Tower Beach - stay away fools

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the B.C. Coastal Waterbird Survey season. This is my third year volunteering with Birds Canada to help gather information on population trends and the health of birds using our coastal waters.

I was hoping to write an entry about the first visit to my survey site – my stretch of beach is quite rocky, and during winter months it becomes treacherous and even impassable, as the photograph below demonstrates.

But I adore it.

Despite being adjacent to Spanish Banks, one of the busiest beaches in Vancouver, my patch between Acadia and Tower beach is usually entirely devoid of people… and I can sometimes almost fool myself that I’m out on a remote coast on Vancouver Island.

Not so last weekend.

The survey protocol requires me to be there within 2 hours of high tide, which meant visiting around 2pm. On a sunny Sunday. At the end of summer.

As you can imagine, there were so many people. More than I’ve ever seen there. With kids. And dogs.

I know and appreciate it’s a public space, and they have as much right to be there as I do. But I was so frustrated.

Of course, there were almost no birds to be seen – only a handful of gulls – and I left in a foul mood. My only consolation is that as it gets colder in the next month or two, fewer and fewer people will be there when I visit.

So, to make up for my misanthropic ranting, here’s a selection of photos I’ve taken lately.

Greater Yellowlegs

I think I can brag a little about this photo. It’s pretty good, yeah?

Killdeer

I know many people aren’t too excited about Killdeer, but I adore these birds. I think they’re so beautiful and endlessly fascinating. They’re quite skittish, and I spent a good 20 minutes laying on my belly in a dried pond to get this photo!

Savannah Sparrow

Sparrows are another group of birds that people don’t pay nearly enough attention to. I was so happy to get this photo of one of a group of three Savannah Sparrows rushing around at low tide, zipping around chasing insects.

Pelagic Cormorant

Cormorants are simply amazing birds. We love to scapegoat them, but – what a surprise – we’re the ones decimating fish stocks, not Cormorants.

If I may share my (somewhat crass?) argument when anything like this comes up: Fuck off, they were here first.

Greater Egret

This bird drew a lot of birders (and especially photographers!) out to a local park recently. While fairly commonplace in a significant part of North America, we don’t see these birds much up here in Vancouver.

Anna’s Hummingbird

We all know hummingbirds are beautiful, but once you start paying attention to they, you’ll learn they are incredibly aggressive. Food sources are so vital to their survival, and they will viciously fight to protect what is theirs.

Short-billed Gull

Until a year or two ago, these birds were commonly known as Mew Gulls, which many people probably still prefer since it sounds cute, like they are.

Cooper’s Hawk

I was able to catch this photo of a surprise visit by a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.

Bushtit

I absolutely love Bushtits. They are so small, but have such an out-sized presence. They make me instantly happy when I see them.

Bushtit

Finally, here’s an adult female Bushtit. You can tell it’s both an adult and a female because her eye is yellow. Young Bushtits and male birds have a dark eye.

Until next time – I’ll try and update sooner… It’s challenging without my regular gull nest visits!

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