Shorebirds, Raptors and Birds of the Forest

Nov1/15 Tsawwassen Jetty Sun 12c

Following a month of World Cup rugby it was time to go birding. I suppose the piles of leaves in the driveway can wait a few more days! 

First stop was the ferry jetty in search of Snow Buntings. After looking everywhere I instead came across a pair of Black Turnstone feeding on the shoreline. 

A pair of Black Turnstones forage at the hight tide line. 

This is as close as it gets. This bird almost walked under my tripod. I held my breath so as not to flush it. 

I include this purely because I like the composition.

                The Turnstone images were taken with Nikon 500mm F4 and tripod under dull light.

Deltaport

All the remaining images taken handheld with the Nikon D7100 and Nikon 200mm-500mm

Dunlin in Flight

Afternoon

Riefel Migratory Bird Sanctuary

Black-crowned night Heron

Bushtit.
I really like the soft background in this photo.

Fall Colours

The varied tones in this images evoke the time of year. 

The Predator

I watched this Peregrine Falcon swoop over the outer ponds at Reifel. Later on I found feasting on a sandpiper which it had just caught. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Boundary Bay

Short-eared Owl

The discs surrounding the eyes of the owl allow it to pick-up the slightest movement in the undergrowth.

It was a full days birding. The sun shone most of the day which made for a perfect opportunity to observe some of our best west coast birds. The change of season sees some species leaving and others arriving. Some overlap the seasons, the Yellow-rumped Warbler for example has the ability change from an insect to seed diet. Until next time........

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale BC Canada