Mountain Bluebird

With signs of spring in the air and local birds starting to nest, migration is also underway. One such migrant that regularly passes through the lower mainland at this time of year is the Mountain Bluebird. Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen is usually a reliable location for them to make an appearance and the destination for today’s walk.

There were several other birders and photographers out there today to see this lone male Mountain Bluebird first spotted yesterday.

This afternoon the Bluebird was active both north and south of the observation tower,

… foraging for food amongst the logs. It will be interesting to see if it is joined by any others before moving on. Also of note from the morning a Say’s Phoebe had been sighted, but no longer present when I arrived.

Grosbeak & Bluebird

Happy Easter and what a glorious holiday weekend it has been so far. Did my usual stint at Reifel this afternoon and there were lots of visitors out enjoying the day. Still fairly quiet on the birding front though. Spotted one Rough-legged Hawk that has not moved on yet,

… and there were still half a dozen Evening Grosbeak around. While there is still a couple present, there were no Northern Saw-whet Owls along the east dyke trail today. Did not see the American Bittern that has been showing well lately either.

At the end of my day at the sanctuary I was informed that some Mountain Bluebirds had been spotted at Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen. They pass through here each year at this time. I had been down there last week looking for them without success. With lots of great late afternoon light left, I made my way down there.

It did not take long after arriving before I spotted them.

About a dozen of them busy moving along the beach area foraging for insects.

There were lots of people down at the beach today as well, which also kept the birds moving. This made it more of a challenge to try and get photos.

Then they all flushed and disappeared. As I looked up there was a Merlin right above me. Not long after it left, a Cooper’s Hawk showed up briefly. Needless to say the Mountain Bluebirds did not surface again while I was there. Hopefully they stick around for a few days and I have another chance with them.

Mountain Bluebird

Sticking with the theory from the other day that the Mountain Bluebirds should be showing up anytime, I headed back down to Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen. While the rain had finally stopped, it was still cool and windy with the windchill around zero degrees Celsius.