2021 Birding Blog

September 10, 2021 - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

This is my first post-retirement blog post. I'm still working part-time, but am trying to take 2 or 3 days per week off for activities like bird-watching and golf.

My former co-worker and bird-watching friend Margaret contacted me suggesting we do an outing to Reifel. She had a friend (Susan) from Toronto visiting and wanted to show her some of the local bird life. We agreed to go on Friday Sept 10 for a half day visit to Reifel.

It was our lucky day as a rare bird had appeared at Reifel the day before, a Black-necked Stilt. We see these birds in Fall migration when they are making their way south from up north.

We checked in at the Sanctuary and Margaret and Susan bought some bird seed to attract the birds along the paths.

It doesn't take long to start seeing birds as there are ponds along the entry way. This is a good spot to see ducks, herons and shorebirds.

The first birds seen were this group of Yellowlegs. I think these are Lesser, but I'm always a little dubious about ID between Greater and Lesser.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Another common bird along this path is the Great Blue Heron

This is also a favourite place for the Wood Ducks, as they really like the bird seed that gets

scattered by the visitors.

Wood Ducks - Male in molt above, Female below.

It didn't take too long for Margaret to attract a customer for some bird seed, in this case a

fairly scruffy looking chickadee, possibly a first year bird.

We reached the North East corner and checked out the view from the Ewan Slough Blinds. The only birds spotted were a Song Sparrow and a House Finch.

Song Sparrow

House Finch

We were now approaching the West Field where the Stilt had been spotted. However, we saw some other birds along the way.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Northern Shoveler

Killdeer

We made it to the West Field and caught sight of the Black-necked Stilt. It's hard to miss with the black and white body and the long pink legs.

Black-necked Stilt - Reifel Bid Sanctuary - 2021 Bird #85

The bird gradually crept closer and I got some better photos.

Here's a shot of the stilt beside a Yellowlegs, a Lesser I believe.

I also got this shot of a Yellowlegs with a Long-billed Dowitcher (on the left behind the Yellowlegs).

And one last shot of the Stilt:

On the way back to the parking lot we saw one more familiar bird.

Belted Kingfisher

And lastly, this long distance shot of a hawk overhead, probably a Red-tailed.

That ended our day, it was a very nice outing and it was good to see Margaret again and meet Susan.

February 6 and 7, 2021 - Boundary Bay, Backyard and Elgin Heritage Park

This post is a collection of three locations over two days.

February 6, 2021 - Boundary Bay

I made a short visit to Boundary Bay on this Saturday and got a couple of unique shots. The first creature seen was not a bird, it was this Coyote wading into the low tide at Boundary Bay, no doubt looking for something to eat.

Coyote Coyote - Boundary Bay, 104 St, Delta BC

It was great to see the coyote, but I was here to see new birds for 2021.

First up were these Sanderlings.

Sanderling - Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC - 2021 Bird #33

And away they go...

Sanderling - Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC

It was a good day for 2021 firsts, including this Northern Harrier.

Northern Harrier - Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC - 2021 Bird #34

That was it for Boundary Bay, but when I got home there was a surprise awaiting me in the back yard.

February 6, 2021 - Backyard

Sharp-shinned Hawk - Backyard, North Delta BC - 2021 Bird #35

I wasn't quite done yet, there was one more 2021 bird to be seen, my first Chestnut-backed Chickadee of the year.

Pine Siskin (Left) and Chestnut-backed Chickadee - Backyard, Delta BC - 2021 Bird #36

February 7, 2021 - Elgin Heritage Park

The following day I visited this location in South Surrey. There was nothing new for the year but I did take a few photos that were worth posting.

Common Mergansers - Elgin Heritage Park, Surrey BC

Mallards are common, but this photo of a pair was one of my better ones so far this year.

Mallards - Elgin Heritage Park, Surrey BC

This photo is not too sharp as the birds were moving fast overhead.

Northern Pintail - Elgin Heritage Park, Surrey BC

And finally, a nice shot of a Towhee.

Spotted Towhee - Elgin Heritage Park, Surrey BC

That's it for this post. The next one will feature a visit to a location in Port Coquitlam.

January 23 to 31 - Remaining January Birds

This post has a collection of shots taken in late January.

The first shot features a Bald Eagle seen on Boundary Bay on the 23rd.

Bald Eagle - Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC - 2021 Bird #29

On the 24th, I saw two more firsts for 2021 in my front yard.

Hairy Woodpecker - Front Yard, North Delta BC - 2021 Bird #30

Shortly after this photo, another woodpecker posed on the Fir tree in our front yard.

Northern Flicker - Front Yard, North Delta BC - 2021 Bird #31

This is not a bird but the shot was worthy of inclusion in this post...

Black Squirrel - Backyard, North Delta BC

The last new bird of the month was also seen in the Backyard:

Pileated Woodpecker - Backyard, North Delta BC - 2021 Bird #32

That's the end of this post, on to February.

January 21, 2021 - Elgin Park and Ladner Harbour Park

Elgin Park - Surrey BC

I took this Thursday off and joined my friend Mary-Jean in some birding. She had come in from Chilliwack hoping to see the Yellow-billed Loon in Surrey at Elgin Park. I had seen it twice already, but from quite a distance across the Nicomekl River.

It was a nice day with good light. Upon arrival we started seeing a good variety of common birds, first with some ducks. This Green-winged Teal was my first for 2021.

Green-winged Teal - Elgin Park, Surrey BC - 2021 Bird #19

I like the reflections in this shot of these Mallards.

Mallards - Elgin Park, Surrey BC

A loon did show up, but it was the Common Loon, still nice to see and reasonably close. The flat head is a very good field mark for this Loon.

Common Loon - Elgin Park, Surrey BC

This is a terrible photo of my first Great Blue Heron for the year, but I haven't seen another one yet in 2021.

Great Blue Heron - Elgin Park, Surrey BC - 2021 Bird #20

This Cormorant was another new bird for the year, with a somewhat better photo.

Double-crested Cormorant - Elgin Park, Surrey BC - 2021 Bird #21

The year birds kept on rolling for me. The diversity at this location is amazing.

Common Merganser - Elgin Park, Surrey BC - 2021 Bird #22

Ring-billed Gull (#23) and Common Merganser - Elgin Park, Surrey BC

We saw another Loon, but again it was the Common variety. The fish didn't have a chance.

Common Loon - Elgin Park, Surrey BC

Another hunter appeared, I'm pretty sure this is a River Otter, but am open to correction.

River Otter - Elgin Park, Surrey BC

There were some smaller bids on the shoreline including this common winter Sparrow.

Golden-crowned Sparrow - Elgin Park, Surrey BC

Finally, the bird we were here to see showed up! and unlike the other times I'd seen it here, it was quite close to our shoreline. Mary-Jean got her lifer! It was my second sighting of the bird in 2021, the first being on New Year's Day.

Yellow-billed Loon- Elgin Park, Surrey BC

I saw one more 2021 bird before we left, a Belted Kingfisher. It was too fast or I was too slow to take a photo so I have substituted this shot from March 2020 taken at Serpentine Fen.

Belted Kingfisher- Elgin Park, Surrey BC - 2021 Bird #24
(Photo from Serpentine Fen in 2020)

Ladner Harbour Park - Delta BC

We still had some time and decided to visit this location in hopes of seeing the ever elusive Blue Jay that has been in the area since late 2020. I had seen the Blue Jay, but Mary-Jean had no luck the times we visited this site together. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the Eastern Blue Jay, but there were a few birds around.

As we drove into the park, we saw a Pied-billed Grebe swim by, my first of the year. it was gone by the time we parked, so I've substituted a recent photo from Abbotsford.