Boundary Bay – Page 17 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Snowy & Rough-legged

Another great day and I managed to get to a couple of different spots. Not having much luck at the first, I ended the afternoon in Boundary Bay. Seeing the foot of 72 Street was quite busy, I made my way to 64 Street. From there I walked east along the dyke trail. It was looking pretty quiet here as well until I noticed a couple of family groups stopped and looking out into the marsh area. As I got closer I could see there were three Snowy Owls roosting out there.

One of the Snowy Owls was actually not too far off and provided a good photo op. Everyone was enjoying them from the dyke with nobody venturing out to get closer and disturbing them.

Another winter visitor that I have managed to see, but not photograph yet this year is the Rough-legged Hawk. Most of my sightings this winter have been from a distance and never really close enough for photos.

Late this afternoon that changed with this Rough-legged Hawk roosting atop a tree. A pleasant surprise to get this as I find they are usually quite skittish when people approach. A good end to the day’s outing.

Sage Thrasher

At the end of the day while volunteering at Reifel on Sunday I was told about a Sage Thrasher having been sighted in Boundary Bay. As it is getting dark so early right now, there was no chance to go look for it then. I did give it a try yesterday without success, but no surprise as the weather was pretty lousy. This morning was still overcast and starting to clear up so I decided to give it another go before work. On arriving at the foot of 64 Street there were already several birders present. They said my timing was perfect as they had just located the bird. Initially it was out of sight, but soon reappeared foraging on the ground along the green house side of the dyke. A little far off, but I did manage a record shot.

The Sage Thrasher, an uncommon bird for this area, would normally be found in the interior portions of British Columbia. At this time of year though it should be in the southern United States and Mexico.

While most of the other observers had left, I stuck it out a little longer. This paid off when the Sage Thrasher moved to the edge of the dyke,

… and provided this opportunity for a closer shot. Worth the wait and another addition to my life photo list.

Snowy Owl

Later in the afternoon there was a cessation in the rain and I was out the door. It was back to Boundary Bay for the Palm Warbler that is still alluding me after several attempts and some American Tree Sparrows I saw the other day. On arriving it was still overcast and fairly breezy. While I did see some sparrows and warblers, there was not much activity on the small bird front. There was one Northern Shrike moving between trees, several Northern Harriers, Short-eared Owls, Rough-legged Hawks and Bald Eagles all active over the marsh. But the action that got my attention was that some of the Snowy Owls were mobile. While they were occasionally harassed by Harriers,

… they were also chasing and jousting with each other. They appeared to be duking out over roosting spots. One of the contested spots was a log fairly close to the dyke that I managed to set up on without having to venture out into the marsh.

This Snowy Owl is still vocalizing with another after returning to this spot.

After settling down it slowly made its way out to the end of the log.

Once there, and with the Snowy Owl comfortable with my being there, I was able to shift my position a little for this shot. Just when it thought it might have a peaceful roost for a while, a tractor/mower happened to come along the dyke flushing the owl back out into the marsh. Still, some unexpected and fun activity to watch and photograph.