Extra long weekend Day 4 - Maplewood Revisited

I returned to Maplewood Conservation area on Family Day to try again to see the Northern Goshawk that had been there since November. I arrived earlier than I had on Friday, when I missed it by an hour.

The pond/inlet once again featured a Common Goldeneye, this one in quite remarkable light.


Common Goldeneye - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

On my way to the West Marsh, I had a good photo opportunity for an adult Glaucous-winged Gull.


Glaucous-winged Gull - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

There were quite a few people visiting today, many of them looking for a Bobcat that had been seen recently in the area close to where the Goshawk was often seen. There was one person looking up into a tree nearby. It was the Goshawk.

I quickly snapped a couple of shots with the Canon, this being the best one.

Northern Goshawk - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

2018 Bird #72

This bird is the largest North American member of the Accipiter family. In Europe and Asia, only the Accipiters are referred to as Hawks. Birds like our Red-tailed Hawks, members of the Buteo family, are called Buzzards outside of the Americas.

I zoomed in with the Nikon. The bird was quite high up, it would have been nice to get one at a lower level.

This part of Maplewood is well treed, the viewing platform in the photo looks out onto the area where the Bobcat was seen.



And this is where it was seen the previous day.



I went deeper into the forest and caught this interesting pose by a Flicker.

Northern Flicker - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

There weren't many birds in the forest, here's a Towhee just off the path.


Spotted Towhee - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

I turned around and headed back towards the Bridge. The view of Burrard Inlet is one of the features of Maplewood.



On the east side of the reserve I saw a few more common residents.


Song Sparrow - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

American Robin - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

Back at the car there was a crow nearby and I took a couple of nice shots with the Nikon.

Northwestern Crow - Maplewood Conservation Area, North Vancouver BC

This was my last bird on the extra long weekend. I added 16 birds to my 2018 list over the four days, including three owls and three hawks. The weather was a real bonus over this period as most of 2018 had seen rain or snow on many days.