Tag Archive | birding

Weekend Expedition 8: Return to Reifel!

Mar10
Cannot resist these cranes! This one was calling.

Cannot resist these cranes! This one was calling.

The Weekend Expedition to Reifel Bird Sanctuary with Wild Research was a fun outing, made better by the good company and great weather. Highlights of the trip were a Great Horned Owl, Saw Whet Owl and American Bittern. Only the Bittern was a cooperative model. I tried a few low angle shots on feeding ducks, but did not have much time to work out the kinks. I think I will try to do more of this in the future, as it is an interesting and humorous perspective.

Below is a selection of the photos…Check out that lovely Bittern!

Weekend Expedition Plans: Iona Beach With Wild Research

Feb15

It is time for another outing with Wild Research, this time to Iona Beach, another great wintering bird location. Iona Beach is located just to the North of Vancouver International Airport, and offers several habitats, including freshwater and brackish marshes, ponds, beaches, dunes and tidal riverbanks. I will be out snapping shots of the birders and the birds, hopefully with some nice light!

Results of Weekend Expedition 3: Reifel

Feb3

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Weekend Expedition 3 went off with no undue trouble thanks to Willow English, a phalarope researcher who drove us both to Westham Island and the George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary. This was the first time I had been there in many years, the last having been on a field trip with my vertebrate ecology lab way back in undergrad.
The weather was a mix of fog, cloud, and sun, so no real dramatic lighting was available, but this is typical for this area in the winter. There were certainly a lot of birds, as this is one bird sanctuary where you are allowed to feed the wildlife (which, when you think about it, is kind of odd). I think these feeding opportunities made for some good photo opportunities  such as the sandhill cranes in closeup, as well as the low angel mallard shot. On the raptor front, we were not disappointed to find a sleepy Saw-Whet Owl dozing on a low limb with another somewhat higher. These have been spotted for several weeks now, and in general they seem to be reliably found at Reifel.

Overall, not so many surprises, but it was definitely worth the trip. And feeding Sandhill Cranes really is pretty awesome.
What did you get up to this weekend?

Weekend Expedition Plans: Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Feb1

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I would like to get out to the George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island, if I can arrange transportation… Folks have been shooting lots of cool stuff out there and I would like to give it a go.  The goal? Get out into new territory and not be such a homebody…If suitable transport cannot be arranged, I will have to wing it with the bus system.

The main work-related goal this weekend is to prepare a 40 minute talk on caracara foraging biology for next Thursday’s Les Ecologistes seminar.

Weekend Expedition 2: Stanley Park with Wild Research

Jan26

This weekend expedition was much like any you might venture to make on a winter day in Vancouver: grey and rainy! The rain was not severe though, so with the camera protected by a big umbrella, I headed out with Wild Research for a birdwatching trip led by Elly Knight, a grassland songbird researcher at SFU. The mission today was to get out and see some waterbirds as well as some passerines that make their homes in wintertime Vancouver. I was along to document the fun, as well as to offer my own, often unreliable, ID help! Click on any image below to see a gallery of the resulting shots.