Great Egret: Finally!

Sept 22 2015 Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary Sunny 14c

Finally, after five attempts I now have some decent shots the Great Egret. The elusive wader had been hanging around the Lower Mainland for the last month or so. The bird had lots of us birders running around and there are still many hoping for a first sighting. Egrets are not often seen here, I believe the last sighting in the Lower Mainland was 2013 at Grant Narrows.

Great Egret

Apart from one distant view through a scope I had been chasing the egret for two weeks without much luck. Finally I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I had just photographed the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Sora in the outer ponds at Reifel. The sharpie was a 2015 year bird for me and so after a long day I had decided to go home. On my way out to the car a cluster of photographers were all pointing their lenses in the same direction which usually means only one thing, the egret was back in Fuller's Slough. It was at first a distant speck some 400 metres away. I decided to stay to see if the bird would move. There were a few birders who I knew so the time passed quickly. We whittled away the time comparing lenses, a peculiarly male trait when after about an hour of waiting the egret suddenly flew closer, it was still a speck but a much larger speck. None of us had a Hubble telescope so we waited and waited until for whatever reason the egret decided to fly directly at us. I'm glad I stayed.

Great Egret Nikon D300s Nikon 500 F4 1/2000 F8

I shot this with a tripod mounted Nikon 500mm F4 on a D300s. I had just packed away the new Nikon 200mm-500mm F5.6 which I had been test driving earlier in the day. I would have loved to have had the zoom close at hand as the bird came closer and I couldn't get  all of the bird in as it flew over and around us. The lady next to me with a 80mm-200mm zoom probably has even better shots, hell, even someone with a point and shoot would have worked. Don't get me wrong I am not disappointed with these results after all the effort and time I had put in the bird.
When I got home and checked the files in Lightroom I am glad I had underexposed the shot by a stop and half as it reveals good detail in the feathers. The F8 F stop gave me good depth of field and 1/2000 sec shutter speed froze the action.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

BC Canada

Some Winter Birds

Dec 14, 2014 Boundary Bay Regional Park Sunny 5c

Every Lower Mainland birder knows the parking lot at the end of 72nd Ave. It's an especially busy place in the winter when the owls return. If I turn right onto the dyke I could join the hordes photographing the Long-eared Owl.
However, if I turn left out of the parking lot I have the dyke pathway almost to all to myself, except that is for a few joggers and Sunday afternoon walkers.
I have a few hours to see what will turn up. Song sparrows are most common species followed by distinctive Marsh Wren's territorial cry tektuk tektuk.  

Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Often overlooked, the Song Sparrow as the latin name implies has a beautiful song.

Next up and not too far from the parking lot a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers were hawking insects from a bush. It was enough warmth for a hatch of some kind but I couldn't identify any of the insects. Yellow-rumped Warblers are one of the few warblers who can switch to berries when its too cold for insect life.

Yellow-rumped Warbler  (Dendroica coronata)

Further along the dyke was one of the 'target' species I had hoped to photograph. Among a flock of White-crowned Sparrows was an American Tree Sparrow. Note the bi-coloured beak, one of the field markings to separate it from the immature white-crowned which it can be easily confused with.

American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)

The light was failing, the sun setting on a glorious afternoons birding. I thought to make a little detour before going home, commonly referred to by photographers as 'one more shot' 

Anyway, everyone had gone home, the dyke was deserted and the light was fading. I had to crank the ISO up to 3200 then 6400 for the Cooper's Hawk, a far cry from shooting birds on Kadachrome 64. Digital has been boon for photographers with the gap between 'professional' and hobbyist narrowing each year.

Cooper's Hawk (Accipter cooperii)

 The light was getting quite low when I spotted this Cooper's Hawk eying something off in the distance. Ten minutes later I stumbled on the same bird at a different location. I had to use ISO 6400 and slow shutter speed, as the bird busily tore apart a duck.

Cooper's Hawk with prey

As the day ended I turned to salute the sun, just then a Northern Harrier flew by patrolling the fields for its next meal.

Northern Harrier (Circus cynaeus)

It's never too late to start birding

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

Sunny Day Birding

Nov 12 2014 Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary Sunny 6c

The weather in the Lower Mainland has been fantastic. Sunny and cooler than normal, the blue skies and crisp mornings make it perfect for birding. So with all the gardening chores over the only commitment was to feed the garden birds and change the hummingbird feeder. We have two resident Anna's Hummingbirds who come to feed each morning. To make sure they'll survive the winter I bring in one feeder at night so it doesn't freeze. 

After our recent group visit to Reifel I decided to go back on my own just to enjoy a quiet walk and enjoy the solitude.

The chattering of a kingfisher and a native crab apple tree festooned with Cedar Waxwings greeted me as I drove into the parking lot. By now the sun was warm enough to dispense with my hat and scarf.

Snow Geese and assorted ducks are disrupted by hunters. A dredger works to keep shipping lanes open.

 Pine Siskin (Carduelis pinus) with seed.

 Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

In all my visits to Reifel I have seen adult but never a juvenile night heron. Near the warming hut I spotted this juvenile bird bouncing around from branch to branch. The four adults, sleeping nearby ignored its antics completely. Night herons usually sleep during the day and forage at night so seeing this bird bopping around in broad daylight was quite a treat.

By noon it was time to move along and visit one of my favourite birding locations 64th Ave. Moments after leaving my car I heard the rattling of a Belted Kingfisher coming from the greenhouse pond. Sure enough a female bird was actively hunting what appeared to be sticklebacks. 

Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)

My eye was drawn to the cobalt blue of the water, the rusty coloured pipe and the wide open bill. 

"The Catch"

These images took two hours of waiting and waiting by which time the sun was waning and my toes were becoming numb, time to go home for a nice cup of tea.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

Manning Park /End of Road Trip

June 5 2015 Manning Park B.C. Sunny
The last stop of call  before returning to Vancouver was to try out a bit of high elevation birding at the Manning Park lookout. The 8 km paved switchback road climbs through a number of promising birding venues as well as the chance of spotting critters including Black Bear, Mule Deer and Yellow-bellied Marmots. The road to the alpine area was still closed due to heavy snow.

Looking toward the USA from the Manning Park lookout.

Townsend's Warbler (Dendroica townsendi)

*Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris)

*Common Raven (Corvus corax)

I was surprised to find that Ravens are classified as uncommon but I had tried for a while to get a decent shot and the lookout at Manning Park proved the perfect opportunity. The Raven is a large bird with a wingspan of almost five feet or 1.5 metres.

So there it is, a road trip that started on Tuesday June 3 at 4.30 a.m and ended June 5 at 10 a.m

A trip that covered 1448 kms and about 30 hours of actual birding.

*Tamron 150mm-600mm

It's never too late to start birding!

John Gordon