May 16 - Iona Island Treatment Plant, Richmond BC

There's nothing like a visit to the settling ponds at the Iona sewage treatment plant. It sounds awful, but there\s really no bad smells or sights that I've ever encountered. The facility is fenced off, but there is a "birder's gate" that is protected by a coded locking mechanism. Most birders know the code and can enter as long as there's no maintenance activity happening.

The first bird seen on the day was before arriving at the plant. It was a Northern Shrike on the barbed wire fence alongside Ferguson Road. The fence is there to keep people away from airport runways.

I saw the bird coming into the area but could not safely stop to get a photo. This photo was taken at the end of my visit as I was able to pull over safely and take this through the windshield.


Northern Shrike - Ferguson Rd. Richmond BC - 2020 Bird #87

The Shrikes are songbird hunters. After they capture and kill one, they will impale the body on the barbs of fences like these. They'll return to their stash later for a meal or a snack.

The fenced off  "inner ponds" area of the treatment plant has four settling ponds. Today only the Northeast and Northwest had water. The water levels are controlled according to the treatment plant's needs.

The first bird seen in the Northeast pond was a Spotted Sandpiper. I was actually looking for a reported Solitary Sandpiper,  but saw the more common Spotted as a nice consolation prize. It's really spiffy in it's alternate breeding plumage. Come fall it will be brown and white with a brown bib, but with only a few spots on the underside.

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Spotted Sandpiper - NE Inner Pond - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC - 2020 Bird #88

There's usually a good number of Blackbirds at Iona, both Red-winged and Brewer's.


Brewer's Blackbird - NE Inner Pond - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

There were also some ducks in this area. I caught these just as they took off, probably because of my presence. Another treat, I had last seen Blue-winged Teal on May 16, 2019, exactly a year before in Idaho.


Blue-winged Teal- NE Inner Pond - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC - 2020 Bird #89

Quite often when Blue-winged Teal are seen, there's a possibility that Cinnamon Teal are also present. Sometimes the species will interbreed and produce hybrids.


Blue-winged Teal (Centre) and Cinnamon Teal (far left and right) - 2020 Bird #90
NE Inner Pond - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC

Here's a few more shots of the Teal party with comments. The male Blue-winged on the left is showing the blue that it is named for. The bird in center foreground is the female Blue-winged. Far right is the female Cinnamon.



Here's the male cinnamon with the male and female Blue-winged.



And then a Crow decided to join the party.



And lastly, the best pose of all. The female Cinnamon Teal was not interested in joining the party.




As I was leaving I saw a couple more common birds. This starling looks like it's in a volcanic ash field.

European Starling- NE Inner Pond - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC 

And lastly, a cheeky Tree Swallow on the fence that keeps most people away from the sewage treatment settling ponds.

Tree Swallow - Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC