Blog – Page 102 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Pecs, Least & Pipits

It was still fairly windy when I left home for my walk this afternoon, but no where near like the gusts we were getting last night and this morning. On arriving at Boundary Bay the breeze had pretty much subsided and it was quite pleasant. So while the conditions were great, once again it was fairly uneventful on the birding front.

There were a pair of Pectoral Sandpipers,

… accompanied by a Least Sandpiper.

They eventually hunkered down together for a rest.

There were still several American Pipits around the pilings and along the shoreline. The odd man out this afternoon,

… was this pumpkin way out on the tidal flats. Not sure how it got there, perhaps an omen Halloween is on its way.

Pecs, Yellowlegs & Plover

While it was a little brighter at Boundary Bay today, which is good from the photography perspective, it was still fairly quiet on the birding front.

At first I could only locate a handful of Pectoral Sandpipers.

They were foraging close to the dyke along the high water mark.

In the tidal pools around the pilings,

… was this lone Greater Yellowlegs.

It was quite cooperative providing a few good photo opportunities.

As the afternoon progressed I noticed there were several more Pectoral Sandpipers tucked away amongst the clumps of eelgrass a little further out. Still no Sharp-tailed Sandpiper though.

On my way back I managed to get fairly close to this Black-bellied Plover which was on its own on the periphery of the main flock.

This larger flock had Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlin, Sanderling and Western Sandpipers.

Plovers & Pecs

It was overcast with a chance of showers in the forecast, but that was not going to keep indoors. Might as well enjoy it now before it does get miserable weather wise. On starting my walk at Boundary Bay I noticed a small group of Plovers that appeared to be resting about 300m straight out from 104 St. I usually find Black-bellied Plovers in large groups are next to impossible to get close to and usually don’t even try. A small sedate group such as this you can usually fair a little better, providing you do so slowly and down low when close.

They did let me get fairly close, too bad it was such a grey day. Of the four birds in this group, three were Black-bellied Plovers,

… the fourth an American Golden-Plover. They were comfortable with me there only for a short while before wondering off to join another half dozen Black-bellies not to far off. From here I made my toward the pilings.

Just before reaching them I located a small flock of about twenty Pectoral Sandpipers. I gave them all a good look, but still no Sharp-tailed. On scanning the beach beyond the pilings I could make out a few more large shore birds. On getting closer they turned out to be more Black-bellied Plovers and another American Golden-Plover. On talking to some other birders in the area watching the larger Plover flock, they also saw an American Golden-Plover. So there are at least two, possibly three in the area right now. Just no Pacific Golden-Plovers spotted yet. So while not a great day for photos, it never hurts being out there to see what is around and hope for better conditions tomorrow.