1001 Steps

Birding, April 5, 2024: A lifer instead of a lifer

Where: Blackie Spit, Crescent Beach (Surrey), 1001 Steps (Surrey), Brydon Lagoon, Hi-Knoll Park (Langley), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, 6-14°C

The Outing

The weather forecast was a lying liar again, promising “mostly sunny” and delivering the opposite. We did have some blue sky, but the sun was mostly blotted out. On the plus side, less harsh light to deal with.

We started out at Blackie Spit, delighting in the ease of parking on a weekday morning. It was perhaps a bit cooler than expected. The water was low, which bode well for shorebirds, and we saw…a few. A couple of greater yellowlegs were poking about. We also saw some cormorants, a few loons (the bird kind, not the people kind), and a horned grebe. The herons were on the pilings instead of their usual spot in the marshland. It seems the herons everywhere have shifted locations. Spring fever, maybe.

We also saw a pair of juvenile bald eagles on other pilings, with an adult in a nearby tree. Maybe a parent watching the kids? You know what trouble kids can get up to.

The bird boxes offshore usually used by purple martins appear to have been taken over by starlings, as Nic got shots of them all over the boxes, with some bringing in nesting material.

After wrapping up there, we made a quick return trip to 1001 Steps to see if we might spot more Harlequin ducks or birds of paradise or something. We saw a couple of cormorants flying off and a distant heron. I shot a lot of rocks. We moved on after working out our thighs on the trip back up the staircase.

Next we hit a new location, Brydon Lagoon in Langley, as Nic had seen reports of a rare Black Phoebe in the area (Black Phoebe sounds like a goth YA novel to me, but what do I know about naming birds?). While we did not see the rare bird, we did see birds. The lagoon itself, with a fountain in the middle, was actually well-represented by many species, sort of a mini Reifel or Piper Spit. We ventured south into Hi-Knoll Park, which consists of meandering trails, which offered pleasant views of creeks and things, but few birds. We saw a robin. I took blurry photos.

It was nice to check out new scenery, though.

We rounded off the afternoon with our usual last stop at Piper Spit and lo, a lifer1This is what fancy birder people call a bird they’ve never seen before. It has nothing to do with serving prison time. appeared in the form of a tree sparrow, which is a small birb with great camo. The water at the lake is still high, so no shorebirds to be seen, but most everything else was around, including the buffleheads, which seem to be at least semi-regulars now. The cowbird population is also much higher than it was from even a few days ago, when I was last here. When it comes to photos, cowbirds are still like migrant robins for me.

As expected, the sun started coming back out as we wrapped up. But it didn’t rain, we saw a lifer and got to see some new sights, so that was all right.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Northern flicker
  • Pacific wren (heard, not seen)
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Ruby-crowned kinglet
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Steller’s jay
  • Tree sparrow
  • Tree swallow
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada goose
  • Common loon
  • Green-winged teal
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Horned grebe
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Pelagic cormorant
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Sandhill crane
  • Scaup
  • Surf scoters (from afar)
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • European starling
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle (mature and juvenile)

Non-birds:

  • A squirrel

Birding, February 10, 2024: Through the tunnel, to the harlequins

Where: Crescent Beach, Serpentine Fen, 1001 Steps (Surrey), Sapperton Landing (New Westminster)
Weather: Cloudy, 8°C

The Outing

It was a gray, cloudy day, with generally mediocre light, but on the plus side, my camera behaved again1Except when it came to one robin. See below for the blurry details., and it didn’t rain until after we had wrapped up.

We ventured to south Surrey and 1001 Steps, on the promise of spotting Harlequin ducks and lo, they were there! They were not close to the shore (none of the waterfowl were, a recurring theme for most of the day), but we got shots that say, “This is a Harlequin duck!” (Nic fared better–this is where 400mm vs 250mm can make a real difference).

The 1001 Steps that winds down to the rocky beach is more like 250 or so, but it’s still a notable number when you’re climbing back up. This is where all that jogging finally paid off. The beach is quite rocky, so we had to step carefully, but the view was very pretty, even with the cloud cover, and there were many birds swimming off the shoreline. We saw some species I don’t see often, too, like surf scoters and grebes, so despite the so-so light and distance, it was spiffy to check out a new area and see a new bird in the bargain. After climbing back up the stairs, we walked a few blocks to Kwomais Point Park. Here, there were a lot of songbirds, including bushtits (hehe) and a brown creeper, but most were not nearby. There was one extremely chill robin and I took a bunch of photos, but my camera was more interested in the grass directly behind the robin for reasons. I vow to shoot in manual mode the next time I see a robin sitting still like that. I will learn how to do this, just like a real guy-with-a-camera.

We actually started the day at Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit. There were lots of mallards, pintails and wigeons, but cormorants were absent, songbirds were not very prevalent, but we did see some greater yellowlegs, including two that had a bit of drama along the shoreline. Something felt off about the area today, though, whether it was the weather, the mix of birds or maybe just the time of year.

After 1001 Steps, we moved on to Serpentine Fen and got all crazy, walking the trail in reverse. I don’t mean walking backward, which would have been awkward, but possibly entertaining for others, we simply walked the route opposite the way we normally do. Sometimes you see views or things you didn’t notice before.

What we did see were lots of goldeneyes, wigeons, more mallards and several brooding herons. A few songbirds showed themselves here and there, but perhaps the biggest congregation consisted of several giant flocks of starlings atop some tall trees and power pylons. For some reason, this place had a lot more people than I would have expected for such a dreary day. But maybe people go somewhere else on nicer days? Maybe nothing new is on Netflix?

We wrapped up with an impromptu stop at Sapperton Landing, because I was hoping to see some birds near the river’s edge. And we did see some goldeneyes and a few others, along with some sparrows and a crow that took off at the precise moment I took its photo. It was a fitting end to what was a day of not-great shots. For the most part, it was the conditions and not my own ineptitude, or camera problems, but I think, after three years with my camera, I am ready to step up and start learning more control over the hardware, so I can better blame myself when a shot doesn’t turn out, just like nature intended.

The Shots
Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American bushtit
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird (heard)
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee (heard)
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Belted kingfisher
  • Bufflehead duck
  • Canada goose
  • Common goldeneye
  • Common merganser
  • Cormorant
  • Dunlin (?)
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Green-winged teal
  • Harlequin duck
  • Horned grebe
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Scaup
  • Surf scoter

Common:

  • Crows
  • Seagulls

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • A rabbit at Serpentine Fen with a weird-looking puffy cheek