Sapperton Landing

Birding, April 19, 2025: Herons herons herons!

Where: Crescent Beach (Surrey), Serpentine Fen (Surrey), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Sapperton Landing (New Westminster)
Weather: Mostly sunny, very windy 12-14°C

Crescent Beach/Blackie Spit

View looking east from Blackie Spit.

We headed off under a dreary gray sky (I actually changed out of my shorts to long pants), but by the time we got to our first destination, Crescent Beach, the sun was out. I didn’t regret changing, though, as it was quite windy (gusts up to 37 km/hour), and it was keenly felt right on the ocean.

However, we were rewarded with a somewhat rare sighting of a black-bellied plover, walking along the shore by itself, in its full mating colours. It was a bit far off, but still nice to see. We also saw various killdeer, but my photos of them were thwarted by a combination of foliage and distance. Or maybe a killdeer kurse.

I had better luck shooting some gulls, getting probably the best in-flight shots I’ve taken. There was also a group of herons that came swooping in over the area near the pump house, and I got my best-ever shots of herons in the air. None of them were pooping, though. You can’t have everything.

We wrapped up and headed to destination #2: Serpentine Fen.

Serpentine Fen

Mrsh wrens in here, somewhere.

Yet another heron flew in over the river mere moments after we arrived. Having seen very few herons recently, herons were all over the place today.

We also saw an eagle perched on the roof of the first viewing tower, but it took off before we could get closer, alas. Nearby in the river, a goose was sitting on a nest on a little island, looking strangely serene. Close by in the water were another goose and a heron. For a time it seemed like there might be goose/heron drama, but the heron wandered away.

We saw some shovellers in the ponds here, too, so maybe this is their secret “migration” spot.

The second viewing tower had a hole in the floor big enough to slip a foot through:

The hole as seen from below, from the safety of the ground.

I did not linger long in the second viewing tower.

The third tower never presents much of a view, but if you climb one tower, you gotta climb them all, them’s the rules.

Nic was taunted by a few marsh wrens as we neared the end, but decent photos of them were not in the cards (or the marsh) today.

With the weather warming up slightly, we moved on to Piper Spit.

Piper Spit

The lake surface rippling under a steady wind.

As it’s a holiday weekend, there were a fair number of people at the pier, but it wasn’t too bad. We noted the absence of two recent regulars: Northern pintails and coots. The absence of any potential coot drama just feels wrong. The geese made no attempt to pick up the slack, perhaps due to the copious amount of seed everywhere. Too much, really.

I saw and shot my first brown-headed cowbird of the season, but it was in some bushes, which made getting good shots impossible, short of having a convenient chainsaw, which would probably spook the birds and every other living thing in a 100-meter radius (including myself, I should never operate a chainsaw).

Still, we got shots of geese wearing leaves and seed, ducks wearing petals, and pigeons snoozing in the sun.

Sapperton Landing

New Pattullo bridge in foreground, old one in background.

After arriving back in New Westminster, I offered up Sapperton Landing as our last stop for the day. It doesn’t always yield a lot of birbs, but has nice scenery as a backup. We did see a song sparrow and an Anna’s hummingbird, along with assorted waterfowl (none very close, as is often the case here). The replacement Pattullo Bridge is coming along and unlike birds, there’s never any risk of motion blur in shooting it. Several of the scenery shots I took here were strangely crooked, even by my usual standards.

Overall, a nice variety of locales, some rarely-seen birds, some darn good shots by both of us, and sunny skies, even if the windchill meant it felt like single digits of much of the day.

The Shots

Theoretically possible

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow (first time this season)
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • European starling
  • Golden-crowned kinglet (heard)
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Marsh wren
  • Northern flicker
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Tree swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American wigeon
  • Black-bellied plover
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada goose
  • Double-crested cormorant
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Killdeer
  • Mallard
  • Northern shoveller
  • Sandhill crane
  • Scaup
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Assorted gulls
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Fleeting squirrels
  • Various bugs and bees

Building bridges

A few days ago I took my camera to Sapperton Landing and fought with it for an hour. I also took some photos.

Here’s one of the new Pattullo Bridge under construction. It’s scheduled to open in 2025.

Brightness and contrast boosted, as this was a weirdly dark image.

This is (I think?) the first time I’ve edited and posted an image from Linux. I used the Pix image editor, which comes pre-installed with Linux Mint. It seems to work okay.

A robin, a song sparrow and a crow…

…walk into a bar. Actually, they’d probably fly in.

I went to Sapperton Landing this afternoon and shot some scenery and birds and scenery with birds. It’s getting late as I type this, so full gallery soon (for real, I swear), but here’s one each of the above-mentioned birds.

Robin resting before the bug hunt resumes
Song sparrow doing its thing
A crow contemplating its next move (it was very intrigued by the sign)

Birding, February 10, 2024: Through the tunnel, to the harlequins

Where: Crescent Beach, Serpentine Fen, 1001 Steps (Surrey), Sapperton Landing (New Westminster)
Weather: Cloudy, 8°C

The Outing

It was a gray, cloudy day, with generally mediocre light, but on the plus side, my camera behaved again1Except when it came to one robin. See below for the blurry details., and it didn’t rain until after we had wrapped up.

We ventured to south Surrey and 1001 Steps, on the promise of spotting Harlequin ducks and lo, they were there! They were not close to the shore (none of the waterfowl were, a recurring theme for most of the day), but we got shots that say, “This is a Harlequin duck!” (Nic fared better–this is where 400mm vs 250mm can make a real difference).

The 1001 Steps that winds down to the rocky beach is more like 250 or so, but it’s still a notable number when you’re climbing back up. This is where all that jogging finally paid off. The beach is quite rocky, so we had to step carefully, but the view was very pretty, even with the cloud cover, and there were many birds swimming off the shoreline. We saw some species I don’t see often, too, like surf scoters and grebes, so despite the so-so light and distance, it was spiffy to check out a new area and see a new bird in the bargain. After climbing back up the stairs, we walked a few blocks to Kwomais Point Park. Here, there were a lot of songbirds, including bushtits (hehe) and a brown creeper, but most were not nearby. There was one extremely chill robin and I took a bunch of photos, but my camera was more interested in the grass directly behind the robin for reasons. I vow to shoot in manual mode the next time I see a robin sitting still like that. I will learn how to do this, just like a real guy-with-a-camera.

We actually started the day at Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit. There were lots of mallards, pintails and wigeons, but cormorants were absent, songbirds were not very prevalent, but we did see some greater yellowlegs, including two that had a bit of drama along the shoreline. Something felt off about the area today, though, whether it was the weather, the mix of birds or maybe just the time of year.

After 1001 Steps, we moved on to Serpentine Fen and got all crazy, walking the trail in reverse. I don’t mean walking backward, which would have been awkward, but possibly entertaining for others, we simply walked the route opposite the way we normally do. Sometimes you see views or things you didn’t notice before.

What we did see were lots of goldeneyes, wigeons, more mallards and several brooding herons. A few songbirds showed themselves here and there, but perhaps the biggest congregation consisted of several giant flocks of starlings atop some tall trees and power pylons. For some reason, this place had a lot more people than I would have expected for such a dreary day. But maybe people go somewhere else on nicer days? Maybe nothing new is on Netflix?

We wrapped up with an impromptu stop at Sapperton Landing, because I was hoping to see some birds near the river’s edge. And we did see some goldeneyes and a few others, along with some sparrows and a crow that took off at the precise moment I took its photo. It was a fitting end to what was a day of not-great shots. For the most part, it was the conditions and not my own ineptitude, or camera problems, but I think, after three years with my camera, I am ready to step up and start learning more control over the hardware, so I can better blame myself when a shot doesn’t turn out, just like nature intended.

The Shots
Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American bushtit
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird (heard)
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee (heard)
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Belted kingfisher
  • Bufflehead duck
  • Canada goose
  • Common goldeneye
  • Common merganser
  • Cormorant
  • Dunlin (?)
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Green-winged teal
  • Harlequin duck
  • Horned grebe
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Scaup
  • Surf scoter

Common:

  • Crows
  • Seagulls

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • A rabbit at Serpentine Fen with a weird-looking puffy cheek

A little birding at Sapperton Landing, December 11, 2023

I took the camera out for about an hour this afternoon to shoot birds and birbs at Sapperton Landing. There was low, misty cloud hanging over everything, so the light was very bad. But at least it didn’t rain.

I’ll post a small gallery soon™1Seriously, I promise! but here are a few shots in the meantime.

A gadwall getting flappy
Common goldeneye being weird, gull is unimpressed
Fraser River, with low cloud obscuring points beyond

Birding, July 6, 2023: A hazy and humid trip to the river

Where: Sapperton Landing, New Westminster
Weather: Sunny, 28C

The Outing

Feeling somewhat human again after a week of being sick, I ventured over to Sapperton Landing on the Fraser River and spent an hour or so taking in the sights on a day that was quite warm, somewhat hazy and muggy. The light was a challenge, with high cloud causing light to shift from bright sun to shadow, but this was my first real chance to shoot birds with my adjusted diopter and check the results. Overall, I’m fairly happy with the results.

In terms of birds, it was the usual suspects: herons, crows, song sparrows, geese and gulls. Strangely, no ducks at all were to be seen. The bufflehead duck I’d seen around a few times was also absent.

In terms of people, I didn’t see anyone else for nearly the entire time I was there. Someone finally passed me as I was heading out, over an hour after I’d arrived. It was kind of weird.

Overall, it was nice to get out, stretch and test my mad camera skills again.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Song sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Cormorant
  • Great blue heron

Common:

  • Crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • None that I could see

Birding May 20, 2023: Sapperton Landing with dramatic herons

Where: Sapperton Landing, New Westminster
Weather: Sunny, 25C

The Outing

I returned to Sapperton Landing, unsure of what I would see, as it tends to be hit or miss. The weather was still summer-like, but not as weirdly hot.

The river was higher, which I thought might lead to fewer shorebirds, but I did spot two herons a-hunting, along with some ducks, both expected and less so. A gadwall couple was on hand (or webbed foot), but they can summer in the area. I did see a lone bufflehead, and as far as I know, they usually migrate away for the summer. Maybe he just likes it here too much to leave. He actually started snoozing on the river current.

Several families of geese were around, with their new broods. I got the “I’m going to hiss at you” stare from several mothers, though I stayed clear of them. This is where a telephoto lens also serves to protect you.

Songbirds were scarce, though I spotted a song sparrow nestled in a tree, and a couple of tree swallows were out. I took some shots of bugs and bees on the flowers, but most did not turn out, sadly. A surprise cormorant and a crow on a rapidly drifting log rounded out the birds.

Overall, a good time was had by me. And presumably by the birds.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Song sparrow
  • Tree swallow

Waterfowl:

  • Bufflehead
  • Canada goose
  • Cormorant
  • Gadwall
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Mallard

Common:

  • Crow

Raptors:

  • None

Non-birds:

  • Some bees and bugs

Birding, May 7, 2023: Herons and more herons

Where: Sapperton Landing, New Westminster
Weather: Partly sunny, 17C

The Outing

With the weather being perfectly spring-like, I stretched my legs and spent an hour or so strolling along the path at Sapperton Landing, taking in the scenery along the Fraser River, and shooting what birds I could see.

I spotted a heron early on, which was nice, then realized there were at least four others with it. It was a heronfest, a bounty of herons, a heroncopia.

I actually got several decent shots of robins–score! And a terrifying shot of a crow cawing directly at my camera. And speaking of creepy, I shot a passing boat and when I zoomed in later a guy in the boat appeared to be staring back at me with a “I’ll git you!” look on his face.

Surprisingly, I saw a pair of gadwalls in the river, still not interested in migrating north, apparently.

In all, it was a fine little outing.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Song sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Cormorant
  • Gadwall
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Mallard

Common:

  • Crow

Non-birds:

  • A few well-behaved dogs
  • A spider