Post by Dave on May 1, 2007 18:23:18 GMT -8
I finally got out to do some birding, and joined my Dad in Vancouver for a good half day. We enjoyed some nice weather and 70+ species of birds despite missing high tide (5 to 6 am and pm did not work for us 
. Here are some general thoughts and pictures.
We started the day with some basics on the way to the Boundary Bay area. As soon as we hit the flats, we picked up some Black-bellied Plovers. We were suspicious of a rather brown looking fellow, but flew before we could make any claims on American/Golden. Eagles were everywhere. We probably saw 100+ in the area.
House Finch, Barn Swallow, Brewer's Blackbird were quickly added to the list. On 88th street we saw the first of many Savannah Sparrows. They were calling everywhere you turned.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Common Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Kinglet all made an appearance in the bushes along the road. A wet corner of a field produced good variety, as well as American Pipit, Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, and we heard a Sora call.
We took 80th street to the old subdivision and picked up American Goldfinch, Northern Harrier, American Wigeon, Great Blue Heron, and Cinnamon Teal.
The old subdivision had Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, as well as Sharp-shinned Hawk present. Even though, we still found Black-capped Chick-a-dee, Spotted Towhee, Brown-headed Cowbird, Tree Swallow, Downy Woodpecker, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, lots of Butterbutts, kinglets, etc. Nothing exceptional, but lots of action there. Nearby we stopped for a Orange-crowned Warbler, after it bellowed out near our open windows as we drove by. Violet-Green Swallow was soon added.
We headed to the ferry jetty were we found Nothern Pintail, Mew Gull, a Western Gull, California Gull, Glacous-winged Gull, and even a Herring Gull. Also present were lots of Brandt and one Canada Goose, Dunlin, Common Loon, Surf and White-winged Scoters, 6 Harliquin Ducks, Greater Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Pelagic and Double-crested Cormorant, Horned Grebe in beautiful plumage, Western Grebe, Ruddy Ducks, Bufflehead, Black Oystercatcher (4)and Black Turnstones (50+). Lots of variety, and we enjoyed sitting on the rocks for sometime with the scope and binos.
Black Turnstone
After lunch we made a quick stop at Boundary Bay regional park to see if we could see any shorebirds as the tide was slowly coming in. It was still way out, but we enjoyed scope views of Marbled Godwit (1), Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, as well as adding our first Northern Rough-winged Swallow to the list.
Dunlin
Western Sandpiper
A beautiful Saturday!
Dave
. Here are some general thoughts and pictures.We started the day with some basics on the way to the Boundary Bay area. As soon as we hit the flats, we picked up some Black-bellied Plovers. We were suspicious of a rather brown looking fellow, but flew before we could make any claims on American/Golden. Eagles were everywhere. We probably saw 100+ in the area.
House Finch, Barn Swallow, Brewer's Blackbird were quickly added to the list. On 88th street we saw the first of many Savannah Sparrows. They were calling everywhere you turned.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Common Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Kinglet all made an appearance in the bushes along the road. A wet corner of a field produced good variety, as well as American Pipit, Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, and we heard a Sora call.
We took 80th street to the old subdivision and picked up American Goldfinch, Northern Harrier, American Wigeon, Great Blue Heron, and Cinnamon Teal.
The old subdivision had Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, as well as Sharp-shinned Hawk present. Even though, we still found Black-capped Chick-a-dee, Spotted Towhee, Brown-headed Cowbird, Tree Swallow, Downy Woodpecker, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, lots of Butterbutts, kinglets, etc. Nothing exceptional, but lots of action there. Nearby we stopped for a Orange-crowned Warbler, after it bellowed out near our open windows as we drove by. Violet-Green Swallow was soon added.
We headed to the ferry jetty were we found Nothern Pintail, Mew Gull, a Western Gull, California Gull, Glacous-winged Gull, and even a Herring Gull. Also present were lots of Brandt and one Canada Goose, Dunlin, Common Loon, Surf and White-winged Scoters, 6 Harliquin Ducks, Greater Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Pelagic and Double-crested Cormorant, Horned Grebe in beautiful plumage, Western Grebe, Ruddy Ducks, Bufflehead, Black Oystercatcher (4)and Black Turnstones (50+). Lots of variety, and we enjoyed sitting on the rocks for sometime with the scope and binos.
Black Turnstone
After lunch we made a quick stop at Boundary Bay regional park to see if we could see any shorebirds as the tide was slowly coming in. It was still way out, but we enjoyed scope views of Marbled Godwit (1), Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, as well as adding our first Northern Rough-winged Swallow to the list.
Dunlin
Western Sandpiper
A beautiful Saturday!
Dave
