Blog – Page 143 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Sandpipers & Falcon

Late this afternoon I headed out to Boundary Bay for the high tide. I was a little late as when I arrived the tide was already up to the dyke. Then I was greeted by a group of birders already there who promptly joked how I could turn around and go home as there was nothing there. Not exactly the way you want to start. We chatted briefly and some left to check out other areas.

I decided to stick around and headed west along the dyke. Only a few minutes in to my walk I noticed something brown in amongst the Ring-billed Gulls.

It was a Whimbrel. I had seen one fly by about three weeks ago, but it did not land. This was a good start considering nothing was around earlier. While watching and waiting to see if the Whimbrel would move in to a better spot,

… a Peregrine Falcon swooped in and flushed everything including the gulls. So much for a better shot of the Whimbrel.

Further along the dyke I noticed a few different species of sandpipers around the old pilings. I slowly worked my way down to the beach and set up.

The first to wander in fairly close was a Baird’s Sandpiper.

These were the first Baird’s I have seen this season.

And so far, so good with the birds not being to concerned with my being there.

Next up in this group were some Least Sandpipers.

They have been frequenting the bay for awhile now.

Another first for this season in this mixed group were some Pectoral Sandpipers.

They were also quite cooperative and unconcerned with me.

The bonus birds,

… were three Ruddy Turnstones.

While watching the Turnstones, this Pectoral Sandpiper wandered by in front of me.

Then it was back to the Turnstones,

… for a couple more shots. It was nice being a little closer to them than last week. This was turning into a good afternoon when,

… the Peregrine Falcon made another pass along the dyke flushing everything again.

At least I managed a couple of flight shots. After this I started back as some plovers were starting to land in that area. I met up with a couple of other birders still around and we managed to spot a Godwit amongst the plovers, but it far too distant for any photos. While continuing to scan the beach area I saw the Whimbrel fly by and land back in the area I had just left. Wanting to try for some better shots of it I headed back.

Once again it started off amongst some Ring-billed Gulls,

But soon moved off on its own,

… while foraging along the beach.

It was a little leery of me,

… but did not mind providing I did not push the boundaries. This is something you have to watch and get a feel for with each bird.

While taking these last shots of the Whilbrel I wandered right into to some more Pecs.

The light was fading now and it was time to head back. Considering initial indications were that nothing was around, it turned into a great afternoon and fairly lengthy post.

Peregrine & Mink

I started off this morning at Reifel. On entering the sanctuary I could see there was something roosting in the usual raptor snag.

This Peregrine Falcon was scanning the nearby ponds in some nice morning light. I mention the light as there was not much else going and I happened across what was likely the same bird in the same tree on my way out just before noon.

This time it was stretching and fanning its wings. Some great action to catch, but as you can see the light is all wrong. The sun is above and behind the Falcon. The other reason for bringing this up was another couple present at the time. He was carrying a tripod and wearing a back-pack with his camera gear inside. While I was catching the action, he was scrambling for his gear.

I could hear the mumbling while he was still fumbling with his camera that never made it on to the tripod and the Falcon flew off. The point, or question being, why would you be in a target rich environment with your camera gear packed up? Opportunities like this can be hard to come by and are fleeting moments at best. You have to have your gear ready. Now if only this bird had done that first thing this morning with the nice light.

I then headed home briefly for a bite to eat and then returned to the sanctuary to help out on the trails for the remainder of the afternoon. Not much had changed on the bird front, but while checking the shore birds on the outer ponds a mink scampered out on to the trail, saw me and went back into the bushes. I backed off a little and waited.

It was not long before it emerged back on to the trail.

This time it did not seem to mind my being there,

… and actually started sauntering toward me. That was until some other people came along the trail and it disappeared again. It was nice this one was relatively dry and fluffy, not dripping wet or swimming which is how I usually see them.

Ruddy Turntstone

Initially at Boundary Bay this afternoon there were good numbers of shore birds around. Most were out at the waters edge and starting to move in along the beach as the tide came in. The idea being to position myself in such a way that they would eventually work their way towards me.

So far so good as the plovers slowly moved closer. Then they all flushed as a result of a Peregrine Falcon hunting along the beach. They circled a few times out over the water and eventually returned to the beach. At this time I noticed something a little different than the usual plovers and sandpipers.

A Ruddy Turnstone foraging along the beach. While the Black Turnstone are seen quite regularly in this area, the Ruddy Turnstone is seen less frequently.

And then a second one. They have been spotted with the plovers for the last week or two. Unfortunately everything kept getting flushed this afternoon and there was no way I was going to get anything other than these distant shots today. As I was leaving I saw the Peregrine make one last pass at the remaining group of shore birds. Scanning the beach after that there were just gulls left.