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It was Saturday and
I had gotten up late in the morning, but I still had time to get
in some birding before lunch. I headed up to North Vancouver,
to Maplewood in particular. It was fairly overcast when I got
there, which was around 11:30. There wasn't much activity about,
and I was regretting having not risen earlier in the day.
Sometime around noon
I had made it to the far side of the preserve, at a little outlook
over the water. There I saw a few Glaucous-winged Gulls messing
around. One of them had found a clam.
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| I took photos
as he tried to get into the clam. Eventually he did fly with it,
and I prepared for a gull-dropping-shellfish photo. I was ready
as he pulled into a stalling position, head down, ready to drop
the shell. |
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| But he didn't
drop it; he just sort of floated down with it still in his mouth.
I guess it was too hard for him to let go of thing, even if that
was the only way to get into it. Letting food out of your mouth
doesn't come easy for a gull. |
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| I photographed
him repeating that procedure two or three times, but eventually
decided I should head onwards to be able to get back to Burnaby
in time for lunch at 1:00. Here's a final shot of him flying with
it, which was what he was doing when I left. |
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| As I was
headed back, I saw what I think is a Water Birch tree and took photos
of some of the patterns on its bark. In color and "feel",
none of the photos turned out as nicely as I had hoped, but the
patterns were still vaguely interesting. |
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The horizontal white
ridges or scars are called lenticels, and around here,
one finds them on birch, alder, and cherry trees.
Near the bridge linking
the east and west portions of the preserve, I took a few unremarkable
photos of a White-crowned Sparrow, and of a Common Loon that had
paddled in towards shore. Here's the loon.
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| As I crossed
the bridge I noticed some motion in the open sky, and caught an
Osprey heading out over the water. |
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It was now about 12:40
and so I headed on to lunch at the Golden Pita. Lunch was a protracted
and excellent affair, as usual. I didn't waddle away from the
table until 3:30 or so, and after a little shopping, I saw that
the sun was cutting through the clouds a little more than it had
been earlier and so I went over to Colony Farm Park to see what
was shakin'.
It was about 4:30 when
I got there; I entered off of Shaugnessy Street rather than my
more usual habit of driving to the parking lot by the community
gardens. I headed down the trail to the duck pond, where I found
this male American Wigeon, who not only was shakin', but also
going sideways on me.
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And no, I have no idea
what he was doing, but I liked the way he kept his head level
throughout it.
There was also a Pied-billed
Grebe floating around the pond. I always associate this pond with
these guys, because this was where I saw my first ones.
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| I walked
on towards the Coquitlam River, and when I reached the trail beside
it, I saw a few crows chasing a Red-tailed Hawk far in the sky to
my northwest. |
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| I took a
lot of shots of them, but at that range they were pretty hit-and-miss.
Mostly miss. |
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| A little
ways along the trail, I spotted a Great Blue Heron in the nearby
ditch, stalking something. He seemed more concerned with his hunting
than with me, so I was able to get good shots of him. |
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| Often at
Colony Farm one hears Ring-necked Pheasants making their creaky
calls from the fields, and this day was no exception. What was exceptional
was that it was their mating season, so the birds were actually
trying to be a ltitle more visible, and the grass was short
enough that one could (with patience and attention) see and even
photograph the tricky critters. I wanted to get closer to them,
but I couldn't, because the off-trail parts of the park are off-limits.
Here's a male. |
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I've seen pheasants
at Colony Farm before, in late summer and early fall. Then, one
only sees them when they're flushed by something: they'll pop
up over the tall grass for a short flight, then disappear again.
Generally they're not up long enough to track them and focus with
the camera, and it happens infrequently enough that it'd be extremely
tedious to wait with the camera ready until it happens. I guess
that's why pheasant hunters often have dogs to run through the
grass and scare up the birds.
Here's a more detaied
shot of a male, the foreground grass just missing him. That tall
stuff in the foreground made getting a good shot a difficult proposition.
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| Here's the
best shot I got of a female; that danged foreground grass was even
more in the way this time. |
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I'd really like to
get some good pheasant close-ups, but to do that I'd have to find
some place with pheasants where I don't have to stay on the trail.
Regardless, I was very happy that I finally was able to get photographs
of some, even if they were a bit distant and slightly obscured.
I passed the duck pond
again, on my way out. This time there were half a dozen or so
Bufflehead on the water. Here's a few of them, with the sunlight
turning them a little bronze.
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| And here's
a Gadwall that came by unusually close for one of his kind. |
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| Back by
my car, a male Red-winged Blackbird flew into a young tree in front
of me, and I got photos showing one of his colored wing patches,
all springtime fresh. |
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It was about 6pm as
I dropped my camera and binoculars in the car and headed home.
When I got home, I
was carrying my camera in, and it seemed like a good time to try
to get some nice photos of the tree that is right beside the stairs
that lead from my place to our building's courtyard. This tree
has gorgeous light pink blossoms in the spring, but I've never
been able to get photos that really capture how nice it is. This
time I think I did pretty well, though.
The moderately overcast
sky did keep the blossoms a little pale, but in return I got some
nice colors out of the trees and shrubs in the background.
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I've never been able
to identify this tree, despite several attempts. I think it's
an imported ornamental, not one of our indigenous varieties. I
guess I'll have to give up and ask our gardener next time I see
her.
Well, the sun hadn't
been out too much, and I hadn't found any new species, but my
time outside had been pretty relaxing and I had gotten
photos of a species I hadn't been able to catch before, so I'd
have to say that, all in all, it had been a pleasant Saturday
in the field.
Your peripatetic photographer,
Tom
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