Tsai's Nature Blog: Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Vancouver May-June 2017

I've noticed that some of the pictures on this blog change colour, and become darker or colder in temperature. Making the image to display at largest size fixes the problem for now.

May 7
Queen Elizabeth Park

Wilson's Warbler

Hutton's Vireo
grey claws

Anna's Hummingbird

Richmond Nature Park

Anna's X Black-chinned Hummingbird
this bird was first identified as Black-chinned Hummingbird, but later was confirmed by experts to be a hybrid.

Mourning Dove

May 14

Iona

Wilson's Warbler

American Goldfinch

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Barn Swallow

Purple Martin
only the male is all blue, the female on the left is drabber

Osprey

Painted Lady

Angiosperm

May 21

Reifel

Mallard

Bald Eagle

Sandhill Cranes

this year's colt unfortunately died possibly due to sickness.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Tree Swallow

Iona

Red-winged Blackbird

This male was very busy today. It sang to claim its territory.

swooped down on a crow

and kept an Osprey busy.

A Bonaparte's Gull also did the same

Osprey

May 21

Capilano Fish Hatchery

Probably one of the most reliable place to find dipper.

American Dipper

didn't care to look at the camera once, even when it was within 2 meters from me.

May 28

Burnaby Mountain

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Richmond Nature Park

Black-headed Grosbeak

Brunswick Point

Bar-tailed Godwits

New birds for me

Snow Geese

Bullock's Oriole

June 3

Langley

Yellow-breasted Chat

my first lifer this summer.

Spotted Towhee

Willow Flycatcher

Jun 10

Maplewood

Warbling Vireo

making nest

3 hours later it does look bigger.

Red-eyed Vireo

American Robin

nest with young

Pacific Tree Frog is easy to find at Maplewood

looks like this bee pulled the flower apart

Vancouver Jan-Apr 2017

Jan 7,2017
White Rock Pier
Some Long-tailed Duck photos would be nice, but they didn't come close to shore even at high tide. So a few diving substitutes are

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Not always a sea-dweller

Harlequin Duck

An antenna for remote-control? no, it's a GPS tracker. I did not find out which organization is studying this one.

American Wigeon

Eurasian Wigeon and American Wigeon in the back.

The males look very different, but the females are much harder to identify.

Eurasian Wigeon

Brunswick Point
Two Bald Eagles chasing dinner, they didn't catch the gull.

Jan 21

Boundary Bay

Bald Eagle

not chasing breakfast

Northern Harrier

this male caught a vole and landed on the dyke to avoid being harassed by other raptors.

A female Northern Harrier trying to steal a Red-tailed Hawk's food.

Short-eared Owl

Feb 13

Ambleside

Just before breeding season is a good time to see ducks in parks because they have freshly-molted feathers.

Bufflehead

Wigeon hybrid

Mallard

Grouse Mountain without grouse

Mar 19

Reifel

Mallard

the patch on the secondaries may be different on different individuals.

blue

Purple

Ring-necked Duck

a ring necked male

the shared characterist between male and female is the ring bill.

Wood Duck

male wood ducks do not take care of their ducklings

a female looking out from her nest box

wigeon hybrid

Sandhill Crane

Fox Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Boundary Bay

Long-eared Owl

Iona

Only some caged starlings

Mount Baker

Mar 20
Delta

Snow Goose

When the geese first arrived in the fall, they were mostly white. By the end of each winter season, their head would have turned brown from the iron-containing soil around here. These two seemed to have enjoyed a mud bath.

Great-horned Owl

They are big, but they still need to be alert, regardless if they have grown up because there are two nests of Bald Eagles near this tree, and eagles have been documented taking down great-horns.