When Harvey and Michelle arrived at Burnaby Lake just before 8am on Sunday September 28, they were surprised to find a group of birders already gathering near the Nature House. The Vancouver Chinese Birder’s Group had also arranged a walk for Piper Spit that morning! It was lovely to meet this group of about 10 birders, led by Hank, an expert originally from Taiwan. They bird together a couple of times a month (Find them on Facebook, if you’re interested).

As the Chinese Birder’s Group departed for their walk, our group of of 11 birders arrived. After giving the beginners a quick introduction to binoculars we proceeded to the boardwalk.

Ducks were surprisingly sparse this morning, but there were Mallards, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, American Coots, and Wood Ducks. The male Wood Ducks had recently moulted into their breeding plumage, and were looking quite spectacular in their fresh feathers. A large group of Long-billed Dowitchers stood on the mudflats close to the boardwalk, and while most had their heads tucked, a few showed off their impressively long bills. Harvey also managed to scope a sleeping Wilson’s Snipe which stayed put long enough for most of us to get a good look. We also got lucky with raptors here, sighting a Bald Eagle, a Cooper’s Hawk, and even a distant Merlin perched on the far side of the lake. (Thanks to Hank for spotting the Snipe and the Merlin.)

After about an hour enjoying the birds from the boardwalk we turned to the forest paths to look for passerines. We were immediately greeted by Black-capped Chickadees using their ‘chick-a-dee-dee-deee’ call to warn everyone of our approach! As we walked further we spotted Purple Finches and Goldfinches in a Pacific Crab Tree, Spotted Towhees and Song Sparrows in the shrubbery, and several raucous Steller’s Jays in the treetops. But the morning was grey and the birds were fairly shy, so as we walked the paths east of Piper Spit we had time to admire beetles, Banana Slugs, and a few Pacific Chorus Frogs too. As we looped back towards our starting point the birding picked up with the appearance of some American Robins, a Northern Flicker, a few Anna’s Hummingbirds, and a male Belted Kingfisher. We even got a chance to watch a group of Steller’s Jays picking acorns from an oak tree before finishing with one last new bird — a Hooded Merganser who we watched catch and eat a small fish.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a lovely fall Sunday morning of birding, especially to Richard for the photo (see Meetup for more), and to Agraj for the eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S276144675