Tsawwassen Beach

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)

Birding, July 29, 2023: Beach, beach, scum

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Centennial Beach (Surrey), Tsawwassen Beach (Tsawwassen)
Weather: Partly cloudy and Sunny, 17-25C

The Outing

Reifel: We arrived a bit early, and it was somewhat busy at the start, with lots of families out feeding the ducks and such. The kids were generally not terrorizing the birds. Near the first slough, we caught sight of a goose that was both banded and had some kind of module around its neck, with the designation C19. C19 did not seem to mind the thing. We later saw two geese (one of them was possibly C19) and they were clearly not concerned with the tracking (?) devices, as they were snoozing. And speaking of terrorizing and geese, one of them was going full-on berserk by the aforementioned slough. We didn’t encounter too many others on the trails directly, though they were ever-present.

The ponds are continuing to see a lot of bloom and one particularly slimy and had a group of ducks swimming and dunking in it, which led to them being covered, seaweed-like, in the stuff. Scum ducks. Like C19, they didn’t seem to mind their particular condition.

The blackbirds were gathered around the tower as usual, and one juvenile was especially insistent that he be fed. His dad was totally not having it, constantly flying off a short distance, only to be followed by the demanding youngster, its maw open in that FEED ME NOW pose. I got some good shots on that particularly bird. I imagine it eventually got some seed on its own. Or maybe it ran away from home, to guilt-trip its parents.

We heard but never saw any chickadees (or at least I never caught a glimpse of one). But there was a marsh wren and some waxwings and a harrier, which has been absent for quite some time. Finally, we saw oodles of shorebirds (mainly dowitchers), which have been scarce of late, and made good use of the bird blind we rarely visit on the east side of the main pond to better observe them.

Centennial Beach: Raptor Trail once again failed to live up to its name, but we saw some herons, a few somewhat distant killdeer and a new lifer for both of us–a Bonaparte seagull (named after a cousin of the emperor, who apparently contributed a lot to ornithology back in the 1830s). We also had a Savannah sparrow handily land on a rope fence right in front of us, just long enough to get a few photos. Nic was pleased. The tide was in, making the beach look rather ordinary, and it was also very windy. Kites were flying, and I watched someone’s beach umbrella get loose and start tumbling. Amazingly, it managed to avoid hitting anything before getting stuck in the sand.

We also discussed art and AI here, which has nothing to do with birds. Overall, not a great amount of birds here, but it’s always a nice visit when you’re not getting assaulted by driving hail.

Tsawwassen Beach: After making the semi-treacherous sprint across the highway to the ferry terminal, we walked along the beach until I noticed a proper trail running next to it. We got all civilized by moving onto it and headed off, spotting herons, terns, tons of geese and near a pedestrian bridge, a lot of barn swallows (and possibly others) that were nesting underneath the bridge and hunting in the river and waterways nearby. There were also sandpipers and killdeer and–baby killdeer! They’re fluffy and adorable. We also came across a spot where dozens of seagulls were hanging out on a couple of pseudo-islands near the shore. The trail goes on for quite a way, so we made a note to return and park further up and not on the opposite side of the highway. We shall return!

We ended by getting dinner at the nearby Tsawwassen Mills mega-mall. This has nothing to do with birding, but I’d never been before. The place is so big you can rent out vehicles to drive around inside the mall. You could probably hang glide in there, like a bird.

The Shots

I made Nic pick photos from my batch to go into this gallery. He was openly uncomfortable doing this, which kind of delighted me. He selected 32 photos in total, which I further narrowed down to 10. I may add in a few more later. It’s my first “curated” gallery!

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Barn swallow
  • Blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Black-capped chickadee (heard, but not seen)
  • Goldfinch
  • House finch
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee

Waterfowl:

  • Canada goose
  • Caspian tern
  • Dowitcher
  • Killdeer
  • Mallard
  • Great blue heron
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Crow
  • Seagull

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle
  • Harrier (!)

Non-birds:

  • Bees, bees, bees
  • Dragonfly (several types)
  • Grasshopper
  • Ladybug
  • Some kind of beetle thinger