It’s the time of year I get excited about seeing owls so I took a stroll along the dyke at 72nd Street, one of the locations where fancy new signage for the Metro Vancouver Regional Park has recently been installed. It was 4 pm, with daylight fading and the tide high, and sure enough a Short-eared Owl was patrolling the old field grassland outside the dyke, on the lookout for tasty Townsend’s voles. It was almost immediately intercepted by a female Northern Harrier and a slight change of route was taken by the owl. These two species use the same habitat, eat the same voles and often interact. Harriers seem to be holding their own around Boundary Bay, while Short-eared Owls numbers appear to have trended downward (they used to nest in the Centennial Park area, for example, and naturalists used to regularly report flocks of 50 or more roosting birds near the dyke). It is difficult to know why this would be , but competition on a diminishing habitat might be a reason. Historically, much of the delta was marshes, rough grassland and small scattered shrubs, a kind of wet prairie. Dyking in the 1800s changed that, with the floodplain steadily converted to rich agricultural ground. Fallow fields continued to provide habitat for owls and harriers, which also utilized the uncultivated marshland, or “saltings”,  outside the dykes. In recent years, more and more delta farmland has been converted to intensive farming , residential or industrial use, with a consequent decline in fallow and old fields. The work of the Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust has been critical in maintaining this type of habitat, in set-a-sides and crop rotation programs, otherwise we would have lost more species than we have.

Thinking of other owls, a Snowy Owl has been seen at Iona, so maybe we will have a snowy year, although it is only a few years since the last big invasion. That would entice a lot of birders to Boundary Bay, one of the best locations in the Lower Mainland for seeing and photographing these beautiful large owls in an invasion year.

I like birding at this time of year because you never know what is likely to turn up. On October 18 at Deas Island Regional Park there were 30 to 40 Yellow-rumped Warblers feeding busily in trees near the heritage buildings, accompanied by a quiet little Brown Creeper, working the bark. A few of these warblers linger for the winter, with a handful often occurring on Christmas Bird Counts, but most will soon be gone. On October 19, a Northern Shrike flew above the dyke at 104th Street, Delta and Boundary Bay was full of Dunlin, Black-bellied Plover and tens of thousands of dabbling ducks, mostly Northern Pintail, American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal. Flocks of Snow Geese flew from east to west overhead, making for the mouth of the river and the estuarine Carex marshes that they feed in. They seldom stop in Boundary Bay itself, which is a marine enbayment, and consequently much more salty than the river mouth.
Varied Thrushes have been feeding on my rowan (mountain ash) tree this week, along with several Northern Flickers, one of them a hybrid between the eastern and western forms (it had golden underwings, not red).
One of my birding friends has been seeing a coyote out in the fields regularly this month, and the eastern grey squirrels in my garden have been eating far too many poisonous fungi, so they are rolling around the lawn. These non-native species are rather fun to watch and have invaded many suburban areas of Greater Vancouver since about 1993.

Last week was memorable for me as I attended Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood book launch in Vancouver, manning a table for her charity of choice, Nature Canada, that featured the Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program. In BC this program is run by BC Nature, where 84 natural areas have been identified under the international IBA criteria. The book launch was most unusual, since it included both dramatized readings and musical interludes. The language was forceful, witty and emotional in turn, and the message both futuristic and environmental. I am looking forward to reading the book. I was accompanied at the Nature Canada by Dr Rob Butler, a renowned bird biologist and blog writer for the Vancouver Sun and my daughter, Sarah, who has read every one of Atwood’s books.
I was also delighted to have a chance to meet with Ms Atwood the next day, for what was originally intended to be a birding trip, but turned into a short walk among the tourists and bicycles of the sea wall in Stanley Park, overlooking Burrard Inlet (which incidentally is an Important Bird Area due to its attraction for grebes, loons, cormorants and other fish eating birds). The walk may be included in a documentary of the tour, although other than a flock of Canada Geese and a few shy Savannah Sparrows the birds were not too evident. Check out Margaret Atwood’s blog for pictures and tales of her Vancouver launch and visit.

The Delta Nature Casual Birders headed to Elgin Park in South Surrey this morning and it was a good choice of destination. Despite a forecast of rain today, it was a calm, blue-sky day, Pacific tree frogs were calling, and birds were plentiful.  The park lies beside the Nicomekl River where salmon were leaping and splashing and a Belted Kingfisher dived for smaller fish, while Great Blue Herons watched from the shallows. Both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were feeding and calling along the shoreline, as the tide receded. Further downstream we encountered a dozen or so Long-billed Dowitchers in a side slough, a Marbled Godwit, 3 Black-bellied Plovers and one of the beautiful Golden Plovers – probably Pacific. It’s tail and primary wing feathers stuck out about equally, and it’s plumage was suffused with golden yellow. All four plovers were feeding on mud worms that they were pulling out of the sand burrows with relish. Small songbirds were also much in evidence, with chickadees, Bushtits, juvenile Yellow-rumped Warblers, House finches and Goldfinches all active, flocks of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins, and a sprinkling of sparrows – White-crowned, Song and one Savannah Sparrow. Fungi were beginning to emerge under the trees. We found sulphur tufts and golden amanita, as well as the usual cinder conks and turkey tails growing on fallen logs.  A bit of rain and there will be many more species.

Elgin was one of the first European communities on this side of the bay and several older buildings remain, including  Stewart Farm in Elgin Park. The forest patch here was originally logged in the 1890s, when it produced some of the largest Douglas-fir ever recorded in BC. The second growth forest of Douglas-fir, Western Redcedar and Bigleaf and Vine Maples, is a peaceful spot on the edge of the wetlands and provides a wonderful diversity of habitats in this park.

Another enjoyable outing to Point Roberts with Tom Bearss and the Delta Naturalists Casual Birders resulted in 3 Heermann’s gulls (2 imm, I adult, non-breeding plumage) seen on the south beach (accessed through a narrow easement between houses) as well as several Marbled Murrelet off Lily Point, visible from the first high cliff lookout, with a handful of Pacific Loons and Red-necked Grebes, and a flock of 25 or so Common Loons seen from the second high cliff lookout.

Other species included flocks of feeding Black Turnstones and Sanderling (100+) along the tideline at Lighthouse Park, with one Western Sandpiper in among them, more loons, skeins of White-winged Scoters, Surf Scoters, lots of Pelagic Cormorants and a few Harlequin Ducks. An Osprey flew over, probably came from Deltaport, and we also saw 2 Caspian Terns.

No sign of Bonaparte’s Gulls there yet, although we saw several in Pender Harbour last weekend while attending the Fall meeting of BC Nature.

A stroll along Boundary Bay dyke today, from the 104th Street entrance to 96th St, revealed tens of thousands of “peeps” (small sandpipers) and hundreds of strikingly-coloured Black-bellied Plovers. Migration is in full swing for the shorebirds. The tide was just going out and the birds were all feeding on the wet mud. The distance to the tideline became greater as I headed east, and the species became difficult to distinguish with only binoculars. Luckily I encountered another birder, Roger, who shared his telescope and quickly found me 2 Red Knots, looking rather grey in their fall plumage, some Short-billed Dowitchers, and a more colourful Marbled Godwit. That one I could see with binoculars, as it stands taller than the plovers. The peeps swirled around in a big flock, perhaps spooked by a falcon though we didn’t see one. There was also a Pectoral Sandpiper, a couple of Yellowlegs and some nice little Semipalmated Plovers, that look like miniature Killdeer.  The MetroVancouver Regional Park field at the Delta Airpark had 42 Great Blue Herons standing around on it, many of them young ones, and I saw another 6 young ones near 96th St, so the herons have had a good year at this end of the bay. A Caspian Tern was diving for fish out in the water and some Ring-billed and Glaucous-winged Gulls were hanging around on the wrack line with the NW Crows.

The dyke path was fairly quiet – other than us birders, there were only a few cyclists and walkers out to enjoy the calm, late summer afternoon.

It was sunny and breezy yesterday, and at Iona Beach Regional Park a lot of families were enjoying the wide views of the Georgia Strait. The tide was high and there was not much beach in evidence. Mixed flocks of small sandpipers, or “peeps” as birders call them, were skimming the water’s edge looking for a bit of shoreline to feed on. The plumages were all mixed up, with juveniles, post-breeding moults, and still colourful adults among them. I spotted Western Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers, but there may also have been some Semipalmated Sandpipers there too. A slightly larger Spotted Sandpiper flew in giving its distinctive call and landed on some mud, wagging its tail end up and down. The peeps all seemed very agitated and would not settle for long in any one place. Every now and then, small flocks flew up and whirled around in their dashing flight, showing first white then dark as they twisted from side to side. This is usually the sign of a predator among them, and sure enough, a Merlin shot through the panicked birds, its sharp wings drawn back, heading for the kill. It missed that time but kept chasing the sandpipers around, so they couldn’t stop and feed. Merlins are small dark falcons, not as large as Peregrine Falcons, but deadly for small peeps. They keep them on the move until one of the migrating birds tires or miscalculates.

The peeps have come from Alaska and the Yukon and are on their way to Central and South America. It is amazing that these tiny little birds can travel so far, and even more amazing to know that typically the adults fly south first, followed by the young of the year later in the summer. The navigation is incredible and the dangers en route are many.

A Friday evening ferry ride from Tsawwassen terminal to Lyall Harbour, Saturna Island, turned into something very special, as the J -pod orcas were heading through Active Pass just as we left Galiano. They came through in small groups of three to five, moving quickly and blowing as they emerged, looking just like the dolphin family to which they belong. One did a little spy-hopping, emerging vertically out of the water to have a look around, but mostly they just moved steadily on through the churning waters of the Pass and out into the Georgia Strait.

I wish I could have got some photos to share but sometimes it is better just to watch and enjoy than worry about snapping pictures. There are plenty of lovely orca photos online already. The beautiful sunset on Saturna was easier to photograph.

I joined Tom Bearss’ group of Delta Nature’s casual birders today for a trip to Iona Regional Park. Flocks of several dozen Least Sandpipers together with Semipalmated Sandpipers and Western Sandpipers were feeding on the muddy shores of the sewage lagoons. These were adult birds with most in breeding plumage. According to Dennis Paulson’s Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest, Iona is a good spot for Semipalmated Sandpipers in July. After coming south as far as the Fraser Estuary, Paulson reckons that they must head east through the interior, as they are not notably present in large numbers at shorebird stopovers further south. As well as the “peeps” we enjoyed a Spotted Sandpiper and its newly fledged young one, several families of Gadwalls with large broods of ducklings and the usual mix of White-crowned Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, Brewer’s Blackbirds, Starlings and other songbirds that live in the weedy parts of the park.

At the end of the metalled road in Wells Gray park is magnificent Helmcken Falls waterfall, which is two and a half times the height of Niagara according to the local info brochure. At six am on a June morning, the view was sublime.