We had a wonderful three-hour ramble round the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary today.
Sandhill Crane
House Sparrow? (I still have trouble with LBBs – – little brown birds : – )
Wigeons
Wigeon
Wood Duck female
Wood Duck male
Red-Winged Blackbird
Checking out the view from Yumi’s head
Brown-Headed Cowbirds
Chickadee
Crow
Downy Woodpecker
Golden-Crowned Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
LBB
LBB
LBB
Mallard
Merganser
Pintail synchro
Ring-Necked Duck
Rufous Hummingbird
Salmonberry
Spent three or four hours at Iona Beach Regional Park this afternoon, part of Metro Vancouver’s superb regional parks system.
American Goldfinch
Photographers were drooling over this bluebird. I was, like, that’s a bluebird? : -)
Crows are so smart and cool. . .
Tree swallows having a, er, friendly chat over real estate
Thinking Double-Crested Cormorant?
Red-Winged Blackbird
Snow Geese spooked by an eagle
Said eagle contemplating its poor luck and plotting its next move — and no, I’m not making this up, it flew straight across and I saw it land in this tree.
We enjoyed watching this Pileated Woodpecker in Ron McLean Park in SE Burnaby, BC, today.
UPDATE from BC Ag — it’s not invasive:
Hi Paul, thanks for the photo and note. This is a stink bug, but not a Brown Marmorated Stink bug, thankfully. It is a rough stink bug, Brochymena species, which is actually a predator, and commonly found around the Vancouver area.
We came across an interesting bug on our front door about a week ago. After posting a photo on Facebook, several folks said it was an invasive stink bug. When I went back out to trap it, it had disappeared.
Well, yesterday it reappeared, so I have it in a small plastic container in our freezer.
Some info from the BC government here.
Nice to see cherry blossoms and magnolias approaching their peak in Vancouver and Burnaby.
Museum of Vancouver
Maritime Museum
There were at least half a dozen eagles hanging around Spanish Banks in Vancouver this afternoon.
Yumi spotted a couple of Barred Owls and a hawk today on our SE Burnaby walk. Not sure if the hawk is a Sharp-shinned or a Cooper’s.
UPDATE: One expert has weighed in on Cooper’s. Thanks!
UPDATE 2: And another has come down for Sharp-Shinned. . .
Spent over an hour shooting around the Kamui Mintara installation on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, BC, today.
This Spotted Towhee was quite friendly — usually they’re very shy
If I have some time to spare, I enjoy going down to Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby to have my lunch while watching wildlife and the working river.
Don’t step in the poop, dear, people want to look at it. 🙂
Overheard today from a parent to a young child during a tracks and scat talk ‘n walk at the Kanaka Creek Stewardship Centre in Maple Ridge, BC.
Super event, great fun and educational to boot.
Folks taking turns observing raccoon tracks
Lovely Kanaka Creek
Scat with bones in it
Claw marks
The lovely stewardship centre
A cool bug
Yumi on the bridge
Moi enjoying the creek and forest
