August 28 - Boundary Bay

On this Tuesday, I had some time after dinner to visit 104 St on Boundary Bay. I was hoping to see some migrating shorebirds but the tide was not as favourable as it looked on the website I use to check the levels. However it was a nice night and I did see a few birds.

The first thing you notice here is the view of Mount Baker, it looks huge and close across the water. It also looked somewhat bare and darker than normal. Was this a sign of a hot summer or global warming?

There were very few birds at first. I settled for a shot of a couple of Ring-billed Gulls.

Ring-billed Gull - 104 St at Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I did see one shorebird, a Dunlin flying overhead. It was already in Basic (winter) plumage and may be getting ready to head south, although some winter in the lower Mainland.


Dunlin - 104 St at Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I don't always photograph immature gulls, but this shot had another bird in the frame.


Glaucous-winged Gull - 104 St at Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I believe it was a Barn Swallow flying over the Gull. This shot shows it a little more clearly.


Glaucous-winged Gull and Barn Swallow (?) - 104 St at Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Two more recognizable birds flew overhead. They were Caspian Terns. I was a bit slow on the draw and only got a shot of one bird.


Caspian Tern - 104 St at Boundary Bay, Delta BC

About 15 minutes later, things got busier overhead. A large flock of ducks flew over the bay. Most of them were Northern Pintail, but there were a couple of American Wigeon in this shot.


Northern Pintail and American Wigeon - 104 St at Boundary Bay, Delta BC

If you can't find them, here's a closer look at the lower leading edge of the flock. The two Wigeon are in the lower left corner of the photo above the two Pintails in the corner.


Northern Pintail and American Wigeon - 104 St at Boundary Bay, Delta BC

That was the end of the evening outing and my last birding excursion in August.

August 25 - Point Roberts and Reifel

Another Saturday trip to these two locations. There were a couple of special visitors at Reifel, Point Roberts was still quite inactive.

Point Roberts

It was a good day for photography, but only two species featured in my photos. First were some Pelagic Cormorants.

Pelagic Cormorant - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The other shots featured House Finches. First a male.

House Finch - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The other two shots were of a female.

House Finch (F) - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

House Finch (F) - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

My luck changed dramatically as I approached Reifel. A Great Egret has been present for a few days and was easy to find in the slough along the entrance driveway. I'd seen one in Aldergrove in January. It's possible that this was the same bird seven months later.

Great Egret - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

I took quite a few shots of the bird, trying to get something interesting with the reflection in the green water. This is my symmetry shot.

One more in a vertical framing.

From very large to very small, I captured an Anna's Hummingbird near the parking lot. It was nice to get some shots away from any feeder.

Anna's Hummingbird - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Another great sighting was this Peregrine Falcon, my first for 2019. They habituate the Sanctuary as there's plenty of prey for them. But I haven't had one out in the open like this for quite a while. I believe this is a juvenile bird as the mask is not fully filled in yet.

Peregrine Falcon (Imm) - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - 2019 Bird #169

I was hoping to see a reported Stilt Sandpiper, but had to settle for this yellowlegs.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

A Northern Waterthrush had been reported along the east dyke. They do show up in fall migration, but are very difficult to find. 

This is a plain looking Warbler that skulks around in the underbrush near slow-moving or standing water. With the help of some expert birders it was located. It took me quite a while to get a photo as the bird was constantly on the move. The shot below is my best effort, it is heavily cropped.

Northern Waterthrush - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - 2019 Bird #170

This was a great bird to end my day with, it had been a good visit to Reifel on this Saturday.

August 2019 - Backyard Photos

This post is a summary of birds seen in our backyard in the month of August.

August 4

I'll start off this post with a common Butterfly, taken with the Nikon Coolpix. This camera is great for zooming on on slow-moving or still targets.

Cabbage White Butterfly - Backyard, North Delta BC

The goldfinches continue to rule the backyard. They seem to be moulting into their basic (non-breeding) plumage.


American Goldfinch - Backyard, North Delta BC

I'm not sure what this House Finch is doing with this material. It's too late for nest building.


House Finch (F) - Backyard, North Delta BC

August 9

Here's a photo of the bird bath and drip in its final configuration.

This male Goldfinch appears to be moulting into basic plumage.

American Goldfinch - Backyard, North Delta BC

Here he is again with a slightly out of focus Pine Siskin. This is one of the drawbacks of using a telephoto lens. Even though the birds are close together, the camera has the upper bird in focus and the other not quite sharp.

American Goldfinch and Pine Siskin - Backyard, North Delta BC

One last shot on this day, a Chickadee.

Black-capped Chickadee - Backyard, North Delta BC

August 12

More of the same birds a few days later:

American Goldfinch and Black-capped Chickadee - Backyard, North Delta BC

Here's a decent close-up of the Goldfinch.

American Goldfinch - Backyard, North Delta BC

I quite like these photos of a Pine Siskin having a drink.

Pine Siskin - Backyard, North Delta BC

Pine Siskin - Backyard, North Delta BC

August 18

Only one photo from this day, a spider hanging around near the hummingbird feeder. A dangerous place to stay.

August 24

These are the first photos of our resident hummingbird taken with my new Canon 80D camera.

Anna's Hummingbird - Backyard, North Delta BC

Anna's Hummingbird - Backyard, North Delta BC

I've used the Apples in our backyard Apple tree to calibrate my cameras. This is also with the 80D. The apples look really good but we've tested them over the years and they are too firm and quite sour. Might be good for making a pie.

August 17 - Reifel Bird Sanctuary and Point Roberts

I decided to change things up this weekend and reversed the order of my birding visits. Normally I go to Point Roberts first and then head for Reifel.

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

I was getting used to my new camera and I think the results showed today. After parking, the first bird I saw was a male Anna's Hummingbird visiting a feeder near the parking lot.

Anna's Hummingbird - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The bird was in a bush and posed nicely for me. It's always great to get them away from a feeder.

At this time of year, migration brings good numbers of the larger shorebirds to Reifel. The most common are the Yellowlegs. This one is a Lesser based o the length of the bill and overall shape.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

A similarly sized bird is the Solitary Sandpiper. It has a more complete eyering and flatter appearing head than the Yellowlegs.

Solitary Sandpiper - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

The August 11 blog featured a visiting rare bird at Reifel. The Black Phoebe was present again on this day. It was on the BC Rare Bird alert until Sept 11 and may still be there.

Black Phoebe - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

Something about this photo of two mallards appealed to me, perhaps the symmetry.

Mallards - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC

This shot was the follow-up, the two-bodied headless mallard.

After leaving the sanctuary, I spotted some swans just as I crossed the Westham Island bridge. These were the first Trumpeter's I'd seen in 2019.

Trumpeter Swan - Delta BC - 2019 Bird #165

Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

I arrived just after 2:00 PM after crossing the border and filling up with gas. The change in visiting time served me well as there were some new birds to see for a change.

The first was a group of White-winged Scoters flying overhead. The flight shot shows how they get their name.

White-winged Scoter - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - 2019 Bird #166

The next bird seen was a Pigeon Guillemot far from shore. These oceanic birds are members of the Alcid family and spend all their time at sea, except when they come to land for breeding.

The Pigeon Guillemot is only seen on the West Coast. The photo is not great as it quite far out.

Pigeon Guillemot - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

2019 Bird #167

I took another shot of the bird at the end of my visit from a closer distance.

Pigeon Guillemot - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Another birder pointed out a mixed flock shorebirds. I took a bunch of photos of them and only identified them when I got home. I felt pretty silly afterwards for not recognizing one of the species, the common Black Turnstone. There was another species with the Turnstones. They were Surfbirds, an uncommon species here.  I'd only seen them in California previously. 

Black Turnstone (on Right) and Surfbirds (2019 Species #167)

Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

A bit later something spooked the flock and they all took off and wheeled around over the water.

Most of the flock are Black Turnstones, they are the darker birds at the top of the photos. I believe the lower birds are a mix of Surfbirds and Sanderlings.

After that excitement, a more common bird was seen, a female House Finch.

House Finch - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

And finally, a visit here often results in a Sea Lion sighting. Usually I only catch the head, I got part of the body on this one.

Steller Sea Lion - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA