Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Boundary Bay (Delta) Weather: Sunny, 18–23°C
The first birding of August, just before the fall fliers1bird and consumer joke rolled into one start arriving.
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
Marshland and distant mountains at Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
We started at Reifel, which was packed in the morning with both hardcore birders and their Very Big lenses, and assorted families and holiday goers (today is BC Day here in, well, BC).
We did a reverse of our usual route, which isn’t especially radical, but does give a slightly different view on things.
As expected, no fall arrivals have shown up early, but the barn swallows are still hanging around. In fact, we saw one actively maintaining a nest, so at least one more batch of babies is on the way.
Nic shot a billion swallows in flight. I shot a few and the results were not horrible, nor good, but somewhere in the middle. Horrigood.
Most of the ponds were devoid of any waterfowl, but we did see some:
A pair of Spotted Sandpipers in the pond by the viewing platform
A pair of Greater Yellowlegs in one of the small ponds east of the viewing platform
A large group of Long-billed Dowitchers in one of the large main ponds
The dowitchers and sandpipers were not very close, alas, but the yellowlegs compensated.
Sparrows seemed to be mostly hiding from the sun, but some chickadees and House Sparrows were out. And we saw a scruffy young Yellow-rumped Warbler, who was just starting to show some of its yellow.
The geese had filthy mouths and fluff beards, but were well-behaved. A large gaggle on the shore past the marshland may have been migrating.
The oddest moment came when a bird of some sort flew directly over us on the outer dyke and landed on the trail ahead. The profile seemed to be a hawk of some sort, but having one land on the trail is very weird. It flew a bit into a shadier spot, and we got some photos before it…walked into the grass, then popped out and finally flew off. I correctly ID’d it as a Cooper’s Hawk because it’s one of the few I know are local.
And near the end we saw the Sandhill Crane family, so in all, a fine outing, even if many of the ponds are a little too green.
Boundary Bay
Boundary Bay minus the bay, due to low tide.
We originally went to Centennial Beach, but for some reason it was so busy the parking lot was full and backed up. Nice weather + holiday = overcrowded? Whatever it was, I finally relented and agreed to go to Boundary Bay. As always, the scenery was nice, but the tide was extremely low, so seeing shorebirds meant walking about a km across the mudflats to find some water and hoping for the best. We did not do this.
Instead, we walked a few km along the trail mostly populated by cyclists and a few people on horseback, and shot a lot of grasshoppers. We did see a few errant birds, such as some Cedar Waxwings, but that was it.
I am sated on this stretch of Boundary Bay for, let’s say, the next year. Or more. 😛
But overall, the weather was lovely (not too hot) and we saw some birds we don’t see often, so a good time was had.
The Shots
All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.
One more clutch of Barn Swallow babies before migration.
A barn swallow yawning. Or screaming? Scream yawning.
Barn Swallow sitting pretty.
A bumblebee getting its pollen on.
Honeybee in zany portrait format.
Pollen is life.
A very shiny blue wasp grooming itself.
The Black-capped Chickadees are appearing more.
A Cooper's Hawk lands on the trail ahead of us. Very odd.
The Cooper's Hawk then sought shade. Not odd at all!
A Sandhill Crane getting its feathers ruffled by the breeze.
Sandhill Crane snoozing in the grass.
A damselfly hanging out on a leaf.
Collared Dove in a tree, its red eye shining in the sun.
A dragonfly hanging out.
A bearded Mallard.
A House Sparrow drinks.
A Canada Goose eats, table manners optional.
Canada Geese flying through the heat haze.
One of several geese flying overhead, caught mostly in silhouette.
Grasshopper showing off its boss-level camo.
A Northern Harrier on the hunt, with the marshland, mountains, and strait in the backdrop.
A Great Blue Heron flies by.
A Great Blue Heron stalking fishies.
I'm not sure if the heron was swallowing or celebrating its catch.
House Sparrow on a fence.
House Sparrow having just gobbled a seed and wanting more.
A distant shot of a Belted Kingfisher, still clearly showing its weird fake eye.
Marshland scenery.
More marshland scenery.
A Mallard in shadow.
A Woodland Skipper pausing on dry grass.
Another Woodland Skipper, showing off its proboscis.
Snoozing Mallard.
Ducks on a log.
The best action shot I got of a swallow.
I kind of like this silhouette of a swallow, it looks as fast as it is.
A scruffy young Yellow-rumped Warbler.
The Yellow-rumped Warbler somehow looking even scruffier.
A pair of Greater Yellowlegs looking for snacks in one of the shallow ponds at Reifel.
Boundary Bay, looking toward the U.S., mostly absent of water at low tide.
A Sand Wasp on a tansy.
Horses, people, and a dog on the mudflats at Boundary Bay.
In which a crow demonstrates why the Raptor Trail may need to be renamed Corvid Trail.
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
A green London Slough, filled with Canada Geese and a couple of turtles.
Our first stop was Reifel, which I haven’t been to since the surgery. Much like myself, the sanctuary has mostly healed from its own issues, namely all trails are now open, though at least three are rather lumpy, with signs warning you to walk like you’re an ATV.
Despite sunny skies, comfy (not hot) temperatures the front gate was open and, indeed, there weren’t too many people around. Something non-birding people may not realize is that summer is actually about the worst time for birding, because:
Maximum tree canopy makes birds in trees harder to spot. Birds like trees.
It’s an in-between season, meaning a lot of spring migrants have already left and the winter migrants are yet to arrive, so it’s mostly local birds, which may disappoint some looking for something more exotic.
Also, the higher-then-normal temperatures this spring mean the various ponds and waterways are already getting a lot of algae and slime, so the views are sometimes a little green in a way that is less aesthetically pleasing.
Still, we saw C21 (a goose with one of those dorky big collars) and for some reason I couldn’t remember the name of the explosive compound so mused incorrectly about watching out for C1, then C2, then Nic reminded me it’s actually C4 and I was like, that’s totes what I meant. Watch out for the C4 goose, it hisses and then BOOM.
The Sandhill Cranes were out and about, which is always nice to see. Like Mallards and a few other species, they are generally indifferent to people, so you are sometimes presented with the challenge of them getting too close for a good shot.
We saw one Wood Duck, I think. The rest were Mallards, the males looking pretty scruffy now.
Barn Swallows were present near the entrance with a few tending nests, but I did not see any babbies.
Speaking of babbies, a family of goslings was trundling about, now in their gawky teen “all legs” phase. Not quite cuddly anymore, but cute in a goofy sort of way.
There were also plumes of sand wasps along the Outer Dyke trail. We took some photos, then I suggested we move on because I was concerned about smooshing some accidentally and doing that when surrounded by them seemed like it might lead to an unpleasant turn of events. They are still wasps, after all.
I also got my first dragonfly shots of the season, which turned out OK. I was generally not thrilled with today’s shots, but I admit, I am not a Hardcore Birder/Photographer. Maybe I should be and start a blog called hardcorebirderphotographer.com.
Anyway, we shot a lot of bugs, because most song birds were hiding. I suggested we hit Centennial Beach next, so we did.
Centennial Beach
Boundary Bay, unbounded by water. The people provide perspective!
We started near the pond and worked our way to the pump station, then back, walking along the Raptor Trail as one does along the way.
Near the pond we saw some Brewer’s Blackbirds, which I haven’t seen in approximately a hundred years. Their eyes are a striking yellow and they have a kind of cute derpy quality to them that I like. It’s why I did one for my bird art.
We saw more sand wasps, panting crows, baby ducks and a few Killdeer (which were weirdly hard to shoot, in part because they kept moving and I don’t mean bobbing their heads, though they did a lot of that, too) walking around the very low tide area. On the aforementioned Raptor Trail we spotted a Northern Harrier flying high overhead. Then another bird emerged–a crow! The crow did not like the harrier being there and assumed attack formation. The harrier quickly vacated the airspace and the crow went back to the invisible line marking the periphery of its territory. No one messes with crows.
A few more scenery shots (nice views across the expanse of the bay, though the horizon was hazy) and we set off to our last stop, Illegal Bird Feeding Place.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
Typical late afternoon wind rippling the lake surface, towers in the distance.
Which is to say Piper Spit. The illegal bird feeding didn’t happen until we were just leaving, though, so our rage was more contained. I’m pretty sure they could erect a 10-metre sign here saying IF YOU BRING SEED WE WILL KILL YOU DEAD and people would casually walk by, clutching their bags of seed. It’s just the world we live in now. What we need, clearly, are Guard Geese.
The island is still submerged, though the water is shallow enough for the geese to stand in and geese were once again the dominant waterfowl here, with Mallards and Wood Ducks comprising most of the rest. A couple of Sandhill Cranes were on hand, too, though they were stalking about separately.
Blackbirds flitted about, smearing seed over their bills as they do, and a few pigeons were once again playing sexy and generating no interest whatsoever from the other pigeons. As they do.
In all, a perfectly cromulent day of birding and a nice break from the torrid heat of the previous outing. Next stop: Summer 2026!
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto. Some scenery captured on a Samsung Galaxy S26.
Some of the shots in the gallery are not exactly sharp, but I chose each for a reason, usually stated in the captions.
Barn Swallow tending nest.
Barn Swallow hanging out.
Barn Swallow hanging in the shade.
Two male Brown-headed Cowbirds expressing themselves.
Male Brown-headed Cowbird up close, with seed.
Not a great shot, but this Great Blue Heron cooling itself looks totally metal.
A crow panting in the heat.
Marshland scenery at Reifel.
Not a great shot, but great drama. A crow informs a Northern Harrier it has invaded the crow's space.
Killdeer on the shoreline at Centennial Beach.
A baby duck being very cute.
A female Brown-headed Cowbird.
A somewhat pondering Sandhill Crane.
Sandhill Crane strutting across the shallows.
Bald Eagle coming in for a landing at Reifel.
"Look into my freaky eyes," said the fly.
A red dragonfly.
Sand wasps wasping together.
Sand wasp up close and thinking of digging a burrow.
Canada Goose not quite snoozing.
A gosling chilling out on the grass.
Don't zoom in. I was lucky to grab this shot of a heron flying overhead.
A male Mallard unfussed about his scruffy looks.
Boundary Bay, with less bay thanks to low tide.
Shady pigeon.
A pigeon trying to convince a female Mallard that it is very sexy.
A sitting duck.
Song Sparrow in shadow.
Song Sparrow mid-song.
A male Wood Duck contemplating life (well, a few months) without a resplendent mullet.
A Bewick's Wren having a dirt bath, as ones does.
The bill is not in focus due to extreme FOV but I love the derpy look of a Sandhill Crane from the front.
The weather was once again fabulous. I once again got sunburn. I even had my sunblock, I just didn’t put it on. I’ll learn by the next outing, I swear.
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
This is the main pond, reflecting the general absence of birds.
This was my second trip back to Reifel after the Barge and Bridge Incident™, with all trails save the North Dyke Trail now re-opened, though a few are still in pretty rough shape.
Three things stood out this day:
There was a lot of bird drama (here and elsewhere) and it wasn’t just mad geese, though they figured prominently, as always.
Most of the birds were absent, either nesting, hiding or visiting their pocket dimensions due to the unseasonably warm weather, perhaps.
Poop.
Let me start with the poop. We had just entered and had barely made it past the entrance when some birds flew overhead, one depositing a load on both my left and right wrists. I was wearing a long-sleeved light hoodie, so it could have been worse. It could also have been a heron pooping, which would have been much worse. Still, it was an annoying way to start the day and despite being reassured by Nic and Jeff that getting pooped on by a bird is good luck, I was not convinced. I didn’t win the lottery later that evening, so there.
After cleaning up in the washroom, we got to touring the open trails and as mentioned, many of the ponds were strangely bereft of birds Even the sparrows seem to be reduced in numbers. It was odd and a wee bit disappointing.
We saw three Sandhill Cranes, one by itself, the other two (a couple) strolling around together. At one point it seemed one of the pair may have landed on a small island possibly already occupied with a goose nest. And goose. Drama ensued and the other half of the crane couple called out in its weird, loud trilling croak for quite a while after.
The Killdeer family was nowhere to be seen, alas.
The geese were strategically placed all over the sanctuary, asserting their dominance, one even perching itself magnificently on the railing of the platform with the sign that assures you if you are very quiet, you might see a Virginia Rail. Sure, that could happen, if you didn’t have a Canada Goose literally standing there, lording over the area, ready to start blatting out its war cry on a moment’s notice.
At the viewing platform, we saw two wasps doing something. I’ve looked at my photos and I’m still not sure. Were they making out? Was one eating the other? They eventually separated and one flew off, so I guess it was mutual something or other. Still not as strange as dragonflies copulating.
A number of swallows were in a nest-building mood, and were gathering bits of straw, down and other nest-building material. Soon, the babbies, with their giant mouths and endless cries of, “FEED ME! FEEEEEED ME!”
By early afternoon, we completed our circuit and freshly sunburnt, headed off to our next stop: Centennial Beach.
Centennial Beach
Very low tide, with Mt. Baker in the background.
We started at the entrance near to the pump station and saw some herons stalking about, spied some gulls way out with the extremely low tide and got shots of Mt. Baker, which was standing against a bright blue sky.
And there were shorebirds! Specifically, Least and Western Sandpipers. We watched them scamper along the shoreline, take off in brief bursts of flight and repeat until they decided to fly off.
We saw our only shovelers here, what was likely a mated pair, in the small pond near the other entrance to the beach.
And the Raptor Trail delivered, with what turned out to be a fight or exchange between a male and female Northern Harrier. The male had caught a bird and made it an ex-bird. The female showed up, the male dropped it and the female apparently made off with it. I have no idea if this was planned or just one harrier shaking down another.
Back out on the bay, a young Bald Eagle was standing on a distant sandbar and would occasionally fly off to another. At one, he appeared to be noshing on something that turned out to be a large crab. He got the crab to go, and flew off. The eagle, not the crab. Well, the crab flew off too, but was in the talons of the eagle and was an ex-crab at that point.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
Look at all the birds that might be here, but aren’t!
Still sunburnt, we went to our last stop: The Piper Spit Bird Hangout and Illegal Seed Sharing Site. Here we saw a lot of Wood Duck drama, for some reason, with males flapping, chasing and flaring out their mullets. Cowbirds and pigeons were both looking unsuccessfully for love and there were shorebirds here, too.
Most of the winter migrants have departed–we saw no Scaups, Buffleheads or Ring-necked Ducks (a single pair of the latter were at Reifel), but we still have coots.
The butterfly garden proved to have no butterflies or fancy spiders this time, but at least we didn’t have to wait for a train to pass before leaving.
In all, a decent day of birding, though I was a bit disappointed by the lack of birds and also the overall quality of my shots. I got some good ones, but there were a lot of misses, too. And I wasn’t even trying to shoot flying swallows.
But at least the weather was again faboo.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto. Some scenery shots taken on a Samsung Galaxy S26.
A few shots, gallery pending:
A Sandhill Crane, sitting on the grass near the Reifel entrance.Watching and waiting…I don’t know what this Wood Duck was reacting to. They were all a bit weird.
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby) Weather: Cloudy, 13°C
I was feeling weird and tired in the morning, so I missed the entire Reifel section of birding today.
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
Nic saw a bunch of Snow Geese, some White-fronted Geese hanging with them, and the Killdeer still protecting their parking lot nest. The babbies are expected to hatch soon.
I have no photos from Reifel, so you’ll have to use your imagination.
Tlahutum Regional Park
Coquitlam River, cropped to 16:9.
We both went to Tlahutum and spoiler: no Mountain Bluebirds, but we did see a somewhat elusive Cinnamon Teal for the first time this season at the big pond, where all the cool birds were hanging out, ranging from Buffleheads to Gadwalls and shovelers.
We opted to skip the community garden, though we could see the flooded bits are starting to dry out. Soon™.
The bulk of the trails proved fairly quiet, with only a few Golden-crowned Sparrows and some crows, but not a lot else. Maybe birds like the sun, because it remained overcast the entire afternoon (though it did not shower, as the forecast had threatened).
The other highlight came when we took a path different from the usual on the way back to the car and came across, of all things, a Bewick’s Wren having a grand old time taking a dirt bath right in the middle of the trail. We took photos until it was done and flew off. It was very into the dirt bath.
In all, though, a quiet outing here today.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Regional Park
Burnaby Lake was windswpt and cool today.
By the time we got to Piper Spit, the wind had picked up and it felt a bit cool, a big shift from the last few days of summer-like weather.
While the lake level was lower, meaning more of the land mass is now above water, it was still too deep around the spit for shorebirds. Most of the usual gang were otherwise represented, including a single Glaucous-winged Gull, perhaps selected to check the status of the golf balls the gulls have collected there.
The coots seemed to be split into two groups: the clean-billed and the dirty-billed. The dirty-billed had black…stuff…along their “lips”. I have no idea what it signifies. Maybe we have two rival coot gangs and the coot war is coming.
A lot of the birds we saw today were looking scruffy, due to moulting, and among them were some Green-winged Teals who looked a bit like unfinished paintings, with their heads flecked with green instead of lovingly smothered in it.
The drama here was kept to a minimum, though the geese were still being geese. You can’t fight your nature.
I have still not gotten a decent photo of a cowbird yet.
And we saw a pigeon couple kissing and kissing and kissing some more. Another male, meanwhile, was trying and failing to impress the ladies again.
We ended with a stop at the butterfly garden, which is still absent of butterflies, but did have a Goldenrod Crab Spider tucked inside a tulip, its front legs spread out, ready to give a deadly hug to any early pollinators. The one we saw was an almost translucent white, though they can change colour to match their surroundings. How sneaky!
The weather was better than forecast, but it was still very gray. I guess it makes the motre colourful birds pop, so there is that. In all, a nice bit of afternoon birding.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
A few shots, gallery pending:
When you got an itch, you gotta scratch.The first Cinnamon Teal we’ve seen this year.A Golden-crowned Sparrow looking contemplative.This Bewick’s Wren was enjoying a nice dirth bath.A Goldenrod Crab Spider waiting to give a pollinator a fatal hug.
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby) Weather: Sunny, 17°C
NOTE: I am missing the previous entry, from March 28. It will be posted soon™.
My first (light) sunburn of the year, woo.
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
Some green returning to the marshaland at Reifel.
After months of being closed due to storms and bad bridges, Reifel Bird Sanctuary finally re-opened this week, so this was our first destination.
The only downside were two trail closures, the East Dyke (mostly) and the North Dyke, which shortened our outing a bit, bot not much. A few of the open trails are still in pretty rough shape, as the volunteers could not bring in needed equipment to repair while the bridge was closed.
But it was all good, because the very first thing we saw made the trip worth it. As we entered the parking lot, I noticed the section immediately on the right was cordoned off. I assumed it was another repair, but no, it was due to babby-making!
Specifically, a pair of killdeer chose to make a nest in the northeast corner of the gravel parking lot. While this was fine when the sanctuary was closed, it is more problematic now. We saw both parents and one of them was dashing about and then plunked down on what appeared to be three or four eggs, with the occasional head bob, as killdeer do. It’s adorable, though you can’t help but worry about how the future Killdeer will fare. On the other hand, Killdeer favour nests in the open, and they’re still around, so they may yet survive us.
In other birb news, we both got our first (blurry) shot of a Marsh Wren. They should become a bit more visible as they start looking for love in earnest.
The mallards especially seemed to miss us, because it felt like some were following us around the entire area, no doubt hoping for seed we did not have. Sorry, mallards! I compensated slightly by taking copious beauty shots of them.
We saw one or possibly two Sandhill Cranes (in separate locations) and witnessed a few duck battles (the inevitable goose drama was yet to come). Hormones make everyone crazy, it seems. Well, except geese are just naturally like that. And there was a mass of Western Painted Turtles on the logs at the London Slough. I’ve never seen so many. Some were so big you’d think they’d fallen into radioactive sewer water and mutated. If you’ve ever seen one of those “Western painted turtle sighting” signs, just know the answer is: Reifel.
In all, and despite the inevitable crowds (first weekend open, long weekend and sunny, mild weather) it was very nice to finally be back at Reifel.
Tlahutum Regional Park
Coquitlam River, especially low today.
The Mountain Bluebird quest continued at Tlahutum, where multiple birds have been sighted. And success! We saw a couple with Big Lenses on one of the main trails and lo, off in the bushes were at least two Mountain Bluebirds. Sadly, they were a bit far away so even my 400mm lens struggled. I had to switch to manual focus to get anything even a bit decent. How old-timey! They are a very lovely shade of blue. Hopefully we’ll see more, and maybe a bit closer up.
We also saw Buffleheads, Gadwalls and a scruffy-looking immature Great Blue Heron, who was busy practicing his death stare (speaking of, and in reference to the title of this post, today was apparently my day for getting shots of birds staring directly into the camera).
Nic got some good shots of Tree Swallows, who were out in abundance at the big pond and we finally dared to venture around the still kind of flooded community garden, mostly skirting the edges, but it’s still a bit early. Many of the plots are still under construction. We shall return.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Regional Park
Burnaby Lake, looking full and still lily pad-free.
We ended at Piper Spit and sought to silence our inner Bird Police, knowing someone would be feeding the birds. And there were people feeding them.
Speaking of feeding, on the way out, we saw a squirrel noshing away and it looked surprisingly similar to the chunky boi they have on the No Feeding signs.
At the spit, the water level was too high for shorebirds (boo) and apparently for seagulls, too, as they were absent. Left behind were the many golf balls they had collected. Seagulls are weird.
It was here that the geese reverted to form and generally went berserk, doing the cobra chicken thing over and over. I’m sure the internet could tell me why they do this–a show of dominance, some weird style of affection or something, but I like to think they’re just kind of loco.
And as a final bonus, a train passing through actually cleared the track before we got there, so we weren’t delayed on our departure.
In all, a fine outing.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
A few shots, gallery pending:
A Dark-eyed Junco looking for grub in the Reifel parking lot.A cormorant sunning itself on a log, with American Wigeons drifting by in the background.One of a nesting pair of Killdeer at Reifel.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
American Robin
Anna’s Hummingbird
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown-headed Cowbird (allegedly heard but not seen)
It was a day where it felt colder than the temperature alleged, even without wind. I wore three layers, which turned out to be the smart thing to do.
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
Rusty the pipe, with a moody-looking sky behind.
Reifel’s gates were open, likely due to the very grey skies and cooler temperatures. We were rewarded early with an Anna’s Hummingbird (several, actually, fighting among themselves, as is their way). On the way in, we passed a multitude of ducks, then came across the first very busy feeder, where assorted sparrows, juncos, and others were grabbing seed and spraying it all over. This was the only active feeder that did not have a squirrel either sitting inside it or lusting after its contents from nearby.
We saw multiple squirrels, and these guys are definitely getting quite chonky as winter approaches.
A Golden-crowned Kinglet proved typically elusive, but we ended up getting some decent shots as it hopped madly about above us. Just as elusive, but much more sedate, a rare sighting of an American Bittern on the outer dyke. There was a large group of people gathered, facing toward the marshland. We surmised that they were not shooting a tree as there are no trees in the marshland. What they were shooting was a somewhat shy American Bittern that was standing surprisingly close to the trail. It very slowly moved out and we got some nice shots because, like their relative the Great Blue Heron, they do not exactly speed walk. It was surprisingly oblivious to the large number of people pointing their giant lenses at it. They look lumpy, weird and delightful.
Nic inquired and found out that the local Sandhill Cranes are now hanging out with a larger group that have at least temporarily settled into the far end of one of the fields adjacent to the sanctuary. There’s over a dozen total. It will be interesting to see what the local ones will do when (presumably) the others finally decide to take off.
We again so no geese here.
The drama was left to a couple of female wigeons, who make weird “rrr rrr” sounds that sounded like engines revving, quite unlike their usually pleasant pees. They chased each other, making a big ruckus, then both flapped afterwards, each convinced it was the victor, perhaps.
The coots were well-behaved, in comparison.
And we saw a whole gang of Buffleheads, moving in a group and often diving as a group, making shots a matter of timing.
We saw multiple Northern Harriers and I successfully tracked them, but they were far off, the light was so-so and most of my shots were a bit fuzzy and grainy. Fuzzny. Alas.
Still, it was all worth it for the Bittern.
Centennial Beach
Boundary Bay was rather colourless.
It showered a bit on the way to Centennial Beach, but was dry by the time we got there. It remained very cold, however, so we did a more abbreviated tour. We saw a House Finch and a few other sparrows, and shorebirds, but the tide was in, so most waterfowl were father out. We did get some good shots of a typically grump-looking eagle in a tree–and yes, it was actually perched along Raptor Trail.
There was also a bunny, but I was looking in a different direction and missed it before it hopped back into the brush. Oddly, they seem to hang out a lot on the Raptor Trail, which seems sub-optimal for rabbits.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
Blue sky threatened for a few minutes at Burnaby Lake.
Piper Spit had only a handful of people out and no one was feeding anything. The only feeding taking place1technically there was other feeding going on was a seagull picking away at the carcass of an ex-salmon. As Nic says, the skin is the best part.
The Dowitchers were quite close to the pier, which made for some good shots, and there were geese here, occasionally honking, as is their way. The pigeons mostly stayed in one tree, all poofed up from the cold.
The cormorants were back, or still here, hanging out in what now appears to be their usual spot, east of the pier. I wish they would hang out a little closer, but it’s still nice to at least see them.
And here we saw our first scaups of the season. I couldn’t tell if they were lesser or greater, but they didn’t seem gigantic, so I’m calling them lesser for now.
The coots here were also well-behaved.
In all, a fine, if brisk day for birding.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
Gallery soon™.
A robust gray squirrel at Reifel.A rarely-seen American Bittern, also at Reifel.
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:
View of the marshland, with Rusty (the pipe) barely visible
An Anna's Hummingbird pausing while taking a sip
A Mallard posing on a railing. Shot with an iPhone 12.
An American Wigeon, having just had a sip of delicious pond water
A speckle-headed Ring-necked Duck
A stout-looking gray squirrel, caught in the act
A Black-capped Chickadee acquiring payload from a sanctuary visitor
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.
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.
It almost feels like you can see the curve of the Earth.
It was warm today and maybe that made a lot of birds shy about coming out, because sparrows and sparrow-adjacent birds were in relatively short supply. We did see some chickadees, a few blackbirds and a lone cowbird, though.
Mostly it was mallards (being jerks by hogging seed) and wood ducks, with the males still looking snazzy with their proto-mullets, along with the re-emergence of geese in most parts. The air was full of honks.
We even saw some swallows still hanging out in the main pond, though I wasn’t able to tell what kind they were, as they were in full flitting mode.
Others must have known this is the birding lull, because we were able to drive straight into the sanctuary and the number of people around was definitely down for a sunny, pleasant summer Saturday.
Still, it was fine. Can one have too many glamour shots of mallards?
Centennial Beach
Mt. Baker looms over Boundary Bay and the tidal flats.
We had some better luck at Centennial Beach, with multiple types of shorebirds prowling the streams left in the wake of the extremely low tide, including yellowlegs, killdeer, semipalmated sandpipers and a lifer–a long-billed curlew. At least I think it’s a lifer, I don’t remember seeing one before and it has an extremely distinctive (and gigantic) bill that curves down. A couple of them were strolling about farther out. We ventured onto the tidal flats for a bit, but were wary of spooking them.
There were also a ton of grasshoppers basically everywhere. I was tempted to title this post “Day of the Locusts.” I got some decent shots.
The other surprise was three snow geese in amongst a bunch of Canada geese. I did not have snow geese in August on my bingo card.
The raptor trail was raptor-deficient, however.
In all, the shorebirds made the trip worthwhile.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
A few shots:
Blackbird up close and personal at Reifel.Snow goose in August.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Anna’s hummingbird
Black-capped chickadee
Brown-headed cowbird
Cliff swallow
European starlings
House sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
American coot (still not yet)
Canada goose
Killdeer
Great blue heron
Greater yellowlegs
Long-billed curlew (lifer)
Long-billed dowitcher
Mallard
Northern pintail
Northern shoveller
Semipalmated sandpiper (lifer, at least per Merlin)
The marshland appears endless from the West Dyke Trail.
The day took a weird turn, camera-wise, as I managed to change the exposure on-the-fly without realizing it until I was looking at the photos later. Whoops. The change was subtle enough that I didn’t pick it up in the EVF. I’ve set it back and think I know how I did it, so hopefully this won’t happen again without me doing it on purpose.
But it was also a day when I shot a lifer–a Peregrine falcon!
Reifel started with a paucity of birds in the entrance pond, but there were signs of others we haven’t seen much, like chickadees. Sort of pond-adjacent was an abundance of barn swallows grooming in nearby trees, including what appeared to be a bunch of juveniles. Cute! The geese were everywhere, but didn’t seem overly interested in trying to eff each other (or anyone else up). Summer doldrums, maybe. We were reacquainted with C21, a goose that has a rather clunky-looking neck collar. No sign of C19 or C20, though. We also saw a towhee wearing a wire. We’re being tracked, the birds are being tracked, everyone is being tracked.
There were a few shorebirds in one of the west dyke ponds, but again very far away, boo. The blind that faces one of the ponds had a special “treat”, though–a growing wasp nest on the inside of one of the wooden flaps, which was left in the open position (for obvious reasons). The honeycomb had probably a few dozen pockets in it, with wasps canoodling around it, probably adding more using their secret wasp techniques. We took our photos and scrammed.
And upon seeing a raptor flying way up overhead, I took a bunch of shots that were mostly mediocre, but were good enough to identify the bird as a Peregrine falcon–a lifer! It seemed to just be passing by.
I experimented more with shooting scenery (and some bugs) using manual focus, which may have had repercussions revealed later (which I will also reveal later).
Boundary Bay Dyke Trail
I have never seen horses out here before. Now I have seen three.
For Boundary Bay, we started near the golf course (there’s always a golf course) and went to the little pump house near 80th Street, probably a few km or so. The trail was very dry and bright. There were basically no birds, except an errant robin and a bald eagle sitting atop a telephone pole. The eagle was “panting” but when Nic crossed to the other side of the trail, it immediately stopped and looked precisely in our direction. And kept looking. We got some very nice shots, then scrammed (at a leisurely pace. An eagle would probably not be able to carry us off. Probably).
The main highlight here were planes, if you’re into planes, the scenery, and bugs, specifically grasshoppers of various colours, and butterflies.
We decided to round out the day with a risky trip to Blackie Spit.
Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach
Distant kayakers make land off Blackie Spit.
This is risky only in the sense that a sunny Saturday afternoon is likely to find the parking lot full. And it was. But we went to the second, smaller parking lot further in, the one with the curiously square roundabout (a squareabout?) and lo, there was a single spot! We parked a short distance from a Cybertruck, which seemed to have parked in a handicapped spot without apparent reason[Cybertruck joke here].
The tide was way out and Blackie Spit itself is now restricted to a single straight trail that doesn’t really get close to the water, so it’s a bit of a bust now. The scenery is still nice.
We ventured onto the other trails, saw more shorebirds (still kind of far away), but again, not too many birds venturing out into the mid-afternoon sun, apart from some song sparrows, a crow and a seagull that Nic and I both managed to capture pooping in mid-flight. You take the wins where you can.
And that was the day! The weather was perfectly cromulent, the lack of birds not surprising, and the rare gems all the more precious because as birding goes, we are also in the summer doldrums.
Soon, though, there will be coots.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
