Blog – Page 92 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Flicker & Grosbeak

Still not prepared to give up on the Swamp Sparrow I was back out at Reifel again this afternoon. Made a couple of passes along the west dyke trail to no avail. I might have to find a new nemesis bird. There were a couple of cooperative subjects though along the centre dyke trail. Of the many Northern Flicker currently around,

… this one stopped briefly on an old snag. Then not too far away,

… were a couple of Evening Grosbeak chowing down on the few remaining Pacific crab apple. It was difficult getting an angle on these birds through the branches.

As you can see in this shot there is a branch between the camera and the bird resulting in that faint line across the rump. Thought I had avoided this but my attention was more on focussing on the head. Sometimes you miss things like this and do not realise it until afterwards. That’s when there may be a few expletives followed by there is always next time.

American Bittern

With the nice weather it was another busy Sunday afternoon while volunteering at Reifel. A good part of my afternoon was spent keeping tabs on one of the Northern Saw-whet Owls in a vulnerable spot along the east dyke trail. It has gotten bad enough with visitors getting too close that staff have had to erect temporary fencing. Once things settled down towards the end of the day I did manage to get a brief walk in. While heading out along the outer dyke trail in search of my nemesis bird, Swamp Sparrow, there was a pleasant surprise skulking in the blown down reeds.

An American Bittern was busy foraging and feeding on small minnows. I stayed put here to point out this usually secretive heron to visitors. Everyone was delighted as it is not often you can sit back and watch these birds out in the open for this length of time.

When photographing American Bittern I always try to get a shot of them when they are standing tall in the reeds. They blend in so well it helps, as in this photo, to try and get them when there is a break in the reeds. You still capture their natural habitat and the clearer section helps highlight the bird.

Snowy & Rough-legged

Another great day and I managed to get to a couple of different spots. Not having much luck at the first, I ended the afternoon in Boundary Bay. Seeing the foot of 72 Street was quite busy, I made my way to 64 Street. From there I walked east along the dyke trail. It was looking pretty quiet here as well until I noticed a couple of family groups stopped and looking out into the marsh area. As I got closer I could see there were three Snowy Owls roosting out there.

One of the Snowy Owls was actually not too far off and provided a good photo op. Everyone was enjoying them from the dyke with nobody venturing out to get closer and disturbing them.

Another winter visitor that I have managed to see, but not photograph yet this year is the Rough-legged Hawk. Most of my sightings this winter have been from a distance and never really close enough for photos.

Late this afternoon that changed with this Rough-legged Hawk roosting atop a tree. A pleasant surprise to get this as I find they are usually quite skittish when people approach. A good end to the day’s outing.