Birding in British Columbia – Page 89 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

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.

Flicker & Grosbeak

Still not prepared to give up on the Swamp Sparrow I was back out at Reifel again this afternoon. Made a couple of passes along the west dyke trail to no avail. I might have to find a new nemesis bird. There were a couple of cooperative subjects though along the centre dyke trail. Of the many Northern Flicker currently around,

… this one stopped briefly on an old snag. Then not too far away,

… were a couple of Evening Grosbeak chowing down on the few remaining Pacific crab apple. It was difficult getting an angle on these birds through the branches.

As you can see in this shot there is a branch between the camera and the bird resulting in that faint line across the rump. Thought I had avoided this but my attention was more on focussing on the head. Sometimes you miss things like this and do not realise it until afterwards. That’s when there may be a few expletives followed by there is always next time.

American Bittern

With the nice weather it was another busy Sunday afternoon while volunteering at Reifel. A good part of my afternoon was spent keeping tabs on one of the Northern Saw-whet Owls in a vulnerable spot along the east dyke trail. It has gotten bad enough with visitors getting too close that staff have had to erect temporary fencing. Once things settled down towards the end of the day I did manage to get a brief walk in. While heading out along the outer dyke trail in search of my nemesis bird, Swamp Sparrow, there was a pleasant surprise skulking in the blown down reeds.

An American Bittern was busy foraging and feeding on small minnows. I stayed put here to point out this usually secretive heron to visitors. Everyone was delighted as it is not often you can sit back and watch these birds out in the open for this length of time.

When photographing American Bittern I always try to get a shot of them when they are standing tall in the reeds. They blend in so well it helps, as in this photo, to try and get them when there is a break in the reeds. You still capture their natural habitat and the clearer section helps highlight the bird.