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.
Pied-billed Grebe - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC - 2021 Bird # 25
(Photo taken at Wilband Reserve , Abbotsford DB in November 2020)
Another first for the year was the very common American Crow.
American Crow - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC - 2021 Bird #26
This next shot almost turned out, but is a little too blurry.
House Finch - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC
Surprisingly, I had not seen a Red-tailed Hawk yet in 2021. Once again, the first photo of the year is a little disappointing.
Red-tailed Hawk - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC - 2021 Bird #27
I did better with #28, the last bird of our day. Although we missed the Blue Jay once again, we did get a nice look at its western cousin.
California Scrub-jay - Ladner Harbour Park, Delta BC - 2021 Bird #28
That ended our birding day. The Yellow-billed Loon was definitely the highlight.
