2019 Birding Blog

Best of 2019 Part 1 - January and February

I enjoy collecting my best bird photos of the year for display in a series of year-end posts. The difficulty is limiting the number of photos for the really good months (May 2019 for example) and not getting too repetitive with the year end photos.

This year Edith and I traveled to Italy in March, so I've included some photos of European birds from that vacation.

January 2019

For some crazy reason, I head for Reifel Bird Sanctuary on January 1st each year. It's probably one of their top 3 busiest days of the year. But It lets me get started on my new year list with the variety of species you can see there.

On this day I saw 26 species here. #7 was this American Wigeon.

American Wigeon - Reifel Bird Sanctuary - January 1, 2019

I choose photos for the best of the year post for a few different reasons. A first time lifer has a good chance of making it, otherwise it's the quality of the photo or any thing else that makes a photo special.

I really like the next one for composition and tone. I should note that I try to select photos that look good without editing or cropping. With my regular posts I often crop and edit the photo.

Hooded Merganser (F) - Reifel Bird Sanctuary - January 1, 2019

This next shot looks good and the bird was featured on the rare bird alert. Seen in Abbotsford BC, it was the first record for this species in Southern BC. It attracted quite a crowd, but seemed to like posing for all the photographers. The Cape May Warbler is named for the famous birding location in New Jersey.

Cape May Warbler, Mill Lake Park, Abbotsford BC

January 5, 2019

This bird was warranted posting two shots. This was my first lifer since December 2017, it was #426 on my life list.

In nearby Aldergrove a Great Egret had been reported. I made the extra drive and the bird was not too hard to find.

Great Egret - Aldergrove BC - January 5, 2019

Another favorite spot that I visit is Lighthouse Marine Park in Point Roberts USA. It's just a short hop south from Tsawwassen. The southernmost point in Point Roberts features Lighthouse Marine Park with its rocky shorelines and wave action.

These Dunlin were enjoying the surf.

Dunlin - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - January 7, 2019

The following weekend I was at the Point again and saw this striking Loon. It's not yet in Breeding Plumage so there's no red on the throat.

Red-throated Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

January 13, 2019

We don't have really cold winters here, but tell that to this Red-winged Blackbird.

Red-winged Blackbird (F) - Boundary Bay, Delta BC

January 19, 2019

And lastly for January, one from the yard. This Nuthatch was probably visiting the suet feeder frequently.

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Backyard, North Delta BC - January 30, 2019

February 2019

I picked eight shots from February, starting with this one at Point Roberts. The sailboat is the centerpiece, but just below are three Long-tailed Ducks in flight. It''s a rare pleasure to see this species, usually only once or twice per year.

Long-tailed Ducks - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - February 1, 2019

I made a rare visit to Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver and took these two treetop shots. The Hummingbird is quite common here, the Merlin (a small Falcon) was a bonus.

Anna's Hummingbird - Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver BC

February 9, 2019

Merlin - Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver BC

February 9, 2019

The following weekend I was back at Reifel. It must have been a cold day with most of the smaller ponds frozen over. These Mallards were all onshore feeding on the birdseed provided by the many visitors.

Mallards - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - February 17, 2019

Also present was the very rare Snow Duck (kidding) just behind a Mallard. My first impression was that it was a Bufflehead.

Mallard and "Snow Duck" - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - February 17, 2019

After leaving Reifel i was lucky to spot a Rough-legged Hawk on one of the rural roads in South Delta. It was not busy, so I was able to stop and get a couple of shots. They were a bit blurry, but I always love seeing this species.

Rough-legged Hawk - Ladner BC - February 17, 2019

the following day I traveled to Richmond's Terra Nova Nature Park. It was a cold winter day, but this Song Sparrow seemed to be coping well.

Song Sparrow - Terra Nova Nature Park, Richmond BC - February 18, 2019

The last shot for this post was taken at Point Roberts. This Black Turnstone is foraging for food on the rocky shoreline. It turns the small stones over looking for clams and other mollusks.

Black Turnstone - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - February 23, 2019

Best of 2019 Part 2 - March and April

March 2019

This post has a split personality. There's a few shots from early March taken in Delta. Then, there are a number of shots of birds seen in Italy during our four week vacation in that country.

After returning home I didn't do much birding so there's only three photos from April that made the grade.

The first shot was taken through a window from inside our home. We have House Finches all year round as long as we keep the seed feeder full.

House Finch - Backyard, North Delta BC - March 2, 2019

My last outing before leaving for Italy was at Reifel Bird Sanctuary, now much warmer than it was in February. The ducks were out on open water again. The Hooded Merganser is a very interesting looking bird. The male gets all the attention for his colours, but the female is very striking as well.

Hooded Merganser (F) - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - March 10, 2019

This shot of a pair together shows the contrast in plumage.

Hooded Merganser - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - March 10, 2019

The last North American photo for this post shows how the Ring-necked Duck gets its name. The ring around the bill seems much more noticeable, but the name chosen was Ring-necked.

Ring-necked Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - March 10, 2019

Birds Seen in Italy - March 2019

Edith and I traveled to Italy in March. We covered a good part of the country in three weeks. Birds were common in certain areas, and most of them were World list lifers for me.

All the details of our trip are in my 2019 Italy Vacation Blog .

The first bird seen was this one in Tuscany... It was a world lifer.

Common Blackbird - Montecatini, Italy - March 14, 2019

World Species #6

On the same day I saw this Yellow-footed Gull, another world lifer. This one was in the village of Vernazza in Cinque Terre

Yellow-footed Gull - Cinque Terre, Italy - March 14, 2019 - World Species #7

The following day I saw my first Hooded Crow, a distant relative our our North American Crows.

Hooded Crow - Pisa Italy, March 15, 2019 - World Species #8

I really like this next shot of a Female Common Blackbird, taken in Florence.

Common Blackbird (F) - Florence Italy, March 17, 2019

It's hard to tell if this next bird is a lifer or not. It is called an Italian Sparrow, which is considered to be either a subspecies of the House Sparrow or the Spanish Sparrow. I haven't counted it on my World list as it is not a full species in either case. I think this bird is a female.

Italian Sparrow (F) - Florence Italy, March 17, 2019

No such problems with the next bird, this was a world lifer for me.This was taken on the Isle of Capri in the village of Anicapri.

Eurasian Siskin - Anicapri, Italy, March 19, 2019 - World Species #9

A few days later we were in Rome, staying across the street from the Borghese Park. This park had a good number of birds including these Geese.

Greylag Geese - Borghese Park, Rome, Italy, March 23, 2019 - World Species #10

Another bird seen in the park were these Parakeets. they are uncountable according to the American Birding Association, but this applies to the USA and Canada only. They're probably introduced in Italy as well. But they sure are a pretty bird to see in the "wild".

Rose-ringed Parakeet - Borghese Park, Rome - March 23 2019

The next bird I'd seen in France in 2009, but was happy to see one again. You can see the resemblance between the European Tits and our Chickadees.

Great Tit - Borghese Park, Rome - March 26, 2019

The next bird was another world lifer, a Chaffinch in the same park.

Chaffinch- Borghese Park, Rome - March 26, 2019 - World Lifer #11

The last bird seen in Italy is one that I've seen in Paris in 2009 and in Canada in 2016.

Black-headed Gull - Venice Italy - March 27, 2019

That was the last bird seen in Italy. We flew back to New York, and then to Toronto and Vancouver.

April 2019

After returning home, I didn't get too many opportunities for birding. Only three shots from April were worth posting.

Brant Geese are another species that I see only once or twice in a year. They usually appear in numbers, and seem to like salt water as much as fresh.

Brant - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - April 7, 2019

Also seen on this day was a colourful male Merganser. The crest on the male makes him easy to distinguish from the larger Common Merganser.

Red-breasted Merganser - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - April 7, 2019

And finally, one shot from Reifel of a colourful sparrow in his breeding plumage.

Golden-crowned Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - April 14, 2019

The next post features an abundance of birds as I traveled into Washington, Idaho and Montana with a birding buddy.

Best of 2019 Part 3 - May

There were too many good photos in this month to share with June. Most of them were taken during a six day birding trip to Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. This was done with my friend Chris who operates a birding site named Birdviewing.com .

During this trip I added 8 new birds to my life list (compared to 0 in 2018).

I've selected the best photos from the trip. I have to admit that it got bigger and more verbose as I created this post.

May 5, 2019

The first photo is not a bird but a mammal up in a tree at Iona Regional Park.

Raccoon - Iona Regional Park - May 5, 2019

May 11, 2019

Six days later we were on the road in Washington State. These two photos show birds discovered by Thomas Mayo Brewer, an ornithologist from the early 1800's.

Brewer's Blackbird - Umtanum Creek Recreational Area, Ellensburg WA

May 11, 2019

Brewer's Sparrow - Umtanum Creek Recreational Area, Ellensburg WA - May 11, 2019

Our first target bid was the White-headed Woodpecker. Chris was using E-bird coordinates for sighting locations and his system worked out very well. We stopped at a certain spot and were rewarded with sightings of this iconic bird. This was a lifer for both of us, for me # 427.

White-headed Woodpecker - Umtanum Creek Recreational Area, Ellensburg WA - May 2019

The Cassin's Finch was a Grail bird for me for many years, but they're actually quite common when you travel into Central Washington. The shape and bright red color on the cap make the bird distinguishable from the similar House and Purple Finches.

Cassin's Finch - Quilomene Wildlife area , near Yakima Wa - May 11, 2019

The Mountain Bluebird is a common bird that I always enjoy seeing. This one was no exception.

Mountain Bluebird - Hwy 30 near the Dalles, Ore - May 11, 2019

We had the two Brewer's birds earlier in the day, and two Sage birds later.The Thrasher was seen earlier in the day, before the White-headed Woodpecker.

Sage Thrasher - Umtanum Creek Recreational Area, Ellensburg WA

Sagebrush Sparrow - Quilomene Wildlife near Yakima, Washington - May 11, 2019

It's rare to get a good shot of a Pheasant, but I was ready when Chris spotted one on the roadside.

Ring-necked Pheasant - Columbia Hills State Park , WA - May 11 2019

May 12 and 13, 2019

After the rush of birds on the previous day, the 12th was mostly a travel day as we drove south into Oregon. We did see some birds but the only photo worth posting was this colourful duck.

Cinnamon Teal - Wallowa State Park, OR - May 12, 2019

On the 13th we crossed into Idaho and the birding picked up. Early in the morning we stopped to photograph this Red-tailed Hawk, a western dark morph.

Red-tailed Hawk (Western Dark Morph) - Highway 71, ID - May 13 2019

Our first destination was the City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho. We had some target birds for this location and were happy with the birds we did see.

The first target bird was seen quite early. It was a Virginia's Warbler, a lifer for both of us.

Virginia's Warbler - City of Rocks National Reserve, ID - May 13, 2019 - Life List #429

The other target bird was the Plumbeous Vireo. It was our day and we finally saw one about three hours later. Once again, for both of us it was a lifer.

Plumbeous Vireo - City of Rocks National Reserve, ID - May 13, 2019 - Life List #430

The last photo chosen for this day was taken late in the afternoon. This shot of a Bank Swallow had an interesting effect, almost a halo around the the bird's beak.

Bank Swallow - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID - May 13, 2019

May 14, 2019

On this day, we visited two locations in Idaho. By 6:30 AM we were at City Creek Management area near Pocatello. The first photo chosen was this hummingbird seen 40 minutes after arriving.

Calliope Hummingbird - City Creek Management Area, Pocatello ID - May 14, 2019

The next photo shows a bird I felt lucky to see, my previous sighting was in 2016. It was a Warbling Vireo. Ironically, I'd have one in my backyard in September !

Warbling Vireo - City Creek Management Area, Pocatello ID - May 14, 2019

This attractive bird can be seen in BC in the Okanagan. I was happy to get some good shots here.

Lazuli Bunting - City Creek Management Area, Pocatello ID - May 14, 2019

We left City Creek and made our way north for the Market Lake Wildlife Management area near the town of Roberts ID. This was a great spot to get some close-ups of water birds such as this Cinnamon Teal taking flight..

Cinnamon Teal - Market Lake Wildlife Management Area, Roberts ID - May 14 2019

Market Lake was quite active with both Western and Clark's Grebes. The Clark's is not as common as the Western.I assume the photo below is a male courting a female Western.

Western Grebe - Market Lake Wildlife Management Area, Roberts ID - May 14, 2019

And here's a Clark's Grebe with the telltale white patch above the eye.

Clark's Grebe - Market Lake Wildlife Management Area, Roberts ID - May 2019

We traveled further north again towards St. Anthony and visited the Sand Creek Management area, where I picked up another lifer to end the day.

Grasshopper Sparrow - Sand Creek Wildlife Management Area, St. Anthony ID - May 14, 2019

Life List #430

That ended the day, we stayed in St. Anthony overnight and headed north the following day.

May 15, 2019

We did some early morning birding at the Camas Wildlfe Refuge near Hamer Idaho and then made a five hour drive north and west to Helena Montana. Our target bird was the Pinyon Jay. They had reported on E-Bird at a cemetery in that town. The E-Bird report was accurate and we located four birds soon after arrival.

Pinyon Jay - Veterans Cemetery, Helena MT - May 15, 2019 - Life List #431

We left Helena and drove north to Great Falls, where we'd stay the night. We made a quick stop at the Great Falls Airport and saw some more birds.

We'd seen quite a few Vesper Sparrows on our trip, this was one of my best photos of the species.

Vesper Sparrow - Great Falls International Airport, Great Falls, MT - May 15, 2019

Another bird seen elsewhere was the Horned Lark.

Horned Lark - Great Falls International Airport, Great Falls, MT - May 15, 2019

And last for the day, another "lark" at the airport.

Western Meadowlark - Great Falls International Airport, Great Falls, MT

May 15, 2019

May 16, 2019

This would be our last day south of the border. Chris needed to be home by the 18th, so we headed north and west towards Grand Forks BC. We'd be staying at my sister's place there and then going home the following day.

Our first stop was the Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Great Falls. This photo was taken at 6:24 AM.

Marbled Godwit - Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge MT - May 16, 2019

As we rounded a corner on there was an owl on the side of the road. We stopped and got some good shots, it was quite cooperative.

Short-eared Owl - Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge MT - May 16, 2019

On the lake were some Eared Grebes in breeding plumage.

Eared Grebes - Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge MT - May 16, 2019

About eight hours later we arrived at my sister's place in Grand Forks. The last bird of the day was a Lewis's Woodpecker in her yard.

Lewis's Woodpecker - Grand Forks BC - May 16, 2019

May 17, 2019

The drive from Grand Forks to North Delta is about 6 hours, unless you're bird-watching along the way. We made a few stops along the route as it was our last day of birding on this trip.

Even before we left we were taking photos. The American Robin is not usually a bird of interest, but the early morning setting was special for this one.

American Robin - Grand Forks BC - May 17, 2019

Finally on the road, we spotted this bird along the highway about a half hour east of Osoyoos.

Western Wood-Pewee - Bridesville, BC - May 17, 2019

At Osoyoos we detoured north towards Oliver so we could visit the Vaseux Lake Wildlife Center. I've birded there for years, going back to the 90's. As usual, there were birds to see, including this common Woodpecker.