<p>Iona Beach Regional Park, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada<br />
Nikon D5100, 35 mm f/1.8<br />
April 20, 2013</p>

Nature Vancouver - Iona Island Spring Birding Trip #2

Iona Beach Regional Park, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Nikon D5100, 35 mm f/1.8
April 20, 2013

<p>Iona Beach Regional Park, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada<br />
Nikon D5100, 35 mm f/1.8<br />
April 20, 2013</p>

Fraser River Mouth

Iona Beach Regional Park, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Nikon D5100, 35 mm f/1.8
April 20, 2013

<p><i>Cornus nuttallii</i>, Cornaceae<br />
Iona Beach Regional Park, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada<br />
Nikon D5100, 35 mm f/1.8<br />
April 20, 2013</p>

Western Flowering Dogwood

Cornus nuttallii, Cornaceae
Iona Beach Regional Park, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Nikon D5100, 35 mm f/1.8
April 20, 2013

Yesterday I went on Nature Vancouver‘s Iona Island Spring Birding Trip #2. Sara needed the car that morning to go to her weekly volunteering shift at the Wildlife Rescue Association in Burnaby, so I took the train to Bridgeport Station where the trip leader Colin Clark was kind enough to give me a ride to Iona. To earn my keep I took field notes for our group which topped out at 19 people. The weather was sunny but the temperature was still cool with a strong wind off the water. We began the trip with a tour around the ponds, followed by a walk down the river and the return trip along the beach (see map below).

We saw a fair number of duck species but no Cinnamon Teals. We did see a non-breeding Ruddy Duck and what seemed to be a Mallard x Gadwall Hybrid. There were a number of raptors including Turkey Vulture, Merlin and a first of the year Osprey for many in the group. We also managed to get four species of swallow: Tree, Violet-green, Barn and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. The highlight for me was the lifer American Pipit foraging along the margin of the south-east sewage pond pointed out by Rob Lyske. When we returning down the beach the tide was out so what birds were present were too distant to ID. Over the three hours of birding we covered 3 km and saw or heard 44 species.


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