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!
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.)
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:
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:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
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:
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:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
The colours:
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:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
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
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 94 Average 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
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
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.
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
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Non-birds:
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!
The Shots
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Non-birds:
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:
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
The Birds (and other critters)
All birds seen at Piper spit unless otherwise noted.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Non-birds: