Hammond's Flycatcher
Varied Thrush
A photographic diary
Friday, 9 September 2011
Once bitten....
A quick early morning foray around the shore of Buttle Lake and Ralph River campground first thing before the mosquitoes realised I was around did produce a gem in the shape of a cracking male MacGillivray's Warbler and a Hammond's (unless someone can tell me otherwise!) Flycatcher and a few Varied Thrushes.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Getting better...slowly
Waking up at a picturesque Cumberland Lake to the calls of Red-breasted Nuthatches and eating my breakfast watching the local Steller's Jays clearing up the picnic tables and 3 Spotted Sandpipers along the lake shore and a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets (which looked and sounded for all the world like Thetford Forest Firecrests) was a vast improvement on the previous days.
Heading north up Vancouver Island we stopped at Oyster Bay where a Bald Eagle carrying a fish and then an Osprey trying but failing to catch its own was a nice start. Amongst the many Black-bellied, sorry, Grey Plovers and posing Great Blue Herons were a couple of smart Black Turnstones.
There were also a few birds in the bay itself but mostly distant, though a Pigeon Guillemot, 2 Black Scoter, 3 Red-necked Grebes and a few Bonaparte's Gulls were in close enough to identify.
We finished the day in Strathcona Provincial Park, which late afternoon, once the heat had subsided, did produce 3 Blue Grouse playing chicken with cars along the road by Buttle Lake and a few Varied Thrushes (proper orange versions, not like the Cornish one!) and a White-crowned Sparrow around the campsite, along with the ubiquitous mosquitoes which always seem to appear when I am around which forced a hasty retreat back to the campfire.
Heading north up Vancouver Island we stopped at Oyster Bay where a Bald Eagle carrying a fish and then an Osprey trying but failing to catch its own was a nice start. Amongst the many Black-bellied, sorry, Grey Plovers and posing Great Blue Herons were a couple of smart Black Turnstones.
There were also a few birds in the bay itself but mostly distant, though a Pigeon Guillemot, 2 Black Scoter, 3 Red-necked Grebes and a few Bonaparte's Gulls were in close enough to identify.
We finished the day in Strathcona Provincial Park, which late afternoon, once the heat had subsided, did produce 3 Blue Grouse playing chicken with cars along the road by Buttle Lake and a few Varied Thrushes (proper orange versions, not like the Cornish one!) and a White-crowned Sparrow around the campsite, along with the ubiquitous mosquitoes which always seem to appear when I am around which forced a hasty retreat back to the campfire.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
B.A in B.C
I'm not sure if it's the fact that my last big trip was to Africa where it was wall to wall wildlife, but after 2 full days of wildlife watching, we really haven't see all that much yet! Most of the morning was lost picking up the camper van and supplies, but even driving around there just doesn't seem to be much wildlife around, apart from Northwestern Crows, there's not even much by the roads and the ferry crossing to Vancouver Island which promised much yielded just a pair of Black Scoter and a Common Seal!
Respectable Photographers....???
When we booked our camper van from Wicked Campers, we knew we weren't likely to get a run of the mill, boring van, and having told them we would be photographing wildlife so wanted something camouflage, this wasn't what we were expecting...
And whilst the side is quite funky, the message on the back does get me some funny looks, and comments...
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Bandits at 6 o clock (or should that be 3 o'clock?)
Having checked into the hotel, we set off for a quick afternoon trip into Vancouver before the full effects of jetlag set in. Up to this point, the only birdlife we had seen were a handful of Northwestern Crows and Glaucous-winged Gulls as we made our way in the airport shuttle, though Stanley Park, an oasis on the outskirts of Vancouver was our destination in the afternoon heat.
With throngs of cyclists, joggers and roller bladers coming from all directions, Stanley Park really is not somewhere to try walking around when you are half asleep and struggling to come to terms with the fact it is 6 o'clock in the evening and not 3 o'clock in the morning as your body clock is trying to tell you. The fact there are so many people around does make the wildlife remarkably tame, none more so than the many Racoons, dressed like highwaymen which appeared late afternoon and harrass passers by for any scraps, though they were very endearing, as was the Douglas' Squirrel eating a burger bun.
The birdlife was much like many city parks with truely wild Canada Geese and Wood Ducks also coming to look for scraps. A Great Blue Heron fished oblivious to the many passers by stopping to photograph it with the camera phones and Glaucous-winged Gulls also posed for photos.
With throngs of cyclists, joggers and roller bladers coming from all directions, Stanley Park really is not somewhere to try walking around when you are half asleep and struggling to come to terms with the fact it is 6 o'clock in the evening and not 3 o'clock in the morning as your body clock is trying to tell you. The fact there are so many people around does make the wildlife remarkably tame, none more so than the many Racoons, dressed like highwaymen which appeared late afternoon and harrass passers by for any scraps, though they were very endearing, as was the Douglas' Squirrel eating a burger bun.
Dressed for the part
Even the local Squirrels are partial to fast food in this country
The birdlife was much like many city parks with truely wild Canada Geese and Wood Ducks also coming to look for scraps. A Great Blue Heron fished oblivious to the many passers by stopping to photograph it with the camera phones and Glaucous-winged Gulls also posed for photos.
Great Blue Heron
Glaucous-winged Gull
Wood Duck
Other birdlife was fairly thin on the ground, though Northern Flicker, Black-capped Chickadee, White-crowned Sparrow, Spotted Towhee and a Belted Kingfisher weren't a bad start to the trip.
Toto, we're not in Kansas any more!
Following an early start, a bumpy take-off from a wet and windy Heathrow and a nine hour flight we finally made it to Vancouver, an hour and a half after we left, or so the clock was telling us. Normally long haul flights are tedious with nothing to see out of the window, but I'm not sure many people see a mass of Beluga Whales from 30,000 feet in Hudson Bay looking like grains of rice close in to the shoreline like we were lucky enough to and the view over the glaciers of Greenland wasn't bad either!
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Lakes listing
Having only been down the Nunnery Lakes reserve a handful of times before this year, despite it being a short walk from where I have worked for the past 8 years, the BTO Vs RSPB TEAL Cup has changed all that and rather belatedly I am now an avid Lakes Lister.
Starting 8 years too late means there are still some glaring omissions to my list, but a text from Lakes resident (almost literally!) Nick Moran had me hotfooting it down to the meadow to successfully twitch 2 Yellow Wagtails this evening, though I only saw them in flight - but they all count.
Starting 8 years too late means there are still some glaring omissions to my list, but a text from Lakes resident (almost literally!) Nick Moran had me hotfooting it down to the meadow to successfully twitch 2 Yellow Wagtails this evening, though I only saw them in flight - but they all count.
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