Maplewood Flats Conservation Area
The day was very overcast and grey, but Maplewood Flats always offers some nice views of Burrard Inlet and Burnaby Mountain, refinery and all. Not so much with the birds, generally, though we were blessed with a surprise Willow Flycatcher!
The titular flags and flowers adorned the Park Street Marsh, the open grassy stretch to the west of the trails. It’s off-limits to visitors, being an important protected habitat that birds both resident and migratory depend on. Not really sure what these pink flags are all about, but I trust that the staff know what they’re doing, and they do complement the yellow and blue flowers quite nicely.
That marsh was the only real pop of colour at Maplewoods! But that’s how it goes sometimes.
Burnaby Lake Regional Park
This view of Still Creek, from the bridge, is always a delight! Yes, even under this sky, which I feels adds a bit of oomph and texture. Instead of walking from the Avalon Avenue parking lot to Piper Spit, we walked from the sports centre off Kensington to the rowing pavillion. A different mix of scenery and birbs… I can’t forget seeing a Mountain Bluebird pair along the soccer field, way back in 2003. Coincidentally, under pretty similar weather to today, just with some actual drizzle.
ƛ̓éxətəm (Tlahutum) Regional Park
The community gardens gave us colourful flowers, still more baby birds, more bugs making babies, and pollinators helping flowers to make more flowers. At the intersection of “colourful” and “birds” was this handsome Anna’s juvenile, with his gorget maybe a quarter grown but already making a statement!
The photos
