Snow Buntings and More

Nov 19/14 Blackie Spit, Crescent Beach Cloudy 8c.

When I arrived at Blackie Spit it was cold and windy. Usually there are joggers and walkers but as I approached the tip of the spit it was clear I would have the place to myself. I sat and waited. A few minutes later three Snow Buntings flew in to feed on the plant material that had been blown down by the wind and washed upon the shore. The birds fed on the sandy beach, blending in, camouflaged, crouching down motionless when a patrolling Northern Harrier flew overhead. As soon as danger passed they continued their business.

Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)

Adult non-breeding.

The Snow Buntings gleaned seed from these plants washed up after a recent high tide.

First winter bird

Some walkers asked me what I was photographing. They had difficulty locating the birds even though they were only a few metres in front of them. It reminds me of before the time before I started birding. I remember going to 72nd Ave after someone told me there were lots of birds there. I didn't see a thing so I went again and the same thing happened. These days when I go, I often see ten or fifteen species or more without too much difficulty. These days my eyes are wide open.

***

While photographing the Snow Bunting I had made myself quite inconspicuous so much so that the Common Loons and Horned Grebe seemed comfortable with my presence. 

Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

A harbour seal also patrolled the spit were a rip tide was causing a riffle in the water, perfect fishing location for both seal and loon.

Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina)

Common Loon (Gavia immer)

***

It was time to move on so I decided to scan the fields along Hornby Drive, who knows what might turn up. I drew a blank.  Eventually I made my way down to 'The Mansion' where thousands of Dunlin and hundreds of Black-bellied Plover were walking in with the flood tide.

Above me a Bald Eagle surveyed the scene, suddenly it launched into the air disturbing two Wilson's Snipe in front of me. It was time to grab the camera. They lifted a few feet in the air and landed into the reeds. A master of disguise they were hard to spot but eventually a slight movement gave them away.

Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)

The other snipe with slightly different plumage. 

Where the time went I will never know but soon the light was fading and it was time to head home for a warm meal.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

Free as a Bird/That Can't be Bad!

Feb 6-11 Blackie Spit-Richmond and Tynehead Regional Park.  Sunny and Showers.

My day planner for the week was blank, I was free as a bird. No dentist, no anything, nothing! So with a packed lunch and a full tank of gas it was time to the take advantage of the good weather.
Prior and in-between the Great Gray Owl twitch I headed down to Blackie Spit to photograph the Snow Bunting that had been recently sighted. As I searched I happened upon a flock of Dunlin busily feeding on the exposed mudbanks at the end of the spit. At first the birds were far way, amongst them were few Black-bellied Plovers.
I lay on the gravel and sand hoping the Dunlins would come closer and sure enough they did. The Dunlin seemed fearless while the Plovers scuttled off at the slightest movement. Five minutes later my patience paid off when one of the birds quite oblivious of my presence came so close I couldn't close focus. I just enjoyed the moment which was a pleasant distraction from the howling wind around my ears.

Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

The Plover (below) kept its distance so I decided to use selective focus and use the foreground to frame the picture. The bright earth tones I think brightens up a somewhat drab image.

Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)

I eventually found the Snow Bunting with the help of one Canada's best birders Roger Foxall, who had, after a trip to Mexico just celebrated his 5000th species worldwide. Congratulations on an amazing achievement.

Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)

Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)

 As this is a round-up for the week the next bird up is a Varied Thrush which I photographed while looking for the Great Gray Owl at Tynehead Regional Park earlier in the week. Some think the Varied Thrush should have been B.C.'s official bird rather than the Stella's Jay, either way they are both beautiful in their own right.

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Finally the week rounded out with a few shots of a Townsend's Solitaire that had been reported in Richmond. I changed my position to create different backgrounds.

Pic #1 Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi)

  (Above) Pic #1 The green backdrop is foliage  about twenty feet behind the bird. Just by moving the tripod, the mood of a picture can be changed especially with a greyish coloured bird like the Townsend's Solitaire.

The Townsend Solitaire which normally migrates to warmer climes has survived the B.C. winter by staying close a ready source of ornamental berries. A few warm days have also produced insect hatches giving the bird a high protein diet and good chance of survival. The Townsend's Solitaire normally winters in Oregon, California and Mexico.

Pic #3 the blue background is a restaurant window.

and pic #4 the background is a yellow ornamental bush which creates a warmer look than pic #3.

                                                    More on the Townsend's Solitaire

Good Bird

John Gordon

Snow Buntings and Other Birds

Nov 19 2013 Boundary Bay, Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and 64th Ave, Delta B.C.

After a miserable weekend of rain and poor light it was with great excitement I found myself with what I  hoped would be a whole day of freedom from appointments, phone calls and other 'worldly distractions'
First stop was the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal where I was in search of a small flock of Snow Bunting. They had been reported a few days earlier.  They weren't hard to find, they were feeding on the gravel road that parallels the main road leading to the ferry. A slight movement gave away their presence. I actually had to back my car up in fear that I might flush them.
It was bitter cold but sunny, my hand warmer wouldn't work but otherwise I was prepared to stay until I managed some images with different angles and light.
The small flock of four were feeding on wild flower seeds. They were to a point quite tame, unlike the flock I have photographed in Churchill in Manitoba where the approach distance was three times a far. I fact, these birds were so close at times that I wish I could have taken off my 1x4 converter but I didn't want to risk spooking them. This picture was from about twenty feet away. The third shot farther way.

Snow Bunting (Plectrohenax nivalis)

I spent well over an hour taking far too many images, most of which, although perfectly good were culled in Lightroom and trashed. I have ten like the one above. I kept three slightly different poses then backed them and about thirty others up to two external hard drives. I saved them as DNG and from there made 300 DPI jpegs of the blog shots which were then made into web sizes 6x4 at 120 DPI. The original Raw files are then trashed. Why keep everything, the kids won't want them !

I just managed to fit this bird into the shot. I did lose another shot of this bird sitting on the top of a pebble because I was too close, something that has happened a few times to me on. Originally I was going to go with my handheld 300 F4 but decided to take the 500 with a 1x4. However I feel it was a successful assignment having visualized my ideas and then leaving the birds undisturbed to continue feeding.

Two of the four snow bunting feeding on seeds. There were four birds but I thought I saw another single bird which may mean there are five.

On the way home I decided to stop off at 64th Ave to look at the results of the log removal. The upper shoreline abutting the dyke is now mostly devoid of logs. Some of the remaining logs have been driven into the ground vertically, creating perches which I yet to see any bird use. The same at 72nd Ave, only time will tell whether there will be any disruption to the numerous creatures who used to make their homes in the tangle of logs and other organic materials.

(Below) A few images from 64th Ave. What it shows is a sunny day but not the biting wind from the North-west. 

On 72nd there were and are about five thousand snow geese right beside the road as of Tuesday.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) feeding on Hawthorn berries.

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapilla) feeding on Pacific Crab Apple.

Good Birding

John Gordon

Churchill Manitoba Part 1

May27- June 1 2013 Churchill, Manitoba. Canada
Part two of my three week road trip began in Winnipeg. A Churchill bound VIA Rail train leaves three times a week and is one of the great rail journeys of North America. The train leaves Sunday noon with two nights on board arriving in Churchill Tuesday morning. I chose a cabin as this allowed me to edit my files from the Ontario portion of the trip and catch up on some sleep.
The changing landscape was an added bonus as the rolling farmland and lakes slowly changed to Aspen to stunted tundra Lodgepole Pine. As the train neared Churchill a single Sandhill Crane kept pace with the train before heading off and Willow Ptarmigan could be seen sitting in bushes.
Once in chilly Churchill my host Yijon kindly drove me around and at one of our stops a pair of nesting Merlins noisily made their presence known. I took a few quick shots as a Raven was nearby and I didn't want to draw the birds from their nest.

Merlin (Falco columbarius)

My first day out on the tundra was one of assimilation, the terrain so different from anything I had ever experienced. My very first shot was a Lesser Yellowlegs atop a tree, normally I would see them on the beaches of Vancouver. I then decided to go into the nearby Churchill Northern Studies Centre to get some tips about where exactly to look for birds. They were very helpful and had hot coffee. Slowly but surely the tundra began to reveal its secrets. A flock of American Golden Plover feeding on insects, a Northern Harrier hovering overhead and a pair Bonaparte's Gulls beginning the nesting process. Churchill doesn't give up its secrets easily so patience is a requisite, something I had cultivated when I used to fish.

The cold wind off Hudson Bay meant wearing three of layers of clothing so whenever possible I photographed from the truck ($75 rental a day and $2.08 a litre for gas) the vehicle also acted as a blind and windbreak. Next up was a trip along Goose Creek Rd, where a number of ponds and sloughs had thawed and were being used extensively by Hudsonian Godwit as well as Stilt, White-rumped and Solitary Sandpipers. There were also a smattering of Short-billed Dowitchers which were easy to identify as similar looking Long-billed rarely visit Churchill.

Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica)

 I had photographed Stilt Sandpipers (below) at Refel on their Fall return migration to South American but to see them in full breeding plumage was especially rewarding. Occasionally a Merlin would disturb the feeding shorebird flocks and reveal single sandpipers like the White-rumped hidden amongst the Stilts. All very exiting, enough to make one forget about the cold.

Stilt Sandpiper in breeding plumage (Calidris himantopus)

Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)

Melting snow opens up new feeding opportunities. Seeds and insects make up most the Buntings diet.

Next was a visit to 'The Beach" a ramshackle collection of cabins and fish boats near to the downtown core. A flock of Snow Buntings were feeding on the foreshore. Common Eider, Thayer's and Glaucous Gulls were out on a distant ice flow. One bird that is present year round is the European House Sparrow.

Finally, I include a distant record shot of a Whimbrel with a tag. If anyone has any ideas about its origin please let me know.

Whimbrel with EH tag