November 11 - White Rock Pier and Backyard Birds

I had not planned to post my photos from this visit to the White Rock Pier as the birds were scarce on this day. But given the events on December 20 where the pier was severely damaged by a historic windstorm, I changed my mind.

I have a running joke with my golf buddies that after I visit a place, there is a chance that disaster will happen. This started in 1989 when we visited San Francisco about a month before the
big earthquake.

Here's a picture taken from the White Rock Pier in 2012:



Getting back to November 11, the only birds I saw were these Surf Scoters.


Surf Scoters - off White Rock Pier, White Rock BC

From the end of the pier someone pointed out a man and his dog out on the water on a paddle board. He thought it was animal cruelty, but the dog did not seem to mind being out there.

I also took this fuzzy photo of the passenger train to Seattle. We hear it as it goes through Burns Bog down below us.

Backyard Birds

Upon returning home, I decided to take advantage of the good light and try to capture some shots of birds in our yard and at the feeder. This junco was on a stair rail in plain sight.

Dark-eyed Junco - Backyard, North Delta BC

I took out the screen from one of our sunroom windows and leaned out to get these shots.

Dark-eyed Junco - Backyard, North Delta BC

We have a resident Downy Woodpecker (or maybe a pair) and we can see them every day of the year.

Downy Woodpecker - Backyard, North Delta BC

They seem to like the bird seed as much as the smaller finches and sparrows do.

                                 Downy Woodpecker - Backyard, North Delta BC

That was the end of the day, nice to get a couple of good shots at home.

November 4 - Arrival of the Snow Geese

While reviewing my choices for the Best of 2018 post, I noticed I'd missed this day when I caught up on my November posts.

I can't say this is the day that the Snow Geese arrived from the north, but it was the first day I saw them in numbers. Just after I crossed the Westham Island bridge, I saw many geese in a farmer's field.


Snow Geese - Westham Island, Delta BC

They were clustered close together and can do significant damage to crops. The farmers do put in winter cover crops to assist feeding the geese and protecting the fields.


Snow Geese - Westham Island, Delta BC

The darker coloured goose in the foreground is an immature first year bird.


Snow Geese - Westham Island, Delta BC

When I reached Reifel, I saw another new arrival since my last visit, a Black-crowned Night Heron. Each winter, six to eight of these birds stay over until spring. It is believed that they come from nesting areas on the Columbia River in Oregon or southern Washington.

The birds are out in the open but always manage to look inconspicuous as they sleep during the day. I was lucky to shoot this bird with an eye open.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Right out in the open are the Wood Ducks, quite often on tree branches just above eye level.

Wood Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The next photo is a happy accident, a Chickadee with its tongue showing. This is quite a rarity to see. There appears to be a seed under the tongue.

Black-capped Chickadee - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The next bird is a repeat of the first bird I saw in 2018, a Harris's Sparrow. In the summer they are up in the Northwest Territories on their breeding grounds. In late Fall or Winter, they occasionally show up on the west coast. 

Harris' Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

In breeding plumage, this sparrow has a black face and cap, quite different from the look here.

Two more shots to round out this post, the first shows a group of Yellowlegs, probably Greater.

Greater Yellowlegs - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

And finally a shot of a Northern Pintail doing some preening...

Northern Pintail - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

November - Point Roberts

At the risk of being repetitive, I'll start November off with all my shots from Lighthouse Marine Park for the month. The rest of the month's posts will detail other sites I've visited as I tried to diversify this month.

November 3

Just a couple of worthy shots on this day. The first one shows a pair of Surf Scoters. The colourful male is on the left with the female trailing.

Surf Scoters - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The next shot is not as sharp as I'd like, but it does show the white patterns on the back and underside of the Red-breasted Merganser.

Red-breasted Merganser - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

November 12

Point Roberts is quite close to Tsawwassen and it's not unusual to see ferries heading for Vancouver Island. The rush for the cafeteria seats is over and the winners are probably enjoying their lunch.

Speaking of lunch, this Horned Grebe has captured its midday meal. They are very successful here. I have similar photos from other recent visits. I believe one of  the common fish species here are Sculpin.

Horned Grebe - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Farther offshore are bigger hunters, the Steller's Sea Lion.

Steller's Sea Lions - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

This merganser was close enough to shore to get a close-up shot. This is likely a female, but immature males are similar in appearance.

Red-breasted Merganser (F) - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

As mentioned in other posts, there seem to be House Finches here in good numbers, even in November.

House Finch - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

And finally on this day, I got an interesting shot of a Pelagic Cormorant looking right into the camera. It's interesting how rounded their head appears looking straight on at them.

Pelagic Cormorant - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

November 18

The last post of the month from this location. Here's a close shot of a Common Loon when it came close to the shoreline.

Common Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

There are a few resident Bald Eagles here, but I see them infrequently. 

Bald Eagle - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The pair flew away, their wing beats seemed to be in unison.

Bald Eagle - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

These Pelagic Cormorants are not quite as synchronized. The  nearby Double-crested Cormorant is not interested in joining them.

Pelagic Cormorants and Double-crested Cormorant
Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

That's it for Point Roberts for the month, there will be another post or two for December.

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.