Where: Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve and Island 22 Regional Park (Chilliwack) Weather: Sunny, 27-29C
The Outing
We finally made our trek to the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve near the Vedder River in Chilliwack.
We saw actual herons! Disappointingly, we only saw two, though one did the stabby fishy thing. Fortunately, the scenery and general area was quite nice, plus there were bird feeders near the entrance where we saw oodles of finches (house and gold), along with chickadees, a dove and a lifer (for me, though the photo was not great), a black-headed grosbeak. We also caught sight of a cedar waxwing as soon as we got out of the car, so that was nice, too.
After looping around a few times, we had lunch and pondered where to go next. Nic suggested Island 22 Regional Park, which would at the very least offer snazzy views of the Fraser River. We were surprised that it required payment to get in, but it was only $5, and they didn’t require physical money, which neither of us had. We’re not 20th century Luddites!
The number of birds here was disappointingly few, but we did see a few, included another lifer for me, a Western Wood-Peewee, which I’ve technically seen but not gotten any photos of before. We got shots of the Fraser and the mountains, did a big ol’ loop around the park, then retraced much of our steps when Nic thought he had lost his car keys. They turned out to be in a secret inner pocket of his shorts the whole time, plus we got bonus walking and worked on our detective skills, so it was fine in the end. My watch did mildly chide me in the evening for too much activity, though.
We also saw a bird Merlin could not identify (possibly a kingbird or relative), plus some young robins, but not much else. You never know until you look, though, and it still beat the bust that was the birdless Burns Bog bummer.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American robin
- Black-capped chickadee
- Black-headed grosbeak
- Cedar waxwing
- Collared dove
- Eastern kingbird (maybe)
- Goldfinch
- House finch
- Spotted towhee
- Western wood-peewee
Waterfowl:
- Hooded merganser
- Mallard
- Great blue heron
Common:
- Crow
- Seagull
Raptors:
- Harrier (?)
Non-birds:
- Bees
- Dragonfly
- Grasshopper
- Screaming little kids