Iona Beach

Birding, May 11, 2024: It burns

Where: Tsawwassen Beach Trail (Tsawwassen), Iona Beach (Richmond), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 15-25°C

The Outing

Today was kind of a weird birding day, with maybe the greatest number of steps to the smallest number of birds seen. Part of that is due to migrants having left for the warmer months, but we also didn’t see a number of the usual birbs, like black-capped chickadees. Also, the last coot at Piper spit has apparently finally joined its brethren to make more freaky-footed offspring elsewhere.

I logged just over 30,000 steps and despite putting on sunblock (twice!), still managed to get a bit burned in a few spots. Not too bad, really, and the second application was too late to help (I kind of knew this as I put it on, but put it on, anyway). As you might suspect, it was sunny and quite warm, rising to at least 25C by mid-afternoon. We started out at Tsawwassen Beach Trail, or more accurately, the gargantuan Tsawwassen Mills mall, where we parked. We walked to the beach trail from there (only a few blocks) and covered probably around 11 km there alone, looking for shorebirds or any birds. And we did see some, including killdeer, some gulls, barn swallows and some smaller shorebirds that were too far off to positively ID (I did not get shots). And that was the main issue I had with Tsawwassen–we didn’t see much, and what we did see tended to be well off the shore (the tide was extremely low). Nic did get multiple chances to shoot Savannah sparrows, but they regularly foiled him by having their backs turned, or the lighting was bad and whatnot. Also, the kelp was really stinky.

I got some good shots of tires, though. And also some nice pics of a couple of cute marmots and a juvenile heron who wasn’t fully-developed yet, but already had perfect stabbyface eyes. And I would be remiss to not mention a trio of female buffleheads in a pond that apparently decided migrating isn’t for them. They were diving and swimming and having a good ol’ time without any pesky men ducks around.

We next went to Iona Beach, hoping to find a yellow-headed blackbird that has been seen in the area. We did not see it. We did see more swallows and regular blackbirds, but again, not much in the way of shorebirds. The tide was so low that the first cut in the north jetty (so the fishies can swim through) was passable by just walking across it. The most abundant creature was probably crabs and, well, they were all dismembered and dead.

Undaunted, we moved on to Tlahutum and its community gardens. We were teased by one crow, who almost let us shoot it up close, then flew off, probably doing the crow equivalent of a Nelson “Ha ha1”, but other than that it was mostly swallows again. I’m not complaining. Swallows are pretty and fabulous, but a little more variety would have been nice. We only went as far as the bridge over the Coquitlam River, as by this time we had walked about 5,000 km.

We made our last stop at Piper Spit and got a nice treat there–a Wilson’s pharalope, which could have been a bit closer, but gave us plenty of time to capture it on virtual film as it waded through the shallows, often with a smaller shorebird in tow (a least sandpiper, apparently). We’re outside the pharalope’s breeding range, so they are considered rare here. Neat! There was also goose drama, of course, but even fewer bird species than the last time. The remaining coot decided to scoot, I didn’t see any Northern pintails, even though they allegedly don’t migrate, but the one Sandhill crane was still hanging around. And several geese families had their new broods in a fenced off area adjacent to the park, which is a pretty smart way to keep the goslings clear of twerpy little kids (and adults).

In all, it wasn’t a bad day of birding, but the variety and quality of my shots were both a bit lacking. At least I know the extra spots to apply sunblock for next time.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American goldfinch
  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Marsh wren
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Bufflehead duck
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Killdeer
  • Least sandpiper
  • Mallard
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wilson’s pharalope
  • Western seagull
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Several squirrels
  • Two marmots or one teleporting marmot
  • Butterflies!
  • A fat bumblebee
  • Those weird beetles again at Iona Beach
  • Tires (more than you’d think)

Birding, April 20, 2024: The Wire (Spotted Towhee Edition)

Where: Iona Beach, Terra Nova (Richmond), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sun and cloud mix, 14-20°C

The Outing

The day promised sun, with increasing cloud in the afternoon and a chance of showers by around 6 p.m., so we were good for birding. The forecast was…mostly right. It clouded up earlier than expected, and the first few drops came just as we were wrapping up at Piper Spit, but it was very mild–shorts weather, even, though I didn’t wear mine, because I thought it might be cool by the water, which was not the case. And because I don’t think of April as being a big sunblock weather month, I didn’t wear any sunblock and got a little sunburned. I’ll learn to wear sunblock in April eventually.

We started at Iona Beach, where the sky stayed clear for most of our visit. The highlights included a massive congregation of dunlins along the shoreline of the Fraser River, just east of the barge parking lot. They have black patches on their bellies when in their breeding colours (most were), which are equally cute and weird. The tide was very low, but on this day we opted to not go way out wandering the flats. We did observe what was perhaps the largest collection of crab parts I’ve seen at Iona. I mean, there are always crab parts, but today it was like the remnants of a crabfest.

Right near the start we noticed some bright yellow flowers that seemed odd, given their placement, and the flowers turned out to be a goldfinch, which promptly took off once we successfully identified it. The goldfinch thus became Nic’s white whale for the rest of the time we were at Iona. They thwarted him at every turn.

I shot a lot of planes. Like, a lot.

We next went to Terra Nova, where, thanks partly to people leaving strategically-placed deposits of seed along the trails (which you are not supposed to do), we saw a lot more birbs than usual, including another banded golden-crowned sparrow (not the same as Bandy at Reifel, as the bands were different. And yes, we checked.) We also saw a spotted towhee sporting bands and a wire (one golden crown also had a wire). They don’t seem to mind the wires. Maybe they pipe in soothing music through them in the evening. A rarely-seen Bewick’s wren could be heard singing in the trees, and we spotted it, though the angles were not great. Still, it’s always nice to see birbs you don’t come across that often. Unless they are goldfinches mocking you.

Next we went to the Richmond Nature House. Actually, we went to the parking lot, which was full, turned around and left. They have construction going on there, so the already-small parking lot is currently even smaller. Worse, the final spot was taken by a Tesla. Boo hiss. But maybe they have stopped filling the feeders, so we didn’t miss anything. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.

We wrapped up at Piper Spit, which felt a bit weird to me on this day. A lot of the winter migrants have left, so the overall population is down, and while there are new arrivals like cowbirds and swallows, the place still feels quieter (the migratory waterfowl tend to be in greater numbers than the songbirds). By now it had clouded over, so the light was not great, but the change in conditions did seem to scare off a lot of people, because it wasn’t that crowded. A young couple were on a bench at the end of the pier making out, perhaps not realizing they were not at home on the sofa. If I’d had any bird seed, I would have gently sprinkled it around them, so the blackbirds could have joined in on their fun.

Even the Canada goose drama was at a minimum. There was still some, though, because you can’t have Canada geese without drama. Speaking of drama, I just missed getting a shot of a heron in flight taking a poop. This may be the most dramatic midair pooping in the world, at least in terms of volume. I witnessed it through my viewfinder, I just wasn’t quick enough to get the shot. Maybe it’s better that way.

Just as we headed out, the first few drops of rain began to fall, so our timing was pretty much spot-on as we wrapped up.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American goldfinch
  • American robin
  • Bewick’s wren
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Chipping sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Ruby-crowned kinglet
  • Rufous hummingbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree swallow
  • White-crowned sparrow
  • Yellow-rumped warbler

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Cormorant
  • Dunlin
  • Green-winged teal
  • Great blue heron
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Sandhill crane
  • Scaup
  • Western sandpiper
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • European starling
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Several squirrels
  • A wasp
  • A weird little beetle that Nic found adorable

Birding, March 15, 2024: Shoveller? I hardly knew her!

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Richmond Nature House, Iona Beach (Richmond), Piper Spit. Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Mostly sunny 4-12°C

The Outing

Taking advantage of the switch to Daylight Saving Time, we hit four spots today and I ended with over 24,000 steps and am now tired.

First up: Reifel, where even a breeze in the morning didn’t feel too chilly, as the temperature rose fairly quickly. While we did not see owls or the legendary mallard/pintail hybrid, we did get our best shots ever of the night heron, sleeping as always. This is not to say the shots were great, but they were the best we’ve taken! Or the best I’ve taken, at least.

We noticed perhaps a few more shovellers than usual and came to realize that there were dozens of them everywhere, including spots we never usually see them, because there were so many they were crowding themselves out of the usual spots. It had me wondering if their huge numbers and omnipresence may have pushed other waterfowl out. We saw a single wood duck, for example, and normally their numbers are decently represented at Reifel.

We took a bit of a haphazard route through the sanctuary, as there were quite a few more people than you might expect for a Friday, including a tour group from exotic Washington state! This meant we probably missed a few little bits here and there, but we got our shots and had more to do!

Next was the feeders at the Richmond Nature House. The area here was dominated by juncos and to a lesser extent, chickadees. Two squirrels showed up, but neither was quite as dedicated as others we’ve seen when it came to tackling the feeders. The smaller squirrel established a peace treaty with a pair of mallards that arrived (which in itself is unusual). No fancy woodpeckers or jays, though.

We moved onto Iona Beach, where the tide was so far out (how far was it?) we were able to walk the shoreline without getting our feet soaked. Birds were in lesser supply here, though we did see crows, gulls and some others. No yellow-headed blackbirds, alas. I also shot at least eight different boats and ships, which I think is a personal record and will inevitably lead to my first aquatic vehicle gallery, which I may call Holy Ship! With the sun out, we were still able to get plenty of nice scenery shots.

But wait, there’s more! Nic’s phone died while giving us directions from Iona Beach to Piper spit, and it did so while we were on a route we’d never taken before. We switched to my phone and the last update had switched from the sassy Australian voice I know and love to some weird American accent that sounded like, I don’t know, about four regional accents all smushed together. Yuck. I switched back to the Aussie, and we got to Piper spit just in time to wait for the long, long train to go by so we could park.

Songbirds were a bit scarce here, though blackbirds were well-represented. There was also a single pigeon representing all of pigeondom. And also a single seagull. Maybe some bird species were out of town at a convention.

There were again more people than usual here, probably because of the unusually pleasant weather, and several were feeding the waterfowl. Since these people were often at opposite ends of the pier, this had the effect of causing dozens of ducks to move en masse from one end to the other, then back again. They earned their seed today.

And the buffleheads were back! Buffleheads are adorable, as determined by science.

There was some goose drama, but they were reasonably calm today. Maybe it’s because it’s early in mating season, and they need to behave. Behave, relative to being a Canada goose, that is.

By the end I was on my third battery (they are getting old) and I was having intermittent issues with focusing/shutter activation, but I only missed a few shots and no error messages. More importantly, I got some rather nice shots to boot.

Overall, despite a bumpy start1Private joke. You had to be there., it was a good day for birding.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Fox sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • House sparrow
  • Marsh wren
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada goose
  • Dowitcher
  • Great blue heron
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Killdeer
  • Mallard
  • Night heron
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveller
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Sandhill crane
  • Scaup
  • Trumpeteer swan
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Squirrels big and small

Birding, January 26, 2024: A window of opportunity

Where: Iona Beach, Richmond Nature House, Terra Nova (Richmond)
Weather: Cloudy, 7-10°C

The Outing

We opted for a rare weekday outing this week because the weather otherwise looked to be more of The Rains (which turned out to be accurate). We seized our window of opportunity and actually had pretty decent light for much of the day and zero precipitation, woo.

It was an all-Richmond outing today, and that meant planes. And helicopters. And then more planes. I shot more planes than chickadees. To be fair, planes travel in nice, predictable paths, which makes them a lot easier to shoot.

Iona Beach had an unusually dense population of herons nestled in the reeds around the main pond, all of them sleeping or looking stabby. A few flew off, and I managed to capture one pooping in flight. Herons are fairly large birds, so the volume they dispense is…impressive.

Elsewhere, we saw song sparrows, a finch and various waterfowl, including a merganser that was a little too far away to get good shots of. We also fell yet again into the Iona Beach trap of “walk back along the beach, run out of beach, then figure out how to keep going without getting your feet wet.” We got our feet wet.

Along the way, we saw a lot of gulls diving for goodies and got some good action shots there.

Next up was the Richmond Nature House, where we actually found parking. Yay. The feeders were doing good business, with approximately one million juncos dominating. At least until the towhees wanted some seed. We were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of a female and male downy woodpecker, both of whom went for the suet. We watched the fame stuff the suet into little holes in a nearby tree. That woodpecker is probably more organized than I am.

One squirrel was present and managed to squeeze itself into a feeder where it gorged on and off. It would sometimes come out and wade around in the water (most of the area around the feeders was a bit flooded from the recent snowmelt) to find soggy but easy-to-access seeds there.

We ended at Terra Nova, where we saw more planes than birds. I was happy, Nic less so. But we did get a nice treat, as the pond where we usually see a grebe or two not only had a grebe, it was much closer than usual, allowing for our best, grebiest shots yet.

I experienced some issues with my camera after swapping batteries, which may have been a coincidence, or it could be the camera just needed to be cleaned. Or both. It wasn’t due to the cold, though, as it got up to a downright mild 10C, a sharp contrast to recent outings. I’ll be thinking of spring now, which means more snow is on the way, probably.

Terra Nova is also where we saw this weirdly yellowish looking bank of cloud along the horizon, out on the strait, the kind you’d see in a horror movie, with ships full of undead pirates sailing out if. We just saw the cloud, though.

Overall, a fine outing, despite said glitches, with better than expected weather and light that was largely better than expected.

The Shots
Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco (x 1 million)
  • Fox sparrow
  • Downy woodpecker
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • House finch
  • Northern flicker
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Great blue heron
  • Hooded merganser
  • Mallard
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Pied billed grebe
  • Snow goose
  • Surf scoter
  • Trumpeter swan

Common:

  • American crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • One very robust squirrel

Birding, October 22, 2023: Snow geese in the mushroom kingdom

Where: Iona Beach, Terra Nova, Richmond Nature House, Garry Point (all in Richmond)
Weather: Overcast, 12-13C

The Outing

It was our first truly fall bird outing of the season. I wore pants! I needed them. And not just for the sake of decency.

We had a quest: to find snow geese. We knew they are in the area, but wanted to see them up close and honking. Our first stop was Iona Beach and voila–snow geese! A small group was snoozing and milling about just north of the parking lot. We got our shots in early, but more is always better. We did an abbreviated tour of the beach, as this was not our usual birding day, and saw a lot more snow geese on the far side of the Fraser River, along with cormorants, various gulls and ducks. Also, a lot of giant mushrooms, no doubt benefiting from all the recent rain.

When we circled back, more snow geese had arrived, forming two groups, so we did indeed get more shots.

The tide was in again for the second time in a row at Iona, and it was cold and windy, a big change from our last visit.

We next ventured to Terra Nova, but alas, no snow geese. We did find some solace in a pair of grebes dunking around in a pond covered in red slimy gunk, apparently changing colour for the season. They didn’t seem to mind. Also, there was an assortment of juncos, golden crowns and song sparrows near…the washrooms. Probably just a coincidence.

I shot a few jets taking off and disappearing into the clouds, which looks kind of eerie. The stuff from which bad horror stories are made.

After Terra Nova, we popped by the Richmond Nature House. The feeders were full and the joint was jumping. There were chickadees, both black-capped and chestnut-backed, juncos, towhees, house finches, song sparrows, golden crowns, a Steller’s jay (neat!) and probably every squirrel in Richmond. Everyone was flitting about, diving into the feeder boxes or grabbing seed to go from the hanging feeders. One squirrel actually squeezed inside the cage surrounding a hanging feeder and proceeded to gorge itself.

We ended with a very cooperative Anna’s hummingbird sitting in a nearby tree, singing and showing off its gorget.

Our final destination (not to be confused with the clever/terrible horror movies) was Garry Point. Here we did see more snow geese–but they were off in the distance, beyond where we could go without being able to fly ourselves. Which we cannot do.

But we did round out the afternoon with a few more scenery shots, and a few robins and shorebirds.

In all, it was a good outing, with plenty of birbs, birds, and snow geese, just as we’d hoped. And it didn’t rain!

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Chestnut-backed chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • House finch
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Steller’s Jay

Waterfowl:

  • Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Pied-billed grebe
  • Mallard
  • Snow goose

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Black, gray and Douglas squirrels
  • Kites and various fixed-wing birds in and around YVR

I did it, I made a photo gallery!

Yes, I finally got off my lazy butt and actually went through the photos I took on Saturday (October 7) and put together a gallery, which you can observe by looking right below:

Birding, October 7, 2023: Wet feet and The Chickadee Empire

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Iona Beach (Richmond)
Weather: Sunny, 12-21C

The Outing

The day started bright and early at Reifel, and it was indeed bright–a clear and ultimately warm (possibly record-setting) sunny day.

We immediately got shots of hummingbirds as several duelled or took turns going to the feeders, then moved on to find a lot of the usual birds not in the usual spots, or just absent altogether. We only saw a single pair of wood ducks, which is kind of weird, and the Canada geese were keeping themselves confined to several specific areas instead of going wherever they wanted, as they usually do.

And Chickadee Country was now Chickadee Empire. I have never before and may never again take so many shots of chickadees. To say it was a target-rich environment would be an understatement–they were everywhere, and in large numbers, so large that they seemed unconcerned by our stinky human presence, making it possible to get some very close-up shots.

The blackbirds were also ever-present, and eating seeds in their usual “wear all the food on your face” manner, which makes for great pics.

The four avocets were still in the big main pond, but were a little too far from shore to get good shots, alas. We did have better luck with the mostly-snoozing yellowlegs near the entrance, plus one that had again gone rogue and was looking for food along the shore of an inner pond, mingling with the ducks and geese.

We also saw a turtle, and for a time were confused about which end was its butt. This happens when you can pull your body parts into a shell.

Some new arrivals included fox sparrows and a ring-necked duck, plus the snow geese are back, though we only saw them far off in the distance.

After wrapping up at Reifel, we headed to Iona Beach, where the tide was…in! This was very unusual for us, and it meant the odds of seeing shorebirds were low and the odds of walking out on the tidal flats were zero, unless you wanted to wade in up to your hips (spoiler: I did a variation on this later in our visit).

The pond area did not yield much, save for some b;blackbirds, but we saw a nice selection of sparrows along the trail that leads toward the north jetty. Feeling saucy due to the summer-like weather, we pressed on farther than usual, to the first cut in the jetty that was put in to allow salmon and other fish to pass through.

After getting shots of gulls and scenery and things, we turned around for our long journey back to the car. Because the tide was in, we only had a narrow strip of shore to walk along. I walked a little close to the tide washing up a few times, getting my feet a little damp, then grossly miscalculated one stretch and got my feet just plain soaked.

In a way, it was a relief, because it meant I no longer had to be careful and could just stomp through the tide like a little kid. Which I did. We reached one area where we had to ascend up and over bramble and logs to continue through, and this is where Nic’s leg met a sharp thorn for the second bird outing in a row. The blood sacrifice made, we ventured on without further injury.

In the end, we both got some very nice shots, equally struggled with focus issues (with the cameras, not with what we were doing), but enjoyed being out on what was really a glorious early fall day.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Fox sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • House finch
  • House sparrow
  • Northern flicker (probably)
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-throated sparrow
  • Yellow-rumped warbler

Waterfowl:

  • American avocet
  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Canada goose
  • Cormorants (a pair flying overhead)
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Green-winged teal
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveler
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Glaucous-winged gull
  • Ring-billed gull
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Black squirrels
  • Various aircraft
  • Wasps

A vast and empty sea

Yeah, I still haven’t posted any pics from Saturday yet to the gallery, but to be fair, my PC was off most of the time since then.

As a stopgap, here’s a photo of the extreme low tide at Iona Beach, with bonus smoke haze. The perspective makes it seem as if the sea is drying up, all the way across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island in the distance.

Birding, August 19, 2023: Haze, wind and the dial of doom

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta) and Iona Beach (Richmond)
Weather: Smoke haze, 17-23C

The Outing

We started out bright and early, but with an ominous sign: Smoke haze from forest fires to the east was starting to turn the sky a white-gray. By the time we got to Reifel, the blue sky was all but gone.

Still, we saw birds!

It was windy as all heck, too, which made the first part of the morning a wee bit chilly, but not too bad overall.

We started by watching some geese go cuckoo over an apple, then moved on, slightly disappointed by the lack of winter migrants, but it’s still early. Mallards, geese and house sparrows were in abundance, with the latter two showing up in unusually large numbers at the London Slough.

From there, we didn’t see a lot for a while, but came across the proverbial jackpot, with a plethora of dowitchers and yellowlegs in a pond that is most often unoccupied. I suppose the lack of rain has created shallower conditions in this particular pond, just right for shorebirds.

We also finally lucked out in Chickadee Country with a bunch flitting around the viewing platform, after mostly just hearing them taunting us earlier on the trails.

A thing we noticed among the birds and birbs at Reifel: Many were molting, so everyone was looking extra scruffy, sometimes adorably so. The mallards and wood ducks were starting to show signs of their handsome breeding colours returning, so the shift from summer to fall is underway in Birdville.

We wrapped up with some shots of sandhill cranes, one of whom was gorging itself on whatever was in a big plastic Rona bucket. Another actually sat down, something we’d never seen before (except when nesting). Sometimes you just want to get off your feet.

Our trip to Reifel was bracketed at the beginning and end by…cows! In an adjacent field, not in the actual sanctuary itself. I’ve now shot both cowbirds and cows. (We did not see any cowbirds.)

From there we went to the Richmond Nature House, which was a complete bust, as the feeders are still empty. We completed our tour with a tour of Iona Beach, though the wind and bugs (which caused us to retreat quickly from the pond area to apply bug spray as they were biting into us with relish) made us less adventurous than usual. The wind was so brisk I had to wear my cap in reverse to keep it from blowing off, and pretend I was hip. We walked onto the jetty to the point where you can move up or down on the stairs, then turned back. Along the way, we saw some gulls and distant herons, but not much else. Back on land, we caught sight of some cormorants near the barges, but really not much else in terms of birds.

It’s funny how the combination of the wind and the encroaching heat haze made the day feel a bit weird and off. I was expecting it to be quite warm originally, and at times it didn’t even feel like summer.

Overall, though, I was pleased with the shots I got, but unknown to me, disaster was waiting in the wings (bird joke): The dial of doom.

Like most cameras, mine has a dial that lets you switch shooting modes. Like most dials, it has notches and requires a little effort to switch modes, so you don’t do so easily and perhaps capriciously. Today, I observed several times that the mode had gone from P to something else, like AV. Looking through the EVF, I spotted nothing amiss. I am unsure how the dial got switched, though did note that my right thumb sits very close to it when I’m holding the camera. I would like to think I’d notice if my thumbs was clicking the dial to a new position, but maybe not! Maybe my thumb is cursed, or evil. Or my camera is. Or everything is.

What it mean is that I took a bunch of photos that were complete, utter garbage, along with even more than were unusable, blurry messes, but in which you could still at least identify objects, like ducks and trees. I ended up losing over 150 photos because of this. I was not pleased.

But I’m also unsure what to do. I’ll adjust my camera, so every mode should give me good shots, but I’m still baffled at how the dial seemed to so easily turn. If I can software lock it to P, I will do that. If I can’t, I’ll just cry into my pillow. Then I’ll just keep checking to insure the dial is set to P.

That is my new mantra: Still on P.

Overall, then, this was a real mixed bag. I did get some good shots, so it wasn’t a complete disaster, but oof, how can I have had probably my worst day of shooting ever over two and a half years after I got my camera? Bleah!

The Shots

The rest Soon™, but here’s an Anna’s hummingbird to get started.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Collared dove
  • Goldfinch
  • House finch
  • House sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Lesser scaup
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Great blue heron
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • None

Non-birds:

  • Cows

Birding, July 22, 2023: Duck drama, heron drama and wasps

Where: Iona Beach Regional Park and Terra Nova (Richmond)
Weather: Sunny, 23-27C

The Outing

Deferring our pilgrimage to the heron refuge in Chilliwack one more time, we stayed local and still saw herons, plus heron drama. It seems no body of water is big enough for some herons to share with others.

We started at Iona Beach and I had a plan–a second pair of sneakers to wear, so I could get them muddy and wet and still have a nice dry pair waiting in the car after. I also had bug spray to prevent a repeat of the Episode of Many Bites from the previous summer. Between the bug spray and sunblock, I was assured that every piece of sand would glue itself to my exposed skin. Which it did.

But no bites and no burn!

As is nearly always the case, the tide was extremely low and after going through the wooded area near the river, where we saw flycatchers, sand wasps, goldfinches, a bazillion dragonflies and more, we moved onto the tidal flats, where the sand was unusually firm1Obligatory “That’s what she said” joke here, affording us a sense of security that would later partly betray us as we did a big loop out into the area north of the jetty, only to encounter much muckier and slipperier sand as we approached the beach. We both stayed upright and my feet never got wet, though. I love it when a plan works.

At Terra Nova, the birds were fewer, including a few seagulls, distant herons and some more furtive goldfinches (Nic got nice shots, I got shots). I did get a decent pic of a seaplane, though! And the views are always nice.

I did some experimentation with adjusting ISO on the fly this time, and it looks like it somehow got stuck at a setting a few times that was way too high, blowing out several images (easily fixed in post, however). I may have to read the documentation.

Despite the heat (both areas offer little shelter from the sun), it was a perfectly pleasant outing. Who knows what setting on my camera I will next figure out how to sort of use?

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Goldfinch
  • Flycatcher
  • Northern flicker
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Swallow (could not ID which type)
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Mallard
  • Great blue heron

Common:

  • Crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Sand wasps (roughly one million)
  • Dragonfly (several types)
  • Grasshopper

Birding April 29, 2023: Sunburns, mud and a million warblers

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Iona Beach
Weather: Sunny, around 18C or warmer

The Outing

With an unusually summer-like day forecast, we headed out mid-morning to Reifel, bedecked in t-shirts and shorts for the first time this year. I also brought sunblock, which proved to be very necessary.

Reifel was full of birds and full of people, many having booked no doubt due to the forecast, but the crowds thinned a bit after we’d been there awhile. The biggest changes we observed were:

  • Warblers. At first, we were just satisfied to get some shots, then realized the place was replete with warblers. They actually seemed to be crowding out the chickadees. I got at least two lifer shots.
  • Most of the winter migrants were still around, but their numbers were down quite a bit and a few, like the mergansers and scaups, were nowhere to be seen. I suspect the next time we visit, most of them will have moved on for the summer.
  • The geese were mostly tranquil. There was honking and some occasional nipping/alpha male nonsense, but they generally seemed more sedate. Maybe mating season mellows them out. Like, it’s hard to get a date when you’re going totally berserk.

After about four hours, we moved on to Iona Beach, where Nic wanted to find the elusive yellow-headed blackbird. We did see one, but did not get good photos (or in my case, any). Nic actually went back the next day on a Moby Dick-like quest and did get some shots. Even though he’s gotten great shots previously, so it’s not like it’s a lifer or anything. Weirdo! Or maybe he is assuming his final form as a Power Birder. First the yellow head, next the 600 mm lens.

We also saw a pile of warblers at Iona Beach. They were everywhere.

After journeying down the trails and past the barges, we agreed to walk across the tidal flats on the way back, as it would be quicker (in theory) and easier( in theory). It was neither!

But I found it strangely hilarious as the fairly firm sand gave way to increasingly mucky stuff, the kind that threatens to pull your shoes right off your feet. We never got our feet fully submerged, so I cal it a win. I also stuck to my plan to only take shots with my camera, and swapped out lenses several times for scenery shots and one poor ex-crab on the beach. A bit inconvenient compared to the phone, but my kit lens has some zoom capability, and it has a wider aspect ration, especially handy for the vast vistas of Iona Beach.

In all, it was a nice way to end the month, getting a nice preview of the warm summer weather to come.

And yes, I got a bit burnt in a few spots I missed with the sunblock. 😛

The Shots

Coming soon™.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Blackbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Cowbird
  • Fox sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Orange-crowned warbler
  • Rufous hummingbird
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree swallow
  • White-crowned sparrow
  • Yellow-rumped warbler
  • Ruby-crowned kinglet

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green-winged teal
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Northern harrier

Common:

  • Pigeon
  • Seagull

Non-birds:

  • Douglas squirrel
  • Painted turtle