Boundary Bay

Birding July 26, 2025: Everywhere you go, it’s gonna be goose

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta), Blackie Spit, Crescent Beach (Surrey)
Weather: Sunny, 20°C

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

The marshland appears endless from the West Dyke Trail.

The day took a weird turn, camera-wise, as I managed to change the exposure on-the-fly without realizing it until I was looking at the photos later. Whoops. The change was subtle enough that I didn’t pick it up in the EVF. I’ve set it back and think I know how I did it, so hopefully this won’t happen again without me doing it on purpose.

But it was also a day when I shot a lifer–a Peregrine falcon!

Reifel started with a paucity of birds in the entrance pond, but there were signs of others we haven’t seen much, like chickadees. Sort of pond-adjacent was an abundance of barn swallows grooming in nearby trees, including what appeared to be a bunch of juveniles. Cute! The geese were everywhere, but didn’t seem overly interested in trying to eff each other (or anyone else up). Summer doldrums, maybe. We were reacquainted with C21, a goose that has a rather clunky-looking neck collar. No sign of C19 or C20, though. We also saw a towhee wearing a wire. We’re being tracked, the birds are being tracked, everyone is being tracked.

There were a few shorebirds in one of the west dyke ponds, but again very far away, boo. The blind that faces one of the ponds had a special “treat”, though–a growing wasp nest on the inside of one of the wooden flaps, which was left in the open position (for obvious reasons). The honeycomb had probably a few dozen pockets in it, with wasps canoodling around it, probably adding more using their secret wasp techniques. We took our photos and scrammed.

And upon seeing a raptor flying way up overhead, I took a bunch of shots that were mostly mediocre, but were good enough to identify the bird as a Peregrine falcon–a lifer! It seemed to just be passing by.

I experimented more with shooting scenery (and some bugs) using manual focus, which may have had repercussions revealed later (which I will also reveal later).

Boundary Bay Dyke Trail

I have never seen horses out here before. Now I have seen three.

For Boundary Bay, we started near the golf course (there’s always a golf course) and went to the little pump house near 80th Street, probably a few km or so. The trail was very dry and bright. There were basically no birds, except an errant robin and a bald eagle sitting atop a telephone pole. The eagle was “panting” but when Nic crossed to the other side of the trail, it immediately stopped and looked precisely in our direction. And kept looking. We got some very nice shots, then scrammed (at a leisurely pace. An eagle would probably not be able to carry us off. Probably).

The main highlight here were planes, if you’re into planes, the scenery, and bugs, specifically grasshoppers of various colours, and butterflies.

We decided to round out the day with a risky trip to Blackie Spit.

Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach

Distant kayakers make land off Blackie Spit.

This is risky only in the sense that a sunny Saturday afternoon is likely to find the parking lot full. And it was. But we went to the second, smaller parking lot further in, the one with the curiously square roundabout (a squareabout?) and lo, there was a single spot! We parked a short distance from a Cybertruck, which seemed to have parked in a handicapped spot without apparent reason[Cybertruck joke here].

The tide was way out and Blackie Spit itself is now restricted to a single straight trail that doesn’t really get close to the water, so it’s a bit of a bust now. The scenery is still nice.

We ventured onto the other trails, saw more shorebirds (still kind of far away), but again, not too many birds venturing out into the mid-afternoon sun, apart from some song sparrows, a crow and a seagull that Nic and I both managed to capture pooping in mid-flight. You take the wins where you can.

And that was the day! The weather was perfectly cromulent, the lack of birds not surprising, and the rare gems all the more precious because as birding goes, we are also in the summer doldrums.

Soon, though, there will be coots.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American goldfinch
  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • European starling\House finch
  • House sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Rufous hummingbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (not yet!)
  • Belted kingfisher
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Hooded merganser
  • Mallard
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • A few gulls

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Northern harrier (most likely)
  • Peregrine falcon

Non-birds:

  • A black squirrel
  • Bugs and insects:
    • Dragonflies
    • Hover flies
    • Honey bees
    • Bumblebees
    • Killer bees (wasps)
    • And more

Birding, July 5, 2025: The horny world of bugs

Where: Centennial Beach, Beach Grove, Boundary Bay Dyke Trial (Delta)
Weather: Partly sunny, 17-19°C
Boundary Bay: Sometimes it’s a bay, and sometimes it’s this.

My suggestion to start out at Crescent Beach/Blackie spit was thwarted a few km short of the target when traffic mysteriously came to a standstill. There were a lot of dump trucks and other vehicles ahead of us and they seemed to be turning around for some reason. We could see little flags on the road, but not enough to quite discern what had happened or was happening. We pondered taking another route in, but couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t also be blocked, so we headed to our original destination of Centennial Beach.

The weather was pleasant enough, with partly sunny conditions, but the wind was gusting regularly, which brought a delightful (?) challenge to shooting bugs and birds on bobbing branches.

This time, the raptor trail delivered a Northern raptor right up front and it swooped over the area numerous times, often while being harassed by blackbirds, because the area is clearly not big enough for all of them.

The tide was way out, so we got obligatory shots of the vastness of Mud Bay, while mostly avoiding the mud. Mostly.

House sparrows were out everywhere, as were various swallows, but shorebirds were in short supply at Centennial, which was perhaps understandable, because the shore was effectively about an extra km out.

The behaviour of bugs was notable on this outing. We observed what appeared to be a BC miner bee (which looks like a bumblebee with “pollen pants”) being regularly assaulted in the sand by another bee. Examination of the shots left me uncertain what exactly was going on. The beat-up bee didn’t seem to be interested or perhaps capable of flying off, and a few of the rasslin’ poses were of the variety that would make young, uncertain bees uncomfortable, if you know what I mean.

The promised afternoon sun did not really materialize, but the hazy clouds still allowed decent illumination. We moved on to Beach Grove and the Boundary Bay Dyke Trail, which we haven’t visited in a while.

We saw more insects getting it on, specifically a pair of amorous red solider beetles, and a couple of mud dauber (?1Nic did extensive interweb research to ID the various insects and what we discovered is that a) there are a lot of types of insects, like way too many and b) this makes them very challenging to ID) wasps that were connected in a way that suggested love was in the air and in even closer proximity to them.

But what we mostly saw were Savannah sparrows, and plenty of ’em. I got some of my best shots of these pretty boys, along with more horny bugs, some elusive common yellowthroats, and an American goldfinch sitting atop a tree, which I pointed out to Nic. I had my kit lens on the camera at the time and it took off before I could switch lenses, but Nic got some shots, thus ending his curse. For now.

I also had a red soldier beetle climb onto my shoe (the shots didn’t turn out, but I tried) and despite being very aware of the copious horse poop on the trail, managed to step in it twice. Still, if there is any poop you must step in, horse poop is probably the least offensive.

One of the ponds near(ish) to the trail had attracted no less than four different types of shorebirds, so we got our shorebird fix in a concentrated burst, with a few killdeer, lesser and greater yellowlegs and a least sandpiper, which was being mostly shy and keeping partly hidden in the grass.

In all, I was surprised at how many birds we saw, particularly on the dyke trail. And having the 400 mm lens definitely made for a better experience for me, as the birds are often not near the trail, so the extra reach is handy. Also, I remembered sunblock and despite the hazy conditions, probably would have burned otherwise, so yay for that.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American goldfinch
  • Barn swallow
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Common yellowthroat
  • European starling
  • House finch
  • House sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Rough-winged swallow (maybe?)
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree swallow
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Killdeer
  • Least sandpiper
  • Lesser yellowlegs
  • Mallard

Common:

  • Shore crows

Raptors:

  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • A brown bunny, but briefly
  • An orgy of various horny insects:
    • Red soldier beetle
    • Mud dauber wasp
    • BC miner bee
    • Woodland skipper
    • Grasshoppers
    • Other butterflies and things

Birding, April 26, 2025: Sit, sing, poop

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Boundary Bay (Delta), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, windy 12-18°C

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Rusty the pipe in the slowly-greening marshland.

Reifel was mild, breezy and packed full of people. I think I saw more people than birds.

The geese were quiet until they weren’t. Once one starts honking, the GHM1Goose Hive Mind takes over and they all honk.

We saw a few pintails, so they haven’t all left yet, but chances are decent these may be the last we see until they return next migration. Goodbye, pointy-tailed butts!

We saw a few Sandhill cranes, two of them on their little “making babbies” island, until one departed for the shore where it hung out with the aforementioned geese. Among other winter refugees, we also saw a few scaups, though their numbers have dwindled, too.

Making up for it were swallows and plenty of them, including some that may have been barn swallows but might have been something else, but were probably barn swallows.

There were definitely others that were barn swallows.

And even though one of the bird signs at the sanctuary identifies them as a local (or at least regularly visiting) species, we saw cinnamon teals for the first time: a male and female pair in a pond near the viewing tower. The male is a very bright orange, with piercing red eyes. They each have big bills reminiscent of shovellers, but smaller. The male especially was in very serious dabbling mode, constantly dunking his head.

We also saw an adorable pair of Least sandpipers at one of the inner ponds, the first time I think we’ve seen them at Reifel.

We heard and saw marsh wrens again, underscoring that the best time to see a marsh wren is when he’s horny. Come summer, they’ll be nearly-impossible to spot again.

In all, a pretty good outing, though again, the number of people milling about was noticeable. Also, I felt inadequate with all the people carrying lenses half as long as I am.

Boundary Bay

Looking southeast toward the bay, with bonus chairs.

The main quest here was to find a common yellowthroat, with a side of Savannah sparrow. Mission accomplished on both, though most of the time they were far off and the shots were not great.

We did get a pair of nice matching burns on our necks, though, as I brought sunblock, then thought it was a good idea to just leave it in the car. I am very smart.

While we slowly burned, we observed a few other birds, mostly swallows, what seemed like an endless supply of herons flying overhead, bald eagles circling about or sitting on far-off logs, and a robin or two, which would usually move just as I was lining up a shot. I took photos of the golf course, instead, as I was fairly confident it would not suddenly fly off on me.

There was also construction equipment out and aboot as they are expanding the width and possibly the height of the dyke in one section for reasons. As it was the weekend, the equipment was idle. I took pictures. Again, the equipment was close and very still.

Piper Spit

A few errant lily pads showing. In a few months, nearly the entire surface will be covered in them.

Sufficiently burned, we ended as we do most times at Piper Spit. No pintails or coots here, and the scaup population was quite low. There were plenty of geese, a few gulls and the usual gangs of wood ducks and mallards. We saw one green-winged teal. Maybe there were more?

There were a lot of people here, too, including a very bossy little kid shouting orders to his family like, “Get your camera!” One kid decided to kind of play with his giant hat instead of wear it and dropped it off the pier. His father helped him get it out. He’s lucky there weren’t more gulls around. They’d totally go for a hat.

As it happened, this is where I learned the limits of the battery in Nic’s old Sony camera. After 691 shots, I got the “Battery exhausted” message and had to resort to taking scenery shots with my 107-year-old iPhone. Admittedly, we were close to wrapping up, so I didn’t miss out on much, really.

Overall, a nice day, with maybe bigger crowds than would be ideal, but with unexpected delights along the way, like the cinnamon teals and sandpipers.

The Shots

Theoretically possible

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Cinnamon teal
  • Common yellowthroat
  • European starling
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Marsh wren
  • Northern flicker
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Tree swallow
  • ??? swallow
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Lesser sandpiper
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveller
  • Sandhill crane
  • Scaup
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Assorted gulls
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • A few black squirrels
  • Various bugs and bees
  • A persistent helicopter

Birding, September 21, 2024: Summer ends, but the honking endures

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 14-19°C

The Outing

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Outer pond at Reifel.

We made good time heading out, though ominously a few light showers began as we travelled the highway. They didn’t last long and it ended up being mostly sunny for the rest of the day, which was also the last day of summer. Goodbye, summer, I’ll miss you!

It was a fair bit cooler at Reifel than last time, but still warm enough by the end to doff our jackets and hoodies.

Unlike our last visit, we got to see the Sandhill cranes, both on the ground and in the air. Also right up front was a healthy mix of shorebirds, including Greater Yellowlegs, some dowitchers and maybe a few others tucked in. Nic got some great shots of the yellowlegs flying (they were often flying in little spurts across the pond) and may post some of the photos in his store. BUY THEM ALL AND MAKE HIM RICH.

Chickadees were present, but elusive, while the first juncos, fox sparrows and golden crowns of the season made appearances. Yellow-rumped warblers were in numbers plentiful enough that even I got a few respectable shots.

Blackbirds did not seem as numerous as usual, so they may have gone off to wherever it is they go off to (it doesn’t seem to be far, because they always come back). In their place were a lot of house sparrows.

The geese were honking, but drama was on low. I got approached by several geese with mouths agape, but I think they were hoping I’d toss seed into their maws. I feel kind of bad when they do this, because I never have seed. I’m hoping they don’t have good memories.

After Reifel, we went to Blackie Spit in surrey, only to find a rowing event in progress and no parking. I suggested Boundary Bay, so we headed off there, and lo, there was parking.

Boundary Bay Dyke Trail

Have a seat and take in the bay.

The downside for me with Boundary Bay is the birds we see are usually never close. The upside is I can shoot prop planes up close basically forever. And I did.

We also saw some robins, which have been pretty rare in the places we’ve visited over the summer, plus a few remaining Savannah sparrows. We also saw a cute li’l bunny just as we started out, which I was not expecting, although if I think about it, I’m never really expecting bunnies.

Nic got weird and took a photo of people golfing. People! Like, humans, not birds. He rejected all of my suggestions for captions:

  • People with tiny balls
  • Swingers
  • The Last Putter
  • Foreplay

I mean, one of them wasn’t even dirty.

I also opted to put on sunblock here, which I think was both the right call, as well as my own final salute to summer. Tomorrow, I put on my parka.

In all, a good day for birbs, with multiple migrants returning, pleasant weather, and some good shotss all around.

The Shots

Soon™

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

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Bewick’s wren (heard, not seen)
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Dark-eyed junco (returned!)
  • Fox sparrow (returned!)
  • Golden-crowned sparrow (returned!)
  • House sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow
  • Yellow warbler
  • Yellow-rumped warbler

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Hooded merganser (returned, though they allegedly don’t migrate)
  • Short-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveller
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Assorted gulls
  • Raven
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Copious grasshoppers
  • One bunny
  • One squirrel
  • Western painted turtle

Birding, May 17, 2024: Follow the blackbird

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 12-16°C

The Outing

After The Burning™ of last week, I made sure to cover myself all over with sunblock and reapplied it midday. As it turned out, it was also so windy (14-20 km/h with gusts up to 35 km/h) that I ended up wearing a long-sleeved shirt, so most of my body was covered, anyway. My legs did not burn again.

We started out with our old standby of Reifel and this time we saw a few black-capped chickadees come out from hiding. Yay. Weirdly, though it was a Friday, there were many kids around. They were relatively well-behaved, but I’m assuming the schools must have closed early for the Victoria Day weekend, or home-schooling has suddenly gotten very popular. The geese were also relatively well-behaved, and I have no explanation for that. One approached me with its mouth open, but it wasn’t hissing or being aggressive, I think it just wanted whatever yummy seed I had in my pockets (I had none). It seemed sad at the loss.

We started along the usual east dyke trail and when a family went to bird blind B, we opted to go to bird blind A next door. After we were done (the return of purple martins to the bird boxes in the marsh flats confirmed), Nic wanted to skip bird blind B (see above: children), insisting we would see nothing (to be fair, most of the time we just see the slough and no birds, whales or anything else). But just as I pressed to go back, a blackbird suddenly appeared and landed on a branch directly above us. It screeched chirped insistently at us and was very loud, then flew off in the direction of the bird blind. It was A Sign.

We went to the bird blind and lo, there was a heron perched on a branch just on the other side of the blind. Granted, herons are not exactly uncommon (though this was the only one we saw on the ground), but still, it was something! Thanks, screechy chirping blackbird!

Reifel was otherwise pretty light on both song birds and waterfowl, with many ponds empty or sparsely populated. It gives the mallards more room to roam, though. We spied no Northern shovellers again, though maybe they’re just hiding. A few pintails were lurking, and the massive turtles at the entrance slough were still hanging out on their favourite logs.

We got more shots of marsh wrens. I guess this is the time of year when they just let it all hang out. Such is the way of love and seeking the same.

We next took a trip to the Boundary Bay Dyke Trail, which we haven’t been to for a while. Again, it was very windy, but we did see Savannah sparrows a-plenty–on logs, on fence posts, on the golf course. They never got very close, as is their way, and I had to use manual focus for all of my shots to prevent them from appearing as bird-shaped blobs, but we got some respectable shots. I opted not to shoot a distant robin.

I shot a lot of planes as we passed under the flight path of nearby Boundary Bay Airport. They’re like giant birds, but a lot more predictable. If I could shoot swallows the way I shoot planes, I’d be an award-winning photographer. In my mind, at least.

We rounded off the day at Piper Spit, which was pleasantly unpopulated by people. Here we saw a lifer: a semipalmated plover, which looks similar to a killdeer, but is somehow more adorable. We also saw (and Nic shot) a cliff swallow, which is a darker, non-shiny swallow uncommon to the area. Surprisingly, a lone wigeon and The Last Coot, which I’d thought had already left, were present.

Goslings a-plenty were being shepherded around, but off the main trails. It seems the adults have learned to keep their babbies away from people. And kids.

In all, a fine day of mid-spring birbing, once again being boosted by some unexpected visitors.

The Shots

Soon™

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

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American goldfinch
  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Cliff swallow
  • Marsh wren
  • Northern flicker
  • Purple martin
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Rufous hummingbird
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (one!)
  • American wigeon (one!)
  • Blue-winged teal
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Sandhill crane
  • Semipalmated plover
  • Western seagull
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • European starling
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Several squirrels
  • Butterflies!

Weird: March 7, 2024 bird shots are up!

Yes, I actually made a full gallery of bird shots, and only a few days after taking the photos. What wonders! Includes bonus bunnies and planes.

Birding, March 7, 2024: Eagles in trees, bunnies at my knees

Where: Boundary Bay Dyke Trail, Centennial Beach (Delta)
Weather: Mixed sun and cloud, 5-7°C

The Outing

We were once again out for a weekday bird adventure because the weather looks bad for the weekend. I’d feel even worse about it if I was still in school.

We headed out to Boundary Bay first, which we haven’t been to in a while, starting out at Beach Grove. After seeing a few errant robins (don’t ask about my pictures of them), I suggested we move into the dog area, which has a few trails meandering among the trees. Our detour was rewarded with not one, but two rare sights: a red-breasted nuthatch (which I heard tap-tap-tapping on the side of a tree before seeing it) and a varied thrush. Neat! We also saw a lot more robins.

We then headed to the dyke trail, and saw plenty of eagles in the trees and occasionally soaring above them. Even better, we saw multiple Northern harriers, including one that didn’t seem to be hunting, but was just kind of hopping and flying around in short bursts, landing for a bit, then taking off again. It did this conveniently close to the trail, so we had plenty of chances for good shots. As we continued up the trail, we saw a few songbirds, several Anna’s hummingbirds and at the private ponds a platoon or three of wigeons, including a rarely-seen Eurasian wigeon. Also, coot interlopers among the wigeons.

A guy reported seeing an owl flying over the marsh, but we did not see anything that resembled an owl. We did see the marsh, though. Content that we’d gotten enough steps, we turned back, saw some more harriers, and a few herons, and then headed off to our second destination, Centennial Beach.

The tide was out so we went out on the beach where we saw a fair number of cute little sanderlings. The conditions were just right for them, so we got a lot of opportunity for shots of them feeding, flapping and occasionally preening. We ended up walking down the beach because the sanderlings never ran out. It was sanderlings all the way down, with occasional gulls, ducks and a few crows mixed in. We finally started closing in on the pump station, but from the beach side, and realized there was no good way to cross without getting very muddy and/or wet, so we ended up backtracking a lot of the way back and then getting onto the trail proper. The tidal flats near the pump station were replete with gulls. There were yellowlegs and some dunlins, too. It was a shorebirdpalooza.

As we moved away from the water, we saw some towhees, golden crown, flickers and more, but some were not very close or cooperative. Birds gonna bird. We also saw a bunny near the Raptor Trail, which seems an unwise place for a bunny to be. Then we saw more bunnies, And more still. I can only imagine how many were hiding in the brush, wrinkling their cute little bunny noses.

We rounded out the day by getting a few more shots of the sanderlings before heading out.

Upon getting home, I discovered my robin shots were not good (boo, but not unexpected), but all of my other shots were also not good. I was sad, then discovered the tablet I was using was loading lower-res versions of the photos, making them all look fuzzy. The actual shots were fine, for the most part. I took roughly one million shots of sanderlings (they are adorable) and about 500,000 shots of gulls flying overhead (they are not adorable, but I wanted to nab at least one good shot of them in flight–and I did!)

With the weather being a mix of sun and some cloud and the wind low, it was reasonably comfortable at both locations. In all, a good day for birding, especially with so many rarely-seen birds.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • European starling
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • House finch
  • Northern flicker
  • Red-breasted nuthatch
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Varied thrush

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Dunlin
  • Eurasian wigeon
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Green-winged teal
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Sanderling

Common:

  • American crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Bunnies!

Birding, December 2, 2023: The sun also sets

Where: Centennial Beach and Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Tsawwassen)
Weather: Sunny, 8-11°C

The Outing

The first birding of December was pleasantly sunny and mild, though we got a late start, due to me having an appointment to get stabbed multiple times in my left arm.

After the stabbings, we headed to Centennial Beach, and we saw an actual raptor in the vicinity of Raptor Trail. We also saw various bald eagles, some in trees, some flying too high to really get good shots of. I got probably my best eagle butt shots ever (it was sitting above us in a rather tall tree).

Sparrows proved to be surprisingly plentiful here, as well later along the Boundary Bay Dyke trail. The light was low and a bit golden even from the start, but we made due. We skipped the usual journey onto the mudflats, as the tide was in, but spied numerous shorebirds further out, including dunlins that kept flying about, dwarfed by the occasional seagull towering over them. There were even rarely-seen surf scoters, but they were far enough out that they just looked like duck-shaped blobs through my telephoto lens. Too bad, because they are seriously freaky looking.

By the time we arrived at the dyke trail, the sun was quite low, but we pressed on to The Big Pond™ near a private residence…that proved to be waterfowl-free. Bummer! The adjacent and smaller pond on the western side of the property was populated prodigiously with perpetually propelling and peeping wigeons, mallard and others, however. The wigeons, as in our previous outing, were constantly nipping at and chasing each other. Maybe they are going through the wigeon equivalent of Pon Farr.

By the time we reached the pond, the sun was already sinking over the distant trees, but it did mean we got our first set of sunset shots in a while. We got back to the car three minutes after sunset and returned for dinner in darkness…at 5 p.m.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American bushtit
  • American robin
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • European starling
  • Fox sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Northern flicker
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American wigeon
  • Eurasian wigeon
  • Dunlin
  • Great blue heron
  • Green-winged teal
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveler
  • Surf scoter

Common:

  • American crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle (adult and juvenile)
  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Black squirrel

Birding, October 28, 2023: Brr-ding and the return of the waxwings

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

Birding, September 30, 2023: Hello fall

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?)
  • Various aircraft

Birding, August 26, 2023: Still on P, plus raptors, brewers and more

Where: Blackie Spit (Surrey), Centennial Beach (Delta), Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Smoke haze and sun, 23-26C

The Outing

Two bits of good news to start:

  • Despite the return of the smoke haze after a brief respite, it wasn’t as bad as previously. The main change is it was no longer causing a distinct yellow cast to the lighting. Today it mainly affected the visibility of distant scenery (no shots of Mt. Baker) and the sky looked whitish-blue instead of just blue.
  • I never had any of the shenanigans that happened last week with my camera. I set it to P (Program) mode before heading out, and it stayed there the entire day. Woo. All lousy photos were my own fault, just as nature intended.

We hit four places today. It was kind of crazy, but the good kind of crazy. Mostly.

We started at Blackie Spit and at first the birds were as scarce as the water (it was low tide). Once we moved away from the beach, our luck improved with some house finches, purple martins, a northern flicker, distant herons, a gaggle of ducks in a creek huddled against the shady side (smart ducks–it was hot!) but best of all, a group of greater yellowlegs hanging out on a couple of logs, most of them initially snoozing. They were eventually joined by others, along with a pair of short-billed dowitchers, and began feeding and bobbing and doing the things they do.

We moved onto Centennial Beach next and there we saw some Brewer’s blackbirds, a couple of waxwings, some raptors (not on the Raptor Trail but technically above it), herons and more shorebirds, including a variety of gulls, some terns, more yellowlegs and the ever-cute and weird killdeer. We also saw a very shiny beetle, which ended with Nic taking a photo of his own foot. Nic got some really nice shots of a red-tailed hawk and was able to crop out all the weird stuff that showed up in multiple images, then mysteriously went away on its own. We agree that my dial of doom curse had somehow transferred over to his camera, at least for today.

From there, we moved on to fill our tummies with lunch, then headed for an unplanned trip to the Boundary Bay Dyke Trail. We saw many grasshoppers, though Nic has declared he is done with them, but they remain a freaky favourite of mine. Birds were a bit scarcer here, but we did see some more finches, chickadees (however fleetingly) and a trio of red-necked pharalopes, which I’d never shot before. They were not especially close, but I did get some shots that were good enough for Merlin to ID. I also got some extreme close-ups of planes landing at Boundary Bay Airport, of course. We also saw a male and female harrier and were able to get some of our best shots ever. Even I got a decent shot, woo.

After this, we were still not done, and headed to Tlahutum Regional Park for a quick check of the community gardens. We saw more flickers, white crowns, but best of all, hummingbirds that cooperatively supped at flowers nearby. We both got good shots of these pointy-beaked birbs when they weren’t chasing each other in a territorial dispute..

We each also drank our own weight in fluids. Did I mention it was hot?

Overall, a very respectable outing, with enough birb surprises to almost make up for no Savannah sparrows.

The Shots

This gallery has everything. Birds! Bugs! Boats! Black and white! Yes, I indulged myself and converted three photos to black and white, but I kept the originals for comparison.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brewer’s blackbird
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Goldfinch
  • House finch
  • House sparrow
  • Northern flicker
  • Purple martin
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Caspian tern
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Killdeer
  • Mallard
  • Red-necked pharalope
  • Short-billed dowitcher

Common:

  • Crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Harrier
  • Red-tailed hawk

Non-birds:

  • Grasshoppers and a beetle
  • Butterflies and things
  • A few squirrels

Birding, July 8, 2023: Yellow, red, blue and gray

Where: Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta), Piper Spit (Burnaby) and Tlahutum
Regional Park1Formerly known as Colony Farm (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 18-22C

The Outing

My energy level was greatly improved over last week, which was fortunate because as I type this late Saturday evening, I have over 28,685 steps on the day. Also fortunate, it never got hot, though Nic kept insisting the reported temperatures were wrong and it must have been at least 32 degrees or something.

I missed a few spots and got some light sunburn on a couple of small areas around my neck and also above my chin, which I totally forgot to put sunblock on. It looks kind of weird, like the area below my lower lip is angry.

As for the trek, we hit three places again:

  • Boundary Bay Dyke Trail: We walked about 100 km up and down the trail and were rewarded for our efforts with Savannah sparrows, common yellowthroats and a grasshopper with the best camo ever. Also, planes. Lots of planes. And curiously, lots of herons–all of them flying. And bald eagles. Really, there was a lot more than expected, and other than being out in the sun on a dusty trail the entire time, it was pretty good.
  • Piper Spit: This was better than expected. The land mass has returned with the dry weather, and though geese dominated, they entertained with their shenanigans, particularly the young ones testing out their wings on the safety of the water. A male blackbird was again feeding a youngster, though also dropping food for it, so it could learn to stop mooching off of dad. Some pigeons unexpectedly posed for us at the end of the pier, and I got my requisite cute squirrel shot.
  • Tlahutum Regional Park (formerly known as Colony Farm): We did not get the bounty of shots at the community garden that we were hoping for, but we did get a few shots of finches, flickers and the always=gorgeous cedar waxwings. The Coquitlam River was unusually shallow, allowing us to venture well out beyond where we normally could, though the river bed was covered with thick and extremely heavy mud. It came off on the dusty trail and grass later without much effort, though. By the end, we were both starting to get a little tired. At the end of the day, Garmin credited me with burning an impressive 599 calories and my watch mildly scolded me for overdoing it.

Overall, a good batch of birds, along with weather that was warm, but not hot.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Common yellowthroat
  • Northern flicker
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Mallard
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Grasshopper
  • Ladybug
  • Moth (I am unsure of the variety)
  • Butterfly (yellow and black)

The colours:

  • Yellowthroat
  • Red sunburn
  • Blue sky
  • Gray grasshopper