Brunswick Point – Page 8 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Northern Shrike

Another beautiful day to be out and about. I headed back out to the Brunswick Point area again this afternoon. The cormorants and some sea ducks were in the vicinity of the pilings, but I continued along the trail. There is still a handful of Snowy Owls around, but once again I did not see any Short-eared Owls. Then a bird flew by that got my attention as it was one I had not had much luck with getting photos of yet this winter.

The Northern Shrike is a predatory song bird that can usually be seen in this area every winter. They can be challenging to get photos of as they move between the tree tops looking for food.

Fortunately there was one small stand of trees this Northern Shrike stuck to for awhile. It would perch high and then dive down to the ground and catch insects. They will also eat small birds and mammals. Not having talons like other predators, they will use their strong bill to dispatch prey.

They also have the habit of impaling prey on sharp branches or thorns, sometimes caching them for later. This earned the Northern Shrike the nickname “Butcher Bird”.

Snowy Owl

Well the sun may have been shining, but the wind definitely added a cold edge to the afternoon. Windy conditions do not always help on the birding front either. Not having been there in a few weeks I headed out to Brunswick Point. The river was pretty choppy and not much out there in the way of waterfowl. A few other photographers mentioned there had been a very cooperative Short-eared Owl at the beginning of the trail, but it had since moved on. I carried on along the dyke and counted four Snowy Owls roosting further out in the marsh. On reaching a small stand of trees at the other end there was some song bird activity. Mostly Golden-crowned Sparrows and Spotted Towhees with a couple of Northern Flicker thrown in for good measure. At this point no real photo ops or anything out of the ordinary so I started making my way back. There were a few Northern Harrier active over the marsh, but no Short-eared Owls which struck me as a little odd. Then off in the distance I noticed a fellow photographer waiving at me. On arriving at his location there was one of the Snowy Owls perched on an old stump fairly close to the dyke.

He said it had flown in to the edge of the dyke and then back out to the marsh moving between the old stumps. I managed a couple of photos before a couple of dogs being walked off leash ran out there and flushed the owl. So between here and Boundary Bay there are still several Snowy Owls around.

Owl & Meadowlark

Another brisk sunny day and lots of people out walking and enjoying it. Today’s stroll took me to Brunswick Point where there were several other birders/photographers in addition to everyone else. From the birding perspective it seemed like mostly the regulars at the start. Half way along the trail I noticed a Short-eared Owl land in the farm field adjacent to the trail.

Once I made my way up to it I could see it was just taking a break from hunting over the marsh and resting in the sun.

It was not long before others were stopping beside me to see what I was looking at. It was far enough away that the Short-eared Owl was not overly concerned and continued to rest a while longer before its next sortie in search of food.

As I continued my walk I was joined briefly by some birding friends. We discussed recent sightings as we made our way south along the trail. Prior to splitting up he commented on how some Meadowlarks would be nice. As luck would have it, for me anyways,

… on my way back I came across two Western Meadowlarks. They were busy foraging in the marsh, but I was unable to get a better angle on them before they flew off to the other side of the dyke and out of sight in the fields. A nice find to finish the afternoon.