Another gorgeous day in BC’s lower mainland. Today’s birds ‘n blossoms are from the Stewart Heritage Farm area in south Surrey, BC.
Dowitcher?
American Robin
Red-winged Blackbird
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Eating bud — that’s BC bud! : -)
Eating bug
Goldfinch
Steller’s Jay
Ladybug
Apple blossoms
Apple blossoms
It was a lovely day to amble the trails and shoreline of Cates Park in North Vancouver.
Perhaps a stormwater pipe from Roman times? : -)
Yumi and tide pools go together like, er, fish and water
This denizen of the deep poked its head up a few times over a few minutes and then disappeared
Head out to the Shadbolt Centre soon to catch the wonderful variety of blossoms.
The ornamental cherry near our balcony is near its peak. Several shots from mid-morning today as the sun rose over the forest.
I took a 3-hour stroll along the dyke at Boundary Bay, starting from 72nd and heading west, and then back again. Lots of eagles, both golden and bald, some harriers (of which I didn’t get any usable shots), and assorted waterfowl and smaller birds.
I’m thinking Golden Eagle?
Up…
Up, up…
Up, up, and away!
Bald eagle
Bald eagle in flight
Great Blue Heron having lunch
Head shot
Preparing for takeoff
American Robin in Canada
Tree swallow
We hadn’t been to Minnekhada Regional Park in a long time, so we took advantage of the superb sunny weather to ramble around for a couple of hours.
We didn’t see a heck of a lot of wildlife, but did run across a garter snake and a frog.
Yumi at a lookout near the lodge
Yumi spotted this frog
This garter snake crossed the trail to our delight, and that of a couple of other walkers
We walked around Deer Lake in Burnaby, BC, today, spending half an hour or so observing the heron colony. It’s busy season, with herons building nests, flying in and out collecting branches.
Making adjustments
Standing guard as others focus on building
Making a ruckus
Selecting a branch to break off for nest building
Taking off with branch
In flight with nest material
And a bonus — a rufous hummingbird
I took the cameras for a walk along Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC, over an extended lunch today.
Sparrow
Junco
Golden-Crowned Sparrow
Great Blue Heron taking aim
Great Blue Heron whack!
Great Blue Heron coming up empty
American Robin
Rufous Hummingbird
Hawk – Sharp-Shinned? Cooper’s? Goshawk?
I put in two calls to the City of Burnaby today. The first was about a house construction site where dirt was not being properly managed, creating a situation in which silt would likely flow into Byrne Creek.
Then about half an hour later on my walk, I saw that the creek was running milky green. I traced the source to the stormwater line that drains Edmonds St. above Kingsway, and then joins the pipe that runs along 18th Ave and that empties into the creek on 18th just upstream from Edmonds Skytrain Station.
Mud building up on Hedley from house construction
Sites are supposed to be managed so this does not happen, or at least immediately cleaned up. This is just a few meters from a storm drain that goes directly into Byrne Creek, where volunteer streamkeepers have been seeing coho salmon and chum salmon fry hatching out over the last few weeks.
The fish ladder at Griffiths pond
The sediment/substance appeared to be coming from the 18th Ave. stormwater pipe.
Folks, nothing should go down street and parking lot drains except rain.
Took my old manual-everything Micro-Nikkor 55/3.5 lens for a blossom walk today in Ron McLean Park and Byrne Creek Ravine Park in SE Burnaby, BC.
