I am sectioning it into three parts, and this is the first. February 8th :
Arriving in Richmond at around 3:30 p.m., I headed out to Boundary Bay 72nd street in hope for my lifer Short-eared Owl.
Upon arriving, I was greeted by a horde of male Red-winged Blackbirds singing triumphantly from behind some short bushes and around 100 American Wigeons swirling in the air. I directed my binoculars to the wide expanse of prairie to start scanning for Shorties....... fifteen seconds later, I saw an elegant silhouette rise over the ridge and start surfing the tall grass. Short-eared Owl! Lifer #279 for British Columbia! Watching in awe, the SEOW dove gracefully into the grass for some dinner.
Also whooshing back and forth across the expanse were three lovely female Northern Harriers, and a Great Blue Heron was eyeing out the situation on the path nearby. I decided a walk along the dyke would be imperative to try to find something else interesting. Overhead the path was a pair of Mallards flying quickly and a Killdeer called in the distance. Walking along, I stirred up a few Song Sparrows and two Spotted Towhees in the tangle of bushes on the right hand side, as well as another GBH. Calling from the grasslands were several Marsh Wrens. Perusing the prairie, I saw at least three male Northern Harriers, and one was cordial enough to fly my way, so I snapped a shot of him as he whizzed by.
Northern Harrier male
This turned out to be my best in-flight harrier shot I've ever taken in my opinion.
Only a minute later, I turned around, and what was perched eloquently on a seadrift log, but a Long-eared Owl!
Long-eared Owl
I was surprised indeed to see one out in the open like that; they are usually found skulking in the brambles in dense cover!
To make matters even better, when I rounded a corner, I was face to face with a Short-eared Owl on a horizontal piece of wood!
Short-eared Owl
With the light fading, I decided it was time to head back to the car. Upon reaching the parking area, even more birds were about to be seen. There was a kind of feeding frenzy of birds being active before sun-down, and I counted 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, around 6 Song Sparrows, 5 Golden-crowned Sparrows, 4 White-crowned Sparrows, 3 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 1 Fox Sparrow all in the bushes on either side of the road! A fly-by Double-crested Cormorant was a nice addition to the list too.
Well, it was a excellent two hours of birding at BB, with three photos I was happy with, and a lifer!
Thank you for looking, and Part 2 and Part 3 are coming up soon!
Logan
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