Where: Sapperton Landing, New Westminster
Weather: Sunny, 28C
The Outing
Feeling somewhat human again after a week of being sick, I ventured over to Sapperton Landing on the Fraser River and spent an hour or so taking in the sights on a day that was quite warm, somewhat hazy and muggy. The light was a challenge, with high cloud causing light to shift from bright sun to shadow, but this was my first real chance to shoot birds with my adjusted diopter and check the results. Overall, I’m fairly happy with the results.
In terms of birds, it was the usual suspects: herons, crows, song sparrows, geese and gulls. Strangely, no ducks at all were to be seen. The bufflehead duck I’d seen around a few times was also absent.
In terms of people, I didn’t see anyone else for nearly the entire time I was there. Someone finally passed me as I was heading out, over an hour after I’d arrived. It was kind of weird.
Overall, it was nice to get out, stretch and test my mad camera skills again.
The Shots
Geese skip/flying over muddy shallows
Goose quickly skirting over the mud. There were two adults and four juveniles coming from Brunette River and none of them wanted to walk over this muck, but they didn't really want to fly, either, so they basically ran while flapping their wings.
Geese skip/flying over muddy shallows
Harsh light on a crow, but I kind of like the effect
Close-cropped shot of a Lufthansa 747 flying over Surrey on approach to YVR.
Wildflowers along the path
Song sparrow perched and in a contemplative mood
Past the rocks and on the shore, here be herons!
Great blue heron cooling its feet in the Fraser
Another great blue heron, standing, but not fishing
Just as I took the first picture of this gull bobbing on the river, it took off
I went out with a minor bit of trepidation. A few days earlier I’d caught a bug from Jeff, but on Friday I was feeling fairly decent and got a lot of stuff done, so I was hoping some birding on Saturday would be fine.
I was mostly right. By the time we got to our third and final stop, Crescent Beach, I was beginning to flag. Despite asking really nicely, Nic refused to carry me out. I managed to get out on my own two feet.
As for the various locations:
Sunnyside Acres Urban Forest: The name is a bit of a misnomer, because most of the area is shrouded in semi-permanent shade due to the abundance of very tall trees. It’s great for that forest vibe, and is neat to walk off a street and into the middle of fairly dense woods. The Merlin app was going cuckoo, reporting as many as seven different species at once, yet we actually saw very few birds, most of them remaining high up in the trees or away from the trails. My shots here were not great, though I did get a couple of nice shots of some fungus and then, right as we were about to enter the parking lot to leave, a junco came out and did a bunch of posing for us. What a nice junco!
Serpentine Fen: It had been a while since we’d visited here and the weather was ideal–sunny, but not hot. It was very pleasant, and the area was lush, though the river was very low. We did see more birds here, including an abundance of geese and herons in the river. Songbirds were more elusive, but we caught sight of a wren, a Savannah sparrow and a few song sparrows. Strangely, no ducks at all–not even mallards in the ponds. Again, my shots were not great.
Crescent Beach: We arrived here around 3 p.m. and given that it was:
Canada Day
A Saturday
Gorgeous weather
The beach was very crowded. We could not find parking in the usual lot and ended up parking further away, near a café, and had to walk in from there. As we trekked across the beach and through the trails, I began to flag, but managed to stay upright. We again saw no ducks, but there were song sparrows, some herons and purple finches were in abundance. A cedar waxwing also made an appearance, as did some Savannah sparrows.
Yet again, my shots were not great. As we left, I pondered this. A lot of the birds were far away, and the lighting was often not great (shadows or bright sun), but there seemed to be more to it than just the specific conditions of the shoot.
Later, when Nic and I talked about it, I mused that my shots had been getting worse–blurrier–for some time now. I am cleaning the lenses and contacts regularly, so I didn’t think those were the cause. As Nic looked over my camera, he noticed that the EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) was blurry. I concurred, but had always figured that it was my eyes and not the EVF (my prescription for lenses is about two years old now). Nic consulted the internets and discovered where the diopter1In this context it’s the control under the EVF that sets how sharp the image is in the EVF is located. I’d known about this before, but had completely forgotten about it. Fiddling with it brought the EVF into sharp focus. It is very possible this was at least one of the major culprits of my shots not being as clear as they could be. I will find out more the next time I go out and aboot shooting birds.
In the meantime, and as a bonus, I have also discovered how to make quick exposure and ISO changes. I’m finally learning to use my camera two and a half years after buying it! Go me.
As for the outing, I put in 25,000+ steps, which was probably way more than my body was in condition for, but the weather was nice, and I was glad to be out.
The Shots
Upward view of forest at Sunny Acres Urban Forest. Shot with iPhone 12.
Fungus the first, Sunnyside Acres. Shot on iPhone 12.
Fungus the second, Sunnyside Acres. Shot on iPhone 12.
Scruffy dark-eyed junco, probably a juvenile, Sunnyside Acres.
Great blue heron on the shore at Serpentine Fen.
Serpentine Fen, shot on iPhone 12.
Idyllic, if empty, pond at Serpentine Fen.
One of several bald eagles cruising over the fen.
Metallic bird. Strangely, the advertising on its belly didn't survive post.
Lorquin's Admiral butterfly
Savannah sparrow experiencing the power
Purple finches flapping furiously
Verdant field at Serpentine Fen
Bumblebee to flower: "I love you so much!"
Great blue heron on remnants of a pier, Crescent Beach
I’m still recovering from a head cold or maybe the flu (who can say for sure?) but thought a gentle day of birding would be fine. I mean, it was, except that I walked way more than intended–over 24,000 steps. That was perhaps too much, and toward the end I was flagging pretty hard. Some food and rest later helped, but I haven’t felt this bagged in quite a while.
We hit three spots:
Sunnyside Acres Urban Forest
Serpentine Fen
Crescent Beach
Overall, my shots were not great, but I may have found out partly why–more later when I have more energy to typy-type.
For now, here’s a shot looking up in Sunnyside Acres, taken on my iPhone:
Where: Piper Spit at Burnaby Lake, Burnaby
Weather: Sunny, 25C
The Outing
The waterfowl were mostly sleeping when I was there, and at times I was the only one on the pier. That made for a peaceful outing, but made shots a bit more challenging.
Still, the weather was very nice, I didn’t get sunburned, and sleeping ducks are pretty dang cute.
The Shots
Snoozing in the sun
Song sparrow auditioning
Canada goose doing...something
Male blackbird bringing a female blackbird a treat. He did this repeatedly.
Cowbird with bent tail feathers.
Baby duck sleeping in the shade of a bench.
Pigeon with a "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout?" look
Male pigeon macking on an albino pigeon
Male pigeon desperately trying to impress the ladies
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary and Centennial Beach, both in Delta
Weather: Cloudy, 17C
The Outing
I’ve actually done several bird outings between this one and the last one I wrote about on May 24, but for some reason never put together write-ups or galleries. Lazy? Bad? Who can say! I may eventually put up at least galleries for each later.
For now, though, on to the most recent birding, which was also the first outing of Summer 2023. The weather was not particularly summer-like, as it was cloudy, windy and around 17C, but no rain, no hail and no risk of sunburn, so it was fine.
We started out early at Reifel I opted to keep my hoodie on. This was a wise choice.
We got some quick pics of the sandhill crane family adjacent to the parking lot to start, but the main pond was unusually quiet. We headed off toward the bird blinds, where Nic had seen an owl last week when I was in Kamloops, but alas, no owls on this day. Also, the left bird blind was closed due to birds nesting in it. They clearly do not understand what a bird blind is for.
The theme at Reifel was cowbirds, and plenty of them. We only saw a couple of chickadees, no squirrels at all, but plenty of ducks, geese, and the cowbirds, who were spread out across nearly the entire sanctuary. It was kind of weird.
As befits summer, the marshland is starting to look appropriately lush and green, besmirched only by that now abandoned sailboat, which is badly listing to port now and has been there for many weeks.
The outer trails were especially breezy and cool, but some workers pointed out an oriole nest we’ll keep an eye on in future visits. The inner trails were warmer, but festooned with giant swarms of flying bugs. Fortunately, they are not the biting kind. The swallows were very well supplied.
The oddest sight may have been a small group of Northern pintails. They should have migrated weeks ago, but they either got lost, lazy or just like it here.
Centennial Beach proved a bit lacking for raptors and killdeer (we saw the latter, but only flying overhead and away from the beach), but we did see Savannah sparrows and house finches. A few others, like goldfinches, teased with their presence, but never made for good shots. The weather improved enough that the sun almost came out a few times, and it was almost warm enough to doff the hoodie.
It’s warm and sunny as I type this the day after. 😛
Overall, it was nice to be out, and I got some of my best cowbird shots ever because a) they were plentiful and b) some of them stopped frantically jumping around and stood still for several moments.
The Shots
Sandhill crane staring contest
Cargo ship cruising past Reifel Bird Sanctuary
Scruffy mallard duck preening
Cowbird
Cowbird
Cowbird close-up
Cowbird
Female cowbird
Greta blue heron landing on top of a tree
Great blue heron perched on a treetop
Juvenile bald eagle soaring overhead
Canada goose pondering
Northern pintail either not knowing or not caring that he should have migrated by now
Swallow at the front door of its house
Great blue heron keeping vigil
A tiny island of incredibly cute sleeping ducklings, with mother nearby
Baby duck on the march
Duckling posing
A group of blue-winged teals gliding through a pond
A majestic bald eagle
Slightly less majestic bald eagle
Female wood duck in profile
Female house sparrow on a branch
One of the boggier parts of Reifel Bird Sanctuary
The weather this spring has led to some extreme algae growth on some ponds
A clear pond at the sanctuary
House finch perched at Centennial Beach
View looking over Boundary Bay at Centennial Beach
Anna's hummingbird sitting still for a few moments
Savannah sparrow singing on a log at Centennial Beach
House finch on concrete, Centennial Beach
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Anna’s Hummingbird
Barn swallow
Blackbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Chickadee
European starling
Goldfinch
House sparrow
Savannah sparrow
Spotted towhee
Tree swallow
Waterfowl:
Blue-winged teal
Canada goose
Great blue heron
Killdeer
Mallard
Northern pintail
Wood duck
Common:
Crow
Seagull
Raptors:
Bald eagle
Non-birds:
Some giant freaky catfish (?) in a slough at Reifel
Here are a few shots from the trip to Kamloops and Chase June 16-18, 2023, with a mix from my iPhone 12 and Canon EOS M50. Come for the starling, stay for the marmots.
The wedding barn
Meat on the left, veggies on the right. We have a winner!
European starling foraging in a tree at McArthur Park
A marmot! At first, I thought it was a rare delight, so I took a bunch of photos. Then I discovered they're everywhere around McArthur Park.
Marmot on the disc golf course at McArthur Park. An unplanned hazard.
Marmot sleeping it off at McArthur Park
View of the South Thompson River
Giant beetle in a gravel parking lot. It was very chill.
Hair Horse One
The hair makes the horse
Every time I look at this photo, I think the horse has hay shoved up its nose.
The way the light and shadow play off the scrub-covered hills intrigued me, for some reason.
When Nic and I were at Colony Farm this past Saturday, the sky was dark and oppressive–but it didn’t rain! (That happened earlier, when we were at Piper Spit). As we walked along one of the trails, I spied a snail and thought, “How cute!” and took its picture. The phone version is below.
Later, we discovered there were a whole bunch of them, which makes seeing the first one less wondrous and delightful. But still cute!
Also, an example of what it looked like. Dark ‘n foreboding shot of the Coquitlam River:
