Tlahutum Regional Park

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)

Bonus birding, March 31, 2024: Sparrow through my heart

Where: Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby) Weather: Mostly sunny, 13-15°C

The Outing

With the weather expected to be nice today, we decided to take advantage and get in a bonus round of birding. I was a bit pooped after two days of activity, so we opted for a simple plan to hit Tlahutum Regional Park, then Piper Spit.

It’s Easter Sunday and a holiday weekend. Combine that with the weather actually being genuinely pleasant, and there were a fair number of people out. Unlike the bad old days when the pandemic was in full swing, parking was not an issue. At Tlahutum we opted to check out the community gardens first, carefully avoiding the paths that were still filled with mini (or sometimes) maxi ponds from the rains. The area is dotted with bird boxes for swallows and they were making good use of them. We got plenty of shots of them hanging out on them and, in some cases, coming in or taking off (more on this later).

After getting our supply of swallow shots, we moved onto the trails and actually did not see many birds. The main pond did have a mix of mallards, buffleheads, coots and gadwalls, which sounds great, but they tend to stay farther away from the edges–security for them, a test of our telephoto lenses for us. A few blackbirds were flapping about as well.

We moved on to Piper Spit, getting much better light than yesterday–initially almost too harsh (not that I’m complaining about the sun). We parked at the Avalon parking lot and walked the 2 km to Piper Spit, which turned out to be a good choice, not just because we’d get heart points, steps and generally healthy exercise. Nic spotted a brown creeper (which looks way more adorable than the name would suggest) and there were a few Steller’s jays eating seed off a signpost farther along the trail. Spiffy.

At the pier, there were again a lot of people, but no Sandhill cranes today. Nic did get some shots of a turkey vulture (!) flying overhead. I never even saw it. They’re sneaky like that.

Initially a lot of the waterfowl were spread out beyond the pier, snoozing and such, but a few people started throwing seed into the water and that brought most propelling madly toward us for the free food.

I practised my technique for tracking birds in motion (with limited success), using fine focus on trickier shots (more successful), while Nic was determined to get some boffo shots of swallows in flight. And he did indeed get several very nice shots. He also got enough shots of just the sky to create a skyscapes gallery. But you only need one great shot to make it worthwhile, as some photographer person said one time, probably.

My robin curse renewed itself today. The light was good, so I can’t even blame that. I don’t know what the deal is with robins. I kind of hate them now. Or maybe I hate my camera. Or something that happens between my camera and any robin I aim at.

Still, it was a good bonus afternoon of birding, with good shots, some nice sightings and the pleasant weather we had been teased with yesterday actually materializing.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rare birds highlighted in bold.

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown creeper
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Steller’s jay
  • Tree swallow
  • Violet-green swallow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • Bufflehead
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Scaup
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Turkey vulture

Non-birds:

  • A squirrel

Birding, February 23, 2024: Poopmonsters rustling their jimmies

Where: Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Piper Spit and environs, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, some sun, 7-10°C

The Outing

Another Friday of birding, as the weather once more was looking not-great for Saturday.

The weather today was generally fine, with some actual sun at times, though it got a bit worse by the time we wrapped up at Piper Spit.

We started at Tlahutum and did our usual loop, then diverted right where we would normally go left and did a big ol’ loop around the park. Except you can’t actually do that, so what we really did was exit the park, head out into the suburbia of Port Coquitlam, then eventually reach another entrance to Tlahutum past the Red Bridge (which is red). We ventured forth from there and eventually reconnected to near our starting point. We got a lot of steps in1By the time we wrapped up for the day I had over 28,000 steps and Nic had 116 heart points, which mysteriously dropped to 115 later, as if Google decided it had overcompensated..

In terms of birds, Tlahutum always has the issue of birds never being super close, but we ended up seeing a pretty decent variety in the various ponds, river and other waterways. Songbirds were less common, though a song sparrow did thoughtfully pose and sing for us. We also saw some common mergansers, hooded mergansers, buffleheads, Northern flickers and even a few coots.

A couple of geese flew overhead and as you will see below, my camera had issues. It apparently got filthy over the last few weeks and some of my shots, such as the sequence showing the geese flying, then landing in the river, have the feel of semi-abstract art. If all of my photos had been like this, I would have been upset, but the image quality mostly cleared up after this bit, so I can appreciate the unintended artiness.

The filth my camera had accumulated, however, led to a lot of technical glitches, so I must solemnly vow to clean it after every use or else. Or else it will glitch again.

After our very long trip around Tlahutum, we went to Burnaby Lake, but instead of going to Piper Spit, we went to the area around the rowing pavilion, where we saw more common mergansers (they seem to be finally living up to their name), along with some herons, pigeons and lots of scenery. They also had a new boardwalk connecting to the remodelled pier. It was so new, I felt a bit naughty just being out there on it.

At Piper Spit, there was much bird drama to be had:

  • Gulls chasing crows (the gulls were back)
  • Crows chasing gulls (the crows were still there)
  • Pintails locking lips bills
  • Gulls coveting each other’s strange foreign objects
  • Canada geese going berserk in front and around us, repeatedly

The coots were actually some of the well-behaved waterfowl this time.

Speaking of waterfowl, most were present and in abundant numbers, but songbirds were scarcer. I only saw a few towhees (no pictures, boo) and a single junco, which rudely did not stop long enough for me to get a shot. Also boo.

By this point my camera was behaving quite badly and no amount of scolding would fix it. Fun symptoms included:

  • Images with weird artifacts and blurring
  • The EVF freezing
  • Exposure going completely off the chart in the EVF
  • Refusing to focus on anything
  • Focusing but the shutter refusing to work
  • Error messages about the contacts (they were quite yucky on inspection)

On top of this, the camera again got confused by complex backgrounds and would at times focus on the background instead of a bird, even when it appeared to be focusing on the bird in the EVF.

Still, I did get some shots that were acceptable, it was mild, and it didn’t rain, so I consider the day pretty good, despite the camera being a goof.

The Shots
Soon™. But here’s the Canada goose as art photo I mentioned above to start.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Black-capped chickadee (heard but not seen)
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • European starling
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Northern flicker
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Bufflehead duck
  • Canada goose
  • Common merganser
  • Dowitcher
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Scaup (Lesser and Greater)
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • A squirrel

Birding, February 6, 2024: What does quack mean?

Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam) Weather: Sunny, 8°C

The Outing

Today was a surprise edition of birding. The weather predicted some rare sunshine, so we took advantage with a trip to Piper Spit and Tlahutum Regional Park.

First, my camera: Closer examination revealed a lot of carbon build-up on the contacts of the lenses that my previously gentle cleaning had not touched. Using a brass brush and isopropyl alcohol, these were cleaned much more thoroughly. The contacts sparkled!

And the good news is it worked. The telephoto lens worked without any issues at all. It was nice to go back to blaming myself and not the equipment for lousy shots.

Fortunately, I got some good shots, with several chickadees and squirrels fighting for the “most adorable” award.

Piper Spit presented an unusual case of light that was at times too bright, but better still than rain. A woman teased us about a possible owl sighting, but we were not precisely sure of the location, and no owls were sighted. We were sad.

On the other hand, a bufflehead showed up in the mix, and we got some nice shots of his shiny iridescent head. The gulls seem to have taken up semi-permanent residence now, claiming the landmass off the pier as their kingdom. Or gulldom. It’s also the place where they gather and collect weird things like golf balls and other stuff we probably don’t really want to identify.

And a surprise appearance by barn swallows! We’ve seen them in March, but I don’t recall ever seeing them in February before, and especially not the first week of the month, so that was a neat treat. The albino pigeon was back, too, easily identified by, well, being pure white. But also by being banded. I’ve seen one other albino here, but it is not banded.

There was some avian drama to be had and the pecking order (heh) appears to be:

  • Crows > coots
  • Goose > crows

Coots, of course, mostly terrorize themselves.

Tlahutum presented a surprising number of birds, but they tended to be farther away, and by then the light was getting low and golden. Still, we saw some mergansers, gadwalls and yet more swallows (way up high). The fields of tall yellow grass did look rather pretty in the golden light of late afternoon.

Overall, this was a fine shorter outing, and I was pleased that my camera is back to behaving normally again.

The Shots
Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Fox sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Ruby-crowned kinglet
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Bufflehead duck
  • Canada goose
  • Dowitcher
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Scaup
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crows (multiple murders)
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Several Douglas squirrels

Birding, January 20, 2024: Towhee in the snowhee

Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Overcast and foggy, 3-5°C

The Outing

After last week’s deep freeze, we got snow on Wednesday and oodles of snow, at that. Some light rain followed on Friday, but not enough to diminish the snow much, so we donned our metaphorical snowshoes and headed to Piper Spit, which we felt would be the most accessible birding spot this weekend.

Unexpectedly, it was also foggy, which provided a spooky ambience to Burnaby Lake and, later, Tlahutum Regional Park.

The land mass that formed off the pier at Piper Spit had been extended by a combination of the lake freezing and the snow on top, proving a vast plain for a copious number of gulls and poop monsters.

Songbirds were also in abundance, standing out against the bright snow, though this also made for trickier shooting.

It actually went better than expected, and we both got nice shots with the bonus of the above-freezing temperatures meaning no camera glitches, just people glitches. Speaking of people, both places, but especially Tlahutum, were surprisingly busy. I guess people like trudging in the snow. Or maybe everyone was just delighted to go outside and not have every exposed part of their body go numb within seconds.

The gulls were busy splashing about or taking off in great flocks and circling around before coming back and landing in the exact spot they left from (stretching their legs–er, wings?) Meanwhile, a patootie1Yes, this is what I’m caling them of pigeons settled along the railings at the end of the pier, posing for some nice shots before departing back to nearby trees.

And while there were song birds aplenty, we didn’t see any chickadees, which made the outing slightly less delightful. I also didn’t spy any squirrels, but I wouldn’t blame them for holing up in the trees with their nuts and seeds until the snow is gone.

The highlight at Piper Spit was probably a bald eagle that dramatically emerged from the mist, swooped down, caught a fish or something fish-like, then carried it off and back into the mist. Neat!

Tlahutum had no highlights. We saw two song sparrows. One flew off before we could take photos, the other was far away. Oh, and I think we saw a crow flying overhead, too. But the frozen waterways and fog made for some cool (heh) scenery shots, and Nic got enough heart points to lift the meter from Couch Potato to Outdoor Potato.

In all, it went better than anticipated, and it was amazing how any temperature above freezing suddenly felt all balmy.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Fox sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Northern flicker (heard)
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Green-winged teal
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Scaup
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Lots of people, weirdly
  • The fish or whatever it was the bald eagle caught

Birding, January 6, 2024: New year, strange birds

Where: Centennial Beach (Delta), Piper Spit (Burnaby) and Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Partly sunny, 3-8°C

The Outing

Our first birding outing for 2024 started at a rather chilly Centennial Beach, with a brisk wind and the tide in, so shorebirds, while present, were not nearby for good photo opportunities.

But we did see a bunch of golden-crowned sparrows, a northern harrier we didn’t have time to get shots of, and a bald eagle in a tree by the parking lot. Unfortunately, the perspective meant all I could do was catch a shot of its butt. I also got a shot of a robin’s butt. It was a butt kind of day.

After rounding out our trip there with shots of some good peeps (wigeons), we headed off to Richmond Nature House, where there was no parking at all, and two other cars waiting for a spot. Sadly, we had to move on, and went next to Piper Spit.

As compensation, we got a visit from a handsome Steller’s jay, and also a bufflehead that, rather than hanging back like they usually do, actually came in close to the pier, allowing us to get our best bufflehead shots ever. There were also a lot of gulls hanging around, trying to pull unspeakable things out of the water when they were not strutting around, proudly showing off the golf balls and other spherical objects clutched in their bills. Gulls are weird. We also saw our first Canad geese in a while. They are also weird and we have the pictures to prove it.

Even though it was already golden hour-y by the time we finished up at Piper Spit, we still went to Tlahutum, where we did see more golden crowns, some mergansers and another bufflehead (!) Generally the number of birds was small, so we mostly took shots showing off the setting sun.

In all, a decent outing to start the year, with cool but mostly sunny weather.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • American robin
  • Black-capped chickadee (briefly seen)
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • European starling
  • Fox sparrow
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Steller’s jay

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Bufflehead duck
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveler (seen but not shot)
  • Ring-necked duck
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Northern harrier (seen but not shot)

Non-birds:

  • None! Unless you count people and dogs.

Birding shots from November 11, 2023 are up

The light was often not great, but you do what you can, then fix in post.

A highlight:

Steller's jay perched on a branch
Steller’s jay perched on a branch

The gallery:

Birding, November 11, 2023: In before the rain

Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby) and Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Overcast, 10°C

The Outing

Considering the forecast for the day was heavy rain, we got lucky! It was actually reasonably decent for the first few hours and when the rain did come, it was when we were basically done and heading back to the car–and it only started raining heavily once we were inside. Thank you, Mother Nature.

And as an extra bonus, we actually saw a surprising number and variety of birds at both locations.

The area between the Nature House and Piper Spit was replete with sparrows and sparrow-adjacent birds, all hopping around the one cool spot that coincidentally had a lot of seed. We saw plenty of towhees and chickadees, some of the seasonal migrants like juncos and as an extra treat, a pair of Steller’s jays. Neat! Also, a lot of squirrels were darting about, prepping for the winter. The grey squirrels seem to be massive now. One of them even looked a little surly. It would probably beat me in a fight.

We saw what Merlin (the app, not the bird or wizard) claims is an Iceland gull, but neither of us was 100% confident in its identification. Gulls have about a billion variations. Even the gulls probably couldn’t tell you which they are.

On the waterfowl front, there were bursts of duck drama, but also duck and seagull bathing, coots causing commotion and plenty of gulls, which always seem to take refuge at the spit after a big storm.

Speaking of storms, we had a big storm last night, with winds up to 70-90 km/h. The trails were carpeted with fresh leaves, twigs and other debris, and I counted multiple large sections of trees down, along with an entire tree itself alongside the main trail.

Tlahutum didn’t offer as many birds, but it did offer some we didn’t see at Piper: mergansers, buffleheads and a kingfisher. Sadly, my kingfisher shots were fuzzy and out of focus. Boo. Nic’s were better, so at least one of us got some decent ones. We also saw the birbiest golden-crowned sparrow I’ve seen in a while.

The weather started to turn just as we were wrapping up at Tlahutum, which was convenient. We saw the kingfisher on the way out, so that was a nice treat to end the birding, even if my photos didn’t quite turn out (also, don’t ask about my junco shots).

In all, this was an unexpectedly good day, both for the number and variety of birds, and also in the weather holding back long enough for us to fully check out the two places we had planned to visit.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed junco
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Steller’s Jay

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • American wigeon
  • Bufflehead duck
  • Canada goose
  • Green-winged teal
  • Hooded merganser
  • Long-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Merlin (?)

Non-birds:

  • Black, grey and Douglas squirrels

October 12 birb, bird and squirrel pics now up

A small 12-image gallery of photos taken on Thursday, October 12, 2023, at Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake) and Tlahutum Regional Park:

Original post available here: Birding, October 12, 2023: Forget it, Jake, it’s Squirreltown

Birding, October 12, 2023: Forget it, Jake, it’s Squirreltown

Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park
Weather: Sunny, 15-18C

The Outing

Today was a rare weekday outing, starting in the afternoon when it was already warm and sunny.

Piper Spit was perhaps busier than expected, but that was due in part to some school group in attendance. They fed the ducks and scattered fairly quickly.

While we did not see any new migrants, most of the usual birds and birbs were present, and the shorebirds had expanded to both the east and est side of the pier. A killdeer was also in attendance, though no bobbing was observed.

There was regular drama spread out among several of the species: coot drama, goose drama, mallard drama. Maybe it was the squirrels. Because I have never seen so many squirrels at Burnaby Lake before. Gathering nuts for winter? Convention in town? They were everywhere, whatever it was.

We moved on to Tlahutum Regional Park and did the full (for us) tour this time, spotting a decent number of white-crowned sparrows, an Anna’s hummingbird, but not a lot else, bird-wise. We did see a squirrel, though, which I don’t think has ever happened here before. As I said, they were everywhere. Probably parachuting in.

In the community garden, we heard some weird bird calls, some of which sounded like a person badly trying to do a bird call.

It was a parrot.

The owner was tending a garden and the parrot was nearby in a cage, making assorted whistles and calls, as they do.

As we departed, one of a pair of cyclists suggested we come back at night with night vision gear to shoot coyotes, as he can always hear them howling at night. No thanks!

I walked to Burnaby Lake and had gone out earlier, so I ended up putting on about 26,000 steps a day after putting on over 27,000. I think I’ll rest my feet for a bit now.

The Shots

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Golden-crowned sparrow
  • House finch
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow
  • Yellow-rumped warbler

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Green-winged teal
  • Killdeer
  • Mallard
  • Northern shoveler
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • Black, gray and Douglas squirrels
  • Hoverfiles and wasps

Birding, September 22, 2023: Farewell to summer, with bonus raptors

Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby) and Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 21-23C

The Outing

Today was an unplanned outing, but the weather was nice, it’s the last official day of summer and the 10-day forecast starting tomorrow looks like poo in the form of clouds and showers pretty much every day.

And so off we went for an abbreviated tour of Piper Spit and Tlahutum’s community gardens.

Piper Spit featured an increase in the coot count, as the croaking critters are cavorting in copious quantities now. The mallards are catching up to the wood ducks with their breeding plumage, and shorebirds are still present in decent numbers.

The highlights were a pair of killdeer that were bobbing and bathing and hopping and looking forlorn, as they do, plus a rare sighting–a merlin, just like the bird app, but instead an actual bird. These are small raptors and this one would perch atop nearby trees, then dive across the spit, spooking the shorebirds, before finding another spot to perch, sometimes high, and sometimes right down on a log in the water. At one point it took a bath, because you should wash your, uh, appendages, before eating.

Interestingly, the shorebirds (mainly yellowlegs, from what I saw) were indifferent to the merlin when it was grounded. In fact, a large gang/flock of them all seemed to saunter en masse quite close to it, as if they were trying to show they weren’t afraid of no raptor. Until it took to the air again.

After Piper Spit, we took a quick tour around the community gardens at Tlahutum. Initially there was a lot of birb activity, but in the end we didn’t actually shoot too many, mainly some white-crowned sparrows, an Anna’s hummingbird (too fast for me) and a goldfinch. Also, much like at Piper Spit, squirrels were everywhere, like they had all been instructed to start gathering food for the winter RIGHT THIS MINUTE.

It was a gorgeous last day of summer, and I am sad that I now have to wait eight months for summer to come around again. But for now, we have the coots.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Goldfinch
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Mallard
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Merlin (rare–for me, anyway)

Non-birds:

  • Douglas, black and gray squirrels
  • Bees ‘n dragonflies

Birding, September 2, 2023: Return of the coot

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Piper Spit (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 18-28C

The Outing

It was actually kind of hot, which was somewhat unexpected, even though it is technically summer for a few more weeks. It was warm at Reifel even mid-morning, but it never got uncomfortably hot. The heat may have affected how many birds we saw, though, as some were no doubt seeking to keep cool in the shade.

At Reifel, we got some early shots of yellowlegs as they were parked up front right in the main pond. There were also swallows still buzzing about, but we declined to try shooting them this time. We next moved on to the London Slough, which had some herons on the periphery and the logs replete with geese and gulls–and two western painted turtles hanging out at one end. There were also several wood ducks who were in their full breeding colours, and were strutting their stuff on the runway fence railing.

We saw a plenitude of chickadees, the usual ducks (wood and mallard), along with a few less seen but technically not migrant waterfowl: mergansers and a pair of Northern pintails.

We saw more numbered geese (wearing collars around their necks bearing numbers like C29) and, of course, goose drama, though perhaps the heat kept any of them from going truly berserk.

The highlight may have been right at the end, when we saw the young eagle that sometimes hangs out at the main pond, trying to catch prey. Apparently it’s not very good at flying or hunting yet, and the staff have dubbed him Doofus. Ouch. He looks appropriately menacing in that raptor way, sitting on the rooftop of the viewing area, though.

Next up was Piper Spit, where most of the landmass is now again submerged following the recent showers. The water is still quite shallow, so that meant more yellowlegs, yay.

There were also a lot of pigeons, who alternated between flying in a group around in circles and landing in a long line near the end of the pier. More importantly, we saw a winter migrant! Two, in fact, and it was our buddy the original weird bird, the American coot. Now we know for sure the season is changing.

We rounded out with an abbreviated trip to Tlahutum Regional Park, where we saw a heron hunting (we don’t see them often here) and, thanks to a couple on the lookout, a rare sighting of a Lewis’s woodpecker. They appear in BC, but very seldomly make it this far west. Unfortunately, it was atop a telephone pole quite far away. I got some shots, but they’re of the “Yes, there is a bird” variety.

Still, a nice lifer. And we also saw some of Nic’s favourites in the community garden, white-crowned sparrows, so we left on a chirpy note.

Also, did I mention it was hot?

The Shots

Full gallery soon (for real, I swear), but here’s a shot to get started.

Greater yellowlegs about to disturb the slumber of a fellow shorebird

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American blackbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Cedar waxwing
  • House sparrow
  • Lewis’s woodpecker (lifer–seen at Tlahutum)
  • Northern flicker
  • Purple martin
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • American coot (first sighting of the season)
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall (?)
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Hooded merganser
  • Northern pintail
  • Mallard
  • Short-billed dowitcher
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crow
  • Rock pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Douglas squirrel
  • Western painted turtle
  • Bees ‘n dragonflies