Back on November 11th I visited this location hoping to see a Blue Jay that had been reported there. I was successful that day, as can be seen in this post: Three Jay Day .
It was Mary-Jean's turn to come into the city this weekend and she was keen to see the Blue Jay, it would be a lifer for her. I'll spoil the plot by saying we did not see the Jay. But we had a good visit and saw a variety of birds.
When Mary-Jean arrived at our place I looked out the front door and saw a Brown Creeper on the large Fir tree in our front yard. I signaled to her and she got here camera out, while I scrambled for mine. This was my best shot of the bird.
Brown Creeper - Front Yard, North Delta BC
Here's a shot of Ladner Harbour Park, this is a beautiful location near the George Massey Tunnel.
Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
After parking we surveyed the situation. There were no Jays present along the entrance road where I'd seen them last time. We waited for a bit and then followed a loop trail around the park. The first bird we saw was a good one, a Bewick's Wren. My first photo was terrible, but confirmed the ID.
Bewick's Wren - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
Then I got lucky as it came into sight briefly.
There was another hard to photograph bird in the trees, one of a number of Ruby-crowned Kinglets we saw on this day. I got several good shots of them.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
This one might have been the best:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
There were also some Flickers in the park, much easier to photograph than the smaller birds.
Northern Flicker - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
Another woodpecker we encountered was this downy, either a female or immature bird.
Downy Woodpecker - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
We were now in a Marshy area where I got this shot of a Heron.
Great Blue Heron - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
We had circled around back to the entrance road, and walked back towards the Harbour. Pine Siskins are common at this time of year and there were a few around in the trees along the road.
Pine Siskin - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
Finally we heard some Jay sounds and located a Blue and White bird. We took some photos and briefly believed it was the Blue Jay. One of the local experts took a look at a photo and identified it as a California Scrub-Jay. It was an ABA lifer for Mary-Jean as she'd only seen them in Mexico.
These photos were taken a bit later and the bird is easily identifiable.
California Scrub-Jay - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
It is definitely a beautiful bird.
For good measure, a Steller's Jay popped in for a visit.
Steller's Jay - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
Another bird perching in a tree was this Immature Red-tailed Hawk. I call it immature due to the tail colour.
Red-tailed Hawk - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
We walked back to where we'd parked by the harbour and saw a lone Cormorant perched on a rocky outcrop. The light colouring suggests an immature bird.
Double-crested Cormorant - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
The birds just kept on coming. First was another Downy, this time a male.
Downy Woodpecker - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
And then my last Kinglet of the day.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
Overhead a pair of Swans flew over.
Trumpeter Swans - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
The next bird was one I'm not sure I identified when I took the photo, I may have thought it was the Red-tail we'd seen earlier. The photo clearly shows it was a Peregrine Falcon.
Peregrine Falcon - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
And lastly, a nice shot of a House Finch.
House Finch - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
We were done here, our next stop would be Blackie Spit in South Surrey.
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