The weather forecast for Saturday December 30th was not promising.  In fact, as of 7am Environment Canada’s hourly forecast for Vancouver had a 100% Probability of Precipitation for every hour of the morning.  True to prediction, it was raining when we arrived at Ambleside at about 8:30 am.  

But by the time all 27 of us gathered at 9am, the rain had stopped!  Even better, we didn’t see another drop for the entire morning of birding.  

Because of the large numbers of birders in attendance, we decided to split the group.  Trip leaders Harvey Dueck and John Martin took about half of the birders, while Michelle Baudais and Jan Lowcock (who was not an official leader, but kindly stepped up to help) led the other half. 

Michelle and Jan’s group began by surveying the birds along the waterfront, while Harvey and John’s group headed directly to the ponds.

As Michelle and Jan’s group walked along the shoreline we discussed the difficulties of identifying gulls.  Most juvenile gull species sport a series of different plumages as they mature over the course of several years, and worse, gulls tend to hybridize, giving them markings that are intermediate between their parent species. This means that there isn’t a clear set of field marks that you can reliably use to identify gulls.  However, we did spot one Glaucous-Winged gull on the grass that we could use to point out the typical field marks of an adult GWGU.  Near it was a very puzzling almost-entirely white gull with black wing tips (You can see photos of this bird embedded in this ebird list, which was recorded on this year’s Christmas Bird Count:  https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S156604325. Sigal Blay has reported this bird to the researchers who banded it, and we hope to eventually get more information.)

But on this stretch of the walk, the most interesting action happened in the air.  A group of 12 Great Blue Herons broke from the nearby trees and wheeled overhead before a few of them settled back onto the trees near the pond.  Even more excitingly, a Belted Kingfisher buzzed above us before hovering for a moment over the ocean.  It is always thrilling to see a kingfisher hovering, a little bit like a hummingbird!

By this time Harvey and John’s group had left the ponds, so Michelle and Jan’s group took a quick look at the Mallards, Bufflehead, and American Wigeon on the water before heading on to the shrubbery closer to the mouth of the Capilano River.  Kinglets never sit still, so it was a bit of a challenge to try to get the Ruby-Crowned Kinglets that we spotted in this area  in view in our binoculars.  However, we did not have as much difficulty with the Pileated Woodpecker!  She posed just long enough for everyone to get at least a brief look at her black body, white striped head, and brilliant red crest.  Birds had been relatively scarce, so getting a visit from such a spectacular bird raised everyone’s spirits.  

From here we walked on to the mouth of the river where we got lovely long looks at a Bald Eagle and a Northern Flicker through Jan’s spotting scope, then turned back to walk along the railway tracks to our starting point.

Here’s an eBird list summarizing the sightings from Michelle and Jan’s group:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S157612362

And an eBird list summarizing the sightings made by the group led by Harvey and John:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S157621042

Once again, the Binocular Lending Library was put to good use.  Three birders appreciated being loaned optics for use on the trip.