Peregrine Falcon

Things Picking Up On The Bay

By picking up I mean in spite of the tide being out there were still good numbers and variety of birds out on Boundary Bay this afternoon. I started off along the beach from 104 St. and headed west. The target bird today was Stilt Sandpiper as several have been frequenting the area of the mansion, a large house on the dyke between 88 St. and 96 St.

I got side tracked briefly by some Least Sandpipers, but moved on as I had a ways to go. On reaching the area in front of the mansion there were lots of Lesser Yellowlegs. While watching this one bird foraging it caught a worm,

… which wriggled free,

… resulting in a startled reaction by the Lesser Yellowlegs.

It then recaptured the worm, wandered off and eventually swallowed it.

Then I managed this shot of a Lesser Yellowlegs snoozing in the eelgrass.

Not far away from the sleepy Yellowlegs,

… were some Semipalmated Plovers. Also in with the plovers,

… were some Western Sandpipers.

I continued to scan the Yellowlegs groups as the Stilt will frequently be found with them.

Then when checking one group of Yellowlegs just after I started making my way back,

… was this lone Stilt Sandpiper.

The Stilt Sandpiper also took a brief time out in the middle of the tidal pool. But the nap was short lived,

… as a Peregrine Falcon came in a made several passes at the flocks of shore birds. At least I managed a few shots of my target bird before everything was scattered by the falcon. As I continued my way back I noticed not everything scattered. There was a small peep that had taken cover in a clump of eelgrass.

Waiting a few minutes it eventually came out and I could see it was a Least Sandpiper. Not much after that for some distance,

… until I happened upon a small group of Baird’s Sandpipers. Initially startled by the sound of the shutter,

… it soon settled and carried on foraging along the beach. Then there were good numbers of Lesser Yellowlegs coming in all around me near the pilings, but the Peregrine returned and scared them off once again. The last group encountered,

… was another small flock of Semipalmated Plovers. All in all, a good afternoon. With this number and variety of birds with tide out you can tell things are picking up and hopefully a sign of good things to come.

After a few chores around the house this morning I headed out to Reifel for the afternoon to help out on the trails. My only photos of the day were of a Peregrine Falcon.

This particular bird was perched nicely on an old snag along the driveway.

While the light was slightly behind the falcon,

… it still provided for some decent shots. No photos after that, but it was still an enjoyable afternoon to be out answering visitors questions along the trails.

Ducknapping & Peregrine

This afternoon I headed out to Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The purpose of this visit was volunteering, helping out with visitors on the trails.

On arriving I was informed of an incident that happened yesterday. Someone was actually trying to take ducks from inside the sanctuary. As shocking as this may sound, it has happened before. Previously it has been people in the parking lot trying to abscond with them. This is the first time I have heard of them being taken inside on the trails. I can only speculate that they would be destined for the dinner table. A Conservation Officer was informed and is following-up.

On the brighter side, it was a lovely afternoon for all that visited today. The crowds were not that large. While fairly quiet on the birding front, there was a nice assortment of shore birds present including the Stilt Sandpipers. There were also over a dozen Sandhill Cranes visiting along with the resident family of three.

I came across another visitor looking for dinner on the way out at the end of the day.

This Peregrine Falcon had been busy on the out ponds earlier hunting shore birds.

It was difficult trying to get a view as I had to shoot through branches.

Fortunately I had somewhat of a clear shot when it was stretching and fanning its feathers. It stayed on this high perch and continued surveilling the ponds.