Blackie Spit
So when figuring out where to go on this fine Saturday, I suggested Blackie Spit. My birding bestie agreed with my assumption that, so late in the season and with skies somewhat overcast, the parking lot probably wouldn’t be full — a problem we’ve run into a few times.
And yet: when we got there around noon-ish, the place was packed. Street parking is hard to come by in this extremely residential neighbourhood, but we did find a spot at the outer edge, and trekked from there.
It seemed a silly inconvenience, but would turn out to have massive consequences!
At first there didn’t seem to be a lot to look at. Nothing in the bird boxes out on the water — not even resting cormorants! — and the tide was too far out for shorebirds, but as always the scenery was nice! In particular, the little bay to the east, which last time was mostly bone-dry, now held quite a lot of water.
I thought these were Snow Geese, and I confidently gave a short lecture to a nearby family about migrating Snow Geese. But no, these are Canada Geese! The local ones don’t migrate, so these must just be passing through.
Well, at least they know about Snow Geese!
My first junco of the season!
I really like taking this shot.
Usually when I’m shooting this slough I compose the shot with the Maple Street Pumphouse, but this time I decided to shoot from the opposite end and do pretty cloud reflections!
But then! because we didn’t park in the regular parking lot, we took those little stairs down to Dunsmuir Street… and there, right at the corner facing the other slough headed to the pumphouse, we heard the most godawful screeching coming from the trees. From two sources, having some kind of conversation. We looked for a bit, and I was disappointed to glimpse a squirrel in the foliage.
Case closed, right? Just another squirrel making noises, and yelling at another? But then, I saw an odd bird up on a nearby power line, with unfamiliar markings, and it was this bird that was doing the screeching!
After a few moments, it was kind enough to land in a more photogenic spot. What is this beautiful lifer? It’s a California Scrub-Jay. Apparently two have been seen around Blackie spit in the last few days. They’re a rarity in these parts, but apparently their range has been moving north so we’ll probably see more of them soon.
I hadn’t even checked the rare bird alert site before heading out, and here we ran into one totally by accident — or was it fate? Did the Universe make sure to fill up the parking lot so we’d leave at that spot, later than usual, and run into this blue beauty?
Nah. But it is fun to think about roads not taken and how unlikely this particular road was. Life is all about choices and consequences, both foreseen and un.
Piper Spit
There wasn’t a whole lot going on at Piper Spit. The shorebirds weren’t giving us good photo ops, but this Wood Duck couple were preening each other in the most adorable way.
