Birding in British Columbia – Page 153 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

A Couple of Firsts & Another Sock

After the down pour this morning, some chores around the house, I wanted to get out for a short walk before the Canucks game. Headed off to the South Arm Marshes, an area which I had not been to in some time. A good choice as it turns out.

After watching some Yellow-rumped and Wilson’s Warblers that were not cooperating for photos I heard the loud call of a bird I had not seen since last year.

A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers were moving between the trees. My first of this season and this one landed briefly in a good spot for a photo.

Then some movement up in the trees caught my attention. There were a couple of flycatchers hawking for insects. They were not calling and too distant at first to make out which species.

They did start landing and foraging a little closer, but the lighting was not great.

These were also my first flycatchers of the season, but even better,

… the first Pacific-slope Flycatcher photos I have been able to get. After the new addition to the photo list,

I managed this of a Bushtit arriving with some nesting material. Just wish the hockey game had gone as well as my walk.

Songbirds & Shorebirds

After some volunteer work at Reifel there was still time for a walk. The weather was not the greatest with overcast skies and intermittent showers. I started by watching a few groups of sparrows, always on the lookout for something out of the ordinary.

But it was just the regulars present today.

Then there is the bane of the songbird world.

The Brown-headed Cowbird is a brood parasite. They make no nest of their own with the female laying her eggs in the nests of other species. These other birds will then raise the young along with their own.

Some shorebirds have been frequenting the inner ponds the last few days.

This Lesser Yellowlegs foraging and catching what looks like a small invertebrate.

Along with some Least Sandpipers doing the same.

A Little Variety Today

For some it is still nest building time.

Here a Barn Swallow is gathering nesting material.

For others, new arrivals are here.

A little better luck today with getting a Wood Duck family together.

Yellow-rumped Warblers were busy hawking for insects from the trees.

While watching and photographing the warblers,

… this Rufous Hummingbird stopped briefly on a branch before flying off.

And this Red-winged Blackbird paused momentarily in the cattails.

There were also a few Orange-crowned Warblers around. I located and stuck with one to try and get a photo. Unlike the Yellow-rumped which would sit in the open, the Orange-crowned were foraging for insects amongst the branches of the trees.

This one never came completely out in the open and this was the best I could do today. Such is the life of bird photography, but there is always next time.