- Many of the easy species had been ticked off in the first month
- I had no outings after February 11, possibly due to weather constraints.
I did manage to add 15 species to the year list and added one life-list entry.
As mentioned in previous posts, the photo accompanying the bird is the best one I took of the bird that year, not necessarily the photo taken on the first sighting date. This is especially applicable with common birds photographed early in the year.
#47 Red-tailed Hawk - Date: Feb 2. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond.
I usually see Red Tails in locations where I can't take a picture, namely on lamp standards on our local freeways. The photo below was taken in June at Colony Farms Regional Park in Coquitlam. It is a very young hawk who was nervously sitting on a telephone wire when I drove in. It was still on the wire two hours later when I left.
#48 Golden-crowned Kinglet - Date: Feb 2. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond.
No photo of this one, they are very elusive.
#49 Cooper's Hawk - Date: Feb 2. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond.
This hawk is a member of the Accipiter group which contains the very similar Sharp-shinned Hawk, and the larger Northern Goshawk. The members of this group feed primarily on smaller song birds, even the occasional Northern Flicker.
The photos I took at Terra Nova were poor and I was not sure of the ID. I submitted them to the local birding bulletin board and the experts agreed it was a Cooper's.
This was life list addition #357.
Three weeks later we had a Cooper's in our backyard eyeing our feeder. This allowed for the much better photo shown below.
#50 Snow Goose - Date: Feb 2. Location: Terra Nova subdivision in Richmond.
This was taken in a school yard near the Regional park. You can understand why Richmond residents might be a little upset and start talking about culling the population a bit. Of course, when we lived in the area in the early 80's this was all farmland. The sub-division was opposed at the time by conservationists.
#51 Northern Flicker - Date: Feb 3. Location: New Westminster near 7th Ave & 14th St
Normally I bird I see in our back yard, this one eluded me until I saw it while chasing a rarity described in #51 below.
#52 Western Scrub Jay - Date: Feb 3. Location: New Westminster near 7th Ave & 14th St
This is the most common Jay that you would see in California. They are occasionally seen up here as well. This one had been spotted in Fall 2012 in New Westminster in the neighbourhood close to the 22nd St Skytrain station. I had made a few trips to locate it with no success. In late January it was reported again a bit farther east and I was lucky to see it for about 30 seconds in a back alley. The photos weren't great. When I was in San Francisco for a convention, I did some birding as well. The photo below was taken in a nice City park in Atherton, which is about 30 miles south of San Francisco.
#53 Pine Siskin - Date Feb 3. Location: our backyard bird feeder.
Another surprise that I did not add this earlier in the year.
By far my best photo of this species was taken on the Ryder Lake Ramble in the Chilliwack area in June.
#54 Brown Creeper - Date Feb 3. Location: our backyard.
This is a tough bird to photograph. They spend all their time climbing up trees looking for insects as they go. They blend into the tree trunk very well, and fool the camera's auto exposure system. This was taken through our living room window using a fully extended zoom lens.
#55 Bewick's Wren - Date Feb 10. Location: our backyard.
Unlike the secretive creeper, the wren species love to announce their presence loudly and frequently. We've had these birds nesting in our backyard for years. They can be tricky to photograph, but sometimes I get lucky. The photo below was taken in April in our backyard.
#56 Hooded Merganser - Date: Feb 10. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond.
One of the showiest ducks you can see in North America. The photo of the male below was taken one day later (Feb 11) at Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
#57 Northern Shoveller - Date: Feb 10. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park.
These ducks may be confused with Mallards but can be distinguished by their huge dark bills and the brown colouring on the sides. The photo below was also taken at Reifel on Feb 11.
#60 Black-cronwed Night Heron - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
These tree dwelling herons return to Reifel every winter. I don't believe they are seen elsewhere in BC. the first photo is from Reifel, the second was taken south of San Francisco in September.
#59 Northern Saw-whet Owl - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
These small owls spend the winter at Reifel each year. They are a top attraction for visitors and photographers, some of whom act irresponsibly in their attempts to get photos.
We also saw this species in April in the Okanagan on our guided owling tour. This photo is from Reifel and was taken in December 2012. The only shot I got in 2013 was looking up at the backside of an owl.
#60 Sandhill Crane - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
These very large birds can be seen at Reifel for most of the year. One must be cautions as they are big enough to injure a person if provoked.
#61 Gadwall - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
An understated Dabbling Duck, can be identified by the white underside and black tail feathers. The photo below is a female taken in April at Reifel.
That was it for February. I picked up the pace a bit in March, which will be in the next Blog post.
#48 Golden-crowned Kinglet - Date: Feb 2. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond.
No photo of this one, they are very elusive.
#49 Cooper's Hawk - Date: Feb 2. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond.
This hawk is a member of the Accipiter group which contains the very similar Sharp-shinned Hawk, and the larger Northern Goshawk. The members of this group feed primarily on smaller song birds, even the occasional Northern Flicker.
The photos I took at Terra Nova were poor and I was not sure of the ID. I submitted them to the local birding bulletin board and the experts agreed it was a Cooper's.
This was life list addition #357.
Three weeks later we had a Cooper's in our backyard eyeing our feeder. This allowed for the much better photo shown below.
#50 Snow Goose - Date: Feb 2. Location: Terra Nova subdivision in Richmond.
This was taken in a school yard near the Regional park. You can understand why Richmond residents might be a little upset and start talking about culling the population a bit. Of course, when we lived in the area in the early 80's this was all farmland. The sub-division was opposed at the time by conservationists.
#51 Northern Flicker - Date: Feb 3. Location: New Westminster near 7th Ave & 14th St
Normally I bird I see in our back yard, this one eluded me until I saw it while chasing a rarity described in #51 below.
#52 Western Scrub Jay - Date: Feb 3. Location: New Westminster near 7th Ave & 14th St
This is the most common Jay that you would see in California. They are occasionally seen up here as well. This one had been spotted in Fall 2012 in New Westminster in the neighbourhood close to the 22nd St Skytrain station. I had made a few trips to locate it with no success. In late January it was reported again a bit farther east and I was lucky to see it for about 30 seconds in a back alley. The photos weren't great. When I was in San Francisco for a convention, I did some birding as well. The photo below was taken in a nice City park in Atherton, which is about 30 miles south of San Francisco.
#53 Pine Siskin - Date Feb 3. Location: our backyard bird feeder.
Another surprise that I did not add this earlier in the year.
By far my best photo of this species was taken on the Ryder Lake Ramble in the Chilliwack area in June.
#54 Brown Creeper - Date Feb 3. Location: our backyard.
This is a tough bird to photograph. They spend all their time climbing up trees looking for insects as they go. They blend into the tree trunk very well, and fool the camera's auto exposure system. This was taken through our living room window using a fully extended zoom lens.
#55 Bewick's Wren - Date Feb 10. Location: our backyard.
Unlike the secretive creeper, the wren species love to announce their presence loudly and frequently. We've had these birds nesting in our backyard for years. They can be tricky to photograph, but sometimes I get lucky. The photo below was taken in April in our backyard.
#56 Hooded Merganser - Date: Feb 10. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond.
One of the showiest ducks you can see in North America. The photo of the male below was taken one day later (Feb 11) at Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
#57 Northern Shoveller - Date: Feb 10. Location: Terra Nova Rural Park.
These ducks may be confused with Mallards but can be distinguished by their huge dark bills and the brown colouring on the sides. The photo below was also taken at Reifel on Feb 11.
#60 Black-cronwed Night Heron - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
These tree dwelling herons return to Reifel every winter. I don't believe they are seen elsewhere in BC. the first photo is from Reifel, the second was taken south of San Francisco in September.
#59 Northern Saw-whet Owl - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
These small owls spend the winter at Reifel each year. They are a top attraction for visitors and photographers, some of whom act irresponsibly in their attempts to get photos.
We also saw this species in April in the Okanagan on our guided owling tour. This photo is from Reifel and was taken in December 2012. The only shot I got in 2013 was looking up at the backside of an owl.
#60 Sandhill Crane - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
These very large birds can be seen at Reifel for most of the year. One must be cautions as they are big enough to injure a person if provoked.
#61 Gadwall - Date: Feb 11. Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta.
An understated Dabbling Duck, can be identified by the white underside and black tail feathers. The photo below is a female taken in April at Reifel.
That was it for February. I picked up the pace a bit in March, which will be in the next Blog post.
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