Lower Mainland Birding

                         March 12-13 2015 Various Lower Mainland Locations Sunny 19c

Ann'a Hummingbird (Calypte anna) feeding one of two nestlings. 

A female Anna's Hummingbird feeds one of her two chicks. The nestlings are about two weeks old and still have short beaks. Anna's hummingbirds live year round in the Vancouver and Lower Mainland area. For the UK readers I would describe Vancouver's weather as something like Devon and Cornwall with occasional cold blasts just like the UK. The rest of Canada is as you imagine Canada to be....cold in winter and hot in summer.
Some Anna's will try for a second clutch if the soon to arrive and more aggressive Rufous Hummingbirds leave them alone. This particular nest was within feet of a very busy pathway so staying any length of time would attract attention from passersby.
When the female was away from the nest we would point our lenses in another direction so as not to draw attention to the nest.

Ethical birding practices includes not disclosing the location of nesting birds so therefore I have left their location out of this blog just to say that this series of pictures were taken in three different locations. 

                                                                           *****

Barred Owls hunt mainly at night or early in the morning. They choose a handy perch and sleep most of the day sometimes waking up for a shake of the head or perhaps when mobbed by crows. They can be easily disturbed by humans and dogs so care must be taken not to flush them. Many owls including Northern Saw-whet and Great Horned often perch very close to human activity when they might have acres of forest to choose from. Go figure! 

"Head Shake" Barred Owl (Strix varia)

This Barred Owl awoke when a squirrel ran within inches of its gaze. Once the squirrel realized its folly it froze, eventually moving away very slowly until out of danger. After opening its eyes for a few seconds the owl then rubbed its head on a branch and then shook its head in a circular motion, the slow shutter speed was used catch the motion.

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Usually the Night Herons at Reifel are hidden in a tangle of branches but this one was almost in the open so why not rattle off a few frames.
The Sandhill Cranes were in an frisky mood with more than one pair going through the courtship rituals.

Common Loon (Gavia immer)

Next stop was Blackie Spit. In the past I have found some interesting birds including a Solitary Sandpiper and Horned Lark, there is always something interesting. On Thursday afternoon Gareth Pugh and his group counted 42 species in a few hours, a Red-necked Grebe being the best sighting. Before they arrived I photographed this Common Loon diving for crabs. I waited for the bird to dive before approaching closer. Despite my low angle the bird knew I was there all the time, eventually it moved away and I moved on.

Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)

 This is a heavily cropped shot of one of my favourite forest birds. the Varied Thrush. I actually heard it before eventually spotting it high up in a tree. I alway remember sound recorder and birder John Neville calling the bird the 'tone deaf thrush' very apt as its call is not that melodious making it easy to pick out from the rest of the Spring chorus.

Varied Thrush

Other birders keep telling me they have Varied Thrush come to their feeders but I've yet to find one that tame so for now I will have to be content with shooting them from a distance. There's no great rush, much of the fun is in the waiting and searching.

Pacific Wren formally Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Finally this Pacific Wren was heard long before I almost tripped over it. I must have been very close to its lair. These diminutive forest birds make any walk in the forest that more interesting with their noisy antics. I have a dozen good shots but I like that this shot has motion in the wings, exactly as I remember the scene.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

BC 

Canada

Campbell Valley Park Pacific Wrens/Rant

Campbell Valley Regional Park. Ravine Trail. Feb 15th 2013
I needed some solitude, I needed to hear the wind in the trees, the trickle of a woodland stream, the frogs and the birds. I needed peace to commune with nature. The picturesque Ravine loop trail (enter off the 8th Ave entrance) in Campbell Valley Regional Park is the perfect place for this endeavour, it is also a perfect place to watch the Pacific wren.
I wasn't long on the trail before I heard the first call coming from the forest glade. I decided to take the time to sit on a moss covered nurse log and enjoy the afternoon sun. Soon after an inquisitive Wren came to check me out, it scurried around my feet and hopping from fern to moss covered stump. For me this is the beauty of birding. Don't get me wrong I enjoy going on bird walks with others, learning what to look for and discovering new locations but to be honest I think most of us enjoy the solitude of the forest, beach or mountaintop.

Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus)

I made a few seconds of sound recordings, quietly took a few photographs and moved on to leave my new found friend alone. On my way back to the car I came across seven other Wrens, a couple of which had mates in tow. Soon it will be spring migration, fledglings will abound and the forest will again be full of song.

The Rant....
This year I have spent many wonderful hours at 72nd Ave on Boundary Bay photographing harriers, owls, sparrows and others species but the behaviour of a few photographers has left wondering if I want to be part of what is quickly becoming a circus!
At the end of 72nd Ave is a fallow field that is perfect breeding ground for Townsend's voles, primary prey for a number of species including Short-eared, Barn, Long-eared owls and Northern harrier. Some of these species hunt at night, others during the daytime, so it is incredulous why a few photographers in their manic desperation to get the 'perfect shot' are walking out into the fields to get closer to the birds. There are even No Trespassing signs which are being blatantly ignored. Many of these people espouse a love of nature but through their irresponsible actions they are disrupting feeding patterns while pushing the owls and hawks away from those of us who are trying to view the birds from the dyke. Worse still, the birds will be forced move on to perhaps less productive feeding areas and possibly face a bleak future. To compound matters, what little farm land is left is quickly being swallowed up by developers and government for roads, shopping centres and monoculture.

*In previous blogs I have images of all the above, all were taken from the dyke pathway including the Snowy owl.


John Gordon

Winter wrens/Campbell Valley Park

If you go down to the woods today……

Campbell Valley Park.

A Varied thrush flips over leaves looking for insects, a pair of brown creepers make their way up and down a pair of moss covered stumps, chestnut-backed chickadees scout for a nest site.  (See these images below)

An hour has passed and I 'm still photographing in the parking lot!

The real purpose of the days shoot was to find a Winter wren and finally nail a decent shot for my website.

 I had had success with both the Bewick's and the House wren but the diminutive and quick moving Winter wren had been a hard one to nail. 

I knew that by early spring, deep in the forest, the wrens would singing their hearts out and would be easy to locate, within minutes I had found a pair. The light on the forest floor was low so I added a little fill flash to freeze the peak action. I had to wait until the bird alighted on something with a decent foreground and background before composing and releasing the shutter. 

More about Wrens

A few more shots from the same morning.

Brown creeper

Brown creeper

Chestnut-backed chickadee

Chestnut-backed chickadee looking for nest site

Varied Thrush (Still waiting for the perfect shot)