It was 20C and sunny, so I went out and touched trees.
The last day of summer 2025, in portrait
Burnaby Lake
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
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
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:
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
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:
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
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
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
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
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:
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
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
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:
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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
Birding, May 24, 2025: Dander, dinosaurs and dirt-dwelling demons
Where: Rocky Point Park, Old Orchard Park, Inlet Park, Old Mill Site Park (Port Moody), Admiralty Point Park, Bedwell Bay (Belcarra), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 15-24°C
Rocky Point and environs
Today the forecast was warm and sunny, so I actually slapped on a copious amount of sunblock for the first time this year. It worked. No burning!
We started out with a return to the heron rookery near Rocky Point, as the baby dinosaurs (young herons) should be showing themselves in the nest around now–and they were! There seemed to be a max of three per nest and they were regularly looking about, sometimes getting up and flapping their proto-wings or walking around the edge of the nest. They presumably know to not try venturing out, because it’s a long way down. They are cutely hideous, with this dishevelled just-got-up look, but the stabby eyes already in place.
We ventured out onto Old Orchard Beach after, at my urging, and Nic stepped onto a dubious section to get closer to a heron to get a better shot. The heron flew off and Nic got stuck in the mud. He managed to extricate himself before I could get a photo, though. I went the long way around and remained unstuck.
We did not see much else, bird-wise in the area, but that’s normal. Nic spotted movement under some dirt and mulch and we watched as…something squirmed underneath, looking like it was about to emerge. And then it stopped. We have no idea if it was a particularly robust bug, a mole, or some eldritch horror.
Since we were over on the north side of the inlet, Nic suggested we visit Belcarra and check out some of the trails, so we did!
Belcarra
Repeating a theme throughout the day, there were a ton of people at the picnic area on the beach facing Boulder Island (the place one goes to rock out, presumably). This was the first summer-like day of the month, and I guess everyone wanted to savour it after most of May has been cooler and cloudier than normal.
We went down a few forest trails and I took possibly my worst-ever photo of a song sparrow with my kit lens. But I switched back to the telephoto as we came out to Bedwell Bay and there we found along the shore, getting pushed by the tide, a bunch of adorably tiny crabs.
This is an area with beautiful trails through forests, nice vistas, but not many birds, so we are unlikely to return too often, but it was nice to check out a new place.
Tlahutum Regional Park
After the new, a return to the old and after some weeks of seeing few herons, they were all over today. We say one here grab a fair-sized fishy from one of the creeks. We also our first cedar waxwings of the season, woo. The big pond also featured a pair of shovellers who had not yet shovelled off. Or maybe never will, because apparently they just go into hiding. The community garden yielded few birbs, but there were shiny swallows, at least one white-crowned sparrow and pollinators on nearly every flower.
We made copious use of the water fountain here, as Tlahutum offers no over at all, and by now it was mid-afternoon.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
People were parked in pretty much every available space around the Nature House, but we lucked out and got a spot close to it.
The vibe (much as I hate the word) is different here right now for a few reasons:
- The water level of the lake is considerably higher than normal. I assume this is a deliberate strategy, maybe to help with the rowing club. The downwisde is no shorebirds.
- Bird feeding is currently prohibited due to attracting bears. A few people still were, but it was clear most were obeying and as a result, the waterfowl behvior was different, with many content to stay farther away from the pier, since there were no goodies to be had. This meant fewer adorable close-ups.
- And of course, a lot of migrants have migrated. One day we will have coots again. One day.
- Also, there were a weirdly large number of people fishing from the pier. Nic jokingly referred to it as International Fishing Day and a few kids nearby were ready to believe it, which, given the things people believe these days, is almost quaint!
We didn’t even catch any squirrels doing the cute squirrel thing. Maybe next time we’ll hit different parts of the trail and be blessed by the return of the mountain bluebirds. It could happen!
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:
- Brown-headed cowbird
- Cedar waxwing
- Common yellowthroat
- Red-winged blackbird
- Spotted towhee
- Song sparrow
- Tree swallow
- White-crowned sparrow
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- Canada goose
- Double-crested cormorant (and plenty of them)
- Great blue heron
- Mallard
- Northern shoveller
- Sandhill crane
- Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
- Assorted gulls
- Rock pigeon
Raptors:
- None?
Non-birds:
- Bees, bees, bees
- Dragonflies
- Ladybugs
- Something in the earth
Birding, May 18, 2025: It’s the horniest time of year
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Centennial Beach (Delta), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Partly sunny, 12-16°C
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
Today’s birding was X-rated, due to everything from dragonflies to swallows and sandhill cranes were getting it on. It was quite scandalous.
We started out at Reifel, where it seemed like most of the people there were Serious Birders and Their Very Gigantic Lenses. Even my 400 mm lens started feeling puny. On the other hand, I don’t have to stand 500 m away from a bird to get a shot.
We saw some baby ducks, which was fun, along with more goslings. Several male cowbirds were working it hard on the females, but the women were just not impressed.
In news both sad and horny, the Sandhill cranes have already abandoned their island nest, which has since been claimed by a goose as they expand their honking empire across the sanctuary. This likely means that any chicks they had did not survive. Undeterred, we witnessed them engage in a spontaneous (to us) mating ritual, so perhaps they are priming to try once again. Good luck, cranes!
Not to be left out, a pair of tree swallows did the nasty in a tree, which is the logical place for birds to make out. There was no fuss or muss here, just some very quick action, then each went about their business.
Shorebirds were finally spotted again in one of the big ponds–dowitchers, it looked like–but they were far off. Boo. And we only saw a single heron, which matches the number of turtles we saw as well.
In the cute department, apart from all the babbies, was a house sparrow fledgling, eating alongside a possible parent and looking delightfully scruffy.
Centennial Beach
The tide was extremely low, so the odds of seeing shorebirds here were also extremely low, but we did see a single killdeer, more baby ducks and a crow amusing itself by dropping some manmade thingamabob from high up above the rocky beach.
We also saw a house sparrow nab a crunchy winged insect of some sort atop a concrete block near to us.
I actually can’t recall seeing much else. It was one of the least bird-filled visits to Centennial in recent memory.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
We ended at Piper spit and by this time, the sun was mostly covered by clouds, the wind had picked up and the No Bird Feeding Due to Bear in Area sign was up, which everyone obviously ignored.
It was too late to visit the Nature House by the time we arrived, due to Google Maps sending us on a very indirect route from Centennial Beach, but we did see about a billion more goslings, the Sandhill crane was present yet again (though standing in bad light) and more cowbirds were trying to get it on.
The lake level was way up after recent showers, so shorebirds were absent yet again. We had to make due with pigeons, a squirrel and the usual waterfowl.
Overall, it was a fine outing, and I got some snazzy shots, particularly at Reifel, where I had my R7 out for the first time..
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 robin
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Barn swallow
- Black-capped chickadee
- Brown-headed cowbird
- Common yellowthroat
- Marsh wren
- Red-winged blackbird
- Rough-winged swallow
- Rufous hummingbird
- Savannah sparrow
- Spotted towhee
- Song sparrow
- Tree swallow
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- Canada goose
- Gadwall
- Great blue heron
- Long-billed dowitchers
- Mallard
- Sandhill crane
- Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
- Assorted gulls
- Rock pigeon
Raptors:
- Bald eagle
Non-birds:
- Dragonflies
- Assorted and chonky squirrels
Birding, May 11, 2025: Nature in the face
Where: Maplewood Flats (North Vancouver), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Partly sunny, 15-16°C
This was the second outing with my Canon EOS R7 and this time I turned on subject detection and cleverly set it to Animal (rather than People or Vehicle). It actually worked quite well, and didn’t prove a hindrance when taking the occasional non-animal shots, too.
Maplewood Flats
It had been a while since I’d been to Maplewood Flats, but alas, there were not many birbs about and the few that were proved elusive.
However, we did see our first official ducklings of the season! We also saw a gull trying to handle a crab it had acquired along the shoreline, another gull proudly flying off with a rather large bivalve of some sort clenched in its bill, plus a few herons in the distance and a cormorant, also way off, drying off. It didn’t help that the tide was very low, so the effective shore was way out there.
I also took photos of a dog on the beach, for lack of other subjects. It was a nice dog.
The scenery was very lush and pretty, though, which is why this post is titled as it is.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
The land mass is slowly expanding again, but the list of birds is not. All winter migrants have left and other than a few darting swallows, the only spring arrivals present were the cowbirds. The female cowbirds are quite pretty, though, even if they are nest interlopers.
The geese had goslings all over, still looking adorable, but no sign of duckings here–yet. Perhaps because of the mini-geese, the adult geese were strangely well-behaved.
The sandhill crane was here yet again, still standing in its preferred spot. This is the most persistent I’ve seen one here. Maybe it has a mate nesting somewhere out of sight. And for some reason the large fish in the lake were much more conspicuous this time. They have whiskers, so I’m assuming they are some kind of catfish, but I am not a fishtician (fake edit: I checked and they are brown bullheads, which are indeed catfish, so I am now an amateur fishtician).
Tlahutum Regional Park
We ventured left for a change of pace, hoping that going the opposite of our usual path would bring us more green herons or a bird of paradise or something.
What we got was mostly crows. But also some hummingbirds, and a goldfinch, which we both managed to catch shots of before it vanished.
The large, restored pond where we turned around and headed back, also gave us a kingfisher, but she opted to sit up very high and rather far away, instead of perching on the fence right in front of us. There was also a single mallard, who may have been lost. Or a recluse.
This is also where I took a photo of a red ant trundling along the side of the trail, which is not remarkable, but when looking at the photo later, I realized I could see a tiny reflection of myself in its shiny abdomen. Weird!
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 robin
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Bewick’s wren
- Black-capped chickadee
- Brown-headed cowbird
- Goldfinch
- Pacific wren (heard)
- Red-winged blackbird
- Rufous hummingbird
- Spotted towhee
- Song sparrow
- Tree swallow
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- Belted kingfisher
- Canada goose
- Double-crested cormorant
- Gadwall
- Great blue heron
- Mallard
- Sandhill crane
- Wood duck
Common:
- American crow
- Assorted gulls
- Rock pigeon
Raptors:
- Bald eagle
Non-birds:
- Various bugs and bees
- Black squirrels
May 3, 2025 birding shots added
Yes, getting a new camera finally prompted me to go through my photos and actually post some of them, specifically some of the better shots I got while out birding on May 3, 20251I know it looks weird to write “2025” when it’s only three days later, but it’s handy when looking back at posts months or years later.
I need to figure out focus on my Canon EPS R7, as a lot of shots were a bit blurry. I fixed a few of the ones in this gallery, but most are presented as-is, with minor work done on lighting.
Boats on the inlet, Port moody.
A distant killdeer at Rocky Point. I needed all 400 mm of my new telephoto lens to capture this.
Great blue heron swallowing some fishies at Rocky Point.
A Canada goose going on about things.
A Canada goose gosling going on about things.
Puffy-headed white crown sparrow in profile.
A house finch pausing on a wire fence, Tlahutum Regional Park.
A white-crowned sparrow belting it out in the community garden.
A crow against a rather bright backdrop.
A millipede milling about on the trail.
A tree swallow squatting on his house.
Bee getting its pollen on.
The main pond at Tlahutum Regional Park.
Female cowbird seeking seed.
Male cowbird with seed.
Sandhill crane in repose, looking rather orange.
"Sup?"
A soggy gosling coming out of the water.
Goslings deep in conversation.
Pigeon proudly posing.
The super-long train we inevitably got trapped behind as we left Burnaby Lake.
The only decent shot of a wood duck I got. Don't ask how many shots I took.
I call this my Liron Gertsman prizewinning shot. Gimme my award!