Boundary Bay – Page 21 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Pipit & Heron

This afternoons visit to Boundary Bay for the rising tide was similar to my last. Very minimal shore bird activity or presence at all. Unusual for this area (between 104 St. and the mansion) given the time of year. But not all was lost,

… this American Pipit stayed in one spot for a time allowing me to get quite close. A little out of the ordinary for these birds, usually they are constantly on the move.

Also relaxed and unconcerned with my presence was this Great Blue Heron doing a little stretching. Some of the shore birds I did see were Baird’s, Pectoral and Least Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Black-bellied Plovers.

A number of the tidal pools have dried up as the tide has not been that high of late. Tonight it came up to the dyke. Hopefully this will restore some of these tidal pools making the area more attractive to some of the shore birds.

Plovers & Pipits

The high tide was not going to be very high at all today, but I still ventured out to Boundary Bay. Early in the walk I was not turning up any shore birds at all.

Even the Peregrine Falcon was left to harass some of the waterfowl without success. Eventually in front of the mansion a Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher and a handful of Pectoral Sandpipers showed up.

I did manage this shot of a Pectoral Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs together which is kind of interesting showing the size difference between the two species. On my way back things were not looking much brighter. On the birding front that is, it was a beautiful afternoon to be out for a walk. Then some movement out in the sand caught my eye.

There was a small group of Semipalmated Plovers resting,

… tucked in amongst some seaweed and other vegetation.

This one was a little more out in the open,

… and allowed for this shot stretching its wings while on one leg. From here I headed to the pilings. Still no shore birds, but another recent arrival was present.

Some American Pipits were busy foraging for insects. They will show up along the shore line and neighbouring fields at this time of year when migrating south.

I set up low and close to the pilings and hoped for the best. This particular bird did alight on one of the stumps not too far off. I was happy to end the walk with these shots. These slender little birds can be difficult to get at times.

Pectoral & Savannah

Back out to Boundary Bay for my walk this afternoon. Tides were not ideal, but you never know what you may find. There was nothing going on at the pilings so I carried on to the mansion. It was quiet there as well on my arrival.

Then some Pectoral Sandpipers started to arrive. There was around 50 and I scanned them all closely hoping to find a Sharp-tailed, but no such luck.

Today’s activity shots for the Pectoral Sandpipers,

… was bath time. Several took to splashing about in the water.

Then they settled in along the waters edge. There were a few peeps mixed in with them along with a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs, but nothing out of the ordinary made an appearance. On my way back I stopped at the pilings for a while. Not a single shore bird showed up while I was there. During my recent visits to this area I had noticed some other regular visitors to the pilings.

A flock of Savannah Sparrows routinely show up and spend time here.

So I took a little time to try a get a couple of shots of them before calling it a day.