Birding

Birding, May 3, 2026: I got the yawn

Where: Piper Spit/Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 28°C

The weather today was more like what you would expect in about two months, when it’s, you know, summer. Crazy climate change. But this time II wore sunblock and even reapplied it!

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

Clear skies, no birds. Well, a few birds.

It was a shorter and simpler day of birding, which was just as well, because it seemed the unusually warm temperatures were keeping a lot of birds tucked out of view, no doubt in cooler places.

But it started with adorable goslings, still fuzzy and not yet ready to hiss or honk. I even caught one in an adorable, fuzzy little yawn.

After the geese and a robin, we did not see many other birbs on the way to Piper Spit, but we did come across one fuzzy caterpillar.

At the pier, it was strangely quiet, with few people around. We speculated that all the naughty bird feeders were in church confessing their sins. And also, we didn’t even see anyone feeding them today, though there were a few piles of seed scattered around (and few takers).

Despite low water levels, no shorebirds were around, boo. Well, unless you count seagulls, in which case there were two.

With the relative lack of birds, we focused on some of the regulars, like the ever-fabulous wood ducks and teals. Some geese were nesting, while others were watching over their broods. No baby ducks yet, but soon™.

Before we left, a very orange Sandhill Crane flew in to pose and preen. They are quite good at both.

The butterfly garden yielded no butterflies, but it did contain one garden, just as the signs promised.

We took advantage of the water fountain to hydrate, then headed back to the car for the next and final stop of the day.

Tlahutum Regional Park

Classic shot of Coquitlam River, looking a bit low today.

Tlahutum proved to be teal-rich. On the way in, we saw a Cinnamon Teal in one of the creeks, but the shrubbery proved our nemesis, and we were unable to get shots before it went…elsewhere.

The main pond had a pair of Blue-winged Teals, with their fancy diagonal white racing stripes, but they were both fairly distant and were so busy dunking their heads most of my shots make them appear headless.

Tree swallows were abundant in the community garden, and we heard yet again the taunting calls of Yellowthroats, who proved even more elusive than Marsh Wrens or Virginia Rails. Well, maybe not more than Virginal Rails. But close!

Among more visible avians were some Brown-headed Cowbirds, more robins, and a few Anna’s Hummingbirds, one of which was sitting on a branch that was bouncing so much from the wind that the hummingbird has motion blue, even though it was sitting still.

The sky yielded both a Red-Tailed Hawk and an Osprey. I got a few decent shots of the Osprey, but the hawk mostly eluded me. I had better luck with an Air Canada jet, and managed to sneak in a Tree Swallow in the same shot by accident.

In all, it was a rather quiet day, but also kind of nice. A breeze at Tlahutum kept the heat from being horrible, which is not a thing I’d expect to say a few days into May, but here we are!

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto. Some scenery shots taken on a Samsung Galaxy S26.

A small gallery of shots:

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Goldfinch
  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Common Yellowthroat (heard repeatedly, tauntingly)
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • Tree Swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Canada Goose
  • Cinnamon Teal
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Mallard
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Some gulls

Raptors:

  • Osprey
  • Red-tailed Hawk

Non-birds:

  • An agitated squirrel
  • Some butterflies
  • A caterpillar

Birding, April 24, 2026: Raptors, ex-birds and former crabs

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Centennial Beach (Surrey), Piper Spit/Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 15-18°C

The weather was once again fabulous. I once again got sunburn. I even had my sunblock, I just didn’t put it on. I’ll learn by the next outing, I swear.

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

This is the main pond, reflecting the general absence of birds.

This was my second trip back to Reifel after the Barge and Bridge Incident™, with all trails save the North Dyke Trail now re-opened, though a few are still in pretty rough shape.

Three things stood out this day:

  1. There was a lot of bird drama (here and elsewhere) and it wasn’t just mad geese, though they figured prominently, as always.
  2. Most of the birds were absent, either nesting, hiding or visiting their pocket dimensions due to the unseasonably warm weather, perhaps.
  3. Poop.

Let me start with the poop. We had just entered and had barely made it past the entrance when some birds flew overhead, one depositing a load on both my left and right wrists. I was wearing a long-sleeved light hoodie, so it could have been worse. It could also have been a heron pooping, which would have been much worse. Still, it was an annoying way to start the day and despite being reassured by Nic and Jeff that getting pooped on by a bird is good luck, I was not convinced. I didn’t win the lottery later that evening, so there.

After cleaning up in the washroom, we got to touring the open trails and as mentioned, many of the ponds were strangely bereft of birds Even the sparrows seem to be reduced in numbers. It was odd and a wee bit disappointing.

We saw three Sandhill Cranes, one by itself, the other two (a couple) strolling around together. At one point it seemed one of the pair may have landed on a small island possibly already occupied with a goose nest. And goose. Drama ensued and the other half of the crane couple called out in its weird, loud trilling croak for quite a while after.

The Killdeer family was nowhere to be seen, alas.

The geese were strategically placed all over the sanctuary, asserting their dominance, one even perching itself magnificently on the railing of the platform with the sign that assures you if you are very quiet, you might see a Virginia Rail. Sure, that could happen, if you didn’t have a Canada Goose literally standing there, lording over the area, ready to start blatting out its war cry on a moment’s notice.

At the viewing platform, we saw two wasps doing something. I’ve looked at my photos and I’m still not sure. Were they making out? Was one eating the other? They eventually separated and one flew off, so I guess it was mutual something or other. Still not as strange as dragonflies copulating.

A number of swallows were in a nest-building mood, and were gathering bits of straw, down and other nest-building material. Soon, the babbies, with their giant mouths and endless cries of, “FEED ME! FEEEEEED ME!”

By early afternoon, we completed our circuit and freshly sunburnt, headed off to our next stop: Centennial Beach.

Centennial Beach

Very low tide, with Mt. Baker in the background.

We started at the entrance near to the pump station and saw some herons stalking about, spied some gulls way out with the extremely low tide and got shots of Mt. Baker, which was standing against a bright blue sky.

And there were shorebirds! Specifically, Least and Western Sandpipers. We watched them scamper along the shoreline, take off in brief bursts of flight and repeat until they decided to fly off.

We saw our only shovelers here, what was likely a mated pair, in the small pond near the other entrance to the beach.

And the Raptor Trail delivered, with what turned out to be a fight or exchange between a male and female Northern Harrier. The male had caught a bird and made it an ex-bird. The female showed up, the male dropped it and the female apparently made off with it. I have no idea if this was planned or just one harrier shaking down another.

Back out on the bay, a young Bald Eagle was standing on a distant sandbar and would occasionally fly off to another. At one, he appeared to be noshing on something that turned out to be a large crab. He got the crab to go, and flew off. The eagle, not the crab. Well, the crab flew off too, but was in the talons of the eagle and was an ex-crab at that point.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

Look at all the birds that might be here, but aren’t!

Still sunburnt, we went to our last stop: The Piper Spit Bird Hangout and Illegal Seed Sharing Site. Here we saw a lot of Wood Duck drama, for some reason, with males flapping, chasing and flaring out their mullets. Cowbirds and pigeons were both looking unsuccessfully for love and there were shorebirds here, too.

Most of the winter migrants have departed–we saw no Scaups, Buffleheads or Ring-necked Ducks (a single pair of the latter were at Reifel), but we still have coots.

The butterfly garden proved to have no butterflies or fancy spiders this time, but at least we didn’t have to wait for a train to pass before leaving.

In all, a decent day of birding, though I was a bit disappointed by the lack of birds and also the overall quality of my shots. I got some good ones, but there were a lot of misses, too. And I wasn’t even trying to shoot flying swallows.

But at least the weather was again faboo.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto. Some scenery shots taken on a Samsung Galaxy S26.

A few shots, gallery pending:

A Sandhill Crane, sitting on the grass near the Reifel entrance.
Watching and waiting…
I don’t know what this Wood Duck was reacting to. They were all a bit weird.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Goldfinch
  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • House Sparrow
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Rufous Hummingbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Tree Swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Canada Goose
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Least Sandpiper
  • Marsh Wren
  • Mallard
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Western Sandpiper
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Some gulls

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier

Non-birds:

  • Turtles of assorted sizes
  • A few squirrels dashing about
  • Pollinators that were butterfly and bee-shaped

Birding, April 18, 2026: Sparrows, sparrows, sparrows (and a Tufted Duck)

Where: Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach, Serpentine Wildlife Management Area (Serpentine Fen), Green Timbers Lake (Surrey)
Weather: Partly sunny, 16-18°C

We spent the day birding in the city where tomorrow lives. We did not encounter tomorrow, but we did see a Tufted Duck!

Blackie Spit

A small bay lacking most of its water at Blackie Spit.

It was unusually mild and as a bonus, there was almost no breeze at all at Blackie Spit, so it really did feel like 16C or warmer, thus making this our first shorts-wearing birding of 2026.

Despite the balmy weather, there weren’t as many people there as expected. The super low tide might have been a factor.

Walking the path to the end of the spit itself, we had copious opportunities to get snazzy shots of the equally snazzy Savannah Sparrows, some of which were singing their little hearts out, because spring has sprung, and you can’t mate with yourself.

At the end of the spit, we spotted some Long-billed Dowitchers, but they were rather far off, thanks to the aforementioned extreme low tide.

The trail to the pump station yielded better results, with sparrows a-plenty in the trees, bushes and on the ground. A female blackbird sat proudly on a branch for a bit, holding a juicy ol’ caterpillar in her bill. Yum!

With low tide putting many waterfowl out of reach of even our telephoto lenses, we headed to Serpentine Fen, to see if our luck would change.

Serpentine Fen

One of the larger ponds at Serptentine Fen, with Mt. Baker in the background.

As it turned out, the Serpentine River was also probably the lowest we’ve ever seen and the overall number of birds was relatively small, though we did get some decent variety, with an eagle in a tree near the start, a few herons, a cormorant and a Canada Goose nesting on what would normally be a small island but is currently a hill surrounded by a lot of mud. I’m sure the future goose babbies will be safe, regardless.

An unexpected surprise came in the form of a few Greater Yellowlegs strutting around some of the ponds in the area, mingling with the shovelers and Mallards.

The view of Mt. Baker was quite nice, too, with a tuft of white cloud caught on the top of the peak and being pulled away by the wind like cotton candy. I took a photo using my phone’s 30x digital zoom. It looks like an impressionist painting. My camera yielded a less opinionated version of the mountain.

Green Timbers Lake

Green Timbers Lake, looking northeast.

And speaking of tufts…

We originally planned to go to Brydon Lagoon, but Nic had already driven a lot for reasons, so he suggested we go to the closer Green Timbers Lake instead, as a rare Tufted Duck has been seen there recently.

We arrived and I noted again how they have two signs over each other, one that says WELCOME and the other which says DANGER.

And lo, there in pretty much the middle of the lake (a bit far away, boo) was a Tufted Duck.

If you check the link, you’ll see the usual range of a Tufted Duck is Europe, Asia and Africa, none of which are North America, so he is a long way off course. He didn’t seem to mind.

Despite being a lifer, I felt strangely indifferent to seeing it, because they look almost exactly like a scaup, just with a little black mullet on the back. I like scaups, don’t get me wrong, but it’s…just not very different.

We ended our visit to the lake with a Douglas squirrel going big on a pile of sunflower seeds atop a fence post, giving us a nice cute-squirrel-pose before wrapping up.

In retrospect, the number of photos I took vs. the variety of birds we saw is probably among the most skewed ever–only 384 photos in total (and if that sounds like a lot, I regularly shoot over twice that and sometimes more than 1,000–without using burst mode, too!) The particular circumstances and locations meant a lot of the birds were far away or too fleeting to get shots of. But sometimes that’s the way it goes.

The weather for the third week of April was totally fabulous, though, apart from some increasing high cloud later on.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto. Some scenery shots taken on a Samsung Galaxy S26.

A few shots, gallery pending:

A Bald Eagle in very dull, dim lighting.
A boat racing through one of the narrow strips of water at Crescent Beach.
Singing Savannah Sparrow.
White blossoms and a White-crowned Sparrow.
Pondering which sunflower seed to gobble next.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Bushtit
  • American Goldfinch
  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • House Finch
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Rufous Hummingbird (heard)
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned Sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada Goose
  • Common Loon (heard)
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Killdeer
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Marsh Wren (heard)
  • Lesser Scaup
  • Mallard
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Tufted Duck
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Some gulls

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle

Non-birds:

  • A single turtle sunning itself, probably a Western painted turtle
  • A Douglas Squirrel nomming away on sunflower seeds
  • A few chunky bumblebees

Birding, April 11, 2026: Two-thirds birding, one-third sleeping

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, 13°C

I was feeling weird and tired in the morning, so I missed the entire Reifel section of birding today.

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Nic saw a bunch of Snow Geese, some White-fronted Geese hanging with them, and the Killdeer still protecting their parking lot nest. The babbies are expected to hatch soon.

I have no photos from Reifel, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

Tlahutum Regional Park

Coquitlam River, cropped to 16:9.

We both went to Tlahutum and spoiler: no Mountain Bluebirds, but we did see a somewhat elusive Cinnamon Teal for the first time this season at the big pond, where all the cool birds were hanging out, ranging from Buffleheads to Gadwalls and shovelers.

We opted to skip the community garden, though we could see the flooded bits are starting to dry out. Soon™.

The bulk of the trails proved fairly quiet, with only a few Golden-crowned Sparrows and some crows, but not a lot else. Maybe birds like the sun, because it remained overcast the entire afternoon (though it did not shower, as the forecast had threatened).

The other highlight came when we took a path different from the usual on the way back to the car and came across, of all things, a Bewick’s Wren having a grand old time taking a dirt bath right in the middle of the trail. We took photos until it was done and flew off. It was very into the dirt bath.

In all, though, a quiet outing here today.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Regional Park

Burnaby Lake was windswpt and cool today.

By the time we got to Piper Spit, the wind had picked up and it felt a bit cool, a big shift from the last few days of summer-like weather.

While the lake level was lower, meaning more of the land mass is now above water, it was still too deep around the spit for shorebirds. Most of the usual gang were otherwise represented, including a single Glaucous-winged Gull, perhaps selected to check the status of the golf balls the gulls have collected there.

The coots seemed to be split into two groups: the clean-billed and the dirty-billed. The dirty-billed had black…stuff…along their “lips”. I have no idea what it signifies. Maybe we have two rival coot gangs and the coot war is coming.

A lot of the birds we saw today were looking scruffy, due to moulting, and among them were some Green-winged Teals who looked a bit like unfinished paintings, with their heads flecked with green instead of lovingly smothered in it.

The drama here was kept to a minimum, though the geese were still being geese. You can’t fight your nature.

I have still not gotten a decent photo of a cowbird yet.

And we saw a pigeon couple kissing and kissing and kissing some more. Another male, meanwhile, was trying and failing to impress the ladies again.

We ended with a stop at the butterfly garden, which is still absent of butterflies, but did have a Goldenrod Crab Spider tucked inside a tulip, its front legs spread out, ready to give a deadly hug to any early pollinators. The one we saw was an almost translucent white, though they can change colour to match their surroundings. How sneaky!

The weather was better than forecast, but it was still very gray. I guess it makes the motre colourful birds pop, so there is that. In all, a nice bit of afternoon birding.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

A few shots, gallery pending:

When you got an itch, you gotta scratch.
The first Cinnamon Teal we’ve seen this year.
A Golden-crowned Sparrow looking contemplative.
This Bewick’s Wren was enjoying a nice dirth bath.
A Goldenrod Crab Spider waiting to give a pollinator a fatal hug.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • House Sparrow
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Tree Swallow
  • Violet-green Swallow
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bewick’s Wren
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada Goose
  • Cinnamon Teal
  • Gadwall
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Killdeer
  • Marsh wren
  • Lesser Scaup
  • Mallard
  • Northern Pintail
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Snow Goose
  • White-fronted Goose
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Glaucous-winged Gull

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier

Non-birds:

  • Goldenrod Crab Spider

Birding, April 4, 2026: Bluebirds, gone geese and serious stares

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 17°C
NOTE: I am missing the previous entry, from March 28. It will be posted soon™.

My first (light) sunburn of the year, woo.

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Some green returning to the marshaland at Reifel.

After months of being closed due to storms and bad bridges, Reifel Bird Sanctuary finally re-opened this week, so this was our first destination.

The only downside were two trail closures, the East Dyke (mostly) and the North Dyke, which shortened our outing a bit, bot not much. A few of the open trails are still in pretty rough shape, as the volunteers could not bring in needed equipment to repair while the bridge was closed.

But it was all good, because the very first thing we saw made the trip worth it. As we entered the parking lot, I noticed the section immediately on the right was cordoned off. I assumed it was another repair, but no, it was due to babby-making!

Specifically, a pair of killdeer chose to make a nest in the northeast corner of the gravel parking lot. While this was fine when the sanctuary was closed, it is more problematic now. We saw both parents and one of them was dashing about and then plunked down on what appeared to be three or four eggs, with the occasional head bob, as killdeer do. It’s adorable, though you can’t help but worry about how the future Killdeer will fare. On the other hand, Killdeer favour nests in the open, and they’re still around, so they may yet survive us.

In other birb news, we both got our first (blurry) shot of a Marsh Wren. They should become a bit more visible as they start looking for love in earnest.

The mallards especially seemed to miss us, because it felt like some were following us around the entire area, no doubt hoping for seed we did not have. Sorry, mallards! I compensated slightly by taking copious beauty shots of them.

We saw one or possibly two Sandhill Cranes (in separate locations) and witnessed a few duck battles (the inevitable goose drama was yet to come). Hormones make everyone crazy, it seems. Well, except geese are just naturally like that. And there was a mass of Western Painted Turtles on the logs at the London Slough. I’ve never seen so many. Some were so big you’d think they’d fallen into radioactive sewer water and mutated. If you’ve ever seen one of those “Western painted turtle sighting” signs, just know the answer is: Reifel.

In all, and despite the inevitable crowds (first weekend open, long weekend and sunny, mild weather) it was very nice to finally be back at Reifel.

Tlahutum Regional Park

Coquitlam River, especially low today.

The Mountain Bluebird quest continued at Tlahutum, where multiple birds have been sighted. And success! We saw a couple with Big Lenses on one of the main trails and lo, off in the bushes were at least two Mountain Bluebirds. Sadly, they were a bit far away so even my 400mm lens struggled. I had to switch to manual focus to get anything even a bit decent. How old-timey! They are a very lovely shade of blue. Hopefully we’ll see more, and maybe a bit closer up.

We also saw Buffleheads, Gadwalls and a scruffy-looking immature Great Blue Heron, who was busy practicing his death stare (speaking of, and in reference to the title of this post, today was apparently my day for getting shots of birds staring directly into the camera).

Nic got some good shots of Tree Swallows, who were out in abundance at the big pond and we finally dared to venture around the still kind of flooded community garden, mostly skirting the edges, but it’s still a bit early. Many of the plots are still under construction. We shall return.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Regional Park

Burnaby Lake, looking full and still lily pad-free.

We ended at Piper Spit and sought to silence our inner Bird Police, knowing someone would be feeding the birds. And there were people feeding them.

Speaking of feeding, on the way out, we saw a squirrel noshing away and it looked surprisingly similar to the chunky boi they have on the No Feeding signs.

At the spit, the water level was too high for shorebirds (boo) and apparently for seagulls, too, as they were absent. Left behind were the many golf balls they had collected. Seagulls are weird.

It was here that the geese reverted to form and generally went berserk, doing the cobra chicken thing over and over. I’m sure the internet could tell me why they do this–a show of dominance, some weird style of affection or something, but I like to think they’re just kind of loco.

And as a final bonus, a train passing through actually cleared the track before we got there, so we weren’t delayed on our departure.

In all, a fine outing.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

A few shots, gallery pending:

A Dark-eyed Junco looking for grub in the Reifel parking lot.
A cormorant sunning itself on a log, with American Wigeons drifting by in the background.
One of a nesting pair of Killdeer at Reifel.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Brown-headed Cowbird (allegedly heard but not seen)
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • Mountain Bluebird
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Tree Swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada Goose
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Gadwalls
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Killdeer
  • Marsh wren
  • Lesser Scaup
  • Mallard
  • Northern Pintail
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Rock Pigeon
  • A seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier

Non-birds:

  • Airplanes
  • Golf balls
  • Western Painted Turtle en masse

Birding, March 21, 2026: Hail Satan and less evil returns

Where: Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Como Lake (Coquitlam)
Weather: Partly sunny, 7-8°C
NOTE: I am posting this a week late, but I had the write-up ready to go, I just hadn't gotten any photos ready. I've included a few but will have a proper gallery soon--for reals!

Also, the first birding of Spring!

Burnaby Lake

The lake looking more ripply than usual.

Nic suggested we do the full loop around Burnaby Lake, which is around 10.3 km or “You will achieve your 10,000-step goal no problem.”

We started at the Avalon parking lot, then went counter-clockwise, stopping at Cariboo Dam, Piper Spit, the Butterfly Garden by the Nature House, Philips Point, the rowing pavilion, the bridge on Deer Lake Brook, and anywhere we saw or heard birds.

Piper Spit was replete with people feeding the birds. We also saw multiple cyclists and dogs walking about off-leash. It was basically “Rules for thee, not for me” day. Note: the dogs and cyclists were not at Piper Spit, so there are still some limits in place.

The pier gave us our first look at newly-arrived migrants–the Brown-headed Cowbird. I did not get any decent shots, but we’ll have more chances over the spring and summer. Tree and Violet-Green Swallows were also diving around all over the lake here. Nic and I both documented this with a collection of artisanal blurry photos. There was also a red-eyed pigeon here, looking like it had just finished a sermon at the Pigeon Church of Satan.

And the only remnant of the land mas near the pier was once again occupied by gulls, whose golf ball collection is now up to three.

After this, we checked out the scenery from the viewing platform just west of the pier, then headed to Philips Point, where we saw more scenery and a Song Sparrow.

The long stretch of Cottonwood Trail yielded more Song Sparrows, then the bridge over Still Creek let us glimpse a Pied-billed Grebe. It dove a few times and the last time it never came back into view, possibly returning to the pocket dimension grebes hail from. A flock of Cackling Geese circled the sportsball field a few times, then came in for a landing, allowing us to get some shots of them grazing. A few crows in the background were taking delight in some kind of baked good one had acquired.

Around the south shore of the lake we apparently entered woodpecker country, seeing both a Pileated Woodpecker and a pair of Red-breasted Sapsuckers, the only downside being that they were in the “crane your neck” part of the trees.

We also heard, but never saw, several frogs.

We did see some water strider bugs in a stand of water adjacent to the trial, including a pair that were busy trying to make more striders, if you know what I mean. It’s that time of year for everyone.

Como Lake

A serene-looking Como Lake.

After Burnaby Lake, we elected to tackle a smaller body of water with Como Lake, whose loop is about 10% that of Burnaby Lake. The scenery was nice enough, and we saw a lot of geese pairing off. There was also a pair of male Mallards that also seemed paired off, or maybe they were just good friends.

We ended by observing a robin on the grass yoinking large, juicy worms out of the grounsd and eating them with relish. Not actual relish, just zeal.

At this point we both had nearly 20,000 steps and opted to call it a day instead of walking even further. Between yesterday’s run at the lake and the birding, I’d covered around 55,000 steps in the two days. That’s good enough for me!

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

A coot cooting.
All hail Satan Pigeon.
Have another close-up, this time an American Robin.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Bewick’s Wren
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • Northern Flicker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Red-breasted Sapsucker
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Tree Swallow
  • Violet-Green Swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Cackling Goose
  • Canada Goose
  • Common Merganser (probably)
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Mallard
  • Northern Pintail
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Scaup
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Satanic Rock Pigeon
  • Seagulls aplenty

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle

Non-birds:

  • Airplanes
  • Golf balls

Birding, March 14, 2026: Pre-spring arrivals and golf balls

Where: Terra Nova, Richmond Nature House (Richmond), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 4-7°C

It was windy and kind of chilly, but also sunny. Hooray for the sun.

Terra Nova

Looking toward the coastal mountains at Tera Nova.

We started at Terra Nova, where it initially reported 4C but “feels like 0”, which seemed accurate. Some wigeons were there to greet us just offshore, noshing among the marshy outcroppings. Farther off (too far, boo) were a bunch of herons brooding in the tall grass. We also spotted a few less social ones brooding off on their own.

When we moved away from the water, we came across a bunch of sparrows doing the sparrow thing. We looped off into the Terra Nova Natural Area (unclear on where the Artificial Area is–maybe the parking lots?) and when we came back, someone had scattered some seed, which drew the attention of all the birds, many of which were banded or banded and sporting a radio transmitter. This is probably how the “birds aren’t real” conspiracies get started.

I, of course, shot planes.

We did not see any grebes at the main pond, but we didn’t not not see them, either, if you know what I mean. There were some scaups, though.

In all, Terra Nova proved to be a perhaps unexpected bounty, just as Brydon Lagoon had been a few weeks earlier.

Richmond Nature House

An apparently confused chickadee on a hummingbird feeder at Richmond Nature House.

We went to the Richmond Nature House next, unsure what to expect. Would there be seed in the feeders, and also possibly birds? The answer was yes to both. However, only a few feeders were filled (including the nectar feeders), so while there were birds, they weren’t ravaging the area like we usually see. Instead, we saw a small but nice collection of juncos, chickadees, hummingbirds, and towhees. And we saw our first Rufous Hummingbirds of the season, who may look even more “I’ll stab you” than Anna’s Hummingbirds (which we also saw).

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

Burnaby Lake rippling in the wind. Not shown: Goose terror.

We wrapped at Piper Spit and there were so many people feeding the birds (especially the blackbirds, which shamelessly pander for food) it was as if the signs said PLEASE FEED THE WILDLIFE. Alas.

The recent rains have reduced the adjacent island into a tiny little piece of land big enough for a few gulls and their golf balls, which is what we saw there.

One gull took a golf ball out and played the seagull equivalent of golf with it, which involves flying up over the water, hovering, dropping the ball, then retrieving it and doing it again. I mean, at least it wasn’t trying to eat it.

Most of the usual ducks were present, including a single adorable Bufflehead who got close enough for a few good shots before disappearing back into the Bufflehead dimension. We also saw the first sparrows of the year. I’m guessing Tree Swallows, but they were too far away to positively identify. The water level was too high for shorebirds, so the Dowitcher count was, sadly, zero.

Making up for that (?) were plenty of Canada Geese, and they were engaged in all kinds of goose shenanigans, some of which we captured in loving/terrifying detail.

The coots were downright ordinary in comparison.

With the sun out and a lot of close-range targets, I got much better shots than last week, so I am pleased.

Maybe next time we’ll finally return to Reifel. It could happen!

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • Northern Flicker
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Rufous Hummingbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Tree Swallow (probably)

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada Goose
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Mallard
  • Northern Pintail
  • Scaup
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagulls aplenty

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Red-tailed Hawk (probably)

Non-birds:

  • Airplanes
  • Golf balls

Birding, March 7, 2026: Capering coots

Where: Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, some light rain, 11°C

In which we learn a battery charged is better in the hand than in the charger.

Burnaby Lake

The gulls were unperturbed by the drizzly conditions on the lake.

The original forecast was looking quite damp, so we opted for a later start of 11 am and headed to Piper Spit. Even though there was a light drizzle, the parking lot there was strangely full, so perhaps some event was taking place. The pier itself was mostly left to just us for the majority of time we were there and the weather ranged from cloudy to a steady light rain with drizzle in-between. Not ideal, but workable. You can see the raindrops in some of our shots, which is a nice effect.

I didn’t notice any dowitchers, but the water around Piper Spit might be a bit too high from recent rains. Most of the others were present, with random coots basically everywhere. There was Gull Town and Pigeon Place, but Crowville was underrepresented (we later found them on the sports fields). The weather may make for challenging shooting, but we didn’t get any snow this winter, so I’m willing to tolerate some drizzle.

I once again tried to shoot some gulls in flight, with mostly mediocre results. I can usually nail at least one butt shot, though.

And it’s that that time of year, because one pigeon was macking on another big time. The other pigeon was, as usual, utterly unimpressed.

In all, a better than expected start.

Deer Lake

Various ducks and some human paddlers on Deer Lake, Metrotown in the background.

After lunch, the weather improved to merely cloudy, so we remained dry going forward and the light got a bit better.

Deer Lake was better than expected, with copious coots cavorting and cackling up close on the main beach. Several small children were present and I thought they might chase the coots, as little kids are wont to do, but the coots chased them like the aquatic terror chickens they are. One had some weird feather business going on with a wing but didn’t seem particularly fussed by it.

There were also a few geese present and remember me saying it’s that time of year? Perhaps this is why the geese were going berserk and doing the cobra thing with their necks and showing off their hideous giant, barbed tongues. It’s just love. There was a lot of love on display.

And we saw a rare Ruddy Duck. I checked and I’ve logged it twice before in Merlin, but it’s been long enough that I don’t recall the last time I saw one. They have a mottled brown texture with slightly big honkers. It was just close enough to get decent shots.

There were also buffleheads, mergansers and others on the lake, but most were generally too far out to get good shots. We also saw one canoe being paddled about (by people, not birds).

The wind would pick up on occasion (though it was very mild) and this afforded some great bad hair day shots of a Great Blue Heron.

And of course, the lake itself provided some scenery, though maybe due to its compact size, it doesn’t shoot as well as Burnaby Lake (IMO).

And speaking of, we ended by returning to the western end of Burnaby Lake, and travelled from the bridge at Still Creek to the rowing pavilion and back. While we technically saw a lot of birds, this was mainly due to one of them being a very large group of Cackling Geese that flew in and landed on the sports fields to nom on the grass. Even though I took a lot of shots, I wasn’t really happy with any of them. It was also apparently “Bring Your Bike” day at Burnaby Lake (bikes are not allowed) because I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many bikes in such a short span. Curse them all (but gently, some were little kids).

We also saw some Common Mergansers at the rowing pavilion, but they were a little too far out, especially for Nic’s Pixel phone.

Yes, at this point Nic was using his phone because after the battery in his camera died, he went to swap it out with a fresh one, but the fresh one turned out to be sitting safely nuzzled in its charger back at his apartment. I think the lesson here is for Nic to just hide away secret caches of charged batteries everywhere he goes to shoot birds.

Overall, a better outing than expected, given the potential for The Rains. Next week: Reifel! Haha, just kidding. I give it a 50/50 chance it will be open by the end of the month, and that’s assuming they don’t accidentally sink the bridge during the repairs. We shall see.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

A gallery to come, perhaps, but here’s a sampler for now.

Coot close-up.
A ruffly Rock Pigeon.
“Hey baby, check me out. Hey…where are you going? Baby…”
A rare Ruddy Duck spotted at Deer Lake. We did not see any deer.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee (heard)
  • Song Sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Cackling Goose
  • Canada Goose
  • Common Merganser
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Mallard
  • Northern Pintail
  • Ruddy Duck
  • Scaup
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagulls aplenty

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • Maybe a squirrel? Probably a squirrel.

Birding, February 28, 2026: Big, beautiful and watery

Where: Surrey Bend Regional Park (Surrey), Brydon Lagoon (Langley), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 9-10°C

With Reifel still weeks/months/eons away from re-opening, we decided to revisit a few places we hadn’t been to in some time, with some very mixed results.

The weather was consistently sunny and mild all day, which was a nice way to wrap up February.

Surrey Bend Regional Park

A lone piling on the Fraser River (it’s watery!)

I remembered this place having nice views of the river, but not a lot of birds, at least not the kind willing to show themselves.

Both memories were accurate. We heard and fleetingly saw a few birds, but I did not catch any photos of them. The river scenery was indeed nice, but I think this particular park is best left to the dog walkers and families enjoying barbecues in the picnic area, as the birding is rather…minimalist.

The sign at the entrance includes the phrase that also doubles as the title of this post. There is no denying the Fraser River is watery. There was quite a bit of it.

Brydon Lagoon

Visible in the background: The lagoon and large NO FUN sign.

This was an unexpected jackpot, with not only virtually every waterfowl we normally see in the Lower Mainland represented, but also a decent supply of songbirds and a couple of raptors thrown in for good measure.

The waterfowl ranged from Buffleheads to Common Mergansers and Goldeneyes, to a plethora of Mallards and a pair of Canada Geese that were not afraid to let you know when you invaded their personal space via a sudden loud honk, followed by death stare.

A large gathering of gulls in the central area of the lagoon (which is not really a lagoon, it’s a small lake or perhaps a pond with grand ambitions) were occasionally spooked by the appearance of a juvenile bald eagle. But then the eagle would fly off and land in a tree nearby–only to then be harassed by the same seagulls. Such is the circle of life.

A single coot was on hand, but without others, there was no coot drama to be had.

Songbirds included a few we rarely see, like a Yellow-rumped Warbler (I did not get a shot), as well as roving gangs of American Bushtits. I managed a few decent shots, which always feels like a major triumph with these spazzy little things.

We walked up a trail away from the lagoon and pondered exploring on through Hi-Knoll Park, which we did on our last visit, but elected to head elsewhere after not seeing much else away from the lagoon. Overall, though, this seems like a good sport to return to.

Tlahutum Regional Park

Mountains looming over Tlahutum.

We rounded off the afternoon at Tlahutum, but after seeing copious birds on the last visit, they seemed fewer this time, and most were farther back in the main pond, boo.

Nic suggested we go down the other trail we usually don’t take and this yielded some nice views of the mountains, the moon and while we did see some mergansers and wigeons in the waterways, it was tricky to get good shots due to angle/foliage and such.

But we got in a lot of steps, which will help boost our stamina for future birding. Yeah, that’s it.

In all, the birding was bad-great-meh, which is actually a perfectly cromulent average.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Bushtit
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Chestnut-backed chickadee
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada Goose
  • Common Goldeneye
  • Common Merganser
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Mallard
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Scaup
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Seagulls aplenty

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Mystery Hawk

Non-birds:

  • A black squirrel
  • Western Painted Turtle

Birding, February 14, 2026: All the buffleheads, all the left turns

Where: Iona Beach Regional Park, Richmond Nature House (Richmond), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 7-8°C

The forecast was better than expected, with it being sunny right from the start. Nice! The start was a bit late due to two things: waiting to suss out the weather in the early morning, and when I got downtown, we found someone had parked in front of the parking garage of Nic’s apartment building, preventing us from leaving. Nic was just about to conclude the call with the people who would come tow the car when a guy came frantically running toward us, waving an arm and apologizing. He got in the car and left immediately.

We proceeded to Iona Beach, which we haven’t been to since June of last year!

Iona Beach

Looking across the Fraser River at Iona Beach.

The last stretch of road leading to the beach has been repaved, with new bike and pedestrian lanes added, completing the work started with the re-alignment last year of Ferguson Road. There is now full dedicated pedestrian and bike access stretching back to the airport, a huge improvement over what existed before.

We made our way through our usual loop and along the river saw a nice variety of waterfowl, including wigeons, common mergansers, a sunning cormorant and a couple of male buffleheads trying to impress a female. There was also a large congregation of gulls off in the distance. If we squinted our eyes, we could pretend they were snow geese, which we have yet to see this winter.

The main beach had a lot of ex-crabs, even more than usual. Maybe it was Crab Day.

In all, it was nice to be back at Iona Beach. I have no idea why we went over eight months between visits (as a birding duo–Nic has been more recently), but we’ll probably not wait another eight before returning.

Richmond Nature House

Emtpy feeders means no birds!

Nic has a new phone, a Pixel 10, and Google Maps was being rather odd, constantly telling us to make left turns. But then when it made sense to make a left turn (off Westminster Highway, to the nature house) it instead wanted us to go past it and make an illegal U-turn to get there. WTF, as the kids say.

After arriving, I joked that it would be funny if the bird feeders were empty.

The bird feeders were empty.

The trip wasn’t a complete bust, though, as Nic spotted an immature Red-tailed Hawk sitting up in a nearby tree. That, and an Anna’s Hummingbird that was very high up before mockingly flying away, were the only birds we saw.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

A handsome Bufflehead at Piper Spit.

Piper Spit was our last stop, with the light starting to turn golden. There were multiple people feeding the birds. I’m usually pretty chill about this, because people gonna people, but I somehow got triggered by a little girl repeatedly running (and screaming) at the ducks while the nearby adults with her just stood there, talking among themselves. I expressed my thoughts using words that could be heard in a generous perimeter, if you know what I mean (no colourful metaphors, though, except maybe a few shared with Nic as we left).

As for the (well-fed) birds, there were most of the usual gang, along with more Buffleheads, who obligingly came up close, allowing for some great shots of their fuzzy, iridescent heads. Perhaps distracted by food, I observed little drama, though one crow had what appeared to be a generous chunk of pastry in its beak that was being coveted by others.

There were a few dowitchers, but they were mostly in shadow by this time of the day. I mostly shot the Buffleheads.

Overall, a pretty good day, with the weather being much nicer than expected. We’ll get back to Reifel eventually.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada Goose
  • Common Merganser
  • Double-created Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Scaup
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Seagulls aplenty

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier
  • Red-tailed Hawk

Non-birds:

  • A black squirrel

Birding, January 31, 2026: The tide is high

Where: Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach (Surrey) and Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, 8-10°C

Also known as All the Spits.

We got off to a late start, trying to work around the showers forecast for early and later in the day, so we began with lunch, then headed to Blackie Spit while it continued to shower.

Blackie Spit

American Wigeons flying away from Blackie Spit, misty landscape as backdrop.

Fortunately, by the time we arrived, the rain had stopped and the sun even cutely tried to come out for a few minutes before giving up. It was a bit breezy, but temperatures continue to be well above normal.

We saw cormorants, loons and buffleheads here, but they were all farther out, which is totally on brand for Blackie Spit. Some herons were a little closer, getting ruffled by the wind and looking displeased at the conditions (or everything, as they do). Several people promised us a kingfisher near the pump house, but all we got was the pump house.

The highlight was probably a pair of red-headed Eurasian wigeons, possibly off-course, but content to hang out with their American brethren.

There were a lot of giant puddles on the trails.

Piper Spit

Burnaby Lake, looking calm but darkity-dark.

With not a lot of light left on what was already a very dim gray dead, we opted to wrap things up at Piper Spit. Nic girded himself for the inevitable naughty people feeding the birds–and they were there. Bad people, no!

The pier itself was fairly sparse with people, though. Apparently the imminent threat of rain and the wind kept most people off it.

The land mass is still there, which surprised me after the recent deluge, so I assume most of the excess water is being fed through the gates at Cariboo Dam. The land itself was unoccupied, though, and the usual gang of seagulls was absent. The geese were also elsewhere, likely over on the sports fields to the west. Much of the shallows was filled with branches and other debris swept in by recent storms.

We did see dowitchers, but they were in full snorebird mode.

The current from Eagle Creek was unusually strong and a number of ducks were taking advantage, letting it sweep them down and past the pier. A few had to pedal furiously when they chose to return upstream, though.

There seemed to be more coots than before. Everywhere I looked there was a coot. No coot drama, though, which in itself is kind of unnerving.

The highlight here were some buffleheads, in particular a female that was diving and surfacing quite close to the pier, allowing for some good shots, notwithstanding the aforementioned dim, gray conditions.

We wrapped up about 15 minutes before sunset (if there had been sun) and escaped before the rains resumed. In all, not a bad outing, considering the forecast and the possibility of getting a wee bit drenched if the weather had shifted just a little.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

Blackbrid waiting for naughty people to feed him.
A Great Blue Heron hunkered down in the water.
American Wigeon stretching.
This plant thingie.

Gallery soon™.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Common Loon
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Eurasian wigeon
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern Pintail
  • Northern Shoveller
  • Scaup
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Assorted gulls

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle

Non-birds:

  • A black squirrel