New Years Day Birding

Jan 1 2015 Boundary Bay. Sunny and cold 3c

Now that 2014 tucked away in the 'ye olde' memory bank it was nice to kick-start off the new year with a few hours of relaxing birding in one of my favourite locations, 72nd Ave. It is also a favourite for joggers, walkers, families, horse riders, bikers, photographers and birders.
When I arrived there were a number of photographers already set up waiting for the Golden Eagle. It was just too busy so I headed out on to the dyke pathway in search of some winter sparrows.
It's a place where a tripod and long lens attracts questions like, What can you see? What are you looking at? How big is your zoom? and without fail, are there any Snowy Owls? I think I spent as much time chatting and socializing as I did actual bird photography!
Despite all the foot traffic, hunters blasting ducks out of the sky and dogs running loose a few of the smaller bird species still hung around. In the distance a Golden Eagle could be seen chasing flocks of Northern Pintail while a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers were flitting around on a frozen section of the foreshore. They were quite far way but I have included one record shot.

First bird up was a Lincoln's Sparrow, a species I don't see too often. I've also seen them at Brydon Lagoon in Langley

Lincoln Sparrow (melospiza lincolnii)

Next up was an American Tree Sparrow, another species that is not that common and only found in a few locations. There are three possibly more at 72nd, they seem to hang out in the same area each year with a flock of White-crowned Sparrows.

American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)

Next up along the trail were a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding on a sheet of ice. There seemed to be something on the ice that they interested in, possibly seeds from the yarrow plants now beaten down by the wind and laying on the ground.

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

Then a noisy Marsh Wren. According Sibley's Bird Life and Behavior the Marsh Wren has been known to have as many as 219 different songs. All I know is one can usually hear the tek-tuk-tjejejejejeje before you can see it .

I look for reward to corresponding with many of you throughout the year as I travel the Lower Mainland, BC and Canada so until then I wish you a Healthy and Happy 2015.

2015 Birds so far
Cooper's Hawk
Northern Harrier
Golden Eagle
Bald Eagle
Peregrine Falcon
Lincoln Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Pintail
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
North-western Crow
Kildeer
Dunlin 
Meadowlark
Northern Flickr
North-western Crow
Glaucous-winged Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Marsh Wren



"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

Warblers and More!

April 30, 2013.  Richmond Park East, Richmond, B.C. Sunny
Richmond Park East was teeming with newly arrived warblers. Several large flocks of Yellow-rumped and dozens of Orange-crown warblers are busy feeding on insects, probably stocking up for the next leg of their journey northward. I have never seen so many birds in one place.
Deep within the forest, a Rufous hummingbird incubates a clutch of eggs. The nest is perched at the very end of a flimsy cedar branch. Across a sun drenched glade an American Goldfinch sings loudly from a treetop, a Downy woodpecker drums on a stump, and the rasping sounds of the Pine Siskins can be heard everywhere. Meanwhile Black-capped chickadees, Varied and Hermit Thrushes were all busy going about their business.
There were so many birds to focus on that it took an hour to walk a 100 metres!

Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus)

As mentioned in a previous blog, my highlight last week had been the Palm Warbler and the Dicksissel. Todays surprise, another 'lifer' was a colourful Townsend's Warbler. At the time I had been photographing the Yellow-rumped Warblers and thought that one of the birds had looked different but with so many hybrids I didn't realize what I had captured until later that evening while sorting through my files in Lightroom.

As I only have one frame (below) I'll include for identification purposes.

Townsend's Warbler (Setophaga townsendi) 

 It seemed that a good proportion of the flocks encountered were hybridized Yellow-rumped warblers. This bird (below) has a white and yellow chin while some birds had very dark colouring and others were predominately white bodies with all white chins.

Hybridized Yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata)
Myrtle and Audubon

Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufu)

A rufous hummingbird sits on a nest made of lichen. The nest was so close to the end of a flimsy branch that predators would have difficulty approaching.

Hammond's flycatcher (Empidonax hammondii)

Earlier in the day I stopped off at Queen Elizabeth Park where I photographed a Copper's Hawk, a Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall, Hutton's Vireo and this Hammond'a Flycatcher.

Springtime in Vancouver

March 25th 2013 Simon Fraser University/Queen Elizabeth Park/Stanley Park. Sunny and Warm.
I was looking for a pair of Rosy finch but they were not to be found. Meanwhile, the morning dew was still clinging to spiders webs as a pair of Yellow-rumped warblers picked off insects from a cedar tree.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon's) Dendroica coronata

Spiders were plentiful on this cedar tree.

While photographing the warblers the unmistakable sound of Anna's hummingbirds could be heard nearby. A male perched on a magnolia bud, it was just a question of finding the best background for the shot.

Male Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna)

I then made my way to Queen Elizabeth Park to search for vagrants, a real lack of bird life was broken by the arrival of a pair of Golden-crowned kinglets. Quite a crowd of walkers and curious tourists stopped to watch the birds as they bobbed around feeding on small insects.

Male Golden-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula)

The day ended at Stanley Park's Third Beach where a raft of Barrow's goldeneye and Surf scoters bobbed in the waves and rode out the swells of passing boats. It was so warm people were sunbathing and playing frisbee. Gotta love birding in Vancouver!

Good birding!

Two Warblers

Monday Sep 17, 2012

Yellow warbler

The trees at Iona were alive with waves of Yellow-rumped (mostly Myrtle) and the colourful Yellow warbler.  One of the Yellow warblers had a band (see pic) which is not unusual as the area is used regularly to collect date on migrating songbirds.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle)

Yellow-rumped warbler with band

A New Bird

Friday April 20th 2012
My first visit to Maplewood for six months. The new bridge construction on Hwy 1 makes for a torturous drive from Cloverdale so I prefer to go where there is less congestion.
Anyway, the highlight of the day was my first sighting of a reclusive Virginia rail which was kindly pointed out to me by a fellow birder (Melody). I would have never seen it as I was so pre-occupied by the flock of Ruby-crowned kinglets that were flittering from tree to tree.

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Virginia rail

Eventually I did get a few shots of both plus a yellow-rumped (myrtle) warbler.

Male Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle)

Earlier I came across a flock of Red crossbill feeding on algae like seaweed. A pair of pine siskin were also feeding on the material (see the not so great picture)

Pine siskin feeding on seaweed

Red crossbills feeding on seaweed at Maplewood

Follow the link to learn more about Maplewood:

httpp://birdinginvancouver.wordpress.com/site-guides/maplewood-conservation-area/