|
For my friends not
acquainted with Canadiana: "Bay Day" is the name of
an annual (or more frequent--I'm not sure) sale at The Bay (a
department store run by the venerable Hudson's Bay Company). I
don't actually think that they had the sale on the 28th of August,
but I did go to Boundary Bay that day, and it was too punny of
a name to pass up. I think maybe I'll look out for the next Bay
Day and be sure that I spend it down at Boundary Bay...that would
indeed be fitting.
On my way down to the
Bay, just as I turned off the highway onto Ladner Trunk Road,
I passed under a light standard with a Red-tailed Hawk on it.
So I stopped the car and pulled out the camera. The hawk spooked
as soon as I got out of the car (they seem to be pretty wary),
and I got a few pictures of him in flight.
|
|
 |
| After the
hawk flew off, I headed on down to 72nd Street and thence to the
dyke, stopping only to get pictures of a passing coal train (which
were very similar to a lot of other recent photos, so I won't bore
you with them). There wasn't much going on there at the dyke. Retracing
my steps, I found a farm truck that's in the early stages of becoming
overgrown. |
|
 |
|
While taking the truck
photos, I heard some very chickenlike clucking coming from the
golf course behind me. Looking over and through a fence, I saw
a family o' chickens strutting about. I guess they were escapees
or visitors from one of the nearby farms.
Here's the alpha male,
the leader of the troupe, the guy at the top of the pecking order.
Everyone seemed to follow where he led.
|
|
 |
| Here he
is with three of his followers (there were two more of them, not
shown here). I found their various plumages interesting. |
|
 |
| Here's
one of the littler ones. It's a strange shape, that chicken head. |
|
 |
| This one
seemed of equal size to Mr. Alpha. |
|
 |
| Finally,
the chief chicken had seen enough of me, and he led the whole entourage
into the bramble where I couldn't see and couldn't follow. |
|
 |
|
I then decided to head
over to the Mansion, to check out the bay from the dyke there.
Along the way, there is a farm with a flock of sheep. Most of
the sheep there are black-headed, but there was this one sheep
with a white head. So the "black sheep" of this flock
is actually a white sheep. Hmmmm.
|
|
 |
|
Right around the sheep
farm, I found these guys. I've seen a lot of them about; I'm not
sure what they are, but their big bills leads me to believe that
they're juvenile House Sparrows. Undoubtedly, someone will soon
set me straight on their i.d. and I'll let you know.
|
|
 |
|
Along the road to the
mansion, there is a farm where you can pick your own vegetables,
like this woman is doing.
|
|
 |
| This guy
had the same idea. |
|
 |
| A little
ways further along the road, there was a worn-looking Barn Swallow
perched on the wire. |
|
 |
|
Down at the mansion,
I just found the usual suspects. Here's a Greater Yellowlegs,
with a little fish in his mouth. These little fish seem to be
one the main attractions there for the yellowlegs. I've sent out
a picture like this before.
|
|
 |
|
Also present were Stilt
Sandpipers, like this guy.
|
|
 |
| Here's a
bird I don't think I've sent before, though. This is a juvenile
Herring Gull. He's got a twig in his mouth...I watched him pull
it up out of the water. Herrings are a big and quite widespread
species. |
|
 |
|
Along the dyke, near
where I was standing, a sparrow landed and flitted about. I had
been seeing a lot of Savannah Sparrows, but this guy was a juvenile
White-crowned Sparrow.
|
|
 |
|
I turned my attention
back to the bay, but didn't find any other interesting shorebirds.
I shot a few pictures of the ducks that had congregated a little
further out. In this photo, not all of the brown lumps are the
same. There are two larger lumps smack in the middle of the picture,
and one on the upper left; the size of the bills on those lumps
make me believe that they're Norther Shovelers.
|
|
 |
|
It was a grey day,
and the bay wasn't really hopping, so I decided to turn in for
the day. On the way home, I stopped to take photos of some cows.
|
|
 |
| And serendipitously,
where I stopped I also found this female Brown-headed Cowbird. Maybe
they're called cowbirds 'cuz they hang out with cows. |
|
 |
|
So much for Saturday.
On Sunday I got up early and went to the beach...
Always lookin' for
good fowl,
Tom
|
|