Birding in British Columbia – Page 71 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Snow Day!

Well today was one of the rare occasions we actually got some snow down here at sea level. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity I headed out to Reifel this afternoon. When I arrived there was only one other family group out in the sanctuary. Not often you practically have the place to yourself.

George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary

A shot from the warming hut overlooking the gift shop ponds. On the opposite side at Fuller’s Slough,

… a Black-crowned Night-Heron was roosting nicely on snow covered branches. Then it was down the east dyke trail. It was not long before I could hear the drumming sound of woodpecker. As I slowly made my way to the other side of the tree,

… a Pileated Woodpecker was busy looking for food. While this is usually a good area for them, there were no owls along here today. Next up was the centre dyke trail,

… where I found this American Robin foraging for the few remaining berries. While approaching the main covered viewing platform,

… this Great Blue Heron was moving slowly on a snow covered log in the slough.

Then one last shot of one of the inner display ponds. All in all, a fun day in the snow.

Varied Thrush

A little gloomy today, but still nice to get out for a walk. This afternoon’s destination was Brunswick Point. Another location where I have had recent glimpses of my current nemesis bird, the Swamp Sparrow. While watching some Robins at the beginning of the trail,

… a pleasant surprise was this Varied Thrush.

While not uncommon, the Varied Thrush is still a good bird for this area. Just unfortunate the light was not a little better, but I still managed a couple of shots. As for the rest of the walk, no sign of the Swamp Sparrow or many others for that matter. Another bird conspicuously absent was Short-eared Owl.

Long-eared Owl

Late this afternoon It was overcast with mixed snow/rain falling, but I still wanted to get out and check for one of our winter visitors that had been spotted in the Boundary Bay area. Not long after arriving,

… I was delighted to find this Long-eared Owl roosting in the open. More often than not, they will be tucked away a little more than this. While this one continued to snooze, I carried on checking the trail as more than one had initially been reported. Not finding any others,

… I returned to the Long-eared Owl before it got too dark.

Luck was on my side when I did so as something got its attention behind me over the marsh and I managed a couple of shots with its eyes open.