This past Saturday I used my parents visiting as an excuse to finally go and explore Burnaby Lake Park. I am sorry to say the park is only a short walk from my home and it has taken me more than four months to actually walk there. The weather was cold but the birding was really good with 29 species seen or heard.

As was already reported on Vancouver Rare Bird Alert there was a mixed flock of Red and White-winged Crossbills. Being from Alberta I am quite used to White-winged Crossbills so I was actually more interested in the Reds as they were new to me. I was also lucky enough to pick up a Bewick’s Wren, that in addition to actually seeing a Varied Thrush for the first time gave me three lifers for the day.

The other great highlight of the day was the great light, short viewing distances and the large numbers of ducks at the Piper Ave lookout which made for some great photo opportunities. You can see my photos from the day at Flickr. You can see all my sightings and photographs mapped below (the KMZ file is more fully featured though). A full list of my sightings is included in the KMZ file below.