Song Sparrow – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Short-eared + Snowy Owl

It was a nice sunny afternoon when I started my walk at Boundary Bay. As with my last visit here, I was going to look for wintering sparrows. Not long after starting,

… this male Northern Harrier did a close fly by. On the sparrow front as I progressed east along the dyke I was only finding the usual suspects.

Like this White-crowned Sparrow,

… and Song Sparrow. With clouds moving in and the sun starting to set, it was time to start heading back. While adjacent to the golf course,

… I came across this Short-eared Owl that had stopped to rest on a fence post. As it continued getting darker,

… I was pleasantly surprised to see this Snowy Owl roosting out in the marsh. One has been seen here off and on for a couple of weeks now. The first one I saw this winter was also about two weeks ago at Reifel way out in the west marsh.

Tropical Kingbird

This afternoons walk was to Brunswick Point where a Tropical Kingbird had been spotted yesterday. As I started off my walk, I paused briefly to watch some sparrows.

While doing so I got this Song Sparrow in a puddle at the end of taking a bath. Not long after this I came across a couple of other birders watching the Kingbird. Waiting for it to come out more into the open,

… another Song Sparrow stopped and posed nicely nearby.

Then it was time to focus on the Tropical Kingbird again.

It was busy catching dragonflies,

… and would then rest briefly before venturing out for another one.

The Tropical Kingbird is a rare bird for this area, but can usually be seen each fall in the lower mainland area. This bird provided some great viewing and photo opportunities.

Sparrows & Rail

Cloudy and cool this afternoon when helping out at Reifel, but not a bad crowd given the conditions. The Great Horned and Northern Saw-whet Owls were noticeably absent along the east dyke trail. In the northeast corner I checked out some of the regulars.

Like this Fox Sparrow,

… and the ever present Song Sparrow. A couple of birds entertaining the visitors this afternoon and providing good views,

… were two Virginia Rails. This one captured on ice along the slough’s edge. Another highlight today were two Swamp Sparrows making brief appearances around the tower again. A few birders were delighted to see them, some for the first time. Unfortunately I did not manage any new photos of them.