☀️ Thursday 25th May 2017 🇨🇦 ~ Over the past few days we've spent time enjoying Vancouver and mixing the sightseeing with birding. We've certainly been lucky with the weather, cloudless skies and temperatures in the mid 20s!
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| Vancouver's Coal Harbour ~ Vibrant at night! |
On Thursday we met up with Derek once again and headed off to visit Whytecliff Park and Cypress Provincial Park. Whytecliff Park is located along the rugged coastline of Howe Sound in West Vancouver and has scenic views across the Sound. Below several
Seals and small rafts of
Surf Scoter, plus
Pigeon Guillemot,
Marbled Murrelet,
Double-crested Cormorant and
Pelagic Cormorant.
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| Spotted Towhee ~ Whytecliff Park |
We spent a while enjoying the weather and watching the ferries passing through to Vancouver Island! While here an
Anna's Hummingbird kept us company, zipping around everywhere and
Spotted Towhee,
White-crowned sparrow,
Warbling Vireo, Wilson's Warbler and
Orange-crowned Warbler were all noted. From here we took a short drive and walked the Eagle Lane access road, normally a good place for Warblers. It's a blessing to have Derek with us, being so family with North American bird song. I've barely tuned in and am now suffering from what Derek calls '
Warbler Neck', staring endlessly into the high canopy looking for signs of movement!
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| Finally a chance to photograph a MacGillivray's Warbler |
Still it was a good walk with a selection of Flycatchers:
Olive-sided,
Hammonds and
Pacific-slope. A few more Warbler additions to the day included
MacGillivray's and
Townsend, plus other sightings:
Swainson's Thrush,
Western Tanager,
Brown Creeper,
Northern Flicker and at least four
Black-headed Grosbeak.
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| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
From here Derek actually took Dee and I on a Canadian 'Twitch' up to the Cypress Bowl picnic area for an unusual
Hermit Warbler X Townsend's Warbler hybrid! After a half hour we actually found the bird, albeit briefly, before we headed off for a late lunch. Also of note today:
Turkey Vulture, Band-tailed Pigeon and of course
Bald Eagle!
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| Western Tanager from today! |
