Blog – Page 130 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Finch, Eagle & Owl

Later this afternoon I made my way out to Boundary Bay. As it has been since late November, there were lots of people at the foot of 72 St. to see the Snowy Owls. With over twenty owls present the last while, and several in close to the dyke, nobody was disappointed. After enjoying them myself for a few minutes I headed east along the dyke looking for something else. Some American Tree Sparrows, another infrequent visitor, have been seen the last few days. While I did get a fleeting glimpse of one, nothing close enough to photograph.

The consolation bird while looking for the sparrows were some Purple Finches.

The female Purple Finches were busy feeding on berries in the same area,

… and I managed to get these shots of one in a tree beside the trail.

The sun was going down fast and as I was about to head back to the Snowy Owls,

… this Bald Eagle made a low pass over the dyke headed out to the shoreline.

On returning to the Snowy Owls only one was left in close to the dyke with the rest now roosting on logs further out in the marsh.

This lone bird seemed fairly relaxed and not overly concerned with the admirers that still remained. The light was getting pretty low at this point,

… but I could not leave without a couple of photos of one these beauties.

Night-Heron & Hairy Woodpecker

It was still a fairly grey day when I headed out to Reifel to help out on the trails this afternoon. The number of visitors was subdued as well. On starting off I came across one regular winter visitor that was awake and somewhat in the open.

The Black-crowned Night-Heron is a favourite of many visitors this time of the year.

A highlight of the morning walk was a pair of Canvasback on the inner display ponds. Unfortunately they were too far off for any decent pictures. Making up for that, however,

… was this female Hairy Woodpecker along the centre dyke trail. Initially it was higher up in the trees,

… but with a little patience it came to this old snag lower down. This can help with backgrounds when shooting on a grey day like today.

The Hairy Woodpecker is not seen as often as some of the other woodpeckers in the sanctuary.

So it was nice to spend a little time with this cooperative bird and pointing it out to visitors.

Rainy Day Heron

After finishing some errands in the morning, it was still fairly gloomy and drizzly this afternoon. Needing some exercise and fresh air, I headed out in spite of the weather. Needless to say the parking was near empty when I arrived at Reifel. At least here there would be some protection from the weather on the trails should it take a turn for the worse.

It was fairly quiet on the birding front as well. A good looking Peregrine was perched above the east dyke trail. Other birds of prey included Eagles, Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk and Northern Harriers. There were lots of sparrows flitting about along with a few Kinglets, Downy Woodpecker and Brown Creepers. No sign of the Common Redpoll that were seen in the last day or two. Unfortunately conditions were such that none provided any real good photo opportunities.

The only bird that did stay put and pose for me in the drizzle,

… was this Great Blue Heron. Like the rest of us, I’m sure it was just waiting for the rain to come to an end.