A Day of Birding

One of my favorite things to do is spend most of the day outdoors with my camera, seeing what I can see. I started early the other day and went down to the ocean at 7:30 a.m. for low tide. I've been seeing a seal that likes to fish at that time of day. Instead of a seal, I saw a bald eagle come flying towards me with some crows calling, in hot pursuit.

Bald Eagle in Flight

It always amazes me when I see smaller birds chasing a large bird like an eagle or a hawk. Crows especially love to harass raptors and I've seen it time and time again. Anyway, the eagle landed in my neighbour's yard, which was quite unusual. Since I was down on the dock and couldn't see him in the yard, I waited for a minute to see if he'd fly off again. When he didn't, I crept up the dock ramp to try to surprise him. Unfortunately I was halfway up the ramp when he flew off and I totally missed the shot. He was about 20 feet away...so close!

Returning home, I heard a fluttering of wings and saw large birds flying to various trees. I thought at first that a hawk was in our yard again. But no, it turned out to be several band-tailed pigeons. We've never had them in our yard before. Such pretty birds!

Band-Tailed Pigeon

One of the pigeons later ate some seed from our back deck. The pigeons are still around the house several days later and at least one of them has enjoyed his seed breakfast each morning Chez Peggy.

My husband and I then drove to one of our hiking spots to walk our two dogs. We often walk on forestry roads that are along the power lines. On these hikes I've seen (and photographed) bears, a wolf, two bobcats, many elk, coyotes, and lots of birds.

On this particular day we saw a hawk in the distance. My husband called it using his very bad imitation of a hawk. Surprisingly, the hawk flew right towards us! I saw that it was a red-tailed hawk. It began circling us over and over again. It was wild! I've never seen a hawk do this. I trained my camera lens on it and realized that it had a mouse in its beak. The hawk seemed to be showing us his prize. It must've circled us 20 times and eventually I noticed the mouse was gone...I assume he enjoyed his meal while flying.

Red-Tailed Hawk and Mouse

After our walk we drove to the Iris Griffith Centre, hoping to see some baby painted turtles hatching. It's the right time of year to see this phenomenon but we weren't so lucky. The nature trails were very quiet on that morning except for a few tree swallows flying around and a robin in her nest on the centre's building.

American Robin in Nest

We then drove to the nearby Ruby Lake Resort, where Aldo, the owner, kindly let me snoop about the grounds to take pictures of the birds. Aldo is a fellow bird lover so he understands. He pointed out a family of Canada geese with six goslings across the gorgeous, shimmering lake. I crossed the bridge with tree swallows darting about, seeming to lead the way. I found the goose family and sat for awhile, snapping pictures. Eventually mom and dad goose led their babies to the water and they went for a swim.



Canada Geese and Goslings

The barn swallows had returned to build their nests in the eaves of the Ruby Lake Restaurant's walls. I watched as a swallow worked on one of the nests.

Barn Swallow Nesting

O.K., this might not be the prettiest picture I ever took, but I thought it was interesting. It looks like the bird was adding mud to the nest.

So as you can see, we have an abundance of wildlife here on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. I'm practically guaranteed to see something interesting every day. I sure like living here!

A Visit to Reifel Bird Sanctuary

It's funny, but I never went to the George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary when I lived in Vancouver. The sanctuary is in Delta, which is about an hour's drive from the city. I got into nature photography in a big way when I moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2001 and it wasn't until I'd moved away that I started taking the ferry over to the mainland to visit Reifel. It's an amazing place and well worth a visit. Each season has something different to offer.

As I was parking my car I saw a man holding his young son in his arms with what can only be called a mob of mallard ducks at his feet. The boy was throwing bird seed to the ducks and they were in a complete feeding frenzy.

Mallard Ducks

I asked at the gate if there had been any owls reported (since winter is usually a good time to spot them) and was told that yes, a barred owl was sleeping in a birch tree nearby. I bought a bag of bird seed and went in search of the owl.

The owl was easy to find...a small group of people was gathered on the path, watching it. The owl did a little grooming but mostly it slept. I only got a few pictures of it with its eyes even halfway open.

Barred Owl

Here's a picture of a barred owl that I took during another visit to Reifel bird sanctuary.

Barred Owl

 This owl was a lot more lively but not lively enough to bother with a squirrel that approached it very closely...I'd watched, fascinated, as the squirrel got within a few feet of the owl and made what I can only describe as meowing sounds. The owl had simply looked at it. I'm assuming the owl wasn't hungry at that time.

Squirrel Tempting Fate with Owl

At the juncture of two paths closeby was a pair of Lesser Sandhill Cranes that were quite entertaining. One of the cranes would throw his head back and give a trumpeting call whenever an intruder approached.

Sandhill Crane Calling

One crane usually set the other crane off and they'd both start calling.

Sandhill Cranes Calling



Apparently there are nine resident cranes at the Reifel sanctuary these days. Sandhill cranes migrate south from Siberia in the winter. I ran into another photographer who was telling me about the huge flocks of birds (about 10,000 cranes!) that could be seen gathered at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, which is 100 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. When the flocks take flight each morning to seek food, apparently it's quite an impressive sight.



Last spring when I visited Reifel sanctuary I was delighted to discover that a sandhill crane had been born the day before, on May 8th. It was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. I got a shot of mom feeding her baby an insect or grub.

Sandhill Crane Baby and Mother



By the way, I have a portfolio of pictures that can be licensed for use through Getty Images and the sandhill crane baby and mother picture above is one of them.

During nesting season the area where the cranes gathered was blocked off for two reasons: because they didn't want the birds to be disturbed but also because cranes can be somewhat aggressive when protecting their young. A photographer told me a story of another photographer who had gotten too close...the mother crane jumped on his back and covered his eyes with her beating wings. Lucky for him she didn't use her beak!

I was curious to see the young sandhill crane and found him with his parents. He was just slightly smaller than his mother and a little darker in color. The last time I'd seen him he was barely able to walk but he seemed to be growing up nicely.

Young Sandhill Crane with Mother

Here are some more pictures of the other pair of cranes that I visited with. The first picture is of a crane giving me what I can only call a coy look. The second picture is of the crane standing on one leg, which is something they often do while resting. And the third picture is of the crane plucking long blades of grass and placing them in a pile. Perhaps this means there will be a nest in the near future?

Sandhill Crane Coy Look

Crane Standing on One Leg

Crane Building a Nest?

A flock of Canada Geese flew by while I was walking along on the path. You can usually hear them honking before you see them.

Canada Geese Flock

I happened to have a pocket full of peanuts that I usually feed to the chickadees in my yard. I came upon a woman and her daughter who were holding out some birdseed to the chickadees. The birds weren't taking too much interest so I gave them some peanuts to try instead. The chickadees landed right away.

Chickadee in Woman's Hand

I know from personal experience that chickadees can't resist peanuts!

A couple of other interesting birds that I saw along the way that day were an American Coot and the always handsome and colorful Wood Duck.

American Coot

Wood Duck

Before leaving the sanctuary I happened upon some cedar waxwings feasting on berries. Waxwings are one of my favorite birds and I've always wanted to get some pictures of them eating berries (which is mostly what they eat). I came upon the birds just at the right time because they stripped the trees of berries within about 10 minutes.

Cedar Waxwing Eating Berries

Young Cedar Waxwing Eating Berries

I was a happy camper as I headed for my car. I'd spent a few hours on a beautiful sunny day at the bird sanctuary, and I had hundreds of photographs to remember my visit by. A trip to Reifel Bird Sanctuary is definitely one of the top ways I like to spend the day!