Post by Jamie on Dec 29, 2019 19:58:24 GMT -8
Today me and my dad went out to do birding outside of the regular area. The main target was Black-crowned Night-Heron at Reifel, which is a bird that I have been wanting for 5 winters now. But, alas, we would never get a chance to get to Reifel.
Until now.
The first stop though, was an impromptu visit to White Rock Pier. Apparently there is a huge overabundance of anchovy, which are attracting the gulls and other fish-eating birds in great numbers.
Upon arrival, there were thousands of gulls in the water! Huge groups and very noisy as all the gulls fought over the plentiful supply of anchovy fish. I noticed some black ducks among the gulls, which were White-winged Scoters. It was nice to see those as I have not seen one for ten years now! (http://bcbirding.proboards.com/thread/2551/hat-trick-scoters-harrison-lake)
Scanning the scoters was also able to reveal some Surf Scoters, but sadly no Black Scoters.
Scanning the shoreline near the beginning of the pier netted a dozen Black Turnstones, scurrying around on the shore behind the big gulls. That was a bird I was hoping to see today, since it was a nice life bird!
We walked down the pier, stopping frequently to scan the water with our scope. Nothing really stood out.
Eventually we got to the end of the pier. It was definitely different than what we're used to! Scoping the water netted several rafts of Red-breasted Mergansers, and both Pacific and Red-throated Loons. We got about 600 Red-breasted Mergansers, 500 Pacific Loons, and 250 Red-throated Loons. It was strange seeing these birds in such large quantities, considering seeing just one of them in the Fraser Valley would be exciting!
Constantly there were cormorants flying past. There were mostly Double-crested Cormorants, with every now and then a few Pelagic Cormorants joining the group. I haven't seen Pelagic Cormorants for a few years.
Scoping the rafts of loons revealed a Common Murre, which is a bird that we would not expect to see this close to the shore! Life bird again. Further out was another Common Murre. Also was a nice male Long-tailed Duck, yet another life bird, which was a bird that I recently missed at Harrison Lake.
At one point, a Black Turnstone popped up on the rocks (stones) for a quick photo-op.
All the birds on the water was definitely a sight to behold!
At the end, we drove down a little further to see another flock of gulls. There were more Red-breasted Mergansers, Pacific Loons, Red-throated Loons, as well as a few Brandt's Cormorants among the Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants. The Brandt's Cormorant was yet another lifer.
I got 6 lifers at the White Rock Pier! It's really hard for me to get one lifer now a days, let alone 6!
Canada Goose 27
Trumpeter Swan 2
Mallard 18
Greater Scaup 16
Surf Scoter 60
White-winged Scoter 135
Long-tailed Duck 3
Bufflehead 15
Common Goldeneye 27
Barrow's Goldeneye 3
Common Merganser 96
Red-breasted Merganser 600
Horned Grebe 28
Red-necked Grebe 12
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 48
Black Turnstone 14
Common Murre 2
Bonaparte's Gull 81
Mew Gull 20
Ring-billed Gull 9
Herring Gull 21
Iceland Gull (Thayer's) 40
Glaucous-winged Gull 3000
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 1200
Red-throated Loon 250
Pacific Loon 550
Common Loon 6
Brandt's Cormorant 4
Pelagic Cormorant 55
Double-crested Cormorant 160
Bald Eagle 3
Northwestern Crow 15
European Starling 10
House Sparrow 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next stop was the main target, Reifel. Upon arriving, the first bird I saw was the two Night-Herons roosting in the trees near the entrance! The 7th life bird of the day. Also 13 Sandhill Cranes flew over noisily.
The very tame Mallards and wigeons were swarming the trails, begging for food. Among them was the odd hungry pintail. Down the southwest trail was the juvenile Northern Goshawk perched in a distant tree. Apparently it's been there for a while. It's no doubt that it is sticking around because of the easy food source. Along this trail were quite a few Marsh Wrens making their sound.
On the seaward dyke, over the marsh, were many herons and eagles. There were Northern Harriers soaring over, hunting. On the distant water were some Red-breasted Mergansers, as well as a couple Red-throated Loons. They were only visible by scope. Along this trail were at least a dozen Marsh Wrens. At one point, a Virginia Rail scurried across the trail and onto the logs on the marsh, providing a photo opportunity! It is exciting to get to see one, since they're usually heard!
The Snow Geese were there, as usual. We counted 12000 of them. It was a very noisy sight, especially since they kept flying every 15 minutes whenever an eagle happened to look at one of them the wrong way.
A little further down were some nice Cedar Waxwings. At the viewing tower a Mallard x Northern Pintail hybrid was seen among the ducks. The rest of the walk was uneventful, until the North Dyke. Up in the trees were not one, but two, Hutton's Vireos! They were so hard to photograph, but we did hear them make noise, so we were certain they were Hutton's Vireos. It was nice to see them, as it is a bird I haven't seen for a while. From here, the rest of the walk was truly uneventful.
It was a nice walk. Here is the list.
Snow Goose 12000
Canada Goose 82
Trumpeter Swan 56
Wood Duck 7
Northern Shoveler 275
Gadwall 44
American Wigeon 520
Mallard 1100
Northern Pintail 480
Mallard x Northern Pintail (hybrid) 1
Green-winged Teal 72
Ring-necked Duck 2
Lesser Scaup 2
Bufflehead 13
Hooded Merganser 13
Common Merganser 9
Red-breasted Merganser 30
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 30
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
Anna's Hummingbird 2
Virginia Rail 2
American Coot 3
Sandhill Crane 13
Dunlin 10
Long-billed Dowitcher 18
Mew Gull 7
Glaucous-winged Gull 400
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 175
Larus sp. 600
Red-throated Loon 4
Pacific Loon 1
Double-crested Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 32
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Northern Harrier 5
Northern Goshawk 1
Bald Eagle 31
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Short-eared Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 5
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 4
Hutton's Vireo 2
Black-capped Chickadee 54
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Bushtit 8
Golden-crowned Kinglet 12
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Brown Creeper 2
Marsh Wren 17
Bewick's Wren 1
European Starling 2
American Robin 26
Cedar Waxwing 16
House Sparrow 14
American Pipit 2
Pine Siskin 32
American Goldfinch 2
Fox Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 18
White-crowned Sparrow 3
Golden-crowned Sparrow 12
Song Sparrow 42
Spotted Towhee 21
Red-winged Blackbird 68
It was a great trip! I got 7 lifers, making my list 259!
Until now.
The first stop though, was an impromptu visit to White Rock Pier. Apparently there is a huge overabundance of anchovy, which are attracting the gulls and other fish-eating birds in great numbers.
Upon arrival, there were thousands of gulls in the water! Huge groups and very noisy as all the gulls fought over the plentiful supply of anchovy fish. I noticed some black ducks among the gulls, which were White-winged Scoters. It was nice to see those as I have not seen one for ten years now! (http://bcbirding.proboards.com/thread/2551/hat-trick-scoters-harrison-lake)
Scanning the scoters was also able to reveal some Surf Scoters, but sadly no Black Scoters.
Scanning the shoreline near the beginning of the pier netted a dozen Black Turnstones, scurrying around on the shore behind the big gulls. That was a bird I was hoping to see today, since it was a nice life bird!
We walked down the pier, stopping frequently to scan the water with our scope. Nothing really stood out.
Eventually we got to the end of the pier. It was definitely different than what we're used to! Scoping the water netted several rafts of Red-breasted Mergansers, and both Pacific and Red-throated Loons. We got about 600 Red-breasted Mergansers, 500 Pacific Loons, and 250 Red-throated Loons. It was strange seeing these birds in such large quantities, considering seeing just one of them in the Fraser Valley would be exciting!
Constantly there were cormorants flying past. There were mostly Double-crested Cormorants, with every now and then a few Pelagic Cormorants joining the group. I haven't seen Pelagic Cormorants for a few years.
Scoping the rafts of loons revealed a Common Murre, which is a bird that we would not expect to see this close to the shore! Life bird again. Further out was another Common Murre. Also was a nice male Long-tailed Duck, yet another life bird, which was a bird that I recently missed at Harrison Lake.
At one point, a Black Turnstone popped up on the rocks (stones) for a quick photo-op.
All the birds on the water was definitely a sight to behold!
At the end, we drove down a little further to see another flock of gulls. There were more Red-breasted Mergansers, Pacific Loons, Red-throated Loons, as well as a few Brandt's Cormorants among the Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants. The Brandt's Cormorant was yet another lifer.
I got 6 lifers at the White Rock Pier! It's really hard for me to get one lifer now a days, let alone 6!
Canada Goose 27
Trumpeter Swan 2
Mallard 18
Greater Scaup 16
Surf Scoter 60
White-winged Scoter 135
Long-tailed Duck 3
Bufflehead 15
Common Goldeneye 27
Barrow's Goldeneye 3
Common Merganser 96
Red-breasted Merganser 600
Horned Grebe 28
Red-necked Grebe 12
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 48
Black Turnstone 14
Common Murre 2
Bonaparte's Gull 81
Mew Gull 20
Ring-billed Gull 9
Herring Gull 21
Iceland Gull (Thayer's) 40
Glaucous-winged Gull 3000
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 1200
Red-throated Loon 250
Pacific Loon 550
Common Loon 6
Brandt's Cormorant 4
Pelagic Cormorant 55
Double-crested Cormorant 160
Bald Eagle 3
Northwestern Crow 15
European Starling 10
House Sparrow 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next stop was the main target, Reifel. Upon arriving, the first bird I saw was the two Night-Herons roosting in the trees near the entrance! The 7th life bird of the day. Also 13 Sandhill Cranes flew over noisily.
The very tame Mallards and wigeons were swarming the trails, begging for food. Among them was the odd hungry pintail. Down the southwest trail was the juvenile Northern Goshawk perched in a distant tree. Apparently it's been there for a while. It's no doubt that it is sticking around because of the easy food source. Along this trail were quite a few Marsh Wrens making their sound.
On the seaward dyke, over the marsh, were many herons and eagles. There were Northern Harriers soaring over, hunting. On the distant water were some Red-breasted Mergansers, as well as a couple Red-throated Loons. They were only visible by scope. Along this trail were at least a dozen Marsh Wrens. At one point, a Virginia Rail scurried across the trail and onto the logs on the marsh, providing a photo opportunity! It is exciting to get to see one, since they're usually heard!
The Snow Geese were there, as usual. We counted 12000 of them. It was a very noisy sight, especially since they kept flying every 15 minutes whenever an eagle happened to look at one of them the wrong way.
A little further down were some nice Cedar Waxwings. At the viewing tower a Mallard x Northern Pintail hybrid was seen among the ducks. The rest of the walk was uneventful, until the North Dyke. Up in the trees were not one, but two, Hutton's Vireos! They were so hard to photograph, but we did hear them make noise, so we were certain they were Hutton's Vireos. It was nice to see them, as it is a bird I haven't seen for a while. From here, the rest of the walk was truly uneventful.
It was a nice walk. Here is the list.
Snow Goose 12000
Canada Goose 82
Trumpeter Swan 56
Wood Duck 7
Northern Shoveler 275
Gadwall 44
American Wigeon 520
Mallard 1100
Northern Pintail 480
Mallard x Northern Pintail (hybrid) 1
Green-winged Teal 72
Ring-necked Duck 2
Lesser Scaup 2
Bufflehead 13
Hooded Merganser 13
Common Merganser 9
Red-breasted Merganser 30
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 30
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
Anna's Hummingbird 2
Virginia Rail 2
American Coot 3
Sandhill Crane 13
Dunlin 10
Long-billed Dowitcher 18
Mew Gull 7
Glaucous-winged Gull 400
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 175
Larus sp. 600
Red-throated Loon 4
Pacific Loon 1
Double-crested Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 32
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Northern Harrier 5
Northern Goshawk 1
Bald Eagle 31
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Short-eared Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 5
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 4
Hutton's Vireo 2
Black-capped Chickadee 54
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Bushtit 8
Golden-crowned Kinglet 12
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Brown Creeper 2
Marsh Wren 17
Bewick's Wren 1
European Starling 2
American Robin 26
Cedar Waxwing 16
House Sparrow 14
American Pipit 2
Pine Siskin 32
American Goldfinch 2
Fox Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 18
White-crowned Sparrow 3
Golden-crowned Sparrow 12
Song Sparrow 42
Spotted Towhee 21
Red-winged Blackbird 68
It was a great trip! I got 7 lifers, making my list 259!
