Birding in British Columbia – Page 39 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

There have been recent sightings of Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Iona recently, but that is not my preferred spot for photographing shorebirds. So when one was reported yesterday at Boundary Bay, I made my out there this afternoon a couple of hours before the high tide. On starting my walk west along the tidal flats from 104 St. I noticed some activity right away fairly close to the dyke.

Along with Western and Least Sandpipers were some Semipalmated Plovers.

I am used to seeing these little plovers further out on the flats,

… but was certainly not complaining as they were being quite cooperative. While watching the Semipalmated Plovers,

… the main goal for the day was spotted a little further to the west.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was moving around a fair bit,

… but did not seem to mind myself and another birder/photographer tagging along. It has been a few years since I have had a chance like this with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and it provided plenty of great photo ops.

Odd birds out this afternoon,

… was a small group of Sanderling. Not usually a spot I would expect to see them. All this was happening between 104 St. and the pilings, so I did not have to go very far to have a great afternoon photographing these shorebirds.

Western Sandpiper

Late this afternoon I headed out to Boundary Bay again for the rising tide. Initially there were small groups of Baird’s, Least and Western Sandpipers. As the tide started making its way inward things picked up with hundreds of Western and some Black-bellied Plovers. While there were lots more birds than my last walk here, I was just not getting them where I preferred for photos on the tidal flats. With so many of them bombing around, I decided to try my hand at some flight shots before calling it a day.

Definitely a challenge tracking these fast moving small shorebirds, but I did manage this keeper of a Western Sandpiper.

Brown Creeper Nest

Back in May of this year I had an opportunity to observe a Brown Creeper nest. It was located along the east dyke trail at Reifel in a vulnerable spot, so its existence was not common knowledge. The nest was built behind a large piece of loose bark. While there was some routine activity during the incubation period, it definitely picked up once the chicks hatched.