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.
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| 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.
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.
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