March 29, 2005
2 Gyr weekend in Vancouver
The Easter break saw me jetting off to Vancouver to stay with Caz (former postdoc in Davis), Z, Hazel and Andrew in trendy Kitsilano. It appears that she knows me well - as soon as I arrived at the airport I was bundled into the car to look for the roosting Boreal and Saw-whet Owls at Reifel! Unfortunately, it appears both birds left the day before, but this was more than compensated for by magnificent views of my first ever Gyrfalcon.
Thousands of Snow Geese, many Bald Eagles and a Rough-legged Hawk added to the experience.
Next day, we walked around Stanley Park, where I spotted this gull on the Lost Lagoon - I assume it's 'just' a pale Thayer's, but it had me wondering about Kumlien's...
Also on the lagoon, the obliging scaup flock enabled me to get this comparison shot of Lesser and Greater Scaup - note the peakier crown of the Lesser and the all-over bulkier feel to the Greater.
There were large numbers of Barrow's Goldeneye offshore. In the latter picture (taken from north Vancouver), the birds had formed a tight, perfectly circular flock. Can anyone suggest why they might be doing this?
I spent the rest of the day being ridiculed for my poor Barred Owl impressions (the owls weren't impressed either given their lack of response), but got some good coniferous birds including many Red Crossbills (the first ones I've seen in North America), Varied Thrush and singing Winter Wren.
On Sunday we returned to Reifel for another unsuccessful attempt at Saw-whet, but I enjoyed the opportunity to get some close-up shots of the local race of Song Sparrow...
... and Great Blue Heron.
When the sun came out, this Spotted Towhee felt spring was in the air and sang his heart out!
At the end of the day we drove out to Boundary Bay. While we couldn't find January's Snowy Owls, we were lucky enough to have crippling views of another Gyrfalcon.
The bird took off, made an abortive attempt to catch a Mallard, and alighted on a distant telegraph pole, making an interesting size comparison with a Bald Eagle and (presumed) Northwestern Crow.
We also watched a Peregrine making repeated dives at a hapless Dunlin. Needless to say, the thousands of Dunlin present here objected to this, and gave us a stunning aerial display against the setting sun.
Before flying back to Davis, we had a brief stop at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, where Black Turnstones and this summer-plumaged Common Loon were the highlights.
Some non-birding pictures:
Flying into Seattle provides great opportunities for aerial photography from the plane. Here's Mount Rainier poking up through the clouds:
Coming in to land in Seattle.
We celebrated my first Gyr with a meal in a Greek Restaurant in Ladner. Little did we know we'd be entertained by the amazing Aziz - a fire-eating male belly-dancer!
Friendly Raccoons in Stanley Park.
The Sea Otters in Vancouver Aquarium are very genteel, eating off of plates!
The Belugas were a big hit with little Hazel, especially the cuddly kind!
Lego Village People in the Science Museum.
Hi, I'm glad our local birds put on such a good show for you. I live in Ladner by the river on the way to the Reifel Bird Refuge.
Often, when you see the sea ducks bunch up in a circle like you show here, there has been a Bald Eagle making a long slow overhead flight over them, just to see which birds move and which ones don't notice. Any duck that is too preoccupied and doesn't pay attention could be invited to lunch!
Posted by: Diane Kehoe at March 31, 2005 9:16 AM