- White-crowned sparrow
- Yellow warbler
- Yellow-rumped warbler
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- American coot
- Canada goose
- Great blue heron
- Greater yellowlegs
- Hooded merganser (returned, though they allegedly don’t migrate)
- Short-billed dowitcher
- Mallard
- Northern pintail
- Northern shoveller
- Sandhill crane
- Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
- Assorted gulls
- Raven
- Rock pigeon
Raptors:
- Northern harrier
Non-birds:
- Copious grasshoppers
- One bunny
- One squirrel
- Western painted turtle
