Trip Report by Thomas Plath Rain and wind did not deter the five members that showed for birding at White Rock Pier. We stood under the shelter/shop at the base and scoped the birds out of the rain. The two common scoters White-winged and Surf were busy feeding in front of us and with patience the group able to view a female Black Scoter feeding in front of us. Further out a large flock of about 80 Red-breasted Mergansers flew…
Trip Report by Thomas Plath Despite the bad weather, six participants showed up to bird Reifel Bird Sanctuary in the rain. The recent cold spell and snow had pushed out most of the birds so the refuge was quieter than usual. An adult Black-crowned Night-Heron was roosting at the usual location at the entrance slough and nice male Anna’s Hummingbirds at the feeders. A thorough search for Saw-whet Owls along the east dike was unsuccessful but did produce several Wood…
Nature Vancouver closed out 2023 with an experiment: a livestream of birds (mostly hummingbirds) from a bird-friendly coffee plantation located in the mountains of Colombia near the town of Jardin. Rene Montero now lives in Vancouver, but he is originally from Colombia where he has 15 years experience as a birding guide. Rene operates Jaguarundi Travel, a business he created to offer superb nature and cultural experiences in a sustainable way. Rene’s family operates an organic coffee plantation near the…
Trip Report by Stephen Partington A mass of people gathered at Garry Point around 10 am to embark upon the 2024 incarnation of the now legendary, New Year’s Day Walk, led by Kelly Sekhon. Among the more than thirty participants were faces old & new, members old, new & prospective, plus guests. The day’s weather was benignly warm with little wind. Fog infrequently nudged a cloud cover over the walkers but otherwise the sun shone with views extending westward to…
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…
Harvey and Michelle don’t live close to Ambleside, but this year we surveyed the area twice: once as part of the Christmas Bird Count on December 16th, and once as part of the Burrard Inlet Key Biodiversity Area count on October 30th. The area has a nice mix of ocean birds, pond birds, and some shrubbery and forest birds, so it seemed like a good place for a birding field trip. A lot of people seem to agree. More than…
Trip Report by Janet Snell On December 3, 2023, our first Welcome Walk led by Melissa Hafting took place at Reifel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island. As part of our Diversity and Inclusion outreach initiative, this walk was by a special invitation to BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and women who may not have participated in our activities before. Over half the participants in the group of twenty, were non-members and many of the others were newer members. Melissa Hafting provided excellent leadership as we…
Despite the rain, eight hardy birders met trip leaders Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais for Dipper Quest in Maple Ridge on Sunday — including Larry Cowan, who led this walk himself for 14 years. Thanks to Larry’s expertise and Josh’s keen eyes, we were successful in finding Dippers! We had the pleasure of watching a pair of Dippers pose on rocks and logs, preen, pop into the water searching for salmon eggs, and surf down the river. Other highlights at Maple Ridge Park…
It didn’t rain! The better-than-forecast weather was the first natural gift that we collectively received on Saturday November 18th when a group of (eventually) twelve Nature Vancouver members and one non-member met trip leaders Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais for a morning of birding along Tsawwassen Jetty. The group convened at the very bumpy parking lot at the base of the jetty at 9am. After taking a quick look at the birds visible from the beach (most notably the group…
Report by Lona Lonergan ƛ̓éxətəm (tla–hut–um) Regional Park formerly known as Colony Farm was the destination for our October 16, 2023 Nature Vancouver Walk. Thirteen people, thirteen degrees and pouring rain – it was spectacular! Cynthia Crampton organized the trip, Sel from Enjoy the Journey drove the brand new 24 seat van. Larry Cowen joined the group for a short walk and shared his absolute love and devotion to the area, Lindsey Lorence was our photographer. The gorgeous golden colour of the fall grasses,…