The morning was bright but crisp and bird activity was already high before folks started arriving for the walk. Looking out over the lake from the parking lot, we could see several American Coots, as well as more distant ducks including Buffleheads and a Common Merganser. A flock of about 40 Double-crested Cormorants passed over. An out of town visitor remarked on how dark our Song Sparrows are. Apparently, the pigment melanin, which makes dark colours, is also a fungal…

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We had unexpectedly good weather for our bird walk along the seawall at Stanley Park – which meant it was a high overcast with no wind and no rain. The ocean was unexpectedly smooth, and all the extra layers we brought for warmth didn’t end up being needed. It was a small group of 8 attendees. We started at Second Beach and walked past the pool, and immediately found our target birds: a Common Loon and a Horned Grebe, both…

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It was a perfect spring day. The skies were clear, the winds were calm, and the temperature was about 10 C for the 13 birders who joined Harvey and Michelle for an Easter Saturday birdwalk at Iona Beach Regional Park. After introducing ourselves and sharing a small Easter treat in the parking lot, we headed towards the pond to start our exploration of this great birding hotspot. There was a moderate collection of less-common ducks visible from the boardwalk: Lesser…

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Double-crested Cormorant. Photo by Erich Kohlweg. Emerging into the spring sun after a week of two atmospheric rivers, 17 enthusiastic birders joined co-leaders Neill and Sarah-Jane in Hastings Park Sanctuary. We began the morning learning about the 1942 internment of Japanese Canadians in the park and the important restoration work in New Brighton Park by Nature Vancouver. The group was fortunate to include birders with a variety of experience levels and several talented photographers. Some birders were new to Vancouver;…

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A group of 18 birders were greeted by cloudy skies Sunday morning in the parking lot by the pond at Jericho. Looking over the ducks in the pond we found Mallards (of course), some Canada Geese, a lone male Northern Shoveler, and several Buffleheads. An interesting way of looking at duck identification, for the males especially,  by looking for where the white areas are on different species was talked about. At one point, a flyover flock of Canada Geese had…

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The South Arm Wildlife Management Area is a less frequently birded local spot, and was new to most folks on the walk. The trails meander through deciduous woods of mostly alders, down to several lookouts onto the Fraser and over the marsh to the south. Within 10 metres of our start, we found Song Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, a House Sparrow, an Anna’s Hummingbird, a Brown Creeper, and a Bewick’s Wren. Trying to keep many small birds…

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