Willet, Scoters, Buntings & Grebe

On this lovely Saturday afternoon I decided to head down to the Tsawwassen Ferry causeway. I had a couple of birds in mind for today’s outing. First up was a Willet that has been wintering here for over a dozen years.

Here it has caught a small crab that happened to wash up onto the log it was roosting on.

One can only speculate if it is the same bird all these years,

… but one returns to the exact same area every year.

While photographing the Willet,

… a pair of Surf Scoter came in fairly close to the beach.

The male particularly so after one dive for mollusks on the bottom which they feed on.

Then I made my way west along the beach for the second target bird of the day,

… Snow Buntings.

These pretty little birds breed in the far north of Canada and Alaska,

… but will show up here every winter.

The last couple of winters there has been one or two birds.

Today there was 8-10 birds.

This one I managed to get stretching its wings after preening.

Needless to say I was not the only birder/photographer enjoying these little beauties today.

Bonus bird of the afternoon,

… was this Horned Grebe that went by while shooting the Buntings.

Seeing it coming, I set up on the waterline ahead of time as it approached. A fish in the bill after diving would have been nice, but I cannot complain as it was a great afternoon along the causeway.