Richmond Nature House – creolened.com

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

March 15, 2024

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 start¹, 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

January 27, 2024

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, December 15, 2023: Chickadees for miles, plus a woodpecker

December 19, 2023December 15, 2023

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Richmond Nature House, Terra Nova (Richmond)
Weather: Partly sunny, 6-8°C

The Outing

We headed out for a rare weekday trip to Reifel and lo, when we got there we didn’t have to check in. Instead, a sign indicated that due to low reservations, anyone could just drive on in, which we did. And it was probably the quietest I’ve ever seen the sanctuary. We were able to go for long stretches without seeing anyone, especially in the first hour or so.

What we did see were chickadees. A billion chickadees. And at least a million towhees, who were being unusually cooperative in having their pictures taken. The avocets were still in the main pond, so they may be settling in for the winter. Sadly, they were on the far side, so good shots were not to be had. Herons were scattered about, but none particularly close and most of them either sleeping or grooming, boo. I mean, good for grooming and staying tidy, boo for not showing off that fantastic “stab you” stare they have.

Noted by their absence again were Canada geese and wood ducks. We did see some geese in a field outside the sanctuary, but the wood ducks were nowhere to be found.

We also saw a bonus pheasant on the way in, which was spiffy, even if we couldn’t really stop to get photos.

It was a good day for raptors, too, with a pair of juvenile bald eagles perching high in a tree above us, a Northern harrier sweeping across the shoreline, and a red-tailed hawk perching atop a tree and posing, though perhaps farther away than we would have liked.

Squirrels were copious and rotund.

At one point, Nic slipped when stepping onto one of the slippery wooden viewing platforms. I proved I was not a hardcore photographer by first asking if he was OK, then checking to see if his camera was OK (both were OK).

And after lamenting no Sandhill cranes as we got ready to leave, a pair of Sandhill cranes appeared as if by magic, so we rounded out Reifel with some shots of the pair stalking through the parking lot.

Next up was the Richmond Nature House, where plenty of chickadees, juncos, assorted sparrows and several ambitious squirrels were working away on the feeders. As a bonus, we also saw a downy woodpecker.

We rounded out the day at Terra Nova, where we saw few birds, but got some nice scenery shots of misty mountains, the setting sun and, of course, more planes than you can shake a jet engine at. Well, I did, at least. Nic doesn’t do planes. I compensate by doing all the planes.

Overall, it was a perfectly pleasant outing. There was little wind and it felt relatively mild. A nice way to wrap up birding for 2023 (barring minor excursions here and there).

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

American blackbird
American robin (maybe)
Black-capped chickadee
Dark-eyed junco
Downy woodpecker
European starling (sighted, not shot)
Fox sparrow
Golden-crowned sparrow
Northern flicker
Song sparrow
Spotted towhee
White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

American avocet
American coot
American wigeon
Bufflehead duck
Great blue heron
Green-winged teal
Hooded merganser
Long-billed dowitcher
Mallard
Northern pintail
Northern shoveler
Ring-necked duck
Snow goose
Trumpeter swan

Common:

American crow
Seagull

Raptors:

Bald eagle (adult and juvenile)
Northern harrier
Red-tailed hawk

Non-birds:

Black squirrel, gray squirrel and Douglas squirrel

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

October 23, 2023October 22, 2023

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

Birding, April 15, 2023: Burnaby Lake and Richmond Nature House

April 15, 2023

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:

Blackbird
Black-capped chickadee
Cowbird
Fox sparrow
Golden-crowned sparrow
House finch
Mourning dove
Purple finch
Rufous hummingbird
Song sparrow
Spotted towhee
Tree swallow

Waterfowl:

American coot
Canada goose
Green-winged teal
Lesser scaup
Mallard
Northern pintail
Wood duck

Common:

Pigeon
Seagull

Non-birds:

Red squirrel
Douglas squirrel

Birding, April 1, 2023: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Terra Nova and Richmond Nature House

April 4, 2023

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Terra Nova, Richmond Nature House
Weather: Sunny, 7ºC

The Outing

No April foolin’, but my telephoto lens was mega-dirty and I got a depressingly large number of blurry shots.

But a few good ones, too.

The best part may have been the weather. The forecast had called for clouds with a chance of showers, but instead it was sunny right up till the very end, when a light shower finally moved in.

We started at Reifel and spent almost four hours there, strolling about, accidentally going down the same trail multiple times, but seeing lots of the usual birds. Swallows are ever-present now, but so far all the winter migrants are still here, too. The geese are mating, so are acting even more berserk and deranged than usual. One of them stared me down and actually made a motion to nip at me, but never followed through. I walked by, and it immediately went back to “nothing inside head, stare blankly into the distance” mode.

After finishing out Reifel, we had lunch then headed to Terra Nova at Nic’s suggestion. I pointed out that we’d be driving right by the Richmond Nature House on the way, so we opted to pop in and at least check the feeders (the trails had not yielded much in past visits).

And lo, we saw the elusive rufous hummingbird! And even though it was occasionally just sitting there, posing, I still wasn’t able to get a good shot. Poop! We also saw some finches and a dove, so it turned out to be a nice detour.

We next went to Terra Nova and observed copious numbers of snow geese flying overhead, heading north, so they also haven’t entirely moved on, either. At Terra Nova itself, we didn’t end up seeing a whole lot. Nic thought there was some exotic bird in a field, but it was just a pigeon (lolz). We mostly saw scenery, planes and encroaching clouds finally promising some precipitation. With Nic’s camera battery trickling down to zero and me on my third of three batteries (I ended up taking over 1,000 photos, several of them in focus!) we decided to head out, only to discover at the entrance to the trail parking that the hundreds of snow geese were landing in a narrow field between the beach and the road. We quickly parked and took a billion goose pictures until Nic’s camera battery died, then left again for real, just as the first sprinkle started. We got delayed slightly as the geese crossed the road into a larger adjacent field. Honk!

The Shots