This post is a composite of two recent outings to Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area where I went searching for breeding forest birds for my year list. For both trips I focused on the area near Horizons.

On my first trip I started out from the lab at SFU and followed the Trans Canada Trail towards Horizons. There was a flurry of activity as I descended the first hill down to the trail with a pair of Black-throated Grey Warblers (lifer!) and numerous Wilson’s Warblers flitting through the understory. There were also Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Pacific-slope Flycatcher (another lifer!) and a Swainson’s Thrush singing nearby. I spent more than an hour birding and photographing this small section of trail but I do have a tendency to stall about 10 meters into a nature walk. A tendency I share with most field botanists.

After I finally got going down the trail I did end up with a few more notable sightings including a Red-breasted Sapsucker and a Varied Thrush. I also was able to photograph a few interesting wildflowers like Fragrant Fringecup and Northern Starflower. Near a small playground east of Horizons I heard the hooting of a male Sooty Grouse. I followed the hooting back to a clump of dense Hemlock and after staking out the Hemlocks I was able to get my first view of Sooty Grouse and a passable picture. I then turned back and followed my trail to SFU with only a few new sightings along the way. Over the course of the walk I covered 3.6 km over 4 hours and saw or heard 23 bird species.

On my more recent trip I found that the morning chorus had changed considerably over the four weeks. I arrived earlier in the morning and started from Horizons parking lot. I spent longer here (6.5 hours) and covered more ground (6.4 km) on this outing. I took a meandering path first heading east along the Trans Canada Trail, then south along the Trans Canada Trail, and then north-west along Pandora Trail. I found a good diversity of forest passerines, adding Olive-sided Flycatcher, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo and Warbling Vireo to my year list for Metro Vancouver. The birding highlight was probably coming upon a Sooty Grouse hen and her chicks. Unfortunately for the hen, she was separated from her chicks by a series of dogs, which she chased down the trail until they were well out of sight of her chicks. I did later see the hen calling to her chicks after she returned from chasing the dogs so hopefully she was reunited with her whole brood.

On this outing I had the foresight to bring my my macro lens and was able to put it to good use on a few plants and a variety of insects during my meanderings about the park. I did even know there was such a thing as an Aquatic Leaf Beetle. I also need to acknowledge Sean for his help identifying this Cool Weather Mosquito.

All in all Burnaby Mountain was a great area for breeding forest birds. I was able to add 10 species to my year list over the two outings. Makes me consider getting up at the crack of dawn to bird my way up the mountain but then I remember my how long it took me to walk to Horizons. I’d be lucky to get in by noon… sigh!