Where: Lower Hume Park (New Westminster), Brunette River Conservation Area (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, 12°C
The Outing
I didn’t want to spend all day cooped up inside and the weather was better than expected, so with the usual Saturday birding cancelled, I decided to head out for a mini-birding trip along the Brunette River today. My unofficial goal was to shoot a heron.
And I did!
I also shot fall scenery, some mallards, crows and a surprise hooded merganser.
I almost shot a black squirrel, but the light was very bad. The light in general was very bad, so the photos are a bit grainy. I might try fiddling with settings more, because it’s probably going to be a long, grainy winter.
In all, a quick outing, but with better-than-expected results in the bird department.
The Shots
Male mallard gliding on the river
Great blue heron on the Brunette River
This crow unexpectedly took off, prompting a duck to do the same. Blurry because ACTION.
Pendant hanging in a tree
Very sad soccer ball
Crows and ducks gathered in a field
Female mallard and male hooded merganser at the river's edge
From the birding on October 28, 2023, a photo of two adult female ducks, one a green-winged teal and the other a mallard, standing on a pipe next to each other.
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
Chestnut-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
Where: Iona Beach, Terra Nova, Richmond Nature House, Garry Point (all in Richmond)
Weather: Overcast, 12-13C
The Outing
It was our first truly fall bird outing of the season. I wore pants! I needed them. And not just for the sake of decency.
We had a quest: to find snow geese. We knew they are in the area, but wanted to see them up close and honking. Our first stop was Iona Beach and voila–snow geese! A small group was snoozing and milling about just north of the parking lot. We got our shots in early, but more is always better. We did an abbreviated tour of the beach, as this was not our usual birding day, and saw a lot more snow geese on the far side of the Fraser River, along with cormorants, various gulls and ducks. Also, a lot of giant mushrooms, no doubt benefiting from all the recent rain.
When we circled back, more snow geese had arrived, forming two groups, so we did indeed get more shots.
The tide was in again for the second time in a row at Iona, and it was cold and windy, a big change from our last visit.
We next ventured to Terra Nova, but alas, no snow geese. We did find some solace in a pair of grebes dunking around in a pond covered in red slimy gunk, apparently changing colour for the season. They didn’t seem to mind. Also, there was an assortment of juncos, golden crowns and song sparrows near…the washrooms. Probably just a coincidence.
I shot a few jets taking off and disappearing into the clouds, which looks kind of eerie. The stuff from which bad horror stories are made.
After Terra Nova, we popped by the Richmond Nature House. The feeders were full and the joint was jumping. There were chickadees, both black-capped and chestnut-backed, juncos, towhees, house finches, song sparrows, golden crowns, a Steller’s jay (neat!) and probably every squirrel in Richmond. Everyone was flitting about, diving into the feeder boxes or grabbing seed to go from the hanging feeders. One squirrel actually squeezed inside the cage surrounding a hanging feeder and proceeded to gorge itself.
We ended with a very cooperative Anna’s hummingbird sitting in a nearby tree, singing and showing off its gorget.
Our final destination (not to be confused with the clever/terrible horror movies) was Garry Point. Here we did see more snow geese–but they were off in the distance, beyond where we could go without being able to fly ourselves. Which we cannot do.
But we did round out the afternoon with a few more scenery shots, and a few robins and shorebirds.
In all, it was a good outing, with plenty of birbs, birds, and snow geese, just as we’d hoped. And it didn’t rain!
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
American robin
Anna’s hummingbird
Black-capped chickadee
Chestnut-backed chickadee
Dark-eyed junco
Golden-crowned sparrow
House finch
Song sparrow
Spotted towhee
Steller’s Jay
Waterfowl:
Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Pied-billed grebe
Mallard
Snow goose
Common:
American crow
Rock pigeon
Seagull
Raptors:
Northern harrier
Non-birds:
Black, gray and Douglas squirrels
Kites and various fixed-wing birds in and around YVR
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park
Weather: Sunny, 15-18C
The Outing
Today was a rare weekday outing, starting in the afternoon when it was already warm and sunny.
Piper Spit was perhaps busier than expected, but that was due in part to some school group in attendance. They fed the ducks and scattered fairly quickly.
While we did not see any new migrants, most of the usual birds and birbs were present, and the shorebirds had expanded to both the east and est side of the pier. A killdeer was also in attendance, though no bobbing was observed.
There was regular drama spread out among several of the species: coot drama, goose drama, mallard drama. Maybe it was the squirrels. Because I have never seen so many squirrels at Burnaby Lake before. Gathering nuts for winter? Convention in town? They were everywhere, whatever it was.
We moved on to Tlahutum Regional Park and did the full (for us) tour this time, spotting a decent number of white-crowned sparrows, an Anna’s hummingbird, but not a lot else, bird-wise. We did see a squirrel, though, which I don’t think has ever happened here before. As I said, they were everywhere. Probably parachuting in.
In the community garden, we heard some weird bird calls, some of which sounded like a person badly trying to do a bird call.
It was a parrot.
The owner was tending a garden and the parrot was nearby in a cage, making assorted whistles and calls, as they do.
As we departed, one of a pair of cyclists suggested we come back at night with night vision gear to shoot coyotes, as he can always hear them howling at night. No thanks!
I walked to Burnaby Lake and had gone out earlier, so I ended up putting on about 26,000 steps a day after putting on over 27,000. I think I’ll rest my feet for a bit now.
The Shots
Pigeon perching on the Piper pier
A Douglas squirrel clearly deriving pleasure from the seeds
A goose ponders
A goose ponders, with duck in background
Green-winged teal basking in the afternoon sun
Green-winged teal drifting past the pier
Coot looking fluffy after a bath
A little blurred, but behold the unhinged jaw of the American coot
Yes, I finally got off my lazy butt and actually went through the photos I took on Saturday (October 7) and put together a gallery, which you can observe by looking right below:
Anna's hummingbird, pausing for a moment on a wire fence.
Adolescent blackbird has seed
Chickadee on a branch
Chickadee on a railing, against a golden backdrop
An apple awaits its future fate.
Check your apples before eating!
Fox sparrow in the bright light of morning
C14 at rest
Grassy goose
A ring-billed seagull in flight over Iona Beach
A ring-billed seagull in flight over Iona Beach
An empty barge on the Fraser River, named Barkley Sound
Heron standing on a bird box because no way it's fitting in that joint.
Looking over the marshlands of Reifel to the mountains of Vancouver Island.
A merganser on the move
The moon over Reifel
Northern pintail
Ring-billed duck--the first sighting of Fall 2023
Robin chirping in a tree
Broken chair on the northern jetty of Iona Beach
Snoozing greater yellowlegs
A mallard gliding slowly across a still pond
A greater yellowlegs looking for food in one of the inner ponds
The day started bright and early at Reifel, and it was indeed bright–a clear and ultimately warm (possibly record-setting) sunny day.
We immediately got shots of hummingbirds as several duelled or took turns going to the feeders, then moved on to find a lot of the usual birds not in the usual spots, or just absent altogether. We only saw a single pair of wood ducks, which is kind of weird, and the Canada geese were keeping themselves confined to several specific areas instead of going wherever they wanted, as they usually do.
And Chickadee Country was now Chickadee Empire. I have never before and may never again take so many shots of chickadees. To say it was a target-rich environment would be an understatement–they were everywhere, and in large numbers, so large that they seemed unconcerned by our stinky human presence, making it possible to get some very close-up shots.
The blackbirds were also ever-present, and eating seeds in their usual “wear all the food on your face” manner, which makes for great pics.
The four avocets were still in the big main pond, but were a little too far from shore to get good shots, alas. We did have better luck with the mostly-snoozing yellowlegs near the entrance, plus one that had again gone rogue and was looking for food along the shore of an inner pond, mingling with the ducks and geese.
We also saw a turtle, and for a time were confused about which end was its butt. This happens when you can pull your body parts into a shell.
Some new arrivals included fox sparrows and a ring-necked duck, plus the snow geese are back, though we only saw them far off in the distance.
After wrapping up at Reifel, we headed to Iona Beach, where the tide was…in! This was very unusual for us, and it meant the odds of seeing shorebirds were low and the odds of walking out on the tidal flats were zero, unless you wanted to wade in up to your hips (spoiler: I did a variation on this later in our visit).
The pond area did not yield much, save for some b;blackbirds, but we saw a nice selection of sparrows along the trail that leads toward the north jetty. Feeling saucy due to the summer-like weather, we pressed on farther than usual, to the first cut in the jetty that was put in to allow salmon and other fish to pass through.
After getting shots of gulls and scenery and things, we turned around for our long journey back to the car. Because the tide was in, we only had a narrow strip of shore to walk along. I walked a little close to the tide washing up a few times, getting my feet a little damp, then grossly miscalculated one stretch and got my feet just plain soaked.
In a way, it was a relief, because it meant I no longer had to be careful and could just stomp through the tide like a little kid. Which I did. We reached one area where we had to ascend up and over bramble and logs to continue through, and this is where Nic’s leg met a sharp thorn for the second bird outing in a row. The blood sacrifice made, we ventured on without further injury.
In the end, we both got some very nice shots, equally struggled with focus issues (with the cameras, not with what we were doing), but enjoyed being out on what was really a glorious early fall day.
The Shots
Anna's hummingbird, pausing for a moment on a wire fence.
Adolescent blackbird has seed
Chickadee on a branch
Chickadee on a railing, against a golden backdrop
An apple awaits its future fate.
Check your apples before eating!
Fox sparrow in the bright light of morning
C14 at rest
Grassy goose
A ring-billed seagull in flight over Iona Beach
A ring-billed seagull in flight over Iona Beach
An empty barge on the Fraser River, named Barkley Sound
Heron standing on a bird box because no way it's fitting in that joint.
Looking over the marshlands of Reifel to the mountains of Vancouver Island.
A merganser on the move
The moon over Reifel
Northern pintail
Ring-billed duck--the first sighting of Fall 2023
Robin chirping in a tree
Broken chair on the northern jetty of Iona Beach
Snoozing greater yellowlegs
A mallard gliding slowly across a still pond
A greater yellowlegs looking for food in one of the inner ponds
Where: Centennial Beach (Delta), Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta), Crescent Beach (Surrey), and Piper Spit (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 12-17C
The Outing
We hit four sites on our first official fall bird outing and the weather, though sunny, was indeed fall-like, with it starting at only 12C at Centennial Beach, along with a brisk wind. It warmed up to around 17C by late in the afternoon.
Centennial Beach: Raptors on Raptor Trail once again failed to materialize, but we did see a bald eagle out on the tidal flats. Shorebirds were also scarce, possibly due to the tide being way out, as it often is when we visit. We saw gulls, a Brewer’s blackbird couple, a wigeon or two, plus a bunch of goldfinches that would not stop flitting about.
Boundary Bay Dyke Trail: Planes were plentiful, and birds were, too, but much like earlier, they were flitting like mad from tree to tree and branch to branch, making good shots a fun (?) challenge! We did see a Northern harrier or two, as well. As always, the view was nice.
Crescent Beach/Blackie Spit: Seagulls were flying around in abundance, as were some herons, but no loons, alas. We did see some more yellowlegs and a few cormorants. The beach and park were fairly busy, which surprised me a little. Apparently everyone wanted to be outside on the first nice Saturday of fall. By now it was warm enough to doff jackets, if desired.
Piper Spit: This place was crawling with people and children (not that children aren’t people, but you know what I mean). Coots were croaking, but all the shorebirds were in one tight group, snoozing. Golden hour was setting in, so light was rather harsh. We shot a heron grooming up in a tree. They always look weird up in trees. I did not notice any pigeons or seagulls, and the land mass seems to be continuing to expand, so I assume they are letting more water flow out of the lake, Or maybe it’s magic.
Overall, it was a good day of birding, even if we didn’t see anything super exotic, and even though a lot of the birds were even more uncooperative than usual. Don’t they know we just want to capture them in all their pretty glory?
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
American blackbird
American robin
Anna’s hummingbird
Black-capped chickadee
Brewer’s blackbird
Golden-crowned sparrow
Goldfinch
Northern flicker
Savannah sparrow
Song sparrow
Spotted towhee
Steller’s jay
Yellow-rumped warbler
Waterfowl:
American coot
American wigeon
Canada goose
Great blue heron
Greater yellowlegs
Green-winged teal
Mallard
Northern pintail (possibly)
Wood duck
Common:
American crow
Glaucous-winged gull
Ring-billed gull
Pacific gull (?)
Raptors:
Bald eagle
Northern harrier
Non-birds:
Douglas and gray squirrels
Dragonflies
Grasshoppers
A fuzzy little caterpillar dude (or dudette, who can tell?)
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby) and Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 21-23C
The Outing
Today was an unplanned outing, but the weather was nice, it’s the last official day of summer and the 10-day forecast starting tomorrow looks like poo in the form of clouds and showers pretty much every day.
And so off we went for an abbreviated tour of Piper Spit and Tlahutum’s community gardens.
Piper Spit featured an increase in the coot count, as the croaking critters are cavorting in copious quantities now. The mallards are catching up to the wood ducks with their breeding plumage, and shorebirds are still present in decent numbers.
The highlights were a pair of killdeer that were bobbing and bathing and hopping and looking forlorn, as they do, plus a rare sighting–a merlin, just like the bird app, but instead an actual bird. These are small raptors and this one would perch atop nearby trees, then dive across the spit, spooking the shorebirds, before finding another spot to perch, sometimes high, and sometimes right down on a log in the water. At one point it took a bath, because you should wash your, uh, appendages, before eating.
Interestingly, the shorebirds (mainly yellowlegs, from what I saw) were indifferent to the merlin when it was grounded. In fact, a large gang/flock of them all seemed to saunter en masse quite close to it, as if they were trying to show they weren’t afraid of no raptor. Until it took to the air again.
After Piper Spit, we took a quick tour around the community gardens at Tlahutum. Initially there was a lot of birb activity, but in the end we didn’t actually shoot too many, mainly some white-crowned sparrows, an Anna’s hummingbird (too fast for me) and a goldfinch. Also, much like at Piper Spit, squirrels were everywhere, like they had all been instructed to start gathering food for the winter RIGHT THIS MINUTE.
It was a gorgeous last day of summer, and I am sad that I now have to wait eight months for summer to come around again. But for now, we have the coots.
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Terra Nova (Richmond), Piper Spit (Burnaby) and Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 17-25C
The Outing
We hit five places today, one for each finger!
Reifel Bird Sanctuary: It was about 17C when we arrived in the morning, but it actually never felt cool and ended rather warm, which was a nice wrap-up for our last visit to the sanctuary for this summer.
More winter migrants are arriving, with northern shovelers joining the coots. We also saw two rare birds, which was spiffy: a white-fronted goose, and four avocets. Unlike when we saw a single avocet here last fall, these four were close to one of the bird blinds, allowing us to get much better shots. There were also chickadees everywhere, right from the parking lot on forward. The wood ducks were also seen in increasing numbers and seem to be racing ahead of the mallards in getting their full breeding plumage back. Pretty boys everywhere. The geese were acting strange and weird, as always.
It was here that I made a discovery about my camera issues. A small leaf landed on the camera and I started blowing on it to get it off. Nic advised me that I could also use my hands to, you know, just lift it off. I didn’t want to do that, lest I touch something I didn’t want to touch (on the camera, that is, though I also don’t know where that leaf had been, either). It was then that the proverbial light bulb went off over my head. I regularly turn my camera off to save on battery when I am not expecting to be shooting photos for at least a few minutes. The on/off switch is right next to the dial that selects shooting modes. With the leaf gone, I looked down and thought, THIS is how I had changed modes without realizing it, by pushing on the dial when I was moving the on/off switch (they are very close together).
Now that I know this, it should happen less often. I am also experimenting with leaving the camera on all the time once I start shooting, to see how quickly I go through the batteries (I start each bird outing with three fully charged, which should always be more than I need). We’ll see how it goes!
Richmond Nature House: The feeders were still empty, so we saw no birds here, but Nic’s curiosity was sated.
Terra Nova: We did not see many birds here, but did shoot a distant heron, some gulls, a few song sparrows and I shot a bunch of planes, or fixed-wing birds, as I call them. We also shot a grebe, but it was not close and not in great light.
Piper Spit: The land mass at the spit is back, and it’s actually quite large. I expect it will grow in size as long as the dry weather holds out. Again, we saw oodles of pretty wood ducks, some coots, lots of geese, and many greater yellowlegs. Several ducks were having baths, making for some great action shots. Today, it felt like Piper Spit was coming out of its sleepy summer state, with more birds coming in and general birdiness all around.
Tlahutum Regional Park: We only visited the community garden here and observed two hummingbirds battling again), spotted some newly-returned golden-crown sparrows, some white crowns and a fleeting flicker. There was also a squirrel eating the head of a giant sunflower. And speaking of eating, three deer were helping themselves to an all-you-can-eat buffet (though we only directly saw two). Deer have freakishly giant tongues. And no manners.
By this time (closing in on 6 p.m.) we were in the golden hour, high clouds were moving in and Nic only had room for a few more dozen photos on his SD card, so we wrapped up. Still, we saw a bounty of birds, I actually got some of my best shots in a while and the weather was pleasant throughout the day.
Also, I decided to experiment and shot in both JPG and RAW. My total file size ended up being just over 21 GB. Yikes.
The Shots
Soon™
An Anna’s hummingbird to start:
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
American blackbird
Anna’s hummingbird
Bewick’s wren (possibly heard, but not seen)
Black-capped chickadee
Golden-crowned sparrow
Northern flicker
Song sparrow
Spotted Towhee
White-crowned sparrow
Yellow-rumped warbler
Waterfowl:
American coot
Avocet (rare)
Canada goose
Gadwall
Great blue heron
Greater yellowlegs
Hooded merganser
Mallard
Northern pintail
Northern shoveler
Sandhill cranes (briefly, flying overhead)
White-fronted goose (rare)
Wood duck
Common:
American crow
Ring-billed seagull
Rock pigeon
Raptors:
Northern harrier
Non-birds:
Douglas, black and gray squirrels
Deer
Western painted turtle
Grasshopper
Bees ‘n dragonflies
Various helicopters, passenger jets and seaplanes in and around YVR
