Vancouver for the last time? Oct 2012

In this post, I say goodbye to Vancouver. Rising fuel prices are crippling profits, so in an attempt to reduce fuel burn, the company have transferred this route to a younger and above all, lighter fleet of crew. The heavy weight of experience carried by us old-timers burns no extra fuel and in the absence of Vancouver flights, will be put to use on the Boston flights which have come full circle and are to be welcomed back to the Heritage Fleet rosters.

Grouse Mountain was shrouded this morning, so I returned to an old favourite in Stanley Park. This is a place that I will greatly miss until the transient management decision-makers change their minds again. Lost Lagoon was, as ever, covered in Canada Geese and Mallard. Glaucous-winged Gulls, a few Wood Duck and Great Blue Herons were also seen on the water with American Robins, Song Sparrows and a Northern Flicker in the trees and bushes away from the bank. I moved quickly through to the outdoor swimming pool area. A Bald Eagle was perched at the end of a rocky breakwater, but took flight at my approach.

The seawall route around the park is one-way, anti-clockwise, for bicycles, so I had to return back past the lagoon to conform. As I passed the totem-poles, a Bald Eagle swooped down from its vantage point on a tall pine tree and tried to take something from the water. All I could see out there were Mew (short-billed)Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls which were making a terrible fuss about the eagle.

Different populations of Bald Eagle specialise in different prey, often showing a preference for fish or fowl. I have not seen a successful hunt in Vancouver and am not familiar enough with them to say which they favour. I am still none the wiser after this miss, but it returned to its perch at the top of the tree to pose for pictures.

Beaver Lake is becoming more and more clogged despite the beavers’ attempts to raise the water level by blocking the drains. Mallard and Wood Duck came close, hoping to be fed.

Black-capped Chickadees, Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Dark-eyed Juncos are used to free hand-outs here and have been acclimatised to expect food from people, even taking food from their hands.

During a walk around the lake, a flock of Pine Siskins were seen feeding in the Alders. A Pacific Wren and a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets were also seen picking through the lower tangles.

Back on the seawall, I continued my circuit, passing under the bridge where a flock of Brandt’s Cormorants were resting on the base of the support. More were seen on the cliffs on the land side of the wall where a shower of feathers betrayed the presence of a Peregrine Falcon plucking its lunch.

A Red-necked Grebe was seen beyond the iconic, Siwash Rock and moments later a Harlequin Duck whooshed past, fast and low across the water.

Previous reports from Vancouver have featured the astonishing gluttony of the Glaucous-winged Gulls and their determination to eat anything that they can get down their throats. This week it was a small flat fish (Starry Flounder?) that just would not fit.

The tide had been low during the morning, but had been ripping through the straight under the bridge. It was rising quickly now and some Black Oystercatchers that I had seen from further back, were now marooned on their rocky roosts.

I clambered down onto the beach to get a closer look and found a flock of Pine Siskins which appeared to have come down to the water’s edge for a drink. Is it usual for a bird to drink salt water when there is plenty of fresh water available nearby?

My full circle brought me back to the swimming pool which had been closed to the public on Labor Day (5 weeks previously). Since then it has become the domain of gulls and the North-western Crow.

The crow has been responsible for making a fantastic mess. They prise mussels from rocks during low-tide and carry them high before dropping them onto the hard surface of the pool surround. The shell cracks and voila! Moules tartare!

 Birds seen; 37

Canada Goose 345, Mute Swan 3, Wood Duck 12, American Wigeon 24, Mallard 162, Harlequin Duck 2, Surf Scoter 9, Hooded Merganser 1, Horned Grebe 2, Red-necked Grebe 1, Brandt's Cormorant 30, Double-crested Cormorant 17, Great Blue Heron 3, Bald Eagle 3, Peregrine Falcon 3, American Coot 17, Killdeer 1, Black Oystercatcher 5, Mew Gull 40, Ring-billed Gull 12, Thayer's Gull 9, Glaucous-winged Gull 100, Northern Flicker 2, Pileated Woodpecker 1, Northwestern Crow 145, Black-capped Chickadee 8, Chestnut-backed Chickadee 6, Pacific Wren 1, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4, American Robin 15, European Starling 4, Spotted Towhee 4, Savannah Sparrow 9, Song Sparrow 12, Dark-eyed Junco 9, Red-winged Blackbird 3, Pine Siskin 80.

Follow this link for a map of Stanley park

For previous posts from Stanley Park, follow the links below;

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/stanley-park-vancouver-oct-2011.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/stanley-park-vancouver-june-2012.html

Other posts from Vancouver include;

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/twitching-in-vancouver.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/orcas-in-vancouver.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/vancouver-island-ferry-vancouver-june.html

Visit the dedicated USA and Canada Page for more from the region, including; Seattle’s Discovery Park and Ferry to Bremerton.

Stanley Park, Vancouver, June 2012

My plan this morning was to catch the ferry across to Vancouver Island in the hope that the boat would coincide with the passing of a pod of Orcas. Rather than wasting the golden early hours on trains and buses however, I took a quick flash around Stanley Park before heading down to Tsawassen to catch the ferry.

A Racoon looked embarrassed to be caught out in the open and a Douglas Squirrel greeted me expectantly on the bridge at the far corner of the Lost Lagoon at Google Earth ref; 49 17 44N 123 08 46W .

People often put out food for the animals here and they have become quite approachable. Fat Tony earned an injunction here after loitering with intent to kidnap squirrels.

North-western Crows are accepted as the norm here in Vancouver, so I was happy to add them to the list without any qualms.

The track skirts the shoreline all the way around the park and cyclists are required to go in an anti-clockwise direction. In a tree right by the water, a Red-breasted Sapsucker parent was tending its youngster. Judging by the sap-tapping marks, this tree is a regular feeding spot for them. The juvenile bird was making a valiant attempt to suck sap for itself, but the parent bird still seemed keen to help.

The foot of the roadbridge support held a few Pelagic Cormorants. A Common Merganser ignored my presence on the seawall and hauled up onto the tiny beach.

A chase ensued along Third Beach as I tried to keep up with a Banded Kingfisher. It hovered about 10 meters above the very still water and plunge-dived to try to catch a fish. It missed a few times, but each time it stopped to hover, I got the chance to catch up, but never quite got within range. I was travelling light today and you may notice that most of the weight was saved by discarding any heavy image-stabilising paraphernalia.

Birds seen; 21

Canada Goose 150, Mute Swan 5, Wood Duck 1, Mallard 200, Common Merganser 1, Double-crested Cormorant 6, Pelagic Cormorant 40, Great Blue Heron 5, Glaucous-winged Gull 80, Belted Kingfisher 1, Red-breasted Sapsucker 2, Northwestern Crow 60, Northern Rough-winged Swallow 6, Violet Green Swallow 2, Barn Swallow 20, Black-capped Chickadee 2, American Robin 8, European Starling 6, Spotted Towhee 2, Song Sparrow 1, White-crowned Sparrow 12.

Mammals seen; 4

Racoon 1, Western Grey Squirrel (Grey and Black versions) 12, Douglas Squirrel 2, Harbour Seal 8.

There are more posts to be found from Stanley Park at the following links;
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/stanley-park-vancouver-oct-2011.html

Visit the dedicated USA and Canada Page for more from Vancouver, such as Boundary Bay or Orca-watching boat rides.

Stanley Park, Vancouver, Oct 2011

Nearly 3 years ago I did a trip to Vancouver’s Stanley Park with the inestimable Charlie Moores. It was he that inspired me to start Redgannet (although some less charitable observers have suggested that the blog is perpetrated rather than written), following the style and format of his much-missed charliesbirdingblog. Charlie has given up flying around the world and can now be found talking naturally with guests on his podcast website.

The light came late this morning and I had to back-track to get any decent photographs, so shadow-watchers may see some crazy time lines in the sequence of photos in this post.  Follow W. Georgia St. north-west to Google Earth Ref;  49 17 40N 123 08 14W and you will find yourself at the south-east corner of the 18 (-ish) hectare Lost Lagoon. The season is still a little young for the great variety of ducks that might be found here during the winter. Instead, there was a big head of Canada Geese as first light fell.

I get plenty of bad photographs in my pursuit of half-decent ones, but occasionally I fluke an atmospheric picture through no intention or talent of my own. Often overlooked as a trash bird, the geese were in their place and time today and a smaller version amongst them was a life-first Cackling Goose. The split from Canada Goose was made in 2004, but looking at the size and bill shape makes me wonder what took them so long.

Raccoons were seen on the path as I walked around the lake in a clockwise direction towards the bridge. They are often fed by well-meaning park visitors, but they have become very used to people and often come into conflict with dog walkers and parents with small children.

I was using a bicycle this morning and my intention was to take a gentle ride around the sea-wall, but this meant returning to W. Georgia St. and crossing over to comply with the one-way bike trail which runs anticlockwise. This should be the best way to chase the light, but high trees and raised ground cast long shadows out onto the water to shade anything close to the shore.

Any visit to Vancouver will inevitably include gulls. Glaucous-winged Gulls were the most common today, but in fewer numbers than I recall. The only other species seen was the Short-billed (Common) Gull. One of the Glaucous-winged Gulls was trying to swallow a starfish and looked to be gagging on it. A couple of walkers stopped to watch, but became grossed out by the constant regurgitating to get a better grip. Another passerby was very impressed giving it a high score for technical effort and artistic impression. The fay, English critic gave it a “Yes” and it went through to the next round. For the full performance and to vote for the Glaucous-winged Gull, click this link.

Out on the water were Pelagic Cormorants as well as Double-crested Cormorants with their much thicker bills and orange chin. The only ducks seen along the first stretch were American Wigeon. Good numbers of Horned Grebe were seen and a Harbour Seal came quite close to shore.

At around the 3.8km mark, the Ravine Trail leads up to Beaver Lake. This is always a good place to look for Spotted Towhees, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. They are often fed here and are very approachable.

Beaver Lake, as the name suggests has a Beaver lodge and the rodents constantly block the overflow drain to increase the depth of the shrinking pool. It is choked with weeds now and is becoming quite swampy with only a tiny piece of open water left. The Wood Ducks love it here and also like to endear themselves to the people who come here to feed them.

Back out on the sea-wall I passed under the Lion’s Gate Bridge and was rewarded with a view out across the open water towards the Strait of Georgia which separates Vancouver Island from the mainland. There was a large flock of Scoters out there.  The big white face and head patches of the Surf Scoters stood out from a distance, but there were a couple of oddities amongst them. I took a seat with Stan and Mary Stanford (who so loved the view from here) and scanned the flock carefully. A small group who stayed very slightly removed from the main flock proved to be White-winged Scoters and there was one Long-tailed Duck mixed in with the melee.

In a small bay close to Third Beach a pair of Harlequin Ducks rode the gentle swell of an incoming tide. I wanted to get a closer picture and clambered down onto the rocky shoreline to wait for them to round the headland, but the tide pushed me back as the ducks paddled further out at my approach.

I had come full circle now and stopped for a passable fish and chips at a café near to First Beach. A Glaucous-winged Gull was keening pitifully for its parent who was watching my chips with a dark eye.

Back at the bridge and the Lost Lagoon, I managed to get a few of the photographs that I missed in the horrible light of an overcast morning. The Raccoons were out in force with at least 8 of them begging for scraps from anyone who passed.

The Great Blue Heron was in a better position with some nice warm afternoon light falling on him, but still he looked grumpy.

Species seen; 29

Horned Grebe 25, Double-crested Cormorant 12, Pelagic Cormorant 35, Great Blue Heron 5, Mute Swan 6, Cackling Goose 1, Canada Goose 400, Wood Duck 15, American Wigeon 120, Green-winged Teal 5, Mallard 80, Harlequin Duck 2, Long-tailed Duck 1, Surf Scoter 350, White-winged Scoter 8, Cooper’s Hawk 2, American Coot 8, Short-billed Gull 15, Glaucous-winged Gull 35, American Robin 2, Varied Thrush 1, Black-capped Chickadee 6, Chestnut-backed Chickadee  8, North-western Crow 400, Spotted Towhee 12, Song Sparrow 40, White-throated Sparrow 3, Golden-crowned Sparrow 6, Dark-eyed Junco 35, Red-winged Blackbird 1.

The path along the sea-wall passes the First Peoples’ totem poles and the attendant interpretative centre.

Stanley Park, Vancouver, YVR