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.