Where: Sapperton Landing, New Westminster
Weather: Partly sunny, 17C
The Outing
With the weather being perfectly spring-like, I stretched my legs and spent an hour or so strolling along the path at Sapperton Landing, taking in the scenery along the Fraser River, and shooting what birds I could see.
I spotted a heron early on, which was nice, then realized there were at least four others with it. It was a heronfest, a bounty of herons, a heroncopia.
I actually got several decent shots of robins–score! And a terrifying shot of a crow cawing directly at my camera. And speaking of creepy, I shot a passing boat and when I zoomed in later a guy in the boat appeared to be staring back at me with a “I’ll git you!” look on his face.
Surprisingly, I saw a pair of gadwalls in the river, still not interested in migrating north, apparently.
In all, it was a fine little outing.
The Shots
Going for the catch
Fishy successfully acquired
Great Blue Heron and a gadwall couple that have not yet migrated north
Heron leaving, heron standing
Heron in flight over the Fraser River
Heron landing, cormorant in the background
Fish mosaic at Sapperton Landing
A pair of cormorants plying the river
Song sparrow in the grass being most birb
Hook and chain on a moored boat near Sapperton Landing
View of the Fraser, with log booms and the Port Mann Bridge in the background
Flower with bonus ladybugs
Song sparrow singing, as they do
Reflecting crow at the pier
Crow cawing directly at the camera. Terrifying.
I can't decide if towing giant barges of wood chips would be awesome or awful.
Life preserver on moored boat near Sapperton Landing
SkyBridge, Patullo Bridge, railroad bridge and the forthcoming Patullo Bridge 2.0
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Iona Beach
Weather: Sunny, around 18C or warmer
The Outing
With an unusually summer-like day forecast, we headed out mid-morning to Reifel, bedecked in t-shirts and shorts for the first time this year. I also brought sunblock, which proved to be very necessary.
Reifel was full of birds and full of people, many having booked no doubt due to the forecast, but the crowds thinned a bit after we’d been there awhile. The biggest changes we observed were:
Warblers. At first, we were just satisfied to get some shots, then realized the place was replete with warblers. They actually seemed to be crowding out the chickadees. I got at least two lifer shots.
Most of the winter migrants were still around, but their numbers were down quite a bit and a few, like the mergansers and scaups, were nowhere to be seen. I suspect the next time we visit, most of them will have moved on for the summer.
The geese were mostly tranquil. There was honking and some occasional nipping/alpha male nonsense, but they generally seemed more sedate. Maybe mating season mellows them out. Like, it’s hard to get a date when you’re going totally berserk.
After about four hours, we moved on to Iona Beach, where Nic wanted to find the elusive yellow-headed blackbird. We did see one, but did not get good photos (or in my case, any). Nic actually went back the next day on a Moby Dick-like quest and did get some shots. Even though he’s gotten great shots previously, so it’s not like it’s a lifer or anything. Weirdo! Or maybe he is assuming his final form as a Power Birder. First the yellow head, next the 600 mm lens.
We also saw a pile of warblers at Iona Beach. They were everywhere.
After journeying down the trails and past the barges, we agreed to walk across the tidal flats on the way back, as it would be quicker (in theory) and easier( in theory). It was neither!
But I found it strangely hilarious as the fairly firm sand gave way to increasingly mucky stuff, the kind that threatens to pull your shoes right off your feet. We never got our feet fully submerged, so I cal it a win. I also stuck to my plan to only take shots with my camera, and swapped out lenses several times for scenery shots and one poor ex-crab on the beach. A bit inconvenient compared to the phone, but my kit lens has some zoom capability, and it has a wider aspect ration, especially handy for the vast vistas of Iona Beach.
In all, it was a nice way to end the month, getting a nice preview of the warm summer weather to come.
And yes, I got a bit burnt in a few spots I missed with the sunblock. 😛
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake Regional Park), Richmond Nature House
Weather: Cloudy, intermittent showers, around 8-10ºC
The Outing
The forecast told of doom (or at least rain), so we headed out with trepidation to our first stop, Piper Spit. To avoid getting drenched, we parked at the Nature House, which didn’t help our step count, but did keep us safe from a potential drenching.
There was a bit of a breeze and as a result it was rather chilly. It did sprinkle on and off a bit, but not enough to interfere with the shoot. We once again saw a mix of spring and winter migrants, though the buffleheads were nowhere to be seen today.
A new arrival at the lake was the cowbird, tangling with the geese for some seed.
We moved on to the Richmond Nature House and spent time watching squirrels gorging themselves at the bird feeders. A few birds used them, too, but mostly stuck to grabbing seed that was spilled onto the ground. Doves and finches were mixed in with the usual suspects.
The hummingbird count was way down, but one particular rufous hummingbird repeatedly stopped to assert control on its territory. Nic got a little too close one time, and the rufous dive-bombed him to make its displeasure known. No one messes with hummingbirds. The rain actually held off completely here, so we opted to press our luck further and go to Colony Farm after a bite to eat.
Alas, the weather turned while we were eating, with The Rains arriving, so we bowed out at that point. Overall, though, we got a lot more in than we might have expected, given how wet the day was looking.
The Shots
Goose going berserk, as they do.
Goose berserker, mostly captured on camera.
Canada goose drinking up. Way up.
American coot ponders on an underwater log.
Extreme close-up of coot head.
Cowbirds have returned for 2023
Cowbird on deck
Glaucous-winged gull on the pier at Piper Spit
Female blackbird among the budding greenery
Mallard shining in the shower
Excited wood duck
Douglas squirrel gorging on seed. Seriously, I think it ate its own weight.
Squirrel eyeballing the next feeder to raid
Surveying the food store
House finch hanging out on the birth bath
Mourning dove
House finch on a branch
Rufous hummingbird in profile
Rufous hummingbird agitating. Nic apparently got too close to his territory, and it buzzed him a few times. No one messes with hummingbirds.
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake Regional Park)
Weather: Cloudy, intermittent rain, around 8ºC
The Outing
It’s Easter weekend and instead of chocolate bunnies and candy eggs, we got a rainfall warning.
The skies opened up as forecast, and it was looking like we might not get out at all. The rain paused just long enough to let us grab about 20 minutes at Piper spit (Burnaby Lake), where I got 138 shots of soggy birds, squirrels and scenery. By the end, the rain resumed and we got the heck out of there.
I got a few respectable shots, which are posted in the gallery below. A lot were blurry, some due to movement and some due to I don’t know what, because the number of blurry shots has been going up lately. I also had another moment today where it felt like my telephoto lens, which is attached via adapter to the camera, started to come loose. Can adapters fail? I guess I’ll find out eventually!
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Terra Nova, Richmond Nature House
Weather: Sunny, 7ºC
The Outing
No April foolin’, but my telephoto lens was mega-dirty and I got a depressingly large number of blurry shots.
But a few good ones, too.
The best part may have been the weather. The forecast had called for clouds with a chance of showers, but instead it was sunny right up till the very end, when a light shower finally moved in.
We started at Reifel and spent almost four hours there, strolling about, accidentally going down the same trail multiple times, but seeing lots of the usual birds. Swallows are ever-present now, but so far all the winter migrants are still here, too. The geese are mating, so are acting even more berserk and deranged than usual. One of them stared me down and actually made a motion to nip at me, but never followed through. I walked by, and it immediately went back to “nothing inside head, stare blankly into the distance” mode.
After finishing out Reifel, we had lunch then headed to Terra Nova at Nic’s suggestion. I pointed out that we’d be driving right by the Richmond Nature House on the way, so we opted to pop in and at least check the feeders (the trails had not yielded much in past visits).
And lo, we saw the elusive rufous hummingbird! And even though it was occasionally just sitting there, posing, I still wasn’t able to get a good shot. Poop! We also saw some finches and a dove, so it turned out to be a nice detour.
We next went to Terra Nova and observed copious numbers of snow geese flying overhead, heading north, so they also haven’t entirely moved on, either. At Terra Nova itself, we didn’t end up seeing a whole lot. Nic thought there was some exotic bird in a field, but it was just a pigeon (lolz). We mostly saw scenery, planes and encroaching clouds finally promising some precipitation. With Nic’s camera battery trickling down to zero and me on my third of three batteries (I ended up taking over 1,000 photos, several of them in focus!) we decided to head out, only to discover at the entrance to the trail parking that the hundreds of snow geese were landing in a narrow field between the beach and the road. We quickly parked and took a billion goose pictures until Nic’s camera battery died, then left again for real, just as the first sprinkle started. We got delayed slightly as the geese crossed the road into a larger adjacent field. Honk!
UPDATED, April 21. 2023: I removed the Photonic Gallery plugin, so the image is no longer showing from Flickr. But I've added a local version of the flicker, so the post doesn't look weird.
Just testing to see how photos look using the Photonic Gallery plugin with a free Flickr account.
More like CentenniHAIL Beach, amirite? (I am right, see below.)
After last weekend’s lovely spring-like weather (it was technically still winter), this outing’s weather was decidedly less lovely and winter-like (it was technically now spring).
We expected the morning to be cool and cloudy, and it was. We headed out, with the usual low tide, capturing a few shots on the vast mud flats before moving up the trails. We neared the end, having spotted a few of the usual suspects–golden crowned sparrows, wigeons and others. It started to get drizzly, which was not ideal, then the drizzle turned into an assault of hail. This was totally not ideal.
Fortunately, we were close to the 12th Avenue pump house, which has a nice covered area to hide under in situations like this. I assured Nic that hail never lasts, so it wouldn’t be long before we could venture out from under cover.
Fifteen minutes later, we were still waiting, with the hail varying between relentless and slightly-less-relentless. I have never seen such persistent hail. It started piling up like snow. I finally made the call to head out when the worst of it seemed to have stopped, so we headed back at a brisk pace, getting pelted for most of the way. As expected, the storm pretty much stopped by the time we were back where we’d started, so we took the opportunity to shoot some ducks, robins and Brewer’s blackbirds.
Still soggy, we headed out to our Plan B backup, Crescent Beach, noting, ominously, that it appeared to be clearing up everywhere except precisely where we were heading.
When we got to Crescent Beach, it was showering, so we sat in the car and waited. About 15 minutes later, the last of the rain passed and the sun came out and I was all yay!
The tide was out here, too, which was the first time I’ve seen it here, so the usual boat shots were not to be had, as there was literally no water for them to run through. We did see lots of gulls and some wigeons and green-winged teals, along with a rare group of Northern flickers clustering in a stand of trees. It was just nice to have a bit of sun, though.
The Shots
Brewer’s blackbird poofing outNorthern flicker at Crescent BeachGreater yellowlegs noodling in a creekGull flying over a gloomy Centennial Beach before the hailstormYawning mallardCrescent Beach, with storms in the distance
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Boundary Bay
Weather: Sunny, 15ºC
The Outing
The weather for today was unusually mild–it got up to 17C in New Westminster and was around 14-15C at peak at Reifel and Boundary Bay, with little of the wind we saw last time. This is actually record-breaking territory, and one of the few exposed part of my body (the back of my neck) actually got a little sunburned. It’s still technically winter!
The sun meant for lots of light, which was a nice change, but also presented issues with shadows we haven’t had to deal with lately. Still, it was a treat to both have bright light and mild temperatures.
There was some work in the waterway being done near the entrance, with heavy equipment and steel plates being inserted into the water, but I can’t find anything about the work on the official site. I am guessing they are reconfiguring the layout of some of these smaller water bodies for some reason. We were going to ask a staff member, but they were busy helping others. A semi-mystery for now!
Boundary Bay was a complete 180º from the last visit–calm and mild. People were on the golf course wearing t-shirts. In March!
Both Reifel and Boundary Bay yielded a few seasonal returns, notably tree swallows. We did not see a Rufous hummingbird at Reifel, despite the official site confirming their presence, much to Nic’s dismay. But we did spot both a marsh and Bewick’s wren (I got a few decent shots of the latter).
We also observed a weird Sandhill crane, who I figured was going through a rebellious teen phase. There were three cranes alongside the southwest trail and one of them was constantly vocalizing. It then split from the others to come up directly onto the trail ahead of us. The others eventually followed. After a few minutes, the surly teen took off and flew around, landing in the large pond west of the trail. It then made its way back and didn’t quite rejoin the others, staying slightly back because it was obviously too cool for its (possible) parents. It finally joined them and we made our way past the gang.
Also, the geese were back and everywhere, honking and blatting as is their way. A lot of them appeared to be paired up for some sweet spring lovin’. Baby poopmonsters inbound!
The Shots
A banded Anna’s hummingbird at a feederImmature bald eagle acting totally matureBlack-capped chickadee in a mossy treeWe rarely see birds near the bird blinds, but this time a great blue heron was on a log right on the other side of one blindSandhill crane. Not heard: its constant vocalizations. It had a lot to say.A differently-coloured towhee, standing in a chicken posePlane landing at Boundary Bay Airport. Yes, that is heat shimmer, something I wouldn’t expect to see on the second-to-last day of winter.
The Birds (and other critters)
All birds seen at Reifel Bird Sanctuary unless otherwise noted.
