Owls, Owls, and More Owls

By Jim Meyer

Having gotten sufficiently pumped up over the Torino Olympics, I headed to my place in Squamish, B.C. on March 1 to sample some of the 2010 Olympic slopes at Whistler/Blackcomb. However, when you're retired and have a month, one doesn't ski on the weekends and especially when one gets invited to go birding in the Delta just below Vancouver. My good friends and personal Squamish birding guides, Grant and Marcia, picked me up at 0830 on Saturday and we were soon heading down the Sea-to-Sky highway which borders Howe Sound with its many Islands, creating one of the the most scenic drives in the world. Marcia soon began wetting my appetite with that mornings yard spottings-2 early Band-tailed Pigeons, Varied Thrushes and Evening Grosbeaks.

Our first stop was at the 1000 acre Stanley Park with its 22 miles of hiking trails, lakes, wetlands, and 6 miles of seawall offering a lot of birding opportunities. We scanned English Bay and soon picked up A. Wigeon, Surf Scoter, Glaucous-winged Gull, Barrows and Common Goldeneye, flying Pelagic Cormorants, Horned Grebe, Harlequin Duck, and 2 magnificent Long-tailed Ducks. We then relocated to a Great Blue Heron rookery with over 75 nests and many GBHs going through their breeding rituals. Two winters past, the very large and tame Great Gray Owl spent 3 weeks here in the Park, much to many birders delight.

Skirting downtown Vancouver, we decided to head to the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary which is on Westham Island in the Delta with the South Arm of the Fraser River and the Strait of Georgia surrounding it. Crossing the bridge to the Island, we picked up Mute Swan, Gadwall and Western Grebe and, about a mile before the entrance, Marcia spotted a beautiful Ring-necked Pheasant on the side of the road. An immature Bald Eagle, high in a conifer, looked like a sentinel guarding the Sanctuary entrance. We were hoping it was the Golden Eagle that had been spotted around there in the past weeks.

Walking the entry road, I clearly observed the scarlet crown on a male Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We also had a beautiful male Golden-crowned Kinglet. Marcia heard the call of a Hutton's Vireo and it soon appeared with a white downy feather in its mouth. It was building a nest not 6 feet from last years. We also had C. Merganser, N. Shoveler, and N. Pintail in the adjacent canal.

At the entrance, we were greeted by a large flock of tame Mallards, as usual, but this year minus the Mandarin Duck that had been hanging out with them the last 2 years. Looking up, we noticed a Sharp-shinned Hawk patrolling. The first trail held our target Owl location but before we got there, we picked up Wood Duck, Black-crowned Nite Heron, and a Greater White-fronted Goose in with some Canadas. Not much further down the trail was our owl-a Northern Saw-whet, hidden away in the center of a really dense Holly tree. Soon after, we heard a distant chorus which turned out to be 2000+ Snow Geese flushing due to a passing Eagle. Undoubtedly, they were feeding on some of the cabbage or potatoes some farmers are paid to leave for the wildlife in this area.

Moving down the trail, we picked up N. Yellow-shafted Flicker, Tree Swallow, Spotted Towhee, Fox and Song Sparrow, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Sparrow, N. Harrier, and a Downy Woodpecker. Just before entering a bird blind, we discovered a Brown Creeper ascending the tree. Then inside the blind, we saw Hooded Merganser exiting a log, Pie-billed Grebe, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead and a Trumpeter Swan. A Bewick's Wren serenaded us several times during the walk. On the other side of the Sanctuary, we got Ring-necked and Lesser Scaup, Canvasback, White-crowned Sparrow, and Sandhill Crane. Another good outing at Reifel!

On our way to our next stop, the Tsawwassen ferry spit, we picked up A. Kestrel and Rough-legged Hawk which was a lifer for me. Due to a really low tide, we only got C. Loon and Dunlin at the spit.

By now, you're probably thinking-not many owls for an owl article! On the way to Boundary Bay, we stopped at farmer Richards barn and saw a pair of Barn Owls sitting in the rafters at the end just above entrance. This is very thoughtful of them since their are about 50 cows that fertilize the ground here. The female flew to the other end of the barn as soon as we looked at her and the male just stared at us, much as we were doing.

Before getting to 72nd Street on Boundary Bay, we did a short detour and picked up about 50 Trumpeter Swans with 5 Tundras mixed in. Last weekend a bewick's race Tundra was present also. Upon arriving at 72 Street, we immediately saw a Short-eared Owl sitting on a post and a N. Harrier low hunting the adjacent field. I couldn't believe my eyes, the "silent flyer" took off and made a direct hit on the Harrier thus discouraging it from hunting in the Owls field! However, the Short-eared Owls must be compatible since we had earlier seen 3 hunting a field together in close proximity.

Upon getting up on the dyke, we immediately saw many white spots down the beach-Snowy Owls. The highlight of the day was seeing 3 beautiful Snowys sitting on a large log about 6 feet apart. I had brought my digiscoping bracket so I introduced Grant and Marcie to digscoping and they now have one on order! In all, we had 15 Snowy Owls which is twice as many as last year and who knows, they may enter their 10 year disappearing cycle next year so luck was with me.

As we drove off to our last stop, we noticed a Red-tailed Hawk sitting low in a tree with a lady standing not 15 feet below it taking pictures. Another friend of ours said he saw it sitting there an hour or so earlier which seems a little strange. Upon entering Beach Grove Park, we noticed a Merlin sitting high in a tree. With darkness closing in and about 15 minutes of looking, Grant spotted our 5th Owl species sitting high in a spruce tree- a Great- horned Owl. After about 15 minutes, it was joined by another one in a adjacent tree. Soon after we heard coyotes howling which seem to prompt the Owl pair to start their low Hoo! hu-hu hu, Hoo'ing. We then saw them fly to a tall snag in the center of the park and disappear inside. What a way to end a great day of birding in the Delta of British Columbia!