Tlahutum Regional Park

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

Birding, August 7, 2023: Sunburns and kingbirds

Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby) -- twice! and Tlahutum Regional Park1Formerly Colony Farm Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Partly sunny, 21-23C

The Outing

The forecast had called for mostly cloudy skies. Since you can easily get burned on non-sunny days in the summer (unless it’s raining) I don’t know why I wouldn’t need sunblock, but I didn’t put any on and got a good ol’ sunburn all over as a reward for my lack of common sense.

We started out just after 10 a.m. at Piper spit, which these days is mostly geese, mallards, wood ducks and blackbirds. However, the dowitchers were out again. Yay! But the light was bad. Boo! Nic, using his vast scientific knowledge, surmised that if we came back later, the sun (which was burning us) would have moved across the sky to where the light would then be good. Yay! We got our first round of shots and moved on to Tlahutum.

I finally got a decent shot of the sign on the way in, warning of wildlife (with googly eyes) crossings. Behold! (It’s not going in the gallery.)

Taken with my iPhone 12 from out the window of Nic’s sporty car

We checked out the community gardens first and saw goldfinches, some young punk white crowned sparrows, a couple of hummingbirds fighting, as they do, a northern flicker and a giant sign warning us that bears were in the garden. Well, not right when we were there, but in a general sense.

The trails weren’t as bird-rich, but what we did see was unique and zesty! The tide was up, and the Coquitlam River was back to its lush state (at least while we were there).

The zesty birds included:

  • Common mergansers (they have racing stripes!)
  • Eastern kingbirds (got my best shots ever thanks to one sitting unusually close to the trail)
  • Eastern wood-peewee (this was too far away for me, but Nic got some shots)

Non-bird interjection: On the way to lunch, the Google Maps app told Nic to make an (illegal) U-turn at least three different times. He did not. Google Maps really likes U-turns. Must be an American thing.

We returned to Piper Spit and got our better-lit shots of dowitchers, where my ratio of shots where the dowitcher was dunking its head vs. its head being up were something like 50 to 1. I also got some good shots of geese going berserk while bathing.

In all, it was a pleasant and not–too-hot outing. And now I know to always wear sunblock in the summer. Again.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Chestnut-backed chickadee
  • Eastern kingbird
  • Eastern wood-peewee
  • Goldfinch
  • Northern flicker
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Common merganser
  • Dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Great blue heron
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crow
  • Pigeon
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Harrier (!)

Non-birds:

  • Bees, bees, bees
  • Dragonfly (several types)
  • Fuzzy caterpillar
  • Grasshopper
  • Slug
  • Snake (briefly)

Birding, July 16, 2023: In the inlet

Where: Maplewood Flats (North Vancouver) and Tlahutum1Formerly known as Colony Farm Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny with late cloud, 25-28C

The Outing

We ventured out on a special Sunday edition of Birding With the Boys™ and our first stop was Maplewood Flats, which we had not visited in the summer before.

As it turns out, most of the birds in the summer hide in all the lush vegetation and trees. Near the entrance, a sign indicated several dozen species spotted and while we caught a glimpse here and there, and we heard but didn’t see a few more, the birds were overall a bit scarce.

Until we moved out onto the beach, where a super low tide allowed us to venture a bit further out than we’d normally get. There were crows and seagulls in abundance, along with a bunch of purple martins, who were nesting in bird boxes that are normally surrounded by the water of Burrard Inlet.

We also saw some large ex-crabs and then about a million tiny living ones. They are pretty cute when they’re that small, but we grew concerned we might be inadvertently mashing entire families under our feet, so we tread carefully and tried to avoid the watery parts of the flats where they tended to cluster.

There was seagull drama over the possession of molluscs.

After baking under the glare of the sun on the flats, we moved onto Tlahutum Regional Park, where we…continued to bake under the glare of the sun, as shade there is hard to come by. We saw a group of immature starlings, some fleeting flickers and cowbirds and even a few ducks in the pond, but overall, the quantity of birds was on the low side. Probably avoiding the heat, unlike us.

The community gardens featured a lot of immature white-crowned sparrows, looking young and scruffy, one here-and-gone Anna’s hummingbird that I managed to get a shot of, plus glimpses of others.

Overall, it wasn’t a great outing in terms of birbs, but it was still nice to be out and to see Maplewood Flats in its full summer dress.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Common yellowthroat
  • Northern flicker
  • Purple martin
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Tree swallow
  • White-crowned sparrow

Waterfowl:

  • Mallard

Common:

  • Crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • Tiny crabs
  • A few garter snakes that slithered off before we could get shots
  • One scruffy-looking squirrel that also did not stay and make cute poses for us