I was able to check out Piper Spit and the Butterfly Garden post-run. Here’s a few shots I took.
Bonus shots from my run, July 24, 2026
Photography
Photos I’ve taken of scenery, interesting objects and other things.
Four photos from my walk to Burnaby Lake but without any lake shots (07/23/2026)
See below, in kitschy pseudo Polaroid glory. The weather was milder today, but a bit more humid. I enjoyed the walk.
Keep Out
Sun dappled trail
The river
No tractor trailers
Hot walk, dry heat
I went for a walk in the early afternoon to Burnaby Lake and back (8 km) as the temperature was hitting 33°C. This may not seem like an optimal time to walk, but most of the route is on a river trail with a good bit of tree canopy and the humidity was low, so I sweated, but only a bit. I also wore sunblock because I’m not stupid enough to let myself get sunburned twice in the same summer (yet).
Weather app shot:
A few river shots. And yes, it felt cooler down by the water. Not Fonzie cool, but maybe a little.
Birding, July 18, 2026: Blood on the beach
Where: Iona Beach, Terra Nova, Richmond Nature House (Richmond), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 21°C
It was Richmond up in the hizzy today, which meant planes, planes and also some birds.
Iona Beach
After some early morning showers, the sky mostly cleared up and it was pleasantly warm–and super muggy–for the remainder of the day. We started at Iona Beach and worked back toward a group of people shooting something apparently exotic. But it was just mallards. I guess they are exotic if you don’t see them normally. But in the same green sewer pond we also saw a Northern Pintail couple, the first we’ve seen this summer. We took an alternate trail into the wooded area and did not see much there. A trip down to the river provided the first of several blood sacrifices from Nic as he walked manly through thorny brush.
Once we moved into the open area, filled with scrub and smaller trees, it was chickadees everywhere, along with House Finches, swallows of various sorts and hummingbirds trying to stab each other. It was a birdpalooza, perhaps brought on by the abundant berries growing all over.
In the open gravel area Nic heard, then we saw a couple of Killdeer. They appeared to be nesting, so we gave them a wide berth. One seemed to be trying to draw us away from a nest and I felt bad being there. As penance, I didn’t manage any shots.
The main beach provided opportunities for shooting surly gulls. You know the ones. There was also a disturbingly large amount of broken glass along the shore, spread out over a fairly wide area. Nic picked up like 50 kg of it.
Terra Nova
We then headed across the bay to Terra Nova, which yielded great scenery, a large retro biking group, an ice cream truck playing “Happy Birthday to You” (WHY?!) and not many birds at all! There was a heron standing in the main pond, up to its knees in goop, and looking about as pleased as you’d expect.
What we did see a lot of, other than planes, were bugs of various sorts, and especially grasshoppers. We found one on the trail that was oddly unmoved by our presence, then we realized she was laying eggs in the gravel. Kind of neat and kind of gross at the same time.
Also, lots of planes. I shot about a thousand of them. It was Plane Day for me.
Richmond Nature House
Nic wanted to see if there might be some action at the Richmond Nature House. There was not, other than a few errant hummingbirds and a House Finch. However, the small pond had a turtle (fake) and plenty of dragonflies (real), making the trip, which was not really out of the way, worth it. In summer, it’s all about the bugs.
Tlahutum Regional Park
We concluded at Tlahutum, though we did not venture to the big pond. We saw some Canada Geese in the river, a kingfisher that I could not capture as it zipped by, and at least one Willow Flycatcher.
In the community garden, we continued to see lots of juvenile birds getting their flap on, mainly House Finches, some cowbirds, and robins. Yellowthroats continued to taunt form out of view. I shot a bunch of flowers. Nic shot red soldier beetles getting it on. And on and on.
In all, a fine outing, even if half the spots were a bit bird-deficient. But it’s the summer and that’s expected. Plus the pintails were a nice surprise.
The Shots
All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.
Soon™.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American Goldfinch
- American Robin
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Common Yellowthroat (heard)
- Eastern Kingbird
- House Finch
- Song Sparrow
- Spotted Towhee
- Tree Swallow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Willow Flycatcher
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- Belted Kingfisher
- Canada Goose
- Great Blue Heron
- Killdeer
- Mallard
- Northern Pintail
- Wood Duck
Common:
- American Crow
- Various seagulls
Raptors:
- Bald Eagle
Non-birds:
- Assorted pollinators
- Other naughty bugs
July 18 birding preview
I swear I’ll have the post and photos soon. It’s kind of weird how busy I can get doing things I don’t particularly enjoy.
In the meantime, here’s as preview, with two of the photos I took.
Photo 1, the pond at Iona Beach, looking all windswept at 16:9 ratio:
And because we went to Iona Beach and Terra Nova, I took about 10,000 shots of planes landing and taking off. Here’s one of them, a Westjet jet taking off against a cloudy backdrop:
In the birding post (soon™) I will include photos of actual birds.
Hot pie!
This is the image on the side of a McDonald’s baked apple pie box to indicate that it’s hot:
I don’t know why it amuses me, but it does.
Birding, July 11, 2026: Abbreviated avian adventure
Where: Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 21°C
I guess my Forerunner 265 wasn’t lying when it said take a rest day, because I was so pooped in the morning that I skipped Reifel and Boundary Bay. Nic swung by after, and we spent some quality time in the community garden at Tlahutum.
Tlahutum Regional Park
For the first part of the outing, we hit the trails, and it was mostly Song Sparrows and the occasional crow, but we did see a young, scowly Great Blue Heron sitting atop one of the bird boxes near the big pond. The big pond itself was looking a bit green, and seemed to be bird-free. On the way back, we spotted a small group of what were probably young Rough-winged Swallows hanging out in a few trees south of the trail, their extra-big mouths still not quite assuming adult form. One adult, and likely a parent, was sitting among them.
Weirdly, we saw a couple of Barn Swallows just standing on the trail. Maybe they do it sometimes just to see what it feels like.
After tantalizing glimpses of a Common Yellowthroat in the tall grass (Nic saw it and got some OK photos, I did not see it at all), we moved onto the community garden and zigzagged through it. The plots here are in full bloom, with flowers and veggies in abundance, meaning pollinators were also around.
But not just pollinators. There were quite a few birds buzzing about, many of them young and scruffy-looking. House Finches were racing about in small groups pretty much the entire time we were there. I managed a few decent photos when they deigned to sit still for more than a moment.
Overall, the gardens proved to be relaxing, with the clouds providing relief from the sun, but still high enough to provide decent light most of the time. My watch would have approved.
The Shots
All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.
Some of these are more interesting than “great” shots. Also, dragonfly sex. You’ve been warned.
Baby duck flapping its winglets.
Song Sparrow in the grass, looking for bugs and such.
A Song sparrow perched in a tree.
When a mommy dragonfly and a daddy dragonfly love each other very much…
American crow on a steel railing.
A barn swallow takes off as a guy in jeans approaches. It's kind of arsty?
Broody young Great Blue Heron.
Heron pondering, perhaps.
Fixed wing bird, species Lufthansa 747.
Northern Flicker in the garden.
Flicker looking back.
Coquitlam River.
Hello kitty!
An Anna's Hummingbird engaged in a staring contest with the camera.
The biggest, tallest sunflower I could find.
A Spotted Towhee, moments before it pooped, as one does.
House Finch in the garden.
House Finch perched, with a young robin in the background.
An immature American Robin hanging out.
Some kind of fly thingie.
A young Rough-winged Swallow looking out.
Two Rough-winged Swallows reacting to the arrival of a third.
Artichokes in the garden.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American Goldfinch
- American Robin
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Common Yellowthroat (heard, briefly seen)
- House Finch
- Northern Flicker
- Rough-winged Swallow
- Song Sparrow
- Spotted Towhee
- Tree Swallow (?)
- White-crowned Sparrow
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- Belted Kingfisher
- Great Blue Heron
- Wood Duck
Common:
- American Crow
- European Starling
Raptors:
- Bald Eagle
Non-birds:
- Assorted pollinators
- Other bugs
A few more shots of Still Creek from yesterday’s run
My watch said I overdid it, all but calling me dumb.
So today I am mostly taking it easy, but here are a few more shots of Still Creek I took yesterday after overdoing it. Conveniently, my run ends right about where Still Creek is at its most photogenic.
All shot on my not-decrepit Samsung Galaxy S26.
Birding galleries for June 27 and July 4, 2026 are up
Yes, I finally went through my photos!
June 27:
Pitt River.
Female blackbird on a lily pad.
Pitt River.
Scenery along the DeBoville Slough.
Blue damselfly.
Scenery.
A farm along the Alouette River.
American Robin in a tree.
A Tiger Swallowtail and its long, freaky proboscis.
A Willow Flycatcher with a nearby fly.
Willow Flycatcher looking right.
A young Pied-billed Grebe showing off its winglets.
Lily pads at Blakeburn Lagoons, with dragonfly.
Parent Grebe bringing home a meal for the youngster.
Eager Grebeling about to get fed.
A Glaucous-winged Gull perched atop a McDonald’s. He’s lovin’ it.
A horse on a farm, being very horse.
Sand Wasp on a flower.
Song Sparrow stare.
Spotted Towhee calling out.
A yellow valve near a boat launch on the Alouette River.
A Cybertruck, with extensive photo enhancement to bring out the natural beauty.
A Variegated Fritillary enjoying the gravel.
A Whitetail Skimmer chilling out on the gravel.
White-crowned Sparrow on a post.
Cedar Waxwing up high.
Another shot of the Cedar Waxwing.
July 4:
Despite appearance, this American Coot is eating, not barfing.
This is the coot just being a coot.
Bumblebee doing some upside down pollinating.
Mallard appearing to rest her head on a lily pad.
Northern Flicker on the path.
Parent and a slightly clingy youngster who maybe wants food RIGHT NOW.
Parent and child on the move.
Pied-billed Grebe family portrait.
A young Pied-billed Grebe gulping down a fish brought by the parent on the left.
A young grebe yawning or, likelier, demanding food.
Grebe, some day to fly.
Nothing yummier than slimy greens, straight from the pond.
A Hover Fly on a flower, pretending to be a bee.
A ladybug on a leaf.
A grasshopper of some sort, between hops.
House Finch in a tree.
Decrepit pier over absent water.
A boat traverses a narrow strip of water during low tide.
Red-winged Blackbird voicing opinions.
A Cackling Goose. Like a Canada Goose but smaller and less horrible.
Female Brown-headed Cowbird looking off quizzically.
A cowbird after having a bath.
A Song Sparrow with tufted feathers that looks like they exploded or something. The sparrow seemed unperturbed.
A gull and a goose walk into a bar…
Sand wasp on a tansy.
Terrifying close up of a sand wasp.
A Rock Pigeon on full alert.
Snoozing Mallard with some of his shiny green still intact.
Male Wood duck in shadow, still handsome.
Eastern Kingfisher, chilling out between diving attacks on possible prey.
Eastern Kingfisher taking wing.
Male Brown-headed Cowbird judging you.
Brunette River, July 9, 2026
It feels like it’s been a while since I posted ye olde shots of the river, so here’s views looking east and west.
An artsy mudscape
Shot on July 4 at Piper Spit. I’ve opted not to include it in the (coming soon™) gallery, but still felt it was worth putting out there.
And for the curious, here’s the original for comparison:
Birding, July 4, 2026: Greedy Grebelings gobbling goodies
Where: Blakeburn Lagoons Park (Port Coquitlam), Blackie Spit (Surrey), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 17–20°C
In which I wore sunblock and did not get roasted.
Blakeburn Lagoons Park
We returned to Blakeburn to take in the baby Grebes again and this time we arrived in the morning, which was apparently nap time, because all the waterfowl, Mallards, and Grebes alike, were mostly dozing. But after a short time they started stirring and soon enough the Grebelings began chasing a parent, desperate for food. We observed one getting a big ol’ fishy from the parent and watched as it horked it down in about three gulps.
We also saw a heron–but not a green one, just the great blue kind. It flew right past in front of us. I got a blurry action shot.
Elsewhere around the lagoon, we spied a Northern Flicker, a robin hanging out by a sewer grate and lots of pollinators. It was unofficial Pollinator Day.
At the second lagoon, we heard invisible frogs and once more saw a single American Coot, probably the same one we saw last week. It did a weird kind of coot bobbing thing a few times but mostly ate copious amounts of greenery, which at times looked more like something it was throwing up rather than nomming on.
In all, a nice beginning and I think I got better shots of the grebes this time, so woo for that.
Blackie Spit
We then spent 10 hours travelling south to Blackie Spit, thanks to Google Maps directing us to busy highway intersections without traffic lights and asking us to then turn left. Once there, we heard but didn’t see (or did we?) Savannah Sparrows, but we did get shots of a House Finch impersonating one. There were also a lot of sand wasps here, furiously digging burrows as they do.
We hoped for a repeat of seeing a California Scrub Jay after a guy on a scooter advised us of some in the area, but alas, we didn’t see any. We saw lots of pollinators again, though.
The tide was extremely low, which in itself made for some interesting scenery shots.
When we left, I marvelled at how my skin had not turned crimson.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
We rounded out the day at Piper Spit, where the level of the lake was almost as high as the piles of seeds from all the criminal bird feeders. When not telling girls destined to be sociopaths not to kick at pigeons, we saw pigeons, blackbirds, and a Song Sparrow that kind of looked like it had exploded, but didn’t seem to mind. The ducks were mostly avoiding the pier and hanging out in Eagle Creek.
There were a lot of Canada Geese around and some of the babbies have become sullen teens with mostly adult colours and bad attitudes.
When we left, after silently cursing the people with seed, I was just grateful karma didn’t put us behind a 150-car train before we could head out.
But the weather was nice!
In all, a fine day with maybe a bit too much travelling (but no U-turns), but redeemed by all those grebes.
The Shots
All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.
Despite appearance, this American Coot is eating, not barfing.
This is the coot just being a coot.
Bumblebee doing some upside down pollinating.
Mallard appearing to rest her head on a lily pad.
Northern Flicker on the path.
Parent and a slightly clingy youngster who maybe wants food RIGHT NOW.
Parent and child on the move.
Pied-billed Grebe family portrait.
A young Pied-billed Grebe gulping down a fish brought by the parent on the left.
A young grebe yawning or, likelier, demanding food.
Grebe, some day to fly.
Nothing yummier than slimy greens, straight from the pond.
A Hover Fly on a flower, pretending to be a bee.
A ladybug on a leaf.
A grasshopper of some sort, between hops.
House Finch in a tree.
Decrepit pier over absent water.
A boat traverses a narrow strip of water during low tide.
Red-winged Blackbird voicing opinions.
A Cackling Goose. Like a Canada Goose but smaller and less horrible.
Female Brown-headed Cowbird looking off quizzically.
A cowbird after having a bath.
A Song Sparrow with tufted feathers that looks like they exploded or something. The sparrow seemed unperturbed.
A gull and a goose walk into a bar...
Sand wasp on a tansy.
Terrifying close up of a sand wasp.
A Rock Pigeon on full alert.
Snoozing Mallard with some of his shiny green still intact.
Male Wood duck in shadow, still handsome.
Eastern Kingfisher, chilling out between diving attacks on possible prey.
Eastern Kingfisher taking wing.
Male Brown-headed Cowbird judging you.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American Robin
- Cedar Waxwing
- Common Yellowthroat (heard, not seen)
- House Finch
- Northern Flicker
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Savannah Sparrow (heard)
- Song Sparrow
- Spotted Towhee
- Tree Swallow
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- American Coot (probably the same one)
- Belted Kingfisher
- Gadwall
- Great Blue Heron
- Mallard
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Wood Duck
Common:
- American Crow
- Another Glaucous-winged Gull
Raptors:
- Bald Eagle
Non-birds:
- Assorted pollinators
- Other bugs
- A few dragonflies
- An errant squirrel
- Frogs (heard frequently, seen never)