Browsed by
Category: Birding

Sandhill Crane Family at Burnaby Lake Park

Sandhill Crane Family at Burnaby Lake Park

Submitted by Penny N. Lim One spontaneous Saturday afternoon (11th June 2022), I set out to Burnaby Lake with Marie Joe, to see the awesome Mandarin Duck. Was the day ever hot and the detours cumbersome! Easy birding at Burnaby Lake. A few steps along the trail, we came upon visitors feeding birds and taking pictures. We stopped still where a crowd gathered. Feeding in the grass was a Sandhill crane family just off the trail.  In the open. A perfect view of a fluffy chick. The chick…

Read More Read More

Bird Friendly Coffee

Bird Friendly Coffee

Submitted by Colin Clasen For information about the definition, and the importance of buying Bird Friendly Coffee, please see the web pages of Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center from the following links: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/about-bird-friendly-coffee https://global.si.edu/success-stories/smithsonian-migratory-bird-center-bird-friendly-coffee Also please see an article by Birds Canada about switching to Bird Friendly Coffee: https://www.birdscanada.org/making-the-switch-to-bird-friendly-coffee/ Bird Friendly Coffee Sellers in Metro Vancouver Other Official Certifications: FT (Fair Trade), O (Organic)   COMPANY (in alphabetical order) BIRD-FRIENDLYCOFFEEBRANDS 1. Buy Low Foods#200 – 370 East Broadway, Vancouver Balzac’s ATWOOD Blend 2. Café by TAO210 – 150 Esplanade West, North Vancouver Paradise Mountain 3. Chapters-Indigo2505 Granville St., Vancouver Balzac’s ATWOOD Blend 4. City Avenue Market2279 Commercial Dr., Vancouver Balzac’s ATWOOD BlendParadise Mountain 5. City Avenue Market#130 – 910 Quayside Drive, New Westminster Balzac’s ATWOOD BlendParadise Mountain 6….

Read More Read More

The Season for Bird Song

The Season for Bird Song

By Peter Ward This time of the year is the best season for listening to birdsong.  Pick a patch in your favourite forest, park, or an open grassland, or even better a water’s edge with cattails and you’ll be rewarded with the rich experience of multiple male birds singing to defend their territories. These apps help amateur bird watchers and ornithologists know what they are listening to. They are immensely helpful with identification of species and work even if multiple…

Read More Read More

Cats & Birds: Making Communities Safer for Pets, Wildlife & People

Cats & Birds: Making Communities Safer for Pets, Wildlife & People

Submitted by Bryna Turk Cats and Birds is a project of the non-profit Stewardship Centre for BC that helps make British Columbia a safer place for cats, birds, other wildlife, and people. After habitat loss, outdoor roaming cats are the #1 source of human-related wild bird mortality, killing as many as 350 million wild birds every year in Canada alone. Of these, about one-sixth, or over 58 million bird deaths per year are by owned pet cats who are allowed…

Read More Read More

Cheakamus Lake Backpacking Trip

Cheakamus Lake Backpacking Trip

Trip report by Christine Thuring From Thursday to Saturday (June 16-18), a small group of five backpackers enjoyed the trials and tribulations of early summer in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The wildflowers were quite behind schedule, there were 5 active bears in the area and the snow line was surprisingly low. Still, we had a fantastic time.  Our home base was the Cheakamus Lake Campground (at 850m elevation), where we occupied two sites, separated by a thicket of dogwood and hawthorn….

Read More Read More

Encouraging Tree Swallows & Chickadees

Encouraging Tree Swallows & Chickadees

Submitted by Peter Ward It started in 2008, when I made an extension to my home workshop. Somehow building bird boxes brought together a trait that I inherited from my maternal grandfather, and a passion for bird watching. With a couple of friends, John Toochin and Ken Hall, I started building boxes, using some ideas for size from an old publication by BC Provincial Museum, 1979. We targeted local birds known to nest in man-made boxes. It turned out that…

Read More Read More

Queen Elizabeth Park Bird Walk

Queen Elizabeth Park Bird Walk

Trip Report by Jan Lowcock Fifteen Nature Vancouver birding enthusiasts joined Jan Lowcock for a walk in Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Park on Thursday April 28. The walk began in the rose garden and adjacent walkways under cloudy but dry conditions. We had a quiet start but were soon rewarded with good views of a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, which Harvey Dueck was able to capture in his scope.   (Thanks Harvey, for carrying and setting it up for the group).  The sun began…

Read More Read More

Jericho Beach Birding Field Trip

Jericho Beach Birding Field Trip

On Wednesday April 20th, Michelle Baudais and Harvey Dueck led a birding field trip at Jericho Park. The weather was fine and lots of birds were singing, especially the white-crowned sparrows. We had 20 participants registered for the trip, with 6 on the waiting list, suggesting there is demand for midweek as well as weekend field trips. If you’re considering leading a trip, please contact Bill Kinkaid or Janet Snell. Many people will appreciate your efforts. We started off along…

Read More Read More

Nature Notes from Hastings Park

Nature Notes from Hastings Park

Report & Photos Submitted by Doug Cooper This is a summary of my observations of the happenings in the green spaces of Hastings Park since early last fall.  Access to the infield of the Hastings racecourse was again made possible for a few months during the latter part of 2021, after the pandemic closure of the racetrack grounds was lifted and the horse racing season had ended. The training and racing season has started again, and access to the racecourse infield…

Read More Read More

Birding Field Trip at Iona

Birding Field Trip at Iona

Eleven enthusiastic birders joined trip leaders Michelle Baudais and Harvey Dueck for a birding field trip at Iona early on March 27th. Despite the forecast, the weather was pleasant and rain-free for the entire outing. We started off viewing a mixed flock of dunlin and black-bellied plover on the beach. Some of each species were in their winter and black-bellied breeding plumages, so it was a good teaching/learning flock. We went into the inner ponds next. All four ponds were…

Read More Read More

Nature Vancouver