Mortal Enemies

Nov 29/14 Boundary Bay. Sunny and cold -1c

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

There were two Barn Owls in a Cedar tree. I was told that one was male, the other a female. The one above looks to be the female and below the male. The pair were quite content being photographed from a distance through the thick foliage. The out of focus splashes of colour are from using the lens wide open. The term used by photographers is selective focus, the technique is very useful in bird photography when a bird is partially obscured.

After photographing the owls for a few minutes another photographer came and joined us but in his rush for a clear/better shot he approached too close for comfort and the birds flew the roost. Puns aside, no shot is that important that the birds are forced from their daytime roost. What bothered me is that the bird flew the past a tree inhabited by a pair of fearsome looking Great Horned Owls, who if they had the chance would make short work of the Barn Owls.

Barn Owls are uncommon. The lack of nest sites like older barns and older forests are fast disappearing.

The Lower Mainland's population of Barn Owls is being monitored to the extent that landowners reports birds in barns and elsewhere. Recently a nest with owlets were found under the old Port Mann Bridge while the structure was being dismantled. Those birds were transferred to care for a potential release later.

Barn Owls are found worldwide. 

A nocturnal hunter, it finds its prey more often by sound.

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianis)

These images came at the end of a day that began on Sumas Prairie where we glimpsed a Gryfalcon hunting but not much else. The wind kept many birds hunkered down. A flock fifty Western Meadowlark was the other highlight on what was a beautifully sunny but cold day.

"It's never too late to start  birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

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

Forest and Mountain Birds

Oct 8 2014 Cypress Mountain, Vancouver BC Foggy with occasional clearing.

Bird wise, the climb up to the Bowen Island lookout was uneventful, mostly because of the thick fog that blanketed the mountainside. The hope for blue skies never materialized and the Northern Pygmy Owl was a no show, at least for me. It did turn up just after I left. Murphy's Law, Eh!
However the day wasn't completely futile especially when fellow birder and 'eagle eye' Mike Tabak spotted a Sooty Grouse skulking around in the undergrowth. The bird finally came out in the open and at times was too close for some of us with long lens. A point and shoot would have worked just fine. That was a special bonus for all of us..Thanks Mike.

Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscures)
Pacific (Sooty) Subspecies )

The grouse was an unexpected surprise and after birding Boundary Bay the rarified air of Cypress Mountain was a welcome change of scenery.
Next up was a pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks whose acrobatic displays were magical to watch. Several times they came flying by like two fighter planes commanding the sky, dive bombing each other.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipter striatus)

These two very long distance shots of the sharp-shinned hawk turned out way better than I had imagined.

On my way back to the car I walked through the forest near Yew Lake when I heard a rustle in the bushes. I 'phissed' a few times and a Swainson's Thrush popped out to give me a great view. Two shots and it was gone, thank goodness for autofocus.

Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)

Before I could go home to catch up on some sleep I attended a book signing at the Walnut Grove Library with three other Langley authors. My second book, The Langleys is almost sold out with just seventy copies of the original three thousand remaining. The event celebrated the library's and the Walnut Grove Recreation Centre's 20th anniversary. It was a long day and now fourteen hours later it's time to go home. Thanks and good birding.

It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society Volunteer Reception

I am an honoured to provide this picture to help publicize the below event. It should be a lot of fun rain or shine. See you there.

Rare BC Flycatcher

Sep 14 2014 104 St Boundary Bay Delta B.C.

When the news of an Ash-throated Flycatcher at 104 St in Delta surfaced I decided to go down and have a look. Myself, the novice and two really experienced birders scanned every bush without much success. Finally after an hour or so the bird flew from a small fir tree onto a dead branch. It spent several minutes dispatching a darner, eventually maneuvering it head first down its gullet.

Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens)

The Ash-throated is a larger flycatcher is rarely seen in BC, very few records exist over the last ten years so this was a special treat to all who have managed to seen it. The bird was again seen Sept  17/14. Coincidentally a few years back another flycatcher, a Tropical Kingbird also spent a few weeks at the same general location.

I like this image because of the clean background. The head looking back into the frame tells us that the bird is on the lookout for food or perhaps wary of a predator.

What a way to spend a Sunday morning!  Our never ending summer has brought all kinds of birding surprises to our doorstep and for me and many other another "Lifer" to enjoy.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

I went Birding Thursday

       Feb 6 2014 New Brighton Park Vancouver B.C -5 Sunny and very, very cold for B.C.

Vancouver is experiencing some wonderful sunny weather albeit unusually cold. As long as one wears plenty of clothing (I can hear those in the rest of Canada laughing) it is a pleasure to be outdoors.
The assignment for Thursday was to photograph a Gyrfalcon that has returned to New Brighton Park  in Vancouver. The speedy falcon has been feasting on pigeons which are attracted to a nearby granary crammed full of delicious Canadian wheat. Yummy for the pigeons and doubly yummy for the gyrfalcon which is dining on tasty grain fed pigeon several times a day.

A Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) heads toward a unsuspecting flock of pigeons.





Unfortunately the best place to stand with a clear view of the Viterra Granary is in the shade which meant a very cold wait. I spent two hours waiting patiently for the Gyrfalcon to launch itself off the conveyer belt which itself is about two hundred feet off the ground. 

A Gyrfalcon scatters a flock of pigeons. Several attacks were made without success. On one occasion a pigeon was snagged but got away. I missed the shot.

After dropping the prey the Gyrfalcon looks below but it had plunged into the water.

What can I say, the wait was well worth it despite the cold. I not only secured my first ever photographs of a gyrfalcon I was blessed to witnesses one of Nature's most powerful and beautiful performers go about its daily ritual.

The Gyrfalcon heads back to its perch ready for another foray.

Good Birding

John Gordon

                                                                           ******

Patience Pays Off

Oct 7 2013. Vanier Park, Vancouver B.C. Light rain and overcast.

Manicured Vanier Park, is home among other things to the Planetarium, Bard on the Beach Festival and family picnics. It is also the home to a myriad of bird species. The park has numerous types of habitat. It is close to the ocean, features expansive manicured lawns and ornamental trees. To the East the park butts up to the Burrard Bridge. Among the trees, a remnant of a long lost stream bed can be seen, a mix of Alder and various shrubs share the space with a BMX track, joggers, dog walkers and the homeless.
Bushtits, Steller's Jay, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees and my quarry, the White-throated Sparrow were most apparent. Somehow the birds eke out an existence in this urban jungle, their song drowned out by the passing traffic from the Burrard Bridge.
I had spent an hour looking for three White-throated Sparrows that had been reported yesterday on vanbcbirds. I could hear the call Tseep, Tseep but I couldn't see the sparrows. Another frustrating 30 minutes passed before I finally spotted two birds which I thought were Song Sparrows but turned out to be White-throated Sparrows feeding in the undergrowth. Finally my patience was rewarded with some  shots when the birds came to check out my phishing.

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

A brief glimpse (above and below) as the sparrow came out from the undergrowth.
 It had been feeding on blackberries. One of the most secretive subjects I have photographed. Still looking for the definitive shot.

After the Storm: Fall Birding in British Columbia

Oct 3 2013 Iona Regional Park.  A sunny and crisp Autumn day.
Following my "Photographing Birds in the Lower Mainland" presentation to the White Camera Club Wednesday night I was looking forward to heading out into the nature. A five day storm had given the coastline a good soaking and the possibility of a fallout of migrating birds was high.
It wasn't long before my hunch was rewarded, I soon came across a Lapland Longspur, my first 'Lifer' since April. I had only just started walking along the jetty when a small flock of four flew over my head, I was less than a 100 metres from my car. I shot maybe 20 shots when I heard from another birder that a Palm Warbler had been spotted at the sewage lagoons, I was only minutes away!

Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)

A Coast Garter snake was also on the hunt for insects

Beside the lagoons are a row of large trees, assorted bushes, briars and grasses.
A flock of Yellow-rumped warblers, several Yellow Warblers, a single White-throated Sparrow and a gorgeous Palm Warbler were foraging for insects. Following the previous days windy weather the ground was littered with insects of all kinds. Also feasting on the bounty were colourful Common Yellowthroats, Song, White-crowned and Savannah Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Bush Tits and others. I didn't see the White-throated but the Palm did fly quite close, close enough to photograph.

Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum)

Note the yellow rump and streaked breast.

Note the dark eye line.

My favourite shot with a clean background, dramatic posture.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)

A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) on the lookout for a meal. 

All pictures Iona Oct 3 2013

©All Images John Gordon 2013

Good Birding

Burnaby Mountain Walk

June 13 2013 Burnaby Mountain, British Columbia, Canada

Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)

A Swainson's Thrush searches for food on the forest floor, its song fills the air, combined with the songster the Wilson's Warbler, the Black-capped Chickadee and American Robin the forest is a cacophony of sound.
Further along the trail a sudden flash of red and yellow gives away a brilliantly coloured Western Tanager, a drabber but no less stunning female is not far behind. What a treat to see them so clearly but getting a photograph will require some stealth.
The Western Tanager had been my reason to visit Burnaby Mountain. The elevated location and deciduous woods of the mountain provides the perfect habitat and opportunity to see this very exotic looking bird.
An early morning jogger disturbed the Tanagers but they soon came down from the forest canopy to continue feeding on berries and caterpillars. The male landed in clear view just long enough for a few shots.

Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)

The final shot is of a Wilson's Warbler, one of a pair that I believe have a nest nearby to the water tower. They kept flying back to the same bush, so dense it was hard to see if there was a nest or not.

Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla)

Good Birding

American Goldfinches

May1st, 2013 Surrey B.C. Sunny but cool.
Before I starting birding I had always enjoyed watching the colourful American goldfinch. I found them hard to approach so when circumstances aligned to photograph them at a feeder I couldn't pass it up.
The opportunity came at the Grass residence where I was attending a Langley Field Naturalists monthly meeting. The Grass Goldfinches must be the best fed and fattest birds anywhere in the Lower Mainland so their frequent visits to the feeder made photographing easy.
The key was to chose a composition with a clean background and then watch for a catchlight in the bird's eye. The brilliant Yellow of the bird, the blue sky and the red cherry tree leaves are all complimentary colours which all makes for an image that is easy on the eye.  For me it was a well spent twenty minutes.

Female American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

Male American Goldfinch

In the right place at the right time

Serendipity
Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it. 

The fog had cleared by the time I reached  Reifelbirdsanctuary.com
 Black-capped chickadees, Golden-crowned kinglets, Spotted towhees, Song sparrows and Dark eyed junco's flit from branch to branch. Further along the trail, three northern saw-whet owls sleep the morning away after what I am sure was a successful nights hunting. Remarkably two of the birds were within five feet of the ground. Having observed them for a few minutes it was clear that all three were sound asleep and were not going to oblige for a 'eyes open' photo. On a previous visit I had been lucky enough to find one of the birds wide awake and in the process of disgorging a pellet. Images from that visit can be seen in a previous blog.
The morning walk around the sanctuary was somewhat uneventful so after making some sound recordings I decided to visit 72nd and Boundary Bay.
There I hoped to find the American tree sparrow which I had photographed a few weeks earlier but under very low light and foggy conditions. Those images have a wonderful 'feel' to them but now the sun had come out from behind the clouds which I knew would give an added dimension to any photographs I could manage.

American tree sparrow (Spizella arborea)

 After an hour of searching I noticed a solitary bird dive down into the ditch, it was the same behaviour that had given away the sparrows whereabouts on my first visit. Sure enough I was able to slowly approach the colourful sparrow before it flew up to a post and later into a tree. 

Look for the bicolored bill and dark spot on the breast for positive identification.

Cooper's hawk juvenile (Accipter cooperii)

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a flock of White-crowned sparrows scatter and hide themselves in a thicket of brambles, the culprit, a juvenile Cooper's hawk had landed about a hundred feet away. Above is a far, far away shot, cropped and then cropped some more. This is where a D800 would come in handy! All my cameras are 12 megapixels.
Anyway, it was time make my way back to the car only to find the parking lot crammed with birders and photographers, all of whom were pointing their lens at a long-eared owl. Being in the right place at the right time was one of the thoughts going through my mind as I looked through the viewfinder. 
At first the bird was too far away to get a detailed images so I put my 1.4 extender on my lens, at that precise moment the bird flew right in front of a group of us, I am now so close I have to back off.
Below are the images which may not have ever happened had it not been for the sparrows, a little bit of serendipity perhaps, I'll just call it Karma!

Long-eared owl (Asio otus)

Queen's Park Birds and Twitchers

Jan 24th 2013 Queen's Park, New Westminster, British Columbia.

I hadn't intended going back to photograph the Red-flanked Bluetail at Queens's Park but I had an assignment to find and photograph Vancouver Island birders. Those pictures will accompany a story to be published in community newspapers.

Hundreds have visited Queens' Park looking for the diminutive Bluetail and today was no exception. While searching for my Vancouver Island birder I met three American 'Twitchers' with impressive ABA list numbers. Steve Moore (785), Bill Drummond (795) and Tom Prince (771)  

The three friends had had just flown 3000 miles from Massachusetts to add the Red-flanked Bluetail to their list.

While I was there I grabbed few images of a Brown creeper, a Chestnut-backed chickadee (from a previous visit) and a few more shots of the Red-flanked Bluetail.

Chestnut-backed chickadee

Brown creeper

Red-flanked bluetail