October 2018 - Point Roberts Visits

As mentioned in previous posts, I visit Point Roberts frequently for the combination of cheap gas in town and birds at Lighthouse Marine Park. The birding is actually better in late Fall and Winter than it is in the summer. The only downside is some of the birds are in the plainer non-breeding plumage.

October 7th and 8th

Just a few shots from this weekend. The park seems to be a collection area for House Finches, I've seen flocks of them here on occasion. Only one on Saturday the 7th.

House Finch - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

The Horned Grebe is one of those birds that goes from very colourful Alternate (breeding) plumage to drab Basic (winter) plumage. I've only seen the Alternate on a few occasions. This birds seems to be just completing the moult to Basic.

Horned Grebe - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

Here's a grebe who's had a successful morning:

Horned Grebe - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

This location is a good place to see Killdeer in the fall. I always hear the first and then locate them visually.

Killdeer - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

October 21st

The Horned Grebes are here because there seems to be an abundance of fish. Here's another shot of a successful hunt. I think the fish might be a Sculpin but am open to correction.

Horned Grebe - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

This Common Loon is now in full Basic plumage. It's striking how huge these birds are. According to my Sibley field guide they are 32" long, have a 46" wingspan and weigh 9 LB. And the rare Yellow-billed Loon is even bigger.

 

Common Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

Every once in a while I see one of the common Alcids at Point Roberts. These are oceanic birds that only come to shore to breed. Today, this Guillemot was in photo range.

Pigeon Guillemot - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

The last bird of the day was a Pelagic Cormorant. These re the most commonly seen Cormorant here.

Pelagic Cormorant - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - October 2018

October 28th

This Sunday was quite windy and bird photos were hard to come by. I had some luck taking a video of this Horned Grebe as it caught a fish.

With the wind blowing, it brought out some other forms of entertainment, sailboats and a parasailer. First the sailboats.

As they round the point, the sailboats come quite close to shore as the drop-off  is quite steep.

There was also a parasailer who was setting up on shore. It took him quite a while to get everything set, and his flight was quite short. I captured a few shots and a long video. Hopefully it loads properly.

October 14, 2018 - Rusty Blackbird at Burnaby Lake

A couple of days before this posting date I received an email from my friend Mary-Jean with a photo of a male Rusty Blackbird she had just seen at Burnaby Lake Park. I'd seen this species once before in December 2014, but had one crappy photo on that occasion.

I quickly checked the BC Rare Bird Alert and saw that both a male and a female had been sighted.

Here's two of the photos that Mary-Jean took:


Rusty Blackbird - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - Photo by Mary-Jean Payeur


Rusty Blackbird - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - Photo by Mary-Jean Payeur

I made my way to Burnaby Lake on the following Saturday and was fortunate to see the male bird as well.


Rusty Blackbird - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018
2018 Bird #198

I did not locate the plainer female bird, but did see the male interacting with the common Red-winged Blackbirds. The Rusty is quite a feisty species.


Red-winged and Rusty Blackbird - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018

I took a few more shots of the Rusty and then focused on some of the other birds found at the park.


Red-winged Blackbird - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018

As usual there were many Mallards on the lake.


Mallard - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018

Less numerous, but more striking were the Wood Ducks, both the male and female are very photogenic.


Wood Duck - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018

I especially like this picture as the male dabbles in the water.


Wood Duck - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018

The female was showing off her elegant colours.


Wood Duck (F) - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018

Here, she's scolding a male for some reason, he probably deserved it.


Wood Duck (F) - Burnaby Lake Regional Park - October 2018

This ended my day at Burnaby Lake. A big thanks to Mary-Jean for alerting me to the Rusty Blackbird.