Birding in British Columbia – Page 2 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

More Black-necked Stilt

The good news on arriving to help out on the trails today at Reifel was that the Black-necked Stilt was still around and at the rear of the house pond. Needless to say that was my first stop.

Apparently the Stilt had been following some Northern Shovelers in the pond earlier in the day, perhaps checking out what they were stirring up.

While the ducks were still around, while I was watching it hung around with the Greater Yellowlegs or would wander off on its own.

While preening off and on, the bird also provided a couple of chances to get shots like this.

The nice thing about this location in the sanctuary is that you are at the same level as the bird for a more natural perspective. The lighting and reflected colors on this particular pond can also enhance your photo opportunities. Being a little closer to your subject doesn’t hurt either.

Black-necked Stilt

Received a message today concerning a fairly rare visitor to the Lower Mainland area. A Black-necked Stilt had been spotted at Reifel. It has been almost five years to the day since my last photo of this species in this area. So taking a little time off work was in order.

On arriving at the sanctuary I learned the bird was still present in the southwest field and headed right out there. On arriving there were several other birders/photographers already there.

The Black-necked Stilt was not hard to spot amongst the Dowitchers.

The bird provided good viewing and photo opportunities. It would have nice if it was a little closer, but still a lot better than my last photo/record shot.

Black Phoebe, Solitary + Creeper

The rain this morning likely a contributing factor to the smaller crowd at Reifel this afternoon. Fortunately the showers stopped just before I arrived. The target bird for today being a Black Phoebe that was reported the middle of last week.

My first pass along the east dyke trail where it has been seen the last few days met with negative results. While continuing to look for the Phoebe,

… there were some Solitary Sandpipers in the slough adjacent to the trail,

… and a Brown Creeper along the trail to keep me occupied and entertained.

After a little more walking and talking to a couple of other birders who had just seen it, I decided to stay put at that spot as it had also been seen frequenting this area in the morning.

It was not too long before the Black Phoebe returned and provided good viewing and photo opportunities.

I was soon joined by other birders and photographers looking for the bird. The Black Phoebe is a rare visitor here, with the BC Bird Alert site indicating that this bird is the 27th record for the province. It has been several years since I last saw and photographed one, so this was a good day.