On this lovely Saturday afternoon I decided to head down to the Tsawwassen Ferry causeway. I had a couple of birds in mind for today’s outing. First up was a Willet that has been wintering here for over a dozen years.
Here it has caught a small crab that happened to wash up onto the log it was roosting on.
One can only speculate if it is the same bird all these years,
… but one returns to the exact same area every year.
While photographing the Willet,
… a pair of Surf Scoter came in fairly close to the beach.
The male particularly so after one dive for mollusks on the bottom which they feed on.
Then I made my way west along the beach for the second target bird of the day,
… Snow Buntings.
These pretty little birds breed in the far north of Canada and Alaska,
… but will show up here every winter.
The last couple of winters there has been one or two birds.
Today there was 8-10 birds.
This one I managed to get stretching its wings after preening.
Needless to say I was not the only birder/photographer enjoying these little beauties today.
Bonus bird of the afternoon,
… was this Horned Grebe that went by while shooting the Buntings.
Seeing it coming, I set up on the waterline ahead of time as it approached. A fish in the bill after diving would have been nice, but I cannot complain as it was a great afternoon along the causeway.