May 26th, 2020: So many unconfined birds at Colony Farm!!
I was excited to throne out to Colony Farm Regional Park today to meet with a birding friend for some social distancing birding. I was moreover hoping to see a few Colony Farm specialties. Today’s wish list of birds that can be tough to see within the municipality proper (where I live) included: Bullock’s Oriole, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Eastern Kingbird, and (mostly importantly) Lazuli Bunting.
We had a FANTASTIC birding day! Starting at 10AM, in order to requite me time to bike/Skytrain out there, we saw a whopping 54 species at Colony Farm. It was pretty hot too, so we were a little surprised the birds were so zippy and vocal.
I had the weightier start possible when I spotted a male Lazuli Bunting singing as I biked withal a less trafficked part of trail, inward the park from the south. We saw at least one other Lazuli later on our walk too. But seeing this gorgeous bird first thing made me very optimistic for today. (Especially when I ran into several photographers who hadn’t seen one all day.)
I met with my friend, who didn’t plane recognize me at first… Apparently, I need a hair cut. And we set out withal the dyke trail. Colony Farm is a unconfined spot for finding tons of Willow Flycatchers and we weren’t disappointed. They seemed to be everywhere, and we plane spotted one eating a Cabbage White (butterfly)!
All 6 typical swallow species were virtually too. Plus a nice mixed bag of finches, warblers, and sparrows. After the Lazuli, the next bird on my wish list was a Bullock’s Oriole. We didn’t get a unconfined look, but a sunny orange male perched up transiently on a very afar oak. They’re the only oriole we get out here and they’re an uncommon bird at the weightier of times.
At the main dyke trail junction, we found flipside target bird for the day: Eastern Kingbird. We were expressly pleased to find one since we’d recently run into flipside unconfined birder who hadn’t seen one all day. We came wideness a pair of Cinnamon Teal too. Lucky us!
We struck out on rails at the southeast swimming though. It was too late in the day to expect any Virginia Rail or Sora to be calling. Sadly, we didn’t manage to turn up any American Bittern withal the path just south of the gardens either. The water was particularly high. Either this pushes the bittern onto variegated nearby habitat, or they just tingle invisibly up into hiding spots when their favoured waterways get too deep.
But this is a fun time of year regardless of what species you find with all the fledglings around. Some birds are still settling lanugo to nest, of course. But there are lots of winsome fledglings just getting their bearings. Today, we came wideness a particularly plump and unflinching Red-winged Blackbird.
After the pond, we ventured remoter toward the northeast side of the park and toward the densest woodland area. Out that way we encountered increasingly Western Tanager and Black-headed Grosbeak. Plus, the Band-tailed Pigeon and Mourning Dove I was hoping for today! We moreover found a smattering of other woodland passerines: mostly warblers, thrushes, and flycatchers.
We found the weightier bird of the day on our way when to the parking lot. Actually, some whence birders found the bird and were puzzling over it in the loftiness when we arrived. It wasn’t showing much other than “medium-sized bird, gray back” with no other detail at that distance. Then it moved: a Western Kingbird! I was very happy to convey what a unconfined bird this was to the whence birders that had spotted it, and to tell them a little well-nigh the bird. They were thrilled (as one should be)!
Western Kingbirds have popped up in several locations within Metro Vancouver this year. Most years we get one or two for a day or two, so it’s a treat for them to show up in multiple locations! This year two birds showed up on the Cecil Green grounds on UBC campus, two up in Squamish, and this one at Colony Farm.
They’re a big tyrant flycatcher, expressly virtually here where our other flycatchers are on the small side. And such a gorgeous bird with their plush, ash gray and lemony yellow colouring! They move through every year, but they haven’t bred in Vancouver in a while (a pair used to successors at Colony Farm). They eat mostly insects, but they moreover eat some fruits. I wonder if all the elderberries at Colony Farm is what unliable them tastefulness success there in the past…
WEKIs are warlike birds too. When I unprotected up with a variegated individual out at UBC several days ago, I watched it snap its peck and fend off a harassing American Robin. And they have quite a large range in North America, spanning the unshortened western half of the U. S. and the southern half of Canada’s prairie and mountain provinces. Their wintering grounds are Mexico, Central America, and the southern part of Florida.
After a unconfined several hours at Colony Farm, I was pretty psyched to have found every one of my targets. I hope to get when out there soon (eBird list)!
Don’t forget to gloat Black birders with the very first #BlackBirdersWeek!!
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