Adam J. Blake

The week’s photo is from last weeks trip to Boundary Bay. I happened on a large flock of Trumpeters in a field just as I was about to turn onto Ladner Trunk Road. They made quite a racket especially when they squabbled amongst themselves and the other ducks that were present. At one point I even saw one of the swans briefly pick up a mallard by its neck. I got some ok shots of the Trumpeters foraging on the ground but the mud didn’t make for a great background. I lucked out later as these two came in for a landing. Stay tuned I’ll be posting full field notes from my Boundary Bay trip later this week.

Last Sunday I tried my luck at getting a look at the Red-flanked Bluetail that has been reported from Queen’s Park, New Westminster. As you can see from the photo above I was successful. I saw the bird in its usual haunt in the conifers at the west end of the park near the playground. When in doubt, look for the crowd of people with binoculars and telephoto lenses. The non-twitchers may be wondering why this bird is such a big deal. This particular species is native to Northern Eurasia and winters in Southeast Asia. It has been recorded from the Aleutian Islands but this is the first Canadian record and only the second record from mainland North America. It seems to be a good year for rarities in Vancouver. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I’ll be able to tick off Brambling and Western Scrub Jay from my life list.

I took some inspiration from one of Sean’s recent posts for this week’s photo. I lucked out with a cooperative crow model, who was considerate enough to perch on this interesting marker post at the 72nd Street access to the Boundary Bay Dike Trail. I really enjoy the juxtaposition between the black crow and the shorebird silhouettes in the marker post

Finally getting around to posting some field notes from my recent trip to Squamish. In between great meals at the Howe Sound Brewery, Sara and I explored the estuary around Squamish. I was a little disappointed with the lack of diversity of water birds around the estuary, but perhaps the birding here is better during migration. Despite the disappointing birding around the estuary, I did add a few birds to my year list and I did get my first actually “sight”-ing of a Pacific Wren. We saw 19 species in total over the two days. You can see my full listing of sightings in the KMZ file below, and you can seen all my photos from the trip on Flickr. [click to continue…]

Last weekend Sara and I took a trip up to Squamish to the Howe Sound Brewery to purchase some of their 1L swing-top bottles. We had a great stay and some great meals at the Brewery’s inn. I took this photo in downtown Squamish looking southeast down Cleveland Avenue. When I took this I had all but given up on photography for the day as the sun had set behind the mountains. Sara and I headed downtown to the Zephyr Cafe to warm up with a organic locally sourced vegan friendly beverage and came out of the cafe to these great colours as the sun set below the actual horizon. It just goes to show you can’t really predict when you’ll get great light so it pays to keep your camera with you even after you’ve given up for the day.

On the second day of our recent trip to Sidney, Sara and I took a guided eco-cruise (EcoCruising.com) around the Gulf Islands near Sidney. Being the off-season, we were lucky enough to have the wonderfully knowledgeable tour guide Brian all to ourselves. We began with a scheduled shuttle run between Swartz Bay and Piers Island, which subsidizes the eco-cruise. After a close up look at a sea star and some barnacles on the Piers Island dock we shuttled a number of retired teachers from island back to Swartz Bay. [click to continue…]

This week’s photo is another from my recent trip to Sidney, BC. This was also taken along the waterfront near the Bevan Avenue Fishing Pier. The really interesting thing about this photo is the band on the left bird’s leg. From my research this bird was fitted with coloured bands as part of a now completed study of the seasonal movement of Black Oystercatchers. You can see more photos from Sidney on Flickr.

As I mentioned in my last post this past weekend Sara I took a trip to Sidney, BC to celebrate our anniversary. After a fabulous lunch at Sea Cider we took a walk in Island View Regional Park. The light rain of the morning subsided and we actually got a bit of sun during the afternoon. We had a decent day of birding with 25 species seen or heard. We got some good views of waterfowl with the highlight for me being the male Red-breasted Mergansers, which is the “common” merganser on the island. I’ve seen Red-breasted Mergansers before but only females from far away. It was nice to see the showy males at binocular distance with decent light. Photos at Flickr and full sightings in the KMZ file below. [click to continue…]

Sara and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this weekend in Sidney, BC. I took this shot walking along the waterfront. A host of gulls, cormorants and one Harbour Seal congregate near the local fish market. I’ve put up a few more shots from Sidney on Flickr.