North Vancouver Rarity

From week to week you never know where birding will take you. Sometime during the week a rare bird alert appeared for a Nashville Warbler at a place called Chiba Gardens in North Vancouver.

This is a common Eastern Warbler, I'd seen dozens of them in 2012 at Point Pelee in Ontario. Seeing one here was a different story.

Chiba Gardens is a part of the Waterfront Park in North Vancouver just west of Lonsdale. I parked my car and went to explore this Japanese garden. It was very small and when I reached the end, there was the Warbler! This was the only good photo I got.


Nashville Warbler - Chiba Gardens, North Vancouver BC - 2018 Bird #82

Some other birders showed up and we got a few more views of the Warbler, but no good photos.

I made my way down to the Waterfront to see if I there were any Water birds close to shore. There weren't but I had a nice view of downtown Vancouver across the inlet.



My next stop was Lonsdale Quay, a place I had more luck with Guillemots in the past. It was early spring, and I expected to see them in winter plumage, or moulting into their summer breeding plumage. I was not disappointed, there were quite a few of them in the waters off the quay.

Pigeon Guillemot - Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver

2018 Bird # 83

This bird and the two below are in an intermediate plumage.


Pigeon Guillemots - Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver

The birds are so close to the pier that good photos are easy. The next bird is closer to full breeding plumage.





One last shot with a bit of reflected colour in the water.



I did some more birding in North Vancouver but was unsuccessful in finding my target birds and taking any photos. I was pleased with the ones I did see.