Picking up the Fam and their first few days...

The Fam - in Stanley Park.

The arrival of the family.

Friday the 16 March saw me leave Kelowna, after a Thursday evening arrival, at soon after six am in the morning to drive down to Vancouver. The morning was clear and the views as I travelled west were superb. I recommend pre-dawn drives in the mountains!!

Route number 5, the Coquihalla Highway, south of Merritt, had amber lights flashing signifying severe winter conditions but with the help of Big Country and Blue Rodeo I made it through. It was nice to see winter again and ‘good’ that my wife and children will soon get a chance to experience it as well.

As I headed south towards Vancouver one thing led to another and i ended up in, quite inexplicably in White Rock but a few kilometres north of the border. I had made good time and thus had planned to spend some time birding on the coast but I clearly went too far south… Anyway it was nice to revisit a site from my 2009 trip. All three scoters were seen [although mostly Surf and White – winged; only one female American]. GW and Mew [Common] Gulls, Goldeneye probably Barrows but sadly I already have forgotten, plus Bufflehead. House Finch and Northwestern Crow pretty much rounding out the birds. Plenty of Red tailed Hawks plus Bald Eagles were seen from the car.

I picked up my family at the airport and it was predictably a good reunion. I was pleased to arrive early as their plane landed nearly half an hour early yet the family only arrived after a long and frustrating hour and a half later. At any rate any wait would have been worth it. As I imagined I heard them before I saw them!

First Canadian night enjoyed the ‘luxury’ of a Super 8 Hotel. It was fine though, certainly all we needed. A brief walk before dark around adjacent suburbs yielded GW Gull, crows plus starlings and Dark eyed Juncos, and, more importantly a playground.

An Indian dinner and a silly Jim Carey movie later their first very brief Canadian day ended.

Saturday saw Stanley Park and my first big city driving. Stanley Park also saw sea birds or perhaps birds at sea; Common Loon, RB Merganser, B Goldeneye, Mallard, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, A Wigeon. Also our first  [and my] Common Seal for the year. 

Lesser Scaup

Around the park were many Robins and Song Sparrows. Eastern Grey Squirrels were the main mammal to delight the kids and to especially remind them that they are overseas!. Heard Northern Flicker I reckon and saw Bald Eagles, although all quite distant.

Amazing hybrid - Northern Pintail plus Mallard = one strange duck!

Aquarium was very good and the kids  I think liked it. We bought a season ticket, taking the bet that we’ll return at least on one occasion. For me the aquarium’s highlights included Beluga, White sided dolphins, Steller’s Sealions, Common Seals, Sea Otters plus some great BC Coastal habitat tanks plus some interesting displays on amazon, frogs. Strolling around the aquarium I heard a few classic quotes.

The first from a young male [let’s call him American out of respect for my Canadian friends] stated [after seeing Hyacinth Macaws in the Amazon exihibit], “That if was going to be a bird he’d be a Pterodactyl”.

The second quote was oft repeated beside a Caiman exhibit. “I seen them gators already in Florida”.

Today Sunday we went to Reiffel Reserve which was [as always] great. Brian Self selflessly agreed to meet us there. Well not that selflessly as he was already going to guide a bird walk there. At any rate it was great to see him again after our great birding day back in late December.  Immediately upon arrival he got me a lifer with some restricted views of a roosting Northern Saw Whet Owl. It was great to see the little fella after last week hearing it near Nakusp.

Mill and Matt and Mallards

Swooping swallows of American Tree and Violet green varieties were seen signalling Spring. [The reserve had hosted their first hummers for the season a few days before but none were seen today. Most of the expected waterfowl were seen plus sparrows, wrens etc. [a complete list will be written below.]

Pleasingly for me the kids seemed to really enjoy the reserve. Feeding the birds was a highlight and all agreed that a return visit is on the cards!! Tom enjoyed taking photos with his ipod touch. Millie liked feeding the ducks and Matty liked seeing squirrels, beaver damaged trees, spotting birds, taking photos and feeding ducks and Chickadees.

Tom and a Red-winged Blackbird

Reiffel Reserve, and this is a fact worth repeating, is a must visit in Vancouver for anyone with an interest in nature.  

After Reiffel we visited Boundary Bay for a repeat of the feast of Snowy Owls; some 18 are still present apparently and we got good views of half a dozen including one in flight. In addition we got a Short Eared Owl and a few great views of Harriers. The cool quickly drove us back to our jeep though and in it we headed further south to White Rock where I scored my second lifer for the day – Long tailed duck – about a dozen of them swimming and flying around the White Rock Pier – with a few other birds. A quick revisit to Blackie Spit, fish and chips and Day 2 ended. 

BIRD LIST

A = Stanley Park

B = Reiffel Reserve

C = Boundary Bay

D = White Rock                        [** = LIFER]

Common Loon - AD

Horned Grebe - D

American Tree Swallows - sign of spring!

Double-crested Cormorant -  A

119 - Pelagic Cormorant - A, D

Trumpeter Swan - B
Canada Goose - A,B

[Lesser] Snow Goose *** - C

Wood Duck - B
Gadwall - B
Green-winged Teal - B
Mallard - ABC
Northern Pintail – BC
Pintail / mallard hybrid - B
Northern Shoveler - B
American Wigeon - AB
Eurasian Wigeon  - B
Ring-necked Duck - B
Lesser Scaup -B

Greater Scaup - D
Barrow's Goldeneye - AD
Bufflehead - ABD
Hooded Merganser - B
Common Merganser - B
Red breasted Merganser - A
120 - ** Long-tailed Duck - D
Surf Scoter - D
White winged Scoter - D
American Black Scoter - D
Blue Heron - BCD
Bald Eagle - ABCD
Northern Harrier - BC
Red-tailed Hawk - ABC
American Coot -B
Mew Gull - D
Glaucous-winged Gull - ABCD
Rock Pigeon - A
Eurasian Collared-Dove - C
121 - ** Northern Saw Whet Owl - B
Snowy Owl - C
Short eared Owl - C
Northwestern Crow - ABCD
122 - American Tree Swallow - B
123 - Violet-green Swallow - B
Black-capped Chickadee - B
Bewick's Wren - B
Marsh Wren - B
American Robin -  AB
European Starling - ABCD
Spotted Towhee -B
Fox Sparrow -B
Song Sparrow - ABCD
Golden-crowned Sparrow -  B
Dark-eyed Junco - B
Red-winged Blackbird -  B
124 - Bushtit - B
House Sparrow -B
House Finch - D 

Mammals
Eastern Grey Squirrel - AB
7 - Common Seal - A