Winter Birding

Winter is here. Last time I checked, fall was just beginning, and migration was just getting underway. Somehow I missed the rest of fall. Now as I walk outside, along the Fraser River, we are into winter birding. This is the time of the year when we see large rafts of birds out in Boundary Bay, Snowy Owls begin to appear along the shoreline (4 last weekend), and species like the Western Grebe arrive at the mouth of the Fraser.

On a recent walk along the dyke in Ladner, we had great views of two Red-tailed Hawks as they swooped and chased each other about, low to the ground and right above us. In the water, the Western Grebes were fishing and, while we watched them for a few minutes, several Harriers flew by, intent on scanning the adjacent fields for food. But it was windy and (very) cold, so we didn't last too long out there.

Now the Bald Eagles are congregating upriver, so it's time to head to Kilby Provincial Park to watch them feasting on salmon. But first, a stop at Timmy's...

This Red-tailed Hawk watched us as he swooped low overhead

This Harrier was intent on a patch of grasses.

We hadn't seen Western Grebes for a while, so this was a nice view from the dyke.

Ontario Insect Treats

The edges of Minesing Swamp, and the same roadside strips that I talked about yesterday, were also full of insects, both rare native species and introduced species. Here are a few from our day out around the margins of the swamp.

Our friend Paul thought this was a rare West Virginia White butterfly (Pieris virginiensis),

Paul identified this one too: American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)ss

This exotic Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) perched on Caroline's hand just so we could photograph it. There were many of them along the roadside among the gentians.

Feeling the Blues

On a recent trip to Ontario, we were reminded why we like botanizing there more than in BC. Even in tiny roadside strips and in shallow ditches, plant species seem to jump out at you. On this trip, we did a lot of exploring around Simcoe County, not far from the great Minesing Swamp--a spectacular example of boreal fen bog. We didn't make it into the swamp itself but still managed to have some great finds as we explored the country roads in the area. The gentians below were found in tiny little strips of roadside wet meadows and adjacent ditches, both on the borders of the swamp and south of there. They stood out as we drove by, bright splashes of brilliant blue catching our eye as we drove past. Finding gentians is like finding a treasure chest filled with gemstones. And where you find gentians, the odds are you will find orchids. Sure enough, this particular spot was dotted with ladies tresses orchids (Spiranthes spp.), and other yummy wet meadow species: grass-of-parnassus (Parnassia glauca), slender false foxglove (Agalinus tenuifolia) and several goldenrod species.

Fringed Gentian (Gentiana crinita), Simcoe County, Ontario

Smaller Fringed Gentian (Gentiana procera), Ontario

Closed Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii), Simcoe County, Ontario

Visit the Gentian Research Network

Furry Fishers...

It was foggy along Howe Sound on the weekend, and foggy around Squamish Estuary. The thickness of the fog would ebb and flow. We spent some time exploring the estuary at high tide, in the fog. We had one great find--River Otters feeding and playing around a little 'island' created by the high tide--a large log, a tippy tree and some shrubbery. There were at least four otters. They would leap into the water from the log and go fishing, and return to the log to eat dinner, then chase each other around a bit. Mostly, it looked like they were catching flounders or flatfish (they looked like sole), and we could see the flashes of white as they juggled the fish in their mouths. In the fog, nothing was distinct, but we could still 'see' the action. Here are a few photos, very enhanced to remove the 'fogginess'.

Curious otter. Mostly they ignored us, but at first they had to swim over to check out that clicking sound.

The moment before a fishing dive.

Feeding on the 'island'.

Now here is what the photo really looked like, before we fixed it up!

Predators and their prey

The world out there can be awfully dynamic, and some days there is a lot of action. Yesterday was one of those days...

Cedar Waxwing and dragonfly prey

Water strider and dragonfly prey

While we were photographing the action above, my sister was photographing this...

Eastern Kingbird and Polyphemus Moth

Marsh Walking

We recently visited Tiny Marsh in Ontario, a large wetland in Simcoe County located to the west of Barrie. This is a great birding spot. We walked along a dyke trail just before dusk, when activity was at its peak. One of the highlights was the large number of Yellow Warblers, a species also found in BC and pretty common. But in Tiny Marsh they were everywhere, flitting in and out of bushes, often at eye level. As we walked, we noticed several nests just along the trail, including the one below. It was located in a honeysuckle bush growing immediately adjacent to a little bridge that crossed a deep channel. You could reach out and touch this one. We managed to get a peak inside as the bird flew in and out to feed. What was interesting was just how close some of these nests were to each other, often only twenty feet apart. It would be interesting to know just how many Yellow Warblers this marsh supports.

Bumbling About: Species on the Move

One day, about five years ago (2006), we noticed a new bumblebee in our backyard--a very dark (black) bee with a yellow face and a single yellow stripe on the abdomen. It was very distinctive and hard to miss, and we hadn't observed it in our area before. It's appearance seemed sudden. We have noticed it in our garden every year since then. Last week we noticed one at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, foraging on the heather plants, and one at Iona Beach Regional Park in Richmond, foraging on beach pea. In checking the bumblebee photos on E-Fauna BC, we identified this 'new' bumblebee as the yellow-faced bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii).

The yellow-faced bumblebee is found in western North America. According to a note we received from Robbin Thorp, a bumblebee specialist, it was reported from British Columbia by Stevens in 1957 (in Osoyoos). Thorp also points out, though, that Cameron (2011) in his paper on bumblebee declines in North America, doesn't include this species for BC--at least it is not included in the database he used. So do our sightings mean that this species is expanding its range? Certainly it is occurring in BC outside of Osoyoos now, and a check of the photo records on E-Fauna BC show that it has been found in Surrey (2007), Nanaimo (2010) and Port Alberni (2009). Combined with our records for Vancouver and Richmond for 2011, it would seem to 'have arrived' in southwestern BC and southern Vancouver Island around 2006. If there are any older records of its occurrence in the region, it would be interesting to hear about them so we can compile the information.

The apparent range expansion for this species may be the result of climate change or of some other factor, such as less competition (declining bee populations) or introduction to our area. It's worth watching for it now to see if it is more widespread in BC than existing records would show. Let us know if you see it in your area.


The yellow-faced bumblebee was reported in Australia (Buderim, southeast Queensland) in 1999 as an invasive/alien species.