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 95Average 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
In the ongoing quest to Save the Knees™ I did a basic walk today to get some exercise and not overly stress the middle parts of my legs.
It was 31C, so even walking there was sweating to be had, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, as humidity was relatively low. They are saying summer will be hot and dry, so I wonder if last year’s Xtreme humidity will turn out to be an anomaly.
The walk went fine, the knees did not cry out, nor did any other part of my body. All dogs encountered were on leash and well-behaved. I saw another turtle on the river. I walked as far as the turtle nesting area at Burnaby Lake, where I have yet to see a turtle.
I was feeling zesty so wore a sleeveless t-shirt1Would these more properly be called o-shirts?, but made sure to slather myself liberally in sunblock to avoid an embarrassing and possibly cancerous early season burn.
Overall, it went well and it was nice to be out in the trees and stuff.
Stats:
Walk 94Average pace: 9:28/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 8.45 km
Time: 1:19:59
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 31 °C
Humidity: 32%
Wind: light
BPM: 120
Weight: 167 pounds
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255
Total distance to date: 702.96 km
Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
Weather: Sunny, 20C
The Outing
I went on a solo trek to Piper Spit late morning/early afternoon, taking advantage of the sunny weather (after slathering myself with sunblock). With fewer people out on a weekday, the waterfowl weren’t quite as copious around the pier, but I still got some nice shots.
And babies! The geese and ducks both have oodles of little fluffballs in tow, following their moms and dads all over.
What wasn’t present were the winter migrants. The coots, pintails, scaups and others have all disappeared to their summer homes.
I also stuck to my new rule of only taking shots, including scenery shots, with my camera.
Overall, a pleasant outing, even if the variety of birds is now a bit diminished. The sun glinting off wood ducks and mallards almost makes up for it.
The Shots
Goose family
Gosling nibbling
Mama duck and her squadron of ducklings
Duckling
Male cowbird trying to impress female cowbird. The female cowbird was not impressed.
Male cowbird still trying to woo the lady.
Female cowbird departs abruptly.
Mallard shining in the sun.
Mallard trying to snooze.
Female wood duck gliding.
Blackbird in a tree.
There's always one goose going berserk.
"I claim this land in the name of hissing and pooping."
Jesus duck stretching.
Handsome boy
Yes, I am the most beautiful duck here.
Tree swallow obligingly pauses on a rail for me.
View of Burnaby Lake.
Pigeon is ready for its close-up.
The only herons were off in the distance.
A comma butterfly (I think), near the Brunette River.
This spotted towhee kept hopping toward me, posed for a bit with its green munchies, then darted off into the brush.
I’ll post the full gallery tomorrow (it’s getting late), but here are some shots of the first baby geese and ducks I’ve seen this spring at Burnaby Lake. The coots may be gone, but the fluffballs have arrived.
Baby goose! Fluffy and adorable. No hint of the hissing horror to come.Baby duck! Not as fluffy as a baby goose, but also doesn’t grow up to be a poopmonster.
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake Regional Park), Richmond Nature House
Weather: Cloudy, intermittent showers, around 8-10ºC
The Outing
The forecast told of doom (or at least rain), so we headed out with trepidation to our first stop, Piper Spit. To avoid getting drenched, we parked at the Nature House, which didn’t help our step count, but did keep us safe from a potential drenching.
There was a bit of a breeze and as a result it was rather chilly. It did sprinkle on and off a bit, but not enough to interfere with the shoot. We once again saw a mix of spring and winter migrants, though the buffleheads were nowhere to be seen today.
A new arrival at the lake was the cowbird, tangling with the geese for some seed.
We moved on to the Richmond Nature House and spent time watching squirrels gorging themselves at the bird feeders. A few birds used them, too, but mostly stuck to grabbing seed that was spilled onto the ground. Doves and finches were mixed in with the usual suspects.
The hummingbird count was way down, but one particular rufous hummingbird repeatedly stopped to assert control on its territory. Nic got a little too close one time, and the rufous dive-bombed him to make its displeasure known. No one messes with hummingbirds. The rain actually held off completely here, so we opted to press our luck further and go to Colony Farm after a bite to eat.
Alas, the weather turned while we were eating, with The Rains arriving, so we bowed out at that point. Overall, though, we got a lot more in than we might have expected, given how wet the day was looking.
The Shots
Goose going berserk, as they do.
Goose berserker, mostly captured on camera.
Canada goose drinking up. Way up.
American coot ponders on an underwater log.
Extreme close-up of coot head.
Cowbirds have returned for 2023
Cowbird on deck
Glaucous-winged gull on the pier at Piper Spit
Female blackbird among the budding greenery
Mallard shining in the shower
Excited wood duck
Douglas squirrel gorging on seed. Seriously, I think it ate its own weight.
Squirrel eyeballing the next feeder to raid
Surveying the food store
House finch hanging out on the birth bath
Mourning dove
House finch on a branch
Rufous hummingbird in profile
Rufous hummingbird agitating. Nic apparently got too close to his territory, and it buzzed him a few times. No one messes with hummingbirds.
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake Regional Park)
Weather: Cloudy, intermittent rain, around 8ºC
The Outing
It’s Easter weekend and instead of chocolate bunnies and candy eggs, we got a rainfall warning.
The skies opened up as forecast, and it was looking like we might not get out at all. The rain paused just long enough to let us grab about 20 minutes at Piper spit (Burnaby Lake), where I got 138 shots of soggy birds, squirrels and scenery. By the end, the rain resumed and we got the heck out of there.
I got a few respectable shots, which are posted in the gallery below. A lot were blurry, some due to movement and some due to I don’t know what, because the number of blurry shots has been going up lately. I also had another moment today where it felt like my telephoto lens, which is attached via adapter to the camera, started to come loose. Can adapters fail? I guess I’ll find out eventually!
It seems kind of obvious, but in this case it’s actually kind of weird!
For the last year, there’s been a large chunk of exposed land to the east of Piper Spit that was previously underwater. Today, I went there to take some photos because it was sunny and warm(ish), and lo, the water has somehow surged enough to almost completely submerge the land once more:
This used to be a walking-only area (for the waterfowl).
It was also windy as heck, hence the ripply waves. I’ll have more photos soon™.
Let’s try something new! And by “let’s” I mean me because ain’t no one else writing this.
Most Saturdays I go birding with Nic. Starting with this post, I’ll recount each birding outing: Where we went, the conditions, some photos (of course), and what we saw.
And now, the inaugural entry:
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake Regional Park), Colony Farm Regional Park
Weather: Cloudy, occasional drizzle, around 8ºC
The Outing
The forecast was not looking great–about a 50-60% chance of showers, but apart from a few drops here and there, the rain held off, and the sun even tried to come out a few times. It was breezy both at Piper spit and Colony Farm, so it felt a little cooler than the actual 8ºC.
We encountered a fairly significant number of birds heading from the dam to Piper spit, including a rare sighting of a varied thrush dining out on a tree stump normally occupied by squirrels. We also saw some kinglets, but alas, I was unable to get any shots beyond “this blurry butt is definitely on some kind of feathered creature.”
At the spit, we saw the usual crowd, but also what might have been a hermaphrodite mallard, showing both female and male characteristics. The giant flocks of seagulls were down to just a few this time, though I’m unsure why, and the number of dowitchers was also down, though they were in their usual (current spot) just west of the pier.
At Colony Farm we observed blackbirds possibly gathering nesting material, but the biggest surprise there came at the very end, in one of the small creeks: a muskrat. I can’t remember the last time I saw one.
The Shots
Mallards minus headsChickadee ready to springDark-eyed junco in reposeNorthern pintail close-upMuskrat munchingAnna’s hummingbird in silhouette
The Birds (and other critters)
All birds seen at Piper spit unless otherwise noted.
I went solo today for birding and managed an hour or so at Piper Spit, getting home just as the rain started. Timing!
Here are a few shots, including some action involving a fluorescent golf ball, some crows and seagulls.
This mallard declared himself King Duck, briefly.The wind floofing a coot.Two participants in the golf ball drama.Pardon the blurriness. The golf ball drama.
On June 25, 2022, I went to Burnaby Lake to shoot photos, then never posted any of them. Oops.
Today, while pruning out my photos on OneDrive, I came across these photos and found one of a frog–the only frog I’ve taken a photo of at Burnaby Lake (or anywhere). so here is the frog, seven months late.
Yesterday at Burnaby Lake I managed to get some photos of a Bewick’s wren, which I’d never seen before. Spiffy! Plus chickadees and other assorted birds. Here are a few shots.
Bewick’s wren. Totally adorable.Chickadee. Perfectly adorable.Canada goose. Somewhat adorable when young, or not hissing at you.Seagull, definitely not being adorable.Coot adorably demonstrating water physics.Lesser scaup adorably caught mid-preen.Long-billed dowitcher, adorable in the shallows.
A few images from a brief visit to Burnaby Lake on Saturday, January 7th. Brief mainly because it was pouring rain the entire time, but we were determined to get in some birding, dang it.
Off a mallard’s backCoot contemplatingLesser Scaup. This may be the only light where the light feathers don’t get blown out in my photos.Soggy puffball spotted towheeExtreme Northern pintail grooming
