I'm combining these into one post because the Ladner Harbour Park visit was very unproductive and not worth a separate post.
Blackie Spit
Once again this weekend, Mary-Jean drove in from Chilliwack. Our primary goal was to see the reported Snow Buntings at Blackie Spit Park in Surrey. We parked and headed out on the main spit to find the buntings.
Our luck was good as we soon spotted a man who was photographing something just off the trail in an area with long grass and scrub bushes. It didn't take me long to locate a bunting and point it out to Mary-Jean, another lifer on her list. The birds were cautious and always behind cover.
Snow Bunting - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC - 2020 Bird #130
We spoke to the gentleman who had spotted the birds. He was there looking for close-up shots of Eagles and accidentally discovered the Snow Buntings.
I kept on trying to get a better shot of the birds, I think we saw at least four individuals.
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I think this last shot is the best one. It looks like it has a seed or something to eat.
Snow Bunting - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
We left the buntings and wandered around the spit looking for other birds of interest.
Of course there are always Herons at this location.
Great Blue Heron - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
I had hoped to see an Eurasian Wigeon on this visit as Mary-Jean had missed it on our previous visit. But it was low tide and most of the ducks were far off in the distance. I did get this shot of a pair of Pintails.
Northern Pintail - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
We were now in an area with some trees and there were some songbirds on the ground and in the trees. I'm quite sure this is a female Purple Finch, we'd seen some in the same area on our last visit.
Purple Finch (F) - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
No question about this bird, a Golden-crowned Sparrow. These birds are quite common in the Lower Mainland in Fall/Winter.
Golden-crowned Sparrow - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
Here's a close-up taken a bit later of another one. We don't get to see these birds in their breeding plumage too often. They leave the lower mainland in early spring to go north to their breeding grounds.
Golden-crowned Sparrow - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
Here's a topsy-turvy shot of another Purple Finch.
Purple Finch (F) - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
And back to normal:
Purple Finch (F) - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
Although I was hoping for Eurasian Wigeon, I only saw those of the American variety.
American Wigeon - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
As we were leaving the area, we came across a smsll collection of shorebirds. I'm quite sure these are Greater Yellowlegs, based on the the bill length relative to the width of the head.
Greater Yellowlegs - Blackie Spit Park, Surrey BC
This shot shows it better...
We left Blackie Spit and headed to Ladner Harbour Park, hoping to get May-jean her lifer Blue Jay.
Ladner Harbour Park
It was a bad omen when we arrived in the mid-afternoon and met a person who had been at the location since 9:30 AM and never saw the Blue Jay or any other Jays. After he left, we were the only birders there for quite a while. It was very still and we never heard or saw any of the Jays. I did get a few photos of the usual suspects.
When I looked at tis shot at home I had a brief thought that it could be a Lincoln's Sparrow, but I'm quite sure it's a Song Sparrow.
Song Sparrow - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
We did had some fly-overs by a group of Bald Eagles.
Bald Eagles - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
I've been having good luck this fall and winter with Kinglets, and today was no exception.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
And finally we did see a Common Merganser in the harbour, but at quite a distance. This photo is good for ID only, no artistic merit. I believe the other bird was a Mallard.
Common Merganser - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
This ended our day. It was a great start with the Snow Bunting.
As a final note, the Blue Jay has been reported again at Ladner Harbour Park since our visit, so we'll probably be back there again in the coming weeks.
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