Birding down Memory Lane, plus a philosophical(ish) point

Hi all, I haven't managed to do any birding at all since my last post (a combination of being really busy every weekday and awful weather today (Saturday) which made me less than eager to go for a long cycle ride). So this week I've decided to take a walk (or rather a bike ride) down memory lane.

For the first 9 months of 2010 I was part of a group of birders in the area around Vancouver, Canada, doing a Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) bird list. Most of us never actually met, and instead we shared our stories, lists etc. on an internet group called "bcvanbirds" (one of the newsgroups/listservs that used to be so popular in the pre-Facebook days). I was living near the town of White Rock, down by the US border and, although I had some good birding spots near me, some of the best birding in the area was further west, on the other side of Boundary Bay, so during that year I made several trips out there on the bike, and took advantage of the fact that Vancouver buses have bicycle-carriers on the front to get home. 

The rest of this blog is an account I posted on bcvanbirds on Tuesday the 2nd of February that year, with a few explanatory notes for those unfamiliar with North American birds or the geography of the Vancouver area.

"02/02/2010

(rather long email) - NMT South Delta - and a philosophical observation

Hi Everybody,

this post turned out a lot longer than I intended it to so if you're easily bored you should probably scroll down to the last paragraph or just skip to the next email in your in-box.

I made it out to the wild west again today (following in everyone else's bike-tracks from yesterday). I think I must be getting fit because at the end of the day it really didn't feel as if I had ridden very far. It was actually about 71.4km (aka 44.36 miles), which is only just a bit less than I did last week when I felt I had gone a really long way.

Anyway - enough of that, what about the birds? After getting over all the obstacles of roads, rivers and railways, the day really started just as it was full daylight and I was at the top of 112th Street heading down to the dyke [the long sea-wall on the north side of Boundary Bay].

Looked for the Golden Eagle on 112th but didn't find it - several Baldies [Bald Eagles] though - the first of probably well over 80 that I saw throughout the day. At the bottom of 112th there was a good-sized blackbird flock which I searched thoroughly for rusties, cowbirds  and other goodies but only found Brewers, redwings and Starlings. [Note - "Blackbirds" here refers to member of the large American bird family Icteridae, which are unrelated to the European Blackbird (which is a kind of thrush). It includes Rusty, Brewer's and Red-winged Blackbirds, and Brown-headed Cowbirds - all mentioned here. Other members of the family are Grackles, Meadowlarks and some Orioles. The Starling referred to here is the same species we get but it is an unwelcome introduction in North America, rather than a declining native bird as it is here.]

A male Red-winged Blackbird. The red epaulettes which give this widespread

North American bird its name, are only seen in the males and are most visible when 

they are singing, like this one which I photographed in Ontario in April 2009

The ride along the dyke to Beach Grove was really nice - good weather (despite the forecast) and lots of birds. Swirling masses of dunlins and Black-bellied Plover (NMT #92), loadsaducks, a couple of Red-throated Loons [the North American name for Red-throated Diver] at 112th, a constant trail of Bald Eagles, several Northern Harriers (at least 11 along the dyke).

Around Beach Grove there were two big groups of Black Brant (NMT #93) [the North American version of Brent Goose] totalling about 900-1000 birds. In amongst them there were of course hundreds of ducks including a few Eurasian Wigeon. About 50 Sanderling (NMT #94) at Beach Grove (just round the 'corner' of the trail where it turns to the south towards Centennial Beach) were a really pretty sight - bright white in what was turning into a cloudy and grey day. A gull here may have been a Western but I was starting to freeze solid by that time and didn't watch it for very long. 

Western Gull is about the size of a Herring Gull but with a dark grey back.
This is one which I saw a couple of weeks after this trip, in White Rock,
British Columbia. I wasn't sure of the identification until today when I put the
photo on a Facebook group for gull ID.

From there it was nice to warm up again with some proper cycling again (after dawdling along the dyke) - across the peninsula to Tsawwassen. The Willet didn't show itself at first and so that gave me the incentive to go along the length of the causeway on both sides. I was rewarded with 9 Black Oystercatchers (lifer, NMT #95), 3 drake Harlequins (NMT #96) [Harlequin Duck] and several birds I hadn't seen yet during the day. Another interesting gull (well, as interesting as gulls generally get (sorry, I'm not really a gull-person)) may have been a Thayer's but I'd really like to see a few with someone else there to confirm my ID before I start calling them myself. Another frustratingly unidentified bird (two birds to be precise) were two very uncooperative loons, one or both or neither of which might have been Pacific.

Just when I was thinking I might dip on [birding slang for 'not see']  the Willet I saw it (NMT #97),  being dwarfed next to a heron at the base of the causeway on the south side (pretty much where Pete L saw it yesterday - although I didn't get his email til I got back (thanks anyway Pete)).

From there to Alaksen via Arthur Drive (no Gyrfalcon), Deltaport Way (unsuccessfully trying to turn Brewer's into cowbirds again), 33A Avenue (no Kestrel), 41B Street (no Meadowlarks or Collared Doves) and the fields of Westham Island (no shrikes or Whitefronted geese). A bright male Ring-Necked Pheasant [the same species we get in the UK] just before the entrances to Reifel and Alaksen was NMT #98. After a nice cup of coffee, several cookies and a good chat with Pete D. at Alaksen (thanks for the coffee Pete (and sorry for cleaning out your snack jar - you're a real good samaritan)) it was out again into the worsening weather (steady rain by now) and to Reifel [the George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary] for the last birding of the day. No Bohemian on the way in (lots of Cedars though)  [Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings], and no Saw-whets  [Northern Saw-whet Owl] on the way out but lovely very close views of 10 Sandhill Cranes in the middle (NMT #99 and the last one of the day). By now the rain was pelting down and to top it all I got locked in and had to lift my bike over the gate (I got to the gate at 2 minutes past 5), and then ended up walking halfway to Ladner (the combination of narrow winding roads, heavy rain and no rear light made it too dangerous to ride a lot of the time) where I got the bus.

The Cedar Waxwing can be told from the Waxwing that we get in the UK (Bohemian 

Waxwing) by, among other things, the white feathers under the tail, which are red in 

Bohemian. This bird, which I photographed in May 2009 in Ontario, was caught, 

ringed and released safely for the purposes of scientific study at a bird observatory 

and is here being held by a trained and experienced bird-ringer (me).
The waxy red tips to some of the wing feathers, which can be seen in this photo

are what gives the bird the second part of its name

Okay, after that rather long-winded account, what is my philosophical(ish) point.

Let me ask you a question first - how is it that despite a wonderful day's birding in a beautiful setting, with 65 species, dozens of eagles, thousands of wildfowl and shorebirds,  8 NMT ticks and a lifer, I still felt slightly disappointed at the end of it?

I think the real reason is that instead of going out with an open mind I went out with a shopping list of birds that I wanted to see, and the hope that somehow I would manage to do the impossible and beat Pete D's 115 NMT birds. I don't think it even crossed my mind that I wouldn't even get to 100 on my NMT list. I've had similar experiences before when going to great birding sites in far-flung places (notably India) armed with my "Where to watch birds in ..." book, having paid too much attention to the lists of species at the end of the site description (which are always the accumulation of years of birding by hundreds of birders).

I guess the point is that if we decide in advance what is going to give us satisfaction and fulfilment instead of being open to finding beauty and satisfaction where it is rather than where we want it to be, we can sometimes fail to appreciate the gems that we find along the way.

Bye for now

Colin Conroy

now back in South Surrey and warm and dry again"

The approximate route of my journey as far as the Reifel Bird Sanctuary