Reifel Respite - Boundary Too!

Jan. 3/11 - Today the planets aligned, and I was granted a "get out of jail to go birding at Reifel pass." My daughter had too much Christmas booty to travel on the ferry as a foot passenger, so noting the forecast was for photographer friendly sunshine I offered her a ride. We caught the 8:30 from Nanaimo and by 11:30 I was looking for a parking spot at Reifel. Normally, I would be annoyed with the over-abundance of visitors, but nothing could taint this unexpected opportunity for some photography. I started off by admiring the pair of sleeping Black-crowned Night Herons near the entrance. They were both buried behind branches - no photo op this time but no problem. I was sure there would be some photo ops to come ...

Prophetically, a small flock of Snow Geese honked its way overhead as it headed for the shallow waters at the edge of the Fraser.

Along the east trail the camera shy Great Horned Owl was tucked in the shadows of the usual fir tree. Only the shadowy profile was visible so it wasn`t worth a picture. Further down the trail the Northern Saw-whet was also quite inaccessible in the holly bush, but I took an obscured shot anyway. I was grateful that its eyes were open. According to Jim Martin there has been as many as four Saw-whets in the area recently.

50 meters down the trail an American Bittern was standing motionless in the tall grass. It was a gorgeous bird and definitely worth a record shot. When we returned an hour later it was still there, thinking it was invisible.

Finally, we found some birds that weren't camera shy. Eight Sandhill Cranes posed elegantly on the frozen pond like runway models enjoying the attention of the dozen or so camera bugs.

Some of the cranes were sipping water from the edge of the ice.

In typical Sandhillian fashion the crane tilted its head to down its drink.

Reifel is probably the most northern wintering habitat for the Sandhills. The same is true for the Night-Herons.

Our next destination was Boundary Bay to look for the Short-eared Owls. It was a good omen to see a roosting Peregrine on 72nd St.

When we reached the dyke we saw a Short-eared in the distance by the water's edge. Our timing was good. Twenty minutes later it flew across the dyke and onto the golf course.

After a reconnaisance flight around one of the ponds it landed briefly on one of the trees. One of the reasons Boundary is great for Short-eared photography is that you can often look down at the bird as it flies low over the ground. This is the only shot in this sequence where I was looking slightly uphill at the bird.

After a few more laps Shortie landed on a fence post. Most of its stops were very brief - no more than a minute.

Most of the flights were only a few feet above the ground. I assume it would be closer to its prey for the quick strike.

Shortie didn't seem to have any favorite resting spot. It landed on trees, posts, and even the ground.

The late afternoon sun accentuated the gorgeous colour of the Short-eared.

I didn't see Shortie catch any prey, but it often flew out of sight.

As the sun gradually slipped onto the horizon, it was time to leave but not before one last shot.

The Short-eareds weren't the only raptors patrolling Boundary. Northern harriers were also a common sight.

The dyke wasn't a good vantage spot today as most of the Harriers seemed to be flying at eye-level.

Sorry I only have a few record shots to offer today. I'm still waiting for some better opportunities.

The sun set at 4:15 pm. I could have stayed another 15 minutes, but my fingers were numb. It didn't hurt to head for the ferry early just in case there was a line-up from the holiday traffic. There wasn't a line-up, and our timing was good. We had 20 minutes for some food then it was time to load. It was another good day at Reifel and Boundary, but there's still some unfinished business. I still haven't seen a Gyrfalcon, and I've seen but not photographed the Rough-legged Hawk.

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Bird Poster

My poster is on display at: Victoria - Swan Lake Nature House

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