Burnaby Lake

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, September 22, 2023: Farewell to summer, with bonus raptors

Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby) and Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 21-23C

The Outing

Today was an unplanned outing, but the weather was nice, it’s the last official day of summer and the 10-day forecast starting tomorrow looks like poo in the form of clouds and showers pretty much every day.

And so off we went for an abbreviated tour of Piper Spit and Tlahutum’s community gardens.

Piper Spit featured an increase in the coot count, as the croaking critters are cavorting in copious quantities now. The mallards are catching up to the wood ducks with their breeding plumage, and shorebirds are still present in decent numbers.

The highlights were a pair of killdeer that were bobbing and bathing and hopping and looking forlorn, as they do, plus a rare sighting–a merlin, just like the bird app, but instead an actual bird. These are small raptors and this one would perch atop nearby trees, then dive across the spit, spooking the shorebirds, before finding another spot to perch, sometimes high, and sometimes right down on a log in the water. At one point it took a bath, because you should wash your, uh, appendages, before eating.

Interestingly, the shorebirds (mainly yellowlegs, from what I saw) were indifferent to the merlin when it was grounded. In fact, a large gang/flock of them all seemed to saunter en masse quite close to it, as if they were trying to show they weren’t afraid of no raptor. Until it took to the air again.

After Piper Spit, we took a quick tour around the community gardens at Tlahutum. Initially there was a lot of birb activity, but in the end we didn’t actually shoot too many, mainly some white-crowned sparrows, an Anna’s hummingbird (too fast for me) and a goldfinch. Also, much like at Piper Spit, squirrels were everywhere, like they had all been instructed to start gathering food for the winter RIGHT THIS MINUTE.

It was a gorgeous last day of summer, and I am sad that I now have to wait eight months for summer to come around again. But for now, we have the coots.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Goldfinch
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Mallard
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Merlin (rare–for me, anyway)

Non-birds:

  • Douglas, black and gray squirrels
  • Bees ‘n dragonflies

Birding, September 16, 2023: Hail to the Leaf

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Terra Nova (Richmond), Piper Spit (Burnaby) and Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 17-25C

The Outing

We hit five places today, one for each finger!

Reifel Bird Sanctuary: It was about 17C when we arrived in the morning, but it actually never felt cool and ended rather warm, which was a nice wrap-up for our last visit to the sanctuary for this summer.

More winter migrants are arriving, with northern shovelers joining the coots. We also saw two rare birds, which was spiffy: a white-fronted goose, and four avocets. Unlike when we saw a single avocet here last fall, these four were close to one of the bird blinds, allowing us to get much better shots. There were also chickadees everywhere, right from the parking lot on forward. The wood ducks were also seen in increasing numbers and seem to be racing ahead of the mallards in getting their full breeding plumage back. Pretty boys everywhere. The geese were acting strange and weird, as always.

It was here that I made a discovery about my camera issues. A small leaf landed on the camera and I started blowing on it to get it off. Nic advised me that I could also use my hands to, you know, just lift it off. I didn’t want to do that, lest I touch something I didn’t want to touch (on the camera, that is, though I also don’t know where that leaf had been, either). It was then that the proverbial light bulb went off over my head. I regularly turn my camera off to save on battery when I am not expecting to be shooting photos for at least a few minutes. The on/off switch is right next to the dial that selects shooting modes. With the leaf gone, I looked down and thought, THIS is how I had changed modes without realizing it, by pushing on the dial when I was moving the on/off switch (they are very close together).

Now that I know this, it should happen less often. I am also experimenting with leaving the camera on all the time once I start shooting, to see how quickly I go through the batteries (I start each bird outing with three fully charged, which should always be more than I need). We’ll see how it goes!

Richmond Nature House: The feeders were still empty, so we saw no birds here, but Nic’s curiosity was sated.

Terra Nova: We did not see many birds here, but did shoot a distant heron, some gulls, a few song sparrows and I shot a bunch of planes, or fixed-wing birds, as I call them. We also shot a grebe, but it was not close and not in great light.

Piper Spit: The land mass at the spit is back, and it’s actually quite large. I expect it will grow in size as long as the dry weather holds out. Again, we saw oodles of pretty wood ducks, some coots, lots of geese, and many greater yellowlegs. Several ducks were having baths, making for some great action shots. Today, it felt like Piper Spit was coming out of its sleepy summer state, with more birds coming in and general birdiness all around.

Tlahutum Regional Park: We only visited the community garden here and observed two hummingbirds battling again), spotted some newly-returned golden-crown sparrows, some white crowns and a fleeting flicker. There was also a squirrel eating the head of a giant sunflower. And speaking of eating, three deer were helping themselves to an all-you-can-eat buffet (though we only directly saw two). Deer have freakishly giant tongues. And no manners.

By this time (closing in on 6 p.m.) we were in the golden hour, high clouds were moving in and Nic only had room for a few more dozen photos on his SD card, so we wrapped up. Still, we saw a bounty of birds, I actually got some of my best shots in a while and the weather was pleasant throughout the day.

Also, I decided to experiment and shot in both JPG and RAW. My total file size ended up being just over 21 GB. Yikes.

The Shots

Soon™

An Anna’s hummingbird to start:

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Bewick’s wren (possibly heard, but not seen)
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Northern flicker
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow
  • Yellow-rumped warbler

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • Avocet (rare)
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Hooded merganser
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveler
  • Sandhill cranes (briefly, flying overhead)
  • White-fronted goose (rare)
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Ring-billed seagull
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Douglas, black and gray squirrels
  • Deer
  • Western painted turtle
  • Grasshopper
  • Bees ‘n dragonflies
  • Various helicopters, passenger jets and seaplanes in and around YVR

Birding, September 2, 2023: Return of the coot

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Piper Spit (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 18-28C

The Outing

It was actually kind of hot, which was somewhat unexpected, even though it is technically summer for a few more weeks. It was warm at Reifel even mid-morning, but it never got uncomfortably hot. The heat may have affected how many birds we saw, though, as some were no doubt seeking to keep cool in the shade.

At Reifel, we got some early shots of yellowlegs as they were parked up front right in the main pond. There were also swallows still buzzing about, but we declined to try shooting them this time. We next moved on to the London Slough, which had some herons on the periphery and the logs replete with geese and gulls–and two western painted turtles hanging out at one end. There were also several wood ducks who were in their full breeding colours, and were strutting their stuff on the runway fence railing.

We saw a plenitude of chickadees, the usual ducks (wood and mallard), along with a few less seen but technically not migrant waterfowl: mergansers and a pair of Northern pintails.

We saw more numbered geese (wearing collars around their necks bearing numbers like C29) and, of course, goose drama, though perhaps the heat kept any of them from going truly berserk.

The highlight may have been right at the end, when we saw the young eagle that sometimes hangs out at the main pond, trying to catch prey. Apparently it’s not very good at flying or hunting yet, and the staff have dubbed him Doofus. Ouch. He looks appropriately menacing in that raptor way, sitting on the rooftop of the viewing area, though.

Next up was Piper Spit, where most of the landmass is now again submerged following the recent showers. The water is still quite shallow, so that meant more yellowlegs, yay.

There were also a lot of pigeons, who alternated between flying in a group around in circles and landing in a long line near the end of the pier. More importantly, we saw a winter migrant! Two, in fact, and it was our buddy the original weird bird, the American coot. Now we know for sure the season is changing.

We rounded out with an abbreviated trip to Tlahutum Regional Park, where we saw a heron hunting (we don’t see them often here) and, thanks to a couple on the lookout, a rare sighting of a Lewis’s woodpecker. They appear in BC, but very seldomly make it this far west. Unfortunately, it was atop a telephone pole quite far away. I got some shots, but they’re of the “Yes, there is a bird” variety.

Still, a nice lifer. And we also saw some of Nic’s favourites in the community garden, white-crowned sparrows, so we left on a chirpy note.

Also, did I mention it was hot?

The Shots

Full gallery soon (for real, I swear), but here’s a shot to get started.

Greater yellowlegs about to disturb the slumber of a fellow shorebird

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Cedar waxwing
  • House sparrow
  • Lewis’s woodpecker (lifer–seen at Tlahutum)
  • Northern flicker
  • Purple martin
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot (first sighting of the season)
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall (?)
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Hooded merganser
  • Northern pintail
  • Mallard
  • Short-billed dowitcher
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Douglas squirrel
  • Western painted turtle
  • Bees ‘n dragonflies

A small gallery of Burnaby Lake, August 14, 2023

Here are a handful of shots I took with my iPhone 12 after my run today. Everything is lovely and green and blue, and you don’t have to experience the stupid heat and humidity by looking at the photos!

Birding, August 7, 2023: Sunburns and kingbirds

Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby) -- twice! and Tlahutum Regional Park1Formerly Colony Farm Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Partly sunny, 21-23C

The Outing

The forecast had called for mostly cloudy skies. Since you can easily get burned on non-sunny days in the summer (unless it’s raining) I don’t know why I wouldn’t need sunblock, but I didn’t put any on and got a good ol’ sunburn all over as a reward for my lack of common sense.

We started out just after 10 a.m. at Piper spit, which these days is mostly geese, mallards, wood ducks and blackbirds. However, the dowitchers were out again. Yay! But the light was bad. Boo! Nic, using his vast scientific knowledge, surmised that if we came back later, the sun (which was burning us) would have moved across the sky to where the light would then be good. Yay! We got our first round of shots and moved on to Tlahutum.

I finally got a decent shot of the sign on the way in, warning of wildlife (with googly eyes) crossings. Behold! (It’s not going in the gallery.)

Taken with my iPhone 12 from out the window of Nic’s sporty car

We checked out the community gardens first and saw goldfinches, some young punk white crowned sparrows, a couple of hummingbirds fighting, as they do, a northern flicker and a giant sign warning us that bears were in the garden. Well, not right when we were there, but in a general sense.

The trails weren’t as bird-rich, but what we did see was unique and zesty! The tide was up, and the Coquitlam River was back to its lush state (at least while we were there).

The zesty birds included:

  • Common mergansers (they have racing stripes!)
  • Eastern kingbirds (got my best shots ever thanks to one sitting unusually close to the trail)
  • Eastern wood-peewee (this was too far away for me, but Nic got some shots)

Non-bird interjection: On the way to lunch, the Google Maps app told Nic to make an (illegal) U-turn at least three different times. He did not. Google Maps really likes U-turns. Must be an American thing.

We returned to Piper Spit and got our better-lit shots of dowitchers, where my ratio of shots where the dowitcher was dunking its head vs. its head being up were something like 50 to 1. I also got some good shots of geese going berserk while bathing.

In all, it was a pleasant and not–too-hot outing. And now I know to always wear sunblock in the summer. Again.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Chestnut-backed chickadee
  • Eastern kingbird
  • Eastern wood-peewee
  • Goldfinch
  • Northern flicker
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Common merganser
  • Dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Great blue heron
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crow
  • Pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Harrier (!)

Non-birds:

  • Bees, bees, bees
  • Dragonfly (several types)
  • Fuzzy caterpillar
  • Grasshopper
  • Slug
  • Snake (briefly)

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

Birding, June 28, 2023: Snoozefest at the lake

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

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl:

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

Common:

  • Crow
  • Pigeon

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • Gray and Douglas squirrels
  • A pill bug!

Walk 95: Your shoes are untied human!

Greenery on land and water, Burnaby Lake.

My pace was a little slower today because I stopped and started a lot, mostly to take photos, sometimes to get a drink or observe various shenanigans.

The walk was a bit cooler today, but in a way it felt hotter because my good friend humidity was higher and making its presence known. Sweating was involved.

I wore my street shoes, which was a mistake. They just don’t feel as good for exercise-style walking, and one of the shoes actually came untied, which basically never happens. I was shocked. Shocked! Well, surprised, a little.

I saw geese, baby geese and another turtle (the same turtle?) sunning itself on a rock on the Brunette River again (third time I’ve seen a turtle there in the past week). It’s turtles all…across the river.

Overall, this was a pleasant and fine outing. My knees did not complain at all, so I am happy with that.

Stats:

Walk 95
Average pace: 9:35/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 8.43 km
Time: 1:20:52
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27 °C
Humidity: 49%
Wind: light
BPM: 121
Weight: 165.5 pounds
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255
Total distance to date: 711.39 km