November 30: Reifel Bird Sanctuary & Piper Spit
Saturday was a pretty standard outing: first to my favourite spot in the entire Lower Mainland and then to a relatively easy low-stakes spot where you’re always guaranteed to snap some cool duck. The light was somewhat less than ideal, but we made do!
By the time we got to Piper Spit, it had gotten more overcast and a little drizzly. I guess the ducks didn’t mind?
December 1: Jericho Beach Park & Maplewood Flats
The day dawned clear and bright! I was informed by my network of spies there was a White-throated Sparrow at Maplewood Flats, so I tried to figure out how to manage that while dropping into Competitive 2 volleyball (9AM–11AM at Jericho Community Centre) and playing in Competitive 1 (2PM–4PM at Lord Byng High School).
It was a bit of a relief when C2 was full since that freed up my morning, so I indulged in a quick detour to Jericho Beach. There was nothing really exotic, though one Mallard doing some early morning exercises did grab my attention.
Maplewood Flats had the usual assortment of birbs, especially the lovely Spotted Towhees — regrettably shy around Reifel, but not so much here. Maybe it’s all the seeds visitors give them.
And though this hypothetical white-throat was nowhere to be seen — I guess they’ll keep on being my nemesis for now — I managed to get some quite good photos of both kinds of kinglets we get around here! The ruby-crown was is good light, though the golden-crown was in denser woods and deeper shade, but I’m still quite happy with both sets of shots!
I guess the moral of the story is, shoot for the white-throat moon, because even if you fail you’ll land among the kinglet stars? I don’t know if I’d be feeling the same way if I hadn’t shot these kinglets, but the adage is sound: you gotta try.