Burnaby Lake

Birding, November 8, 2025: Mild marshes and chatty chickadees

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta) Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sun and high cloud, 8-13°C

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

View of the marshland, with Rusty (the pipe) barely visible.

Finally, the weather cooperated long enough to get in a day of birding, during the few hours of daylight we currently are afforded under SST (Stupid Standard Time). There was even sun, at times.

The main themes at Reifel mid-fall seem to be:

  • Chickadees everywhere, with most of them thinking every person is holding seed
  • The Canada geese have fully retreated, with many in a nearby field adjacent to the sanctuary (interestingly, a group of eight or so Sandhill Cranes were also in the same area–and we haven’t seen the “local” cranes for some time. Hmm, I say!)
  • The Wood Ducks have also seemingly vacated or hidden themselves
  • All the marsh grass is now sad and yellow

The feeders are now full of seed and suet, so most of them are seeing action, which can make for easy-ish shots. I say easy-ish because it is never exactly easy to capture a chickadee. We did not see any squirrels trying to dive onto the feeders, though that may come as the weather gets colder.

We saw the first Buffleheads of the season, which was neat, though they were not very close, which was less neat.

In all, it was a fine fall return to Reifel.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

The lake, now with (more visible) water, and looking moody.

There was a family feeding birds at Piper Spit and Nic gave them the what-for! The father pretended that they hadn’t seen the multiple large signs saying NO FEEDING, including one that was literally feet away. But I guess you gotta say something when someone calls you out.

The lake level was quite low, with the west side of the pier now a large muddy patch, and the lily pads retreating enough to give the lake a more lake-like appearance. I shot artsy shots of the clouds and water.

There were also gulls on hand, probably attracted by the desiccated remains of salmon that had spawned, or tried to spawn, but ended up in the same place: dead.

Thinking back, I’m not sure that we saw any Canada geese here, either. Making up for them were plenty of Mallards, some Green-winged Teals and Wood Ducks. And, of course, coots.

With light starting to fade (see above, re: SST), we bade goodbye to the lake, but it was nice to finally get in some birding again.

The Shots

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

Gallery of shots:

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • House Sparrow
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada Goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern Pintail
  • Northern Shoveller
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Assorted gulls
  • Rock Pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier

Non-birds:

  • A very few pollinators
  • Chonky gray squirrel

Birding, October 13, 2025: Wigeons, warblers and wind

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Centennial Beach (Delta), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 9-14°C

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Some of the marsh grass has taken on a very fall-like orange hue at Reifel.

We got our first chance to visit Reifel in a while, on a rare Monday opening (due to the Thanksgiving holiday). It was a HBD (Hardcore Birder Day), with a plethora of dangerously large telephoto lenses being carried about. I saw monopods!

The weather was cool and there was some wind, but the sky was perfectly clear, affording is good light.

In addition to seeing a gaggleplex of Snow Geese flying overhead1Yes, I have finally relented and am full capitalization for all birbs and birbs., we saw several newly-arrived migrants, like ring-necked ducks and coots (which had already appeared at Piper Spit). We even saw a rare(ish) Ruddy Duck, which is a lifer for me. The Sandhill Cranes didn’t show themselves, however. I wonder where they were?

Dowitchers and Greater Yellowlegs were also in abundance, in the main slough and pond, among other places. One group were inadvertently harassed by some hero drama as a Great Blue Heron chased another directly over the shorebirds. The shorebirds would fly–a little–then return to as they were, so the harassment was pretty low-key. One of the herons landed in the pond and the other flew off, thus preserving the unspoken “one heron per pond, no matter how huge the pond” rule.

We saw hummingbirds at the feeders, keeping alert for a very interested wasp (or hornet?), as they are quite large when you’re a hummingbird. Imagine getting stung by a flying dog. Or something.

Centennial Beach

Mt. Baker overlooking a windy Boundary Bay.

I suggested Centennial Beach next, and we parked near the pump house, basically working in reverse to our usual path. This afforded us early shorebirds and waterfowl and plenty of them. After spotting a Belted Kingfisher shortly after arriving, we saw something on the bay, where the tide was in. What we saw were wigeons. Wigeons everywhere. Wigeons flying, wigeons floating, wigeons that numbered in the hundreds or maybe even more. I am not good at counting massive numbers of birds. But there were oodles of them, along with some gulls, Canada Geese and other duck variants.

The beach was also buffeted by gusts of wind up to 25 km/hour. At one point, I had my cap pulled down so tight to keep it from blowing off that I could barely get the camera up to my eyes. I didn’t observe any birds trying to work against the wind–not even the seagulls, which are usually kind of into that.

This is where we saw a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, an unexpected treat. They were eating from one of the wind-whipped bushes in the sand.

Both here and at Reifel we saw Northern Harriers and while I was pretty successful in tracking them, I was not able to get any great shots. A boy2I’m a boy at heart, or something can dream, though!

By the time we left, I was glad I’d opted for my heavier hoodie. I also noted the light was already taking on a more golden hue. Come November 2 we switch back to Pacific Standard Time (grr) and we’ll have about 23 minutes of quality birding during the day.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

A Canada Goose ponders against a very blue backdrop at Piper Spit.

We ended at Piper Spit, which was initially chock-full of people, due to the holiday. The dowitchers were fairly close in, allowing for some good shots, but we didn’t spot any new migrants here, such as scaups or Buffleheads. Maybe next time. Or at least soon™.

We made due with bathing blackbirds, battling coots and Wood Ducks just being stunning.

In all, a fruitful day as we head into the second season of Fall.

The Shots

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

A few shots:

Dark-eyed Junco pausing in the sun at Reifel.
Great Blue Heron flyby at Reifel. Despite appearance, it did have eyes!
A coot being very coot at Piper Spit.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • Purple Finch
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American Coot
  • American Wigeon
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Canada Goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Marsh Wren
  • Northern Pintail
  • Northern Shoveller
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Ruddy Duck (lifer for me)
  • Snow Goose
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • Assorted gulls
  • Rock Pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier

Non-birds:

  • A few pollinators
  • Copious caterpillars

Birding, October 4, 2025: Coots canoodling

Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Clouds and sun, 17°C

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

Blue sky and streaky clouds at Piper Spit.

We had an abbreviated day of birding because Nic was occupied with escaping a gay haunted house earlier. I like to think the ghost of Paul Lynde was constantly sassing the people trying to get out.

The later start, combined with fall, meant golden light and plenty of it!

We had barely (bearly?) left the Avalon parking lot before a woman advised us of a mother bear and two cubs near the equestrian area, which is…right next to the parking lot. Fortunately, we were heading the other way and our visit remained bear-free.

At the dam, we observed a heron that was acting a bit odd, exchanging its usual statue-like state for twisting its head and looking up, as if beseeching the sky to rain little fishies on it, or something.

Along the trail, we saw some towhees and song sparrows, and as a special bonus, some ruby-crowned kinglets. I got several terrible shots, but if you’re a bird expert, you might be able to ID them as ruby-crowned kinglets.

Alas, we did not see any new migrants at Piper spit, but the coot population has grown. We saw coot conflict, coot love and coots just being coots. A lone Northern shoveller and hooded merganser were in attendance, and the dowitchers actually came closer, which was nice of them. We saw a kingfisher as it was flying (way) off, and Nic has several blurry photos to prove it! The mallards have now mostly caught up to the wood ducks, looking shiny and iridescent again.

Despite a lot of shadow and only intermittent sun, it was a pleasant return to the lake.

Tlahutum Regional Park

Golden hour arriving at the Coquitlam River.

Golden hour was seriously kicking in by the time we left Tlahutum, only about 15 minutes before sunset. We saw some gadwalls, mallard, crows and a very golden golden-crowned sparrow sitting by itself in a lone tree. I spotted a rare sight–a Northern harrier in plain view, sitting on a post by a canal. Just as I started to focus on what would have been a very spiffy shot, it took off, but I did get a few decent shots of it in low flight.

The main pond is showing distinct signs of fall, with the lily pads in full retreat. The ducks there still tend to gather at the far side, though.

As we left, we wrapped up with our first sunset-adjacent shots of the year, which will be increasingly easier to do over the next few months. Hooray for short days1Note: I do not actually like short days.

Our next birding may be back at Reifel, where we will hopefully see some of these so-far shy migrants. If not, I’ll write a stern letter to The Birb Migratory Committee to complain.

The Shots

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

A few shots:

I am coot.
My best shot of the Northern harrier.
Golden hour arrives at Tlahutum.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Ruby-crowned kinglet
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Golden-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot
  • Belted kingfisher
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveller
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • A few pollinators
  • A whole bunch of caterpillars

Birding, September 27, 2025: Pretty boys

Where: Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach (Surrey), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Clouds and sun, 18°C

Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach

One of the creeks south of the spit itself.

We have had issues with parking at Blackie Spit before, but figured with the weather looking rather gray, that would not be a problem today. We were wrong! But it wasn’t just the regular crowd, there was a rowing event and the boats were hogging up a chunk of the main parking lot and the entire secondary lot, so we ended up parking near the Sunflower Café, just like the last time we had problems finding parking here.

This turned out to be a good thing, as it led us to discovering a lifer! Blackie Spit itself did not yield many birds, though we did see some juncos, chickadees and a house cat strolling the beach like it owned the place.

We also thought we saw the first massive flock of snow geese for the season. Nic gave a man and his kid a rundown on them. They were quite far off, but even across the bay we could hear them. When we looked at our photos later, we discovered they were actually Canada geese, just in super large numbers. Whoops!

The star, though, was as we were leaving, through a different-than-usual route. We heard some very loud chattering that Nic first thought was a squirrel, because they can sound weirdly bird-like when they want to. But no, this was an actual bird, blue and white, and with a jay vibe happening. Merlin confirmed it was a California scrub-jay. It was very pretty, as well as loud, and posed a fair bit before flying off. Technically it was north of its usual range, though we later found they have been seen before in the Lower Mainland and some parts north. Neat!

As an added bonus, the weather was much better than expected, with some sun and mild temperatures.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

Cloudy and (feeling) cool at Burnaby Lake.

We did not see any new arrivals at Piper spit and by the time we got there, the sky had clouded over again and while the reported temperature was 18C, it did not feel like 18C.

Still, we did see multiple coots, a pair of wood ducks with the male doting on the female, a pile of snoozing dowitchers (a little too far off, boo), a twisty heron, and a bush packed full of blackbirds. The butterfly garden is pretty much done for the season, so no pollinators there. The male mallards are looking shiny again.

And only one family was feeding the birds this time, which is actually an improvement.

In all, not bad for the first birding of the fall. The lifer–and the excellent shots we got of it–made it totes worthwhile.

The Shots

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

A few shots:

The lifer: A handsome California scrub-jay.
Male wood duck being affectionate.
Song sparrow on the hunt for seed.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • California scrub-jay (lifer!)
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (Three!)
  • Canada goose (one billion)
  • Great blue heron
  • Green-winged teal
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Ring-billed gull

Raptors:

  • None

Non-birds:

  • A ton (probably several) of sea lions (!)
  • A hover fly
  • Several squirrels
  • A sassy house cat

Birding, September 13, 2025: Real gardens and fake herons

Where: Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, Deering Island Park (Vancouver), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Clouds in morning, clearing in afternoon, 17-24°C

Van Dusen Botanical Gardens

I think this is Livingstone Lake, the main body of water at the gardens.

It was cloudy in the morning, so light was sometimes tricksy, especially in the more woody areas, but the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens provided a nice change of pace. There were many exotic plants and birds and rocks and things. There was a waterfall that looked nice and was being sketched/painted by multiple people. You could even climb to the top of it, where the illusion was shattered by a very conspicuous pipe feeding the water to the falls. Oh well.

Birds were not as plentiful, but I did get a good workout on using manual focus on several spiders hanging around (a theme that would prevail throughout the day). We did see some chickadees, flickers and a few others, so it was not a total bust or anything.

We also saw busts–of historical botanists!

Nic defied the odds and managed to find our way out of the hedge maze before the maniac with an axe could get us (seasonal, winter-only). We went to the Heron Pond, but it only had two fake herons. We did not see any real ones the entire day, a sharp contrast to All Herons All The Time last week.

Overall, it was enjoyable to finally check out the place (I’ve lived in the Lower Mainland since 1986 and have never been), even if the birb count was low.

Deering Island Park

View from the bridge to Deering Island Park, a small patch of land peons like us are allowed to visit.

After shooting all the spiders, Nic suggested we check out a quaint little place called Deering Island Park. It looks like this in Apple Maps:

Deering Island Park: Spiders, spiders, spiders! But no birds.

Technically we saw a bird or birds, but it was mostly more spiders. But by this time, the sky was clearing up and that meant two things: Better light for when we saw (hopefully) saw birds and sunburn, because neither of us wore sunblock.

The area is a curious mix of horse stables and swanky homes. The sign for the non-official trail near the actual park basically said, “We rich folks will let you, the poors, use this short trail, but don’t do anything funny or unseemly while here because we are just barely tolerating your presence as it is.”

If you keep going past the end of the trail, there is an even more unofficial one that connects to what seems to be a service road to the nearby golf course. In Kerrisdale, there is always a nearby golf course.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

Land (mass) ho at Burnaby Lake, along with shorebirds and dwindling lily pads.

We ended our afternoon at Piper Spit, where we saw actual birds in multiples! Seasonal migrants are still a bit slow to arrive (The weather? Alignment of the planets?) and in some cases we only saw a single representative of a particular species, like what was probably the same coot we saw last time. There was also a single blackbird.

But the lack of new migrants was offset by oodles of dowitchers, who were even closer than normal to the pier, thanks to the ever-more shallow water and a landmass that is now the size of a small town. There were even a few killdeer splashing about. Neat!

In all, it was a pleasant wrap-up to a summer of birding. We’ll see how many more migrants fly in over the next few weeks.

The Shots

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

A few shots:

A black-capped chickadee on a sunflower at Van Dusen Botanical Gardens.
A long-billed dowitcher preening at Piper Spit.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Bewick’s wren
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • House sparrow
  • Northern flicker
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (One! Again!)
  • Blue-winged teal
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron (but fake)
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Killdeer
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern shoveller
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Some gulls (?)

Raptors:

  • None

Non-birds:

  • Assorted pollinators
  • One black squirrel
  • A lot of spiders

Birding, August 30, 2025: Merry Cootmas!

Where: Maplewood Flats (North Vancouver), Blakeburn Lagoons Park (Port Coquitlam), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 21-24°C

Maplewood Flats

View looking east over Burrard Inlet.

It was birding all over the place today. The only thing missing was the birbs. We heard a few and eventually saw a few, but it was mostly waterfowl and the like as songbirds seemed to prefer hiding away on what was a very humid day.

We began at Maplewood Flats and saw and heard a few chickadees, spotted some cormorants offshore, and a few gulls, but a promised sandpiper remained elusive. The scenery is always nice here, though.

Blakeburn Lagoons Park

One of the two lagoons. They were replete with ducks, some herons (none green) and a single goose.

We went to Blakeburn Lagoons to search for the elusive green heron. It remained elusive. We did see several great blue herons as compensation.

Otherwise, it was ducks and plenty of them, along with a solitary Canada goose, the only one we saw today (I think).

Tlahutum Regional Park

Coquitlam River, looking rather full on this day.

There were ducks in the main pond at Tlahutum and a couple of bald eagles flapping high overhead, but very few other birds were making themselves visible, so we made do with shooting flowers and the many pollinators tending to them.

Piper Spit

Oddly, I forgot to take any scenery shots at Piper Spot, so enjoy this wood duck stretching instead.

The land mass at Piper Spit is not only back, but fairly massive. A few small shorebirds were darting about on it, but most birds preferred the water. In the water, we saw the usual mix of mallards and wood ducks, along with a pair of hooded mergansers, but no geese. And lo, there was the first coot of the season, swimming about by itself and looking glorious and weird. It’s as much a sign of fall coming as the proliferation of pumpkin spice in everything from muffins to school supplies (probably).

Several people were stupidly feeding the birds again. Having recently seen bears up close and personal here, I feel comfortable in calling their actions stupid.

But we also saw a song sparrow. Just one, but it stopped hopping just long enough to let us get some decent shots. A few wood duck males were also back to near-full, resplendent mullets.

In all, a fine day of birding, even with the scarcity of birbs.

The Shots

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

A few shots:

A bee loving its job.
The first coot of the season. Coming soon: more coots and coot drama.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Bewick’s wren (heard, not seen)
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Purple martin
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee (heard, not seen)
  • White-crowned sparrow (heard, not seen)

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (one!)
  • Canada goose
  • Common merganser
  • Double-crested cormorant
  • Great blue heron
  • Hooded merganser
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Pied-billed grebe
  • Western sandpiper
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Various gulls

Raptors:

  • Red-tailed hawk

Non-birds:

  • Copious pollinators
  • Raccoons (actually after birding, and in my neighbourhood. I think they were having a meeting over lunch)

Still Creek, August 20, 2025

This is often one of the shots I post in my running updates. I didn’t yesterday, but I like the scene so much I am compelled to give it its own post. I love the green of the vegetation, the perfect blue of the sky, the puffy clouds, the perfectly reflecting water. And it’s all shot on a phone so old it makes Tim Cook sad.

Birding, August 16, 2025: Bees, not birds

Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sun and clouds, 19-22°C

Piper Spit

View from the turtle nesting area. Not seen: turtles, as always.

Although several naughty humans were feeding seed to the birds, which has been banned all summer (and reinforced my many signs all over the place), there were still relatively few around. We did not see geese, blackbirds or any fall migrants. It is also true it is not fall yet. Perhaps the migrants know this, too.

But we did see a scruffy little young song sparrow and an even more adorable baby cedar waxwing, which still had a lot of down, but already sported a proto face mask. It was kind of hiding in the bushes, which is probably a wise thing for its age.

The waterfowl largely consisted of mallards and wood ducks, and they mostly stayed well away from the pier. If it hadn’t been for one very splashy duck, I might have taken more shots of butterflies and bees.

But the trip was worth it for the babby waxwing.

Tlahutum Regional Park

Coquitlam River, fuller than last week thanks to heavy rain the day before.

There were even fewer birds at Tlahutum, though we did see some kind of raptor flying way overhead, and a lone female northern shoveller in the main pond. I shot a lot of flowers here, which have the bonus of not flitting around, unless it’s really windy.

And that was about it! Our outing was shortened by foul (not fowl) weather in the morning and by an event Nic was attending in the early evening, yet I somehow still managed over 25,000 steps as I type this.

I think there is a decent chance we’ll see at least one fall migrant the next time we are out. Coots are imminent.

The Shots

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

A few shots:

Northern shoveller in the main pond at Tlahutum Regional Park.
One of many pollinators seen in the community garden.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Cedar waxwing (babby)
  • Eastern kingbird
  • Song sparrow (babby)
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow (heard)

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (not yet!)
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern shoveller
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Some kind of raptor, yes

Non-birds:

  • Copious pollinators

Birding, August 2, 2025: Hot pigeons in love (or not)

Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 24°C

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

A bit of a breeze kept it from feeling too warm.

It was a shorter birding trip today as I did a rare run/birding double header. I have over 38,000 steps as I type this.

It was a sunny and pleasant mid-afternoon at Piper Spit, and with the no feeding rule still in effect, two things can be observed:

  • Far fewer people on the pier
  • The waterfowl tend to hang out farther away from the pier because no free snacks

We are still yet to see any new migrants arriving, but soon™. We did see several ducks that appeared to be hybrids of mallards and whatever else a mallard finds sexy (and vice versa).

But the variety and, in some cases, numbers were way down. Pigeons? Plenty! And some of them quite frisky. Blackbirds? We saw one. Gulls? Also, only one. Geese? Multiple gaggles.

Still, we shot what we could, and some birds cooperated by getting all showy with flapping and splashing and scooting across the water.

In all, not a bad little outing and none of my photos were accidentally overexposed, hooray.

The Shots

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

Here is an unedited shot of a pigeon (except for cropping) to prove I took photos, while I go through all of my shots.

A pigeon possibly staying away from one very amorous male.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Barn swallow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (not yet!)
  • Canada goose
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Great blue heron
  • Mallard
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeons (in love)
  • A ring-billed gull

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • A squirrel
  • Some pollinators

Birding, July 12, 2025: The Blackbird and the Lily Pad

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Richmond Nature House, Terra Nova Park (Richmond), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 20-28°C

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

South pound at Reifel: Mostly empty, a little slimy.

We started bright ‘n early at Reifel, where the clouds quickly burned off and it was actually kind of warm. You know it’s warm at Reifel when the breeze feels pleasant.

There was some incipient goose drama, but for the most part, it was pretty quiet, with many of the ponds and waterways absent of waterfowl. Several ponds were also looking quite slimy, including the London Slough1Dictionary Fun Fact: It can be pronounced sloo or slow, but not sluff, where it means something that can be shed or cast off, which gave us slimy mallards and equally slimy turtles. Everyone seemed pretty chill with the green slime. And speaking of the slough, one of the logs there was, as Nic put it, a veritable United Nations of waterfowl, with mallards, wood ducks, wigeons and mergansers all sharing space, a turtle at the end keeping an eye on them.

The vast marshlands are looking pleasantly green and verdant now, with wildflowers providing ample opportunities for the billion types of pollinators buzzing about. The first of the main ponds on the Outer Dyke (approaching from the north) appeared to have a lot of birds over yonder in the eastern end, so we went to the secret third bird blind and indeed, the area was replete with dowitchers and lesser yellowlegs. They were a little too far away, alas.

We encountered a pair of Sandhill cranes and they were in a restful mood, probably due to the heat. One even folded down on its legs in a comfy patch of shaded grass.

There were goldfinches and yellowthroats, but they mostly remained elusive, as is their way. Herons were more present than in other recent trips, on the ground, in the water and in the air (but not pooping).

We saw more beetles going at it. I’m ready to declare them the horniest bugs of summer, though the dragonflies are putting in a good effort, too.

In all, a perfectly pleasant tour of the sanctuary, with a few birds we haven’t seen lately sneaking back in, like a few mergansers and pintails.

Richmond Nature House

My arm with a ladybug on it, photo courtesy of Nic.

Next was the Richmond Nature House. I did not take any photos here, but Nic shot a rufous hummingbird and a furtive chickadee that came out briefly to check one of the feeders that still had seed in it. Actually, I did take one photo–of a fire hydrant surrounded by flowers. And Nic took photos of me. Or at least my left arm, which had a ladybug on it.

Terra Nova Park

Vast marshlands at Terra Nova, looking north toward the coastal mountains.

We moved on to Terra Nova and for me, it was all planes planes planes! There were only a few birds here–again, probably staying in the shade to avoid the mid-afternoon heat. Terra Nova always offers nice scenery, though. And planes.

The tide was the lowest here I can recall seeing. A collection of herons were gathered south of the Iona Beach jetty, noodling about in an area that would normally be under water. And when I say noodling, I mean standing, because that’s what herons do.

Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake

A pair of poop monsters with urban towers in the distance.

We ended our birbing at Piper Spit and by now it was up to 28C, but the breeze meant it didn’t actually feel that hot. The spit is still a no-feeding area (though a few people were doing that and will end up in bird hell or something. Actually, the birds like the seed, so it would probably be some other kind of hell, like, uh, the no bird feeding hell, where you are waist deep in seed no matter where you go, constantly slogging through), so while there are birds, they don’t hang around the pier itself as closely as usual. We didn’t see anything unusual here and did not magically summon the crane this time. We did observe at length a blackbird on the lily pads giving itself a good bath, though. There were also pigeons acting like red soldier beetles, if you know what I mean. The ladies (or men? I am not a pigeonologist) seemed unimpressed.

As a special bonus, we did not have to wait for a train to pass when leaving.

In all, a good outing.

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
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Common yellowthroat
  • European starling
  • House sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Rufous hummingbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree swallow
  • Yellow warbler

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot (not yet!)
  • American wigeon
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Hooded merganser (!)
  • Lesser yellowlegs
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail (!)
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • A few gulls

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Western painted turtle
  • Bugs and insects:
    • Red soldier beetle
    • Great blue skimmer (dragonfly)
    • Eight-spotted skimmer (dragonfly)
    • Blue damselfly
    • Hover fly
    • Paper wasp
    • Sand wasp
    • A billion others I could not classify or have forgotten

Birding, June 22, 2025: Daring duck and cautious coyote

Where: Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Cloudy, 16-19°C

We switched things up by starting at Piper Spit and the signs warning people not to feed the birds are all over the place, and it seems people are actually following the request for the most part (we did see some seed on a picnic table near the dam being nommed on by a song sparrow). This, along with the recent showers leading to the water level of the lake rising again, meant that most of the waterfowl were not hanging near the pier and shorebirds were completely absent.

I arrived early, shot some song sparrows, a robin, and a mom with a lone baby duck near the dam. After Nic arrived, we saw another female mallard, sans family, hanging around the dam. She jumped onto the edge of the fish ladder, then…jumped into the fish ladder itself, which is basically a series of rapids descending into the river. She seemed to enjoy letting the foaming water swirl around her and occasionally jammed her head in, sometimes coming up with strands of yummy (?) vegetation.

At the lake, a group of cinnamon teals and a blue-winged teal made an appearance, which was spiffy. Also, seemingly moments after I noted the absence of the sandhill crane, it flew in and landed in its usual area. Next, I will use my powers to win $10 million in the lottery.

Among the birds that hang out at Piper Spit, the “friendliest” are probably the blackbirds, as they will happily eat seed from your hand. The absence of seed seems to have made them all a little deranged, as we had them attempting to, and in some cases, succeeding in landing on us, even though we were seed-free. Maybe they thought that if they stuck to the routine, the seed would just manifest.

And while I did not get a shot, because it was hopping madly deep inside the branches of a tree, we spotted a warbling vireo, which for mew is a lifer. Neat.

There are a couple of stumps on the way to the pier that someone always covers in seed for the Douglas squirrels. These were cleaned up and a cute little sign placed on one. This will make getting shots of squirrels eating in that adorable pose more challenging.

A sign saying “No wildlife feeding.” Squirrels are sad.

The weather began to warm up a bit at Tlahutum, though it remained cloudy and dim. It’s been like this since summer officially began, so the people who complain about the heat should be pleased.

We saw a mix of swallows and sparrows in the community garden, along with an ever-elusive American goldfinch, which helpfully sat atop a pole. But the pole was set against a bright cloudy sky, making the goldfinch a very darkfinch. It no doubt chuckled to itself, then flew off.

The surprises here were the four-legged kind. As we crossed the bridge over the Coquitlam River, we spotted an otter out for an afternoon snack. It appeared to catch some kind of fish or something. My shots were not great, but you can see its whiskers and adorable little ears.

And as we were returning from The Big Pond a coyote came up behind us and then scooted rapidly past, ambling at a decent gait until it was a safe distance away. It then stood and looked across the river, giving us some fine profile shots. We wondered if it would cross the bridge (which we would be doing) but as it neared, a cyclist approached, so it jogged past. The cyclist, by coincidence, was heading the same way and the coyote booked it at that point.

In all, it was a comfortable day, weather-wise (no sun beating down on us) but with iffy lighting (no sun beating down on us).

The Shots

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

Shots coming soon, but here are two as a preview. The first is the American goldfinch, which was post-processed up the wazoo–I cranked exposure way up, cranked highlights way down and then added a bit of sharpening to get something resembling a goldfinch.

Max exposure, min highlights, one American goldfinch against a very bright sky.
A coyote on the ground, where the light is much more cooperative.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Black-capped chickadee (heard?)
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Rufous hummingbird
  • Spotted towhee
  • Song sparrow
  • Tree swallow
  • Violet-green swallow
  • Warbling vireo (lifer!)
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Blue-winged teal
  • Canada goose
  • Cinnamon teal
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Mallard
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Some kind of hawk

Non-birds:

  • Coyote
  • Otter
  • A turtle in the Nature House