October 31, 2020 - Afternoon at Brunswick Point

After Reifel we made the short trip to Brunswick Point. Out last visit featured a great variety of birds, with highlights including both Kinglet species. Today, it was quieter but we still saw some birds, including one new 2020 bird for me.

The first bird I photographed was a sparrow. I assumed it was a Song Sparrow at the time. Upon reviewing my shots that evening, I concluded it was a Fox Sparrow.

Like the Song Sparrow, there is great variety in Fox Sparrows depending on location. the Sibley guide details four subspecies groups. The Pacific birds belong to the Sooty group. This bird matches closely the bird detailed in the guide.

Fox Sparrow - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

As happened on our previous two visits, we soon saw a Rough-legged Hawk flying overhead.

Rough-legged Hawk - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

There were a number of large white birds far off in the distance. We debated whether they were Trumpeter Swans or Snow Geese. Close-up review at home revealed they were the latter.

Snow Geese - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

No birds in sight on the next shot. Because I'd reverted to my Canon and telephoto lens, I couldn't catch the fact that this platform was about 8 feet off the ground.

Mary-jean spotted a sparrow just off the path in a brushy area. She identified it as a Lincoln's Sparrow and these shots back her up. The second shot clearly shows the finely streaked buffy breast. This was my first of this species for 2020.

Lincoln's Sparrow - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

2020 Bird #126

Lincoln's Sparrow - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

There wasn't much else to see this time so we made our way back to our starting point. We had another visit from a Rough-legged Hawk, perhaps the same one seen earlier.

Rough-legged Hawk - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

We couldn't quite get an angle on the bird where the branch shadow would be hidden.

We saw a few common birds on the walk back:

European Starling - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

Song Sparrow - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

House Finch - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

There's a marshy area just off the trail, quite close to the parking area. We were delighted to see this bird in that area. I didn't recall seeing one this late in the year before. I did some research and did see one in December 2014.

Marsh Wren - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

That was the last bird of the day. It had been a good day of birding.

October 31, 2020 - Morning at Reifel Bird Sanctuary

 As mentioned in my last post, this visit to Reifel was with my friend Mary-Jean, who drove in from Chilliwack for this outing. Since I'd been at the Sanctuary the day before, I decided to try something different today and only use my Nikon Coolpix P900 camera. It is much lighter than my Canon which has a 400 mm lens attached. I could definitely notice the difference in the photos from the previous day compared to this one.

Our first goal was to locate the Redhead duck that I'd seen the day before. This would be a lifer for Mary-Jean. Along the way there was a Wood Duck striking a pose for us.

Wood Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

We found the Redhead just where I saw it on the previous day. It was a bit more difficult to capture with the Nikon, as the duck dove frequently. With a bit of luck, I got this shot.

Redhead - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Mary-Jean wanted to see as many duck species as possible. There was a good variety as migrating ducks had arrived at the Sanctuary during the week. 

This is a female Ring-necked Duck.

Ring-necked Duck (F) - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

One of the most elegant looking ducks is the male Northern Pintail.

Northern Pintail - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The duck parade was interrupted briefly as I got a nice capture of a common sparrow.

Song Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

A common duck and a creature that is not a duck were next up.

Mallard (F) and American Coot - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

As well as the Redhead, there was another duck species on the rare bird alert, a pair of Ruddy Ducks. I was unaware of them the day before, so this was a good chance to pick up a new 2020 species today. The Ruddy duck is common in the Okanagan in Spring, but there was no trip there this year due to COVID 19.

The Ducks were near the tower, toward the west field. We had to walk about 100 meters past the tower and then look back. We could see two shapes the looked like the ducks, but they were in winter plumage and hard to distinguish. We both had super zoom cameras and I eventually managed to get a shot I could use for positive ID. The tail is very distinctive, as is the brown cap on the bird on the left.

Ruddy Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - 2020 Bird #125

Here's a bonus shot:

While I was straining to find the Ruddy Ducks, a nice gentleman pointed out a bird to me. He thought I was looking for a Great Blue Heron. I took this shot and thanked him.

Great Blue Heron - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The next bird was much smaller, an Anna's Hummingbird. It was a reminder that they stay here in the winter, unless we have a really cold one.

Anna's Hummingbird - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

It's almost mandatory to take a shot of a Chickadee when visiting Reifel. This one turned out nicely.

Black-capped Chickadee - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I like this shot of a Wood Duck pair. I wouldn't have been able to get it if I'd had my Canon camera with the 400 mm lens.

Wood Ducks - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The last two shots feature Red-winged Blackbirds at a seed feeder. 

Red-winged Blackbirds - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

We had a brief debate about the ID of this bird and came to the correct conclusion, an immature Red-winged Blackbird.

That was it for Reifel, we then visited Brunswick Point, detailed in the next post. I believe the Nkon experiment worked out okay. 

October 30, 2020 - Pre-scouting Mission at Reifel

 I had the day off on Friday (as I will for the rest of the year) and visited Reifel to check out the birds. Tomorrow, I'd be back with Mary-Jean and wanted to locate a bird that would be a lifer for her. There had been a Redhead Duck there for a couple of months, a relatively rare bird for our region.

I got some instructions at the office and proceeded to look for the Redhead.

I saw quite a few of the usual suspects on my way out, starting with a Sandhill Crane.

Sandhill Crane - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

I took photos of the usual common ducks, but struggled to locate the Redhead.

Green-winged Teal - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Hooded Mergansers - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

The lady who runs the gift shop had told me that a lot of ducks had arrived this week, there was a good variety.

Northern Pintail - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

And of course the ever colourful Mallard. You have to look at this shot for a bit to figure out that it's preening itself.

                                Mallard - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

I still had not seen the Redhead, but picked up a couple more of the common ducks.

Ring-necked Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Gadwall - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

The only songbird I photographed was this Junco:

Dark-eyed Junco - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

And then it was back to the ducks. Some people had left bird seed on a fence rail and these Wood Ducks were appreciative. Unfortunately, they were displaced by Mallards just after I took this shot.

Wood Ducks - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

As you can see, the female is not happy about losing her spot.

Out in the field beyond the East Dyke, I caught a Crane in flight.

Sandhill Crane - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

I was now back in the area where the Redhead was commonly seen. Just then a group of the Langley Naturalists showed up, and the leader knew where the duck was. I was close but looking in the wrong direction.

The Redhead is a diving Duck and I had to be quick and get my shots when it popped up. It was not a lifer for me, but was a first for 2020.

Redhead - Reifel Bird Sanctuary - 2020 Bird # 124

I took a number of photos, these two below made the cut. 

This shot shows that the size comparison between the Redhead and an American Wigeon.

Redhead and American Wigeon - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

It was time to move on for the day. On my way out I took a shot of this Black-crowned Night Heron. They're always hidden in the tree branches, but this one turned out better than I thought it would.

Black-crowned Night Heron - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

That was it for my birding on this Friday. I'd be back here the next day with Mary-Jean.

October 24 - Boundary Bay 64 St

Just two days before I visited this location and also Brunswick Point. Those posts are elsewhere in this blog. I returned to both locations with my friend Mary-Jean on this Saturday. I've split the visits into two posts as there's lots of photos in each post.

We arrived and parked at 64st and started the walk along the trail. The bushes on the side of trail were very active once again. The most common birds were the Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Imm) - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

There's always at least one or two Song Sparrows wherever you go and whatever the time of year.

   Song Sparrow - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

This is the best time of year to see White-crowned Sparrows. All of them seen here were first winter birds. I don't know where the adults go, perhaps they migrate south without the juveniles.

White-crowned Sparrow - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

We arrived at "The Mansion". It is a property off the dike which features a large duck pond in the back yard. There were a few birds using the pond today.

Mallards and Pied-billed Grebe - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Now here's a contrast in size, a Bufflehead and a Northern Shoveler, both females.

Bufflehead (F) and Northern Shoveler (F) - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

The next birds to appear were a bit of a surprise, especially for Mary-Jean. They were a small flock of Cedar Waxwings. These birds do migrate, but may find the lower Mainland warm enough to stay late, especially in a berry rich location such as Boundary Bay.

Cedar Waxwings - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

The bird on the right is a juvenile. There were 7 or 8 birds in the flock and I tried to get photos of them all. On the same day, someone reported seeing a Bohemian Waxwing in with some Cedars. I checked all my photos, but did not get it.

It was a very birdy day on this day, even overhead. A group of Trumpeters flew over.

Trumpeter Swans - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Back to the smaller birds, there was a flicker in nearby tree.

Northern Flicker - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I don't like Starlings very much, but they are very striking to see sometimes. These two shots are examples.

European Starlings  - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

And they all landed, amazing the branch didn't break.

A much nicer bird is the tiny Bushtit:

Bushtit - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

The last bird  for this stop was a colourful House Finch.

House Finch - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

We made our way back to the car and headed for Brunswick Point. That stop was quite eventful and is  detailed in the next post.