Dickcissel, Palm Warbler and Orange-crowned Warbler

Monday Ap 22, 2013 Ladner, British Columbia. Sunny
The Dickcissel has only been reported in British Columbia twice and never in the Vancouver area. When the news that one had been spotted at a feeder in Ladner the "twitch' was on. I was lucky enough to see the bird in the first five minutes, I didn't have time to set my camera up and had to wait until later in the day to get the shot below.

Dickcissel (Spiza americana)

After spending the morning with only a few distant shots to show for my efforts it was off to Richmond Nature Park East in search of the Palm Warbler. I had only been in the parking lot for five minutes when the elusive brightly coloured warbler began flitting from branch to branch. I was lucky. More about 'Luck' later.

Adult breeding Palm warbler (Dendroica palmarum)

After loosing the Palm Warbler in the treetops a quick check of the park trail produced eight OCW and then it was time to get back to Ladner for another try for Dicksissel (shot at the top of this page) A big thanks to George Clulow for making me aware of the the Palm warbler and yet another new location to explore.

Orange-crowned warbler (Vermivora celata)

LUCK: The shot of the Dickcissel that leads off this blog is a 'Lucky' shot, I almost missed it! Between Ladner and then Richmond and back to Ladner it had been a long day. After six hours I still didn't have a decent shot so I joked to the birders around me that the Dickcissel will arrive as soon as I take my camera off the tripod, sure enough, within seconds the bird perched on a branch about 20 metres away, the closest it had been it all day.  I shot it with my 500mm handheld and a 1x4 converter, quite a handful.