Ah, the sewer ponds at Iona have been lucrative over the years...
Monday, May 18, 2009
77. Cinnamon Teal - May 2009
Saw this beauty from a distance, out at Iona Regional Park. They really are very distinctive. A beautiful rich brown. Apparently they're quite common. I'm surprised we haven't seen them before...
Sunday, May 10, 2009
76. Clark's Nutcracker
One of two great birds I saw at Lake Louise. Despite what the books say, it looks nothing like a grey jay.
75. American Crow
Seen all along the seashore near Kits, picking up shells and then dropping them on the concrete paths. There is also a massive colony that lives around here somewhere. Once we put birdseed on a plate on the back verandah and a Crow came and took the lot, plate and all.
74. Common Raven
We were sitting on the benches outside Hollyburn Lodge - having a hot chocolate - in between skis. We shared the seat with these 2 nutty bird fanatics who were feeding the Whisky Jacks. When the Ravens arrived they seemed to know them, almost by name. They treated them like pets, saying things like "who's a beautiful boy? What beautiful feathers you have" etc etc. I had never looked at Ravens as beautiful until this moment. I had always just treated them as pesky Currawongs. They actually are quite beautiful.
73. Tree Swallow - May 2008
Seen at Reiffel in... a tree. Also in May 2009. Kate amazed. "Ooohhhh myyyyy ggoooosssshhh. Look at that blue bird". For the longest time I have been offering a chocolate bar to the first person who sees a Mountain Blue Bird. We haven't seen one yet, but every blue bird now seems to qualify.
72. Violet-Green Swallow - July 2008
Saw these guys skimming the water on a canoe trip up Widgeon Creek near Chilliwack.
71. Red-Breasted Nuthatch - 2008
Saw this bird at Nairn Falls. These little guys can go up and down a tree, creeping along somehow as if they're walking on a flat surface.
69. Brown Creeper - December 2007
Seen for the first time at the Harris House. See them frequently when we walk in heavily timbered forests.
68. Cedar Waxwing - August 2008
Have seen quite a few of these distinctive birds. The first time was at New Denver, on dusk, with a really crappy pair of binoculars. They were shadowed against the light but I could see their cool cresty heads. They hung around long enough for me to cruise around and see then from lots of different angles
67. Yellow Warbler - August 2008
We picnicked and swam beside the Kettle River to the sound of these gorgeous little birds. The Kettle River Valley is just picturesque. Clean. Natural. Beautiful.
66. Spotted Towhee - June 2008
Although we first saw this bird in Pemberton, it is sighting this bird at Lighthouse Park in May 2009 that gives me with one of my best birding memories. We were scrambling around on rocks with the girls when I said "shhh, there's a bird" and Kate said - in front of a bunch of awestruck adults - "don't worry mum, it's just a Towhee". We now have one that lives in the hedge beside our house.
65. Fox Sparrow - January 2008
Seen near a pretty lake at Royal Roads University on Vancouver Island. Not sure how we could have identified him at this stage of our birding, but here it is.
64. White-Crowned Sparrow - April 2009
Saw this guy scurrying about underneath a tree down at Kits beach. The stripey bit on his head is really fluffy and buffley. Cute.
63. Golden-Crowned Sparrow - 2008
Seen at Reiffel. One of a bunch of stripey-headed sparrows. Apparently this one is also called "Weary Willie" because its song sounds like it's crying "I'm so weeeeary".
61. Red-Winged Blackbird - January 2008
I remember seeing my first Red-Winged Blackbird on a freezing day out at Reiffel - years and years ago. At the time I was amazed at the colours on the bird's wings... the bright yellow and red look great against their glossy black backs. I remember Pam and Penny being less impressed. They really are very widespread, but I do like them. They have the same kind of carolling song at Australian magpies and when they fly and show their colours they are beautiful.
60. Brewer's Blackbird - April 2009
These guys competed with the Mourning Doves for my attention in Palm Springs.
59. Bullock's Oriole - August 2008
We camped by a beautiful fast-moving river near Princeton. The river ran fast over a pebbly bottom and someone had made a rock-pool for the kids to play in. We had just packed up and were walking along the river's edge when Molly said "Mummy, I saw an orange bird". That usually meant a sparrow or something else quite ordinary. She had in fact spotted a Bullock's Oriole. It was hiding amongst some stringy bushes on the edge.
58. House Finch - May 2008
There are heaps of these around Kits. They're quite striking even though they're so common.
57. American Goldfinch - April 2009
In a little copse of trees off South West Marine Drive I saw more yellow birds than I've ever seen in my life. One of them was unmistakeably an American Goldfinch.
56. House Sparrow
Rabbits. Foxes. Pidgeons. House Sparrows. Gallipoli. The English have a lot to answer for. Enough said.
55. California Quail - April 2005
Saw these scratching underneath the apple trees at Anna's place up at Summerland. I couldn't believe that these were wild birds... thought they were just poor souls that get periodically eaten by sneaky cats from aviaries. I do remember that the bobbles on their head were extremely cute.
54. Northern Saw-Whet Owl
I would never have known that this was what I was looking at, nor found it, if it hadn't been pointed out and identified by a professional photographer keen to show the kids, at Reiffel. It was sitting on a nest, right beside the path, looking a bit confused.
52. Red-Breasted Sapsucker - June 2008
This bird is a legend in our family. Penny had a board game as a child and if you drew the Red-Breaster Sapsucker card you would almost certainly win. We saw our first - and only - Sapsucker at Alice Lake when we were picnicking.
51. Northern Flicker - 2008
There are a bunch of Flickers that live it Kits. I see them (or maybe it's just one very busy bird) a lot.
50. Pileated Woodpecker - February 2009
These guys are really big birds. I saw my first one at the park on Camosun and 16th. We had been for a one hour walk in the Endowment Lands and I hadn't seen a single bird. Then, standing in the park I saw this beauty. He was rapping away at a log. I was struck by the luminance of the red of his crest. It's very distinctive. And he was really banging away... no wonder this one in the picture looks so surprised - or is it glazed - by life
49. American Robin - November 2007
First seen at Jericho, these are common birds that hop around in the Spring and Summer months. We see them everywhere.
48. American Black Duck - May 2009
I have been looking at these ducks thinking that they're female Mallards for the longest time, but look at the YELLOW beak.
47. Rock Dove - May 2009
Yeah I know, we've all seen zillions of these rats-with-wings BUT if I don't include it here I can't count it.
45. Greater White-Fronted Goose - May 2009
I am very proud to have seen this goose today at Reiffel. It was a long way away and when it caught my eye - even before I'd got the binoculars out - I could see that it was different to anything I'd seen before. The female was quite a bit lighter, and they both had the distinctive white patch of their face.
44. Barn Swallow - May 2009
Today at Reiffel it was Swallow City. They must have migrated back from somewhere because there were Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows everywhere... sitting in trees, in and out of nesting boxes, skimming along the top of the water. We saw this fellow sitting on a wire on the way into Reiffel at Ladner. He had a beautiful red chest.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
42. Belted Kingfisher - January 2008
Saw this spunky bird at Granville Island. Has a great top-knot. Also seen at: Jericho Beach, Salthspring Island.
41. Starling - January 2007
Saw these at Granville Island. If you ignore the fact that they are imported from Europe, and probably a pest, they are incredibly pretty birds. Especially in the sun. The girls love them.
40. Mourning Dove - April 2009
These noisy coo-ers cooed around my room in Palm Springs. They all seemed to be perpetually breeding and nest-building. And did I mention cooing. I thought it was really sweet the first day...
39. Costa's Hummingbird - April 2009
It was a great surprise to see soooo many of these beautiful little birds in Palm Springs. I saw the first one in an outdoor wedding chapel. There was a vine growing on the wall covered in flowers, and I saw a Costa's Hummingbird floating above the flowers. When it turned into the sun its neck feathers were a beautiful dark purple.Beautiful.
38. Rufous Hummingbird - April 2008
Saw this beautiful little bird for the first time out at Reiffel. It was perched high in a dead tree doing the whole "J" dive thing. Saw another at Reiffel with Kate and Molly in May 2009. They both saw it through the glasses and were amazed by the "gold" feathers around its neck when the sun catches them.
37. Cowbird - June 2008
Anna hates these birds because they are like cuckoos. Saw my first Cowbird at the bird feeder in her vegie patch. Kate wonders if they have an udder, or produce milk.
36. Chickadee - Novemver 2007
I had been calling people "chickadee" for years before I knew it was the name of a bird. The Coopers' birdfeeder has always attracted zillions of chickadees. They have a lovely, happy song. We get lots of our back verandah at Trutch St.
35. Golden Crowned Kinglet December 2007
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Saw this bird at Capilano Canyon. It was the first small bird I saw in Canada with a stripey head. Cute. Little. Hops around in the cypress.
34. Stellars Jay - April 2005
Saw my first Blue Jay in Pemberton at Anna's birdfeeder. I love these birds. They're big and strong and colourful. They seem to bound around in the trees. Also saw a great one once at Alice Lake. Always startling.
33. Blue Jay - October 2008
Saw this distinctive bird in a tree on the roadside in Miami. Then saw one in a tree in Central Park NY.
32. Whisky Jack or Grey Jay - December 2007
We saw these for the first time up at Cypress, on the benches outside the lodge. They were taking bits of food from people's hands. They seem to appear at every outdoor picnic venue (in flocks)... Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Whistler, Manning Park...
31. Black Billed Magpie - August 2008
Great birds. Big long tails. Beautiful dark blue. Saw them at Lake Louise in the grounds of the Fairmont.
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