Month: September 2010

One day, three parks

Up and out by 8:15am, a bicycle ride to Ambleside Park, West Vancouver (3 hours birding); then to Harbourside Park (2 hours) and from there to Maplewood Flats (2 hours). Returned home by the Second Narrows bridge.

Amleside Park: ducks kingdom, and a female Brewer’s Blackbird on the grass near the parking lot. Read more about birding Amleside Park here.

Harbourside Park: 13 Black Turnstones, in the company of 23 Harbour Seals. On an abandoned field (that sounds wrong, allow me to rephrase: In an undisturbed habitat) east of Fell Avenue: 3 Western Meadowlarks!
Notable on the West side of the Park were 4 killdeers and a Horned Grebe.
For a more detailed description of Harbourside Park birding look here.

Maplewood Flats: a Bewick’s Wren! This cutie was on my wish list for a while!

Lifers total: 6! woo-hoo!

Birding by Bike

You can’t get to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Iona Island or Boundary Bay by public transit alone. The reason is, these places are home for birds, and birds don’t take public transit. Why Nature Vancouver, which organizes birding trips, rarely coordinate car pooling, is an open question (but see comment).

The significance of the Birding by Bike trip at Boundary Bay was not by the bird species (my count was 37 species including an Eurasian Collared-Dove for a life bird) I encountered, but by the revelation that I can get places that are at the edge of the known earth (well, almost…) with my trusted pair of bicycle combined with public transit. And I can stay there the whole day! Birds, here I come!

More birding at Burnaby Mountain

After a meeting at SFU I went birding at Burnaby Mountain, but this time through the residential area. Scanning some trees at the edge of a big parking lot I finally got my first view of the Golden-crowned Kinglet, a tiny 4″ bird who usually resides at the top of trees.

Just when I ruminated, “well, I saw all the birds I had last week on the forest trails except for the Pileated Woodpecker“, I saw a Pileated Woodpecker. It was standing on a large tree stump, close by, splendid as always.

Warblers migration

This lifer came knocking on my door, or rather, calling from the bush beside my window. I went outside to work on my road bicycle when I heard the call. Fetching my binoculars, I was in for a treat.
MacGillivray’s Warbler!
I investigated ebird and found that this bird was just seen at the close by Hastings Park, so I went there and relocated it.
I was succumbed by chirpiness all day.

Birding Burnaby Mountain

The Burnaby Mountain forest was quiet most of the time, with the occasional worthwhile sighting.

The first bird I saw was a lovely, tiny rodent.
The second bird was a dazzling Pileated Woodpecker in flight, who perched to allow a novice birder an identification.

As I was trying to ID some sparrows on a tree, handsome Wilson’s Warbler popped-up and said: “Hello! Are you trying to see ME? Here I am!”
These Sparrows were hiding, but I had 3 Savannah Sparrows at Centennial Park.

A Raven called, first from a distance, then getting nearer; he then came flying and landed on a nearby tree and I saw his tail; he saw me, got a little scared and had to leave right away.

Turning from Mel’s trail to Trans Canada trail I encountered a Black Bear!
The bear wished for a quite trail. I made noise. A cyclist showed up and ventured in the reported bear direction, then a couple of hikers. I figured the bear went to seek some privacy elsewhere and continued my walk.

After the bear came a small Coyote, an Eastern Gray Squirrel and a Douglas Squirrel. In some trips the mammals are as good as the birds.

With a TrailRider

hiking with a TrailRider
On summer 2010 I hiked with people with disabilities. That’s me at the front carrying a trailRider. I discovered new local parks and usually stayed after the hike to do some birding.

For more information about the program in case you’re interested to hike in a trailRider or to volunteer, check out the British Columbia Mobility Opportunities Society.

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