CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography
Birding in British Columbia, Canada
While there was a nice break from the rain today, the wind was making it quite cold. Not wanting to be out in the open, I headed to Reifel for my walk. This at least provides some shelter from the wind while walking the inside trails. It was pretty uneventful on the photo front, but one of the regulars did come through for me.
One of the Black-crowned Night-Heron was perched on a log in the slough. Always nice to get them somewhere other than the usual trees.
Weather wise there was a bit of a break while volunteering at Reifel this afternoon. For those that did venture out there today, a couple of the regulars for this time of the year were cooperating for visitors. There were a few Black-crowned Night-Heron,
… one of which was in the open providing great viewing opportunities. The morning bird walk also counted five Northern Saw-whet Owls.
This one snoozing relatively unobstructed delighted many along the east dyke trail. So, it was a good day for viewing the Black-crowned Night-Heron and Northern Saw-whet Owl which are often tucked away and behind branches.
Later in the afternoon there was a cessation in the rain and I was out the door. It was back to Boundary Bay for the Palm Warbler that is still alluding me after several attempts and some American Tree Sparrows I saw the other day. On arriving it was still overcast and fairly breezy. While I did see some sparrows and warblers, there was not much activity on the small bird front. There was one Northern Shrike moving between trees, several Northern Harriers, Short-eared Owls, Rough-legged Hawks and Bald Eagles all active over the marsh. But the action that got my attention was that some of the Snowy Owls were mobile. While they were occasionally harassed by Harriers,
… they were also chasing and jousting with each other. They appeared to be duking out over roosting spots. One of the contested spots was a log fairly close to the dyke that I managed to set up on without having to venture out into the marsh.
This Snowy Owl is still vocalizing with another after returning to this spot.
After settling down it slowly made its way out to the end of the log.
Once there, and with the Snowy Owl comfortable with my being there, I was able to shift my position a little for this shot. Just when it thought it might have a peaceful roost for a while, a tractor/mower happened to come along the dyke flushing the owl back out into the marsh. Still, some unexpected and fun activity to watch and photograph.