Last weekend I felt compelled to return to the Tsawassen Ferry Jetty in search of the Whimbrel that eluded me on my previous visit. As I was making my way up the jetty, I spooked a bird – it was too fast to ID, but it didn’t look familiar and my first (wishful) thought was that it was a Whimbrel.

Nearing the end of the south side of the jetty, I gave up hope of finding the Whimbrel… but not long after that a large shorebird flew in and landed at the edge of the beach – and I don’t have to tell you what that bird was.

I made my way down the slippery embankment of boulders to the beach, slowly and carefully moving toward the Whimbrel, walking out into the water to get the best angle for the low morning sun.

Killdeer

I spotted a Killdeer on the rocky beach not long after my arrival. Sure, I have many favourite birds – and Killdeer are high on that list. I’m perpetually astonished at how cryptic these birds are. At a glace, they don’t seem particularly camouflaged, but where I thought I saw only one there were four. Even the rocky beach, these birds seemed to vanish the instant they stopped moving.

Black Oystercatcher

Further along the jetty I was surprised to find a flock of twenty Black Oystercatchers preening and lazing about. While I almost always see some Oystercatchers at this location, it’s usually just a pair or two. As I was watching them, a pair started to engage in what’s called a piping display. I attempted to record them, but only had my cell phone with me, and the audio was mediocre at best.

Dunlin flock

A sandbar on the north side of the jetty was crowded with a flock of at least a thousand (and most certainly more) Dunlin. Many stood should to shoulder, covering the exposed sandbar. Groups would take off, fly in a tight flock – first the brown backs, then an instantaneous turn, their white underwings glowing in the morning sun. I wonder, where do they all sleep? In my mind I hear in Werner Herzog’s voice: “Do they also dream as a flock?”

White-winged Scoter

I rarely see White-winged Scoters close to the shore, but this one female was foraging only 20 or 30 feet from the beach on the north side of the jetty.

Common Loon

I know we love to see Common Loons in their complex and vivid breeding plumage, but I’ve been lucky to spend some time watching them from remarkably close while at the jetty. They’re incredibly charming birds, regardless of what molt they’re in.

Barrow’s Golden-eye

Going back a few weeks more, here’s a portrait of a female Barrow’s Golden-eye I took at Jericho.

Bonaparte’s Gull

…and a flight photo of what is probably my favourite gull – a Bonaparte’s Gull.

Until next time.

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