#169 Western Tanager Date - June 7. Location: Grouse Mountain Powerline Trail, North Vancouver BC. Status: Abundant
This trail runs along the bottom of Grouse Mountain. It is my go-to place for Western Tanager. Although I saw one on this day, it was quite high up and the photo leaves something to be desired. It's the only Tanager I saw in 2015
#170 Band-tailed Pigeon Date - June 7. Location: Grouse Mountain Powerline Trail, North Vancouver BC. Status: Abundant
On my way back to the car I noticed a large bird atop a tall tree on the lower side of the trail. I wasn't sure what it was and snapped three quick photos before it disappeared. I looked at it in my camera view screen and realized I had Lifer #401. This made up for the poor Tanager photo.
#171 Cedar Waxwing Date - June 13. Location: Columbia Valley, Chilliwack BC.
Status: Abundant
Edith and I headed out to Chilliwack to join our friend Mary-Jean for the annual Ryder Lake Ramble. We took a side trip to Columbia Valley for some birding. It was not as rewarding as in years past, but I did get my first Cedar Waxwing of the year.
#172 Barn Owl Date - June 13. Location: Kent BC.
Status: Abundant
We did not see many birds on the Ryder Lake Ramble this year, the few we did see were not new for the year and were covered in other posts. We then headed out to a location in Kent where Mary-Jean knew of some nesting barn owls. I won't reveal any more details where we saw them. To get the IPhone photo below I had to climb some hay bales and then a ladder on top of the bales. I only disturbed the bird for a couple of seconds, it was very young and made a loud hissing noise.
#173 Swainson's Thrush Date - June 15. Location: Avalon Golf Course, Burlington WA.
Status: Abundant
This was the day where we play golf all day, 54 holes worth of torture. As we approached our first hole early in the morning, I heard the musical fluty song of a Swainson's Thrush and then saw it fly out of a nearby tree. No photo and no other sightings for the year. This photo of a young thrush was taken at Pitt Lake in August 2014.
#174 Common Nighthawk Date - June 23. Location: Above our Front yard, Delta BC. Status: Abundant
Many nights in the summer I head out to the front yard to listen for Nighthawks coming out of Burns Bog. The numbers have decreased and I am lucky to hear and maybe see one bird as I did on this night.
However, a birder in Coquitlam has been reporting good numbers of this bird over the dike trail in the Coquitlam Indian band reserve. On August 24 I made the trip and did see about ten nighthawks. Since they come out at dusk, it is challenging to get a good photo. The one below is cropped quite a bit, it is the best I could do on this night.
The rest of this post covers the birds seen in Newfoundland in late June.
#175 Great Black-backed Gull Date - June 27. Location: Signal Hill, St. John's NL. Status: Abundant
My first new species on our trip. I had seen this large gull before in Nova Scotia, so it was not a lifer. I love the distinctive dark colouring of this gull. We'd see them in many locations during our stay in Newfoundland. The pair below were photographed in the North-western corner of the province in St. Anthony.
#176 Red Crossbill Gull Date - June 27. Location: Bay Bulls, NL. Status: Abundant
This was a real surprise to see. We were having dinner in a pub near our bed and breakfast. We sat at the back of the building and had a small window looking out on a bird feeder. The waitress informed us that someone had seen some red birds at the feeder and thought they were Pine Grosbeaks. When they appeared, they were Red Crossbills, a similar and related species. This is an IPhone photo that turned out quite well since we were so close. The male is the reddish orange bird, the female is the yellowish one.
#177 Common Murre Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
Our first sunny day in Newfoundland, a perfect day for a bird and whale watching cruise. The first stop was one of the four islands in the reserve where we were guaranteed to see large nesting colonies of Atlantic Puffins and other sea birds. The first bird spotted was the Common Murre, which as its name suggests, is plentiful. This bird can be seen locally off the deck of a BC Ferry as it leaves harbour. The first photo is from this tour and shows a Murre in flight. These birds are shaped to fly through the water when they dive after small fish such as Capelin.
The photo below shows Murres from a different nesting colony named St. Mary's Ecological Reserve. There will be more on this location in the July post. Here, the eggs have hatched and the nestlings are out in the open. This is an IPhone photo taken through my spotting scope from above.
The photo below shows Murres from a different nesting colony named St. Mary's Ecological Reserve. There will be more on this location in the July post. Here, the eggs have hatched and the nestlings are out in the open. This is an IPhone photo taken through my spotting scope from above.
#178 Black-legged Kittiwake Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
This gull species also nest on the island. They get their name from the sound of the call that they make. There is a theory that they provide some protection for the other species that nest on the same island. They are the only Gull species adapted to nesting on the high rock faces.
Once again, the first photo is from the cruise on this day.
The second photo is from St. Mary's in July. The St. Mary's photos were taken form a plateau above the cliffs, not from a boat. This shows an adult with two chicks, one which is practising some wing stretches.
#179 Atlantic Puffin Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
The Murres and Kittiwakes were great, but everyone on the cruise was looking for Puffins. It is ironic that there are two species of Puffin available on the west coast (Tufted and Horned) but the Atlantic seem like the real ones. Better marketing, I suppose. The Puffins did come into view and now the challenge was to take some decent photos on a moving boat. The first shot shows a small group on Bird Island, the second one shows one in flight. The tour guide stated that they look like flying potatoes, as they are shaped similarly to the Murres.
The Puffins were added to my life list as #402.
This gull species also nest on the island. They get their name from the sound of the call that they make. There is a theory that they provide some protection for the other species that nest on the same island. They are the only Gull species adapted to nesting on the high rock faces.
Once again, the first photo is from the cruise on this day.
The second photo is from St. Mary's in July. The St. Mary's photos were taken form a plateau above the cliffs, not from a boat. This shows an adult with two chicks, one which is practising some wing stretches.
#179 Atlantic Puffin Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
The Murres and Kittiwakes were great, but everyone on the cruise was looking for Puffins. It is ironic that there are two species of Puffin available on the west coast (Tufted and Horned) but the Atlantic seem like the real ones. Better marketing, I suppose. The Puffins did come into view and now the challenge was to take some decent photos on a moving boat. The first shot shows a small group on Bird Island, the second one shows one in flight. The tour guide stated that they look like flying potatoes, as they are shaped similarly to the Murres.
#180 Razorbill Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
I had hoped to see this species as well and was snapping some photos of birds on the rocks, probably thinking they were Common Murres. When I reviewed my photos that night, I saw that I had one photo of some Razorbills. You can tell by looking at their bill how they got their name. This was lifer #403.
#181 Northern Gannet Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
These are a very common sea bird, but they don't nest in the same location as the Puffins. However, there were a few strays out on the water seen from the boat. The big nesting colony is at St' Mary's Ecological Reserve, which we would visit two weeks later. I've included three photos, the first from this day, and the next two at St. Mary's. The second shows a nest gathering activity. The third is self evident.
#182 Common Tern Date - June 29. Location: St Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River, NL. Status: Abundant
This tern species was seen in a few different locations in Newfoundland. The first photo was taken in Cornerbrook early in July. The second was taken near the end of our vacation at Middle Cove in St. John's.
#183 Common Loon Date - June 29. Location: St Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River, NL. Status: Abundant
Somehow, I had missed this species on the West Coast, where they are very easily seen in the winter. However, seeing one here meant that I got a nice photo of the Loon in breeding plumage.
#184 Arctic Tern Date - June 29. Location: St Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River, NL. Status: Abundant
When I took this photo I assumed it was more Common Terns, as we had seen them just before we saw the terns pictured below. These are definitely Arctic Terns, the best indicators are the short bill and short bright red legs. It's interesting that the town where we saw them has three names, one for each of three settlements that were amalgamated.
These terns were lifer #403.
This ends the June Blog. There's more Newfoundland birds in the July Blog, plus some seen in Calgary and back home in the Lower Mainland.
#180 Razorbill Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
I had hoped to see this species as well and was snapping some photos of birds on the rocks, probably thinking they were Common Murres. When I reviewed my photos that night, I saw that I had one photo of some Razorbills. You can tell by looking at their bill how they got their name. This was lifer #403.
#181 Northern Gannet Date - June 28. Location: Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, NL. Status: Abundant
These are a very common sea bird, but they don't nest in the same location as the Puffins. However, there were a few strays out on the water seen from the boat. The big nesting colony is at St' Mary's Ecological Reserve, which we would visit two weeks later. I've included three photos, the first from this day, and the next two at St. Mary's. The second shows a nest gathering activity. The third is self evident.
This tern species was seen in a few different locations in Newfoundland. The first photo was taken in Cornerbrook early in July. The second was taken near the end of our vacation at Middle Cove in St. John's.
#183 Common Loon Date - June 29. Location: St Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River, NL. Status: Abundant
Somehow, I had missed this species on the West Coast, where they are very easily seen in the winter. However, seeing one here meant that I got a nice photo of the Loon in breeding plumage.
#184 Arctic Tern Date - June 29. Location: St Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River, NL. Status: Abundant
When I took this photo I assumed it was more Common Terns, as we had seen them just before we saw the terns pictured below. These are definitely Arctic Terns, the best indicators are the short bill and short bright red legs. It's interesting that the town where we saw them has three names, one for each of three settlements that were amalgamated.
These terns were lifer #403.
No comments:
Post a Comment