If the old saying that what one does on New Years day is what one will do the rest of the year is true then yesterday was an auspicious beginning of the year for me and my three birding companions. One of my goals for 2005 was to see a Snowy Owl. Yesterday I saw not only one, but two, and they were close enough to give good views through my old 8.5x 44 binoculars and excellent looks through my friends' 10x50 bins! But, to start at the beginning..For those who don't like to fuss with reading narratives, lists are included by location. J J J Though we saw no rarities, it was a fun bird-filled day! The following includes lists for our visit to a small section of British Columbia, Canada:

Serpentine Wildlife Area;
Routes 99, 10 and Boundary Bay; and
Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
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Three other avid birders and I headed north early on New Years day. The border crossing into British Columbia at Peace Arch was quick and easy. On this, my third trip to Reifel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island, I wanted to stop at the Serpentine Wildlife Area, which I had noted previously but had not actually visited. We paused at the 44th Avenue entrance for excellent views of ducks without even venturing out in the cold and were delighted to find several elegant Hooded Mergansers in the throng! Along the road to the parking area we spotted 6 or more black squirrels (lifer sighting for me). A short walk along the hedgerows and a climb up one of the viewing towers yielded several more species. The temperature was COLD, with a little flurry of snow happening while we were there.

(nomenclature from Sibley 2000, unless there is a typo, then I take credit :-)

Serpentine Wildlife Area, British Columbia

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
American Widgeon (Anas americana)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
Immature Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapilla)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)
Crow (Corvus sp.)
Gull sp. (Mew, Larus canus, is my call.)

Back on Route 99 we saw two Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) in the grass close to the roadside; Along Route 10 (Ladner/Tswasseen truck route) we spotted a mature Bald Eagle in a tall tree by the roadside, a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) flew over and a GBH foraged in the grassy median.

Having spotted a sign indicating a place called OWLS (Sanctuary) was down a side road we turned left in hopes of determining just what kind of establishment it might be! Along the way we spotted a field full of birds and pulled off the road to take a look. Unfortunately the muddy pull-off turned out to be, not your regular, brown, grainy mud, but a patch of vile, slimy, pasty, grip-less, gray, smelly, organic mud; however, with the application of human-muscle and ingenuity (a few strategically placed twigs, dry leaves and textured clumps of some type of former vegetation) we were soon on the road once again! I hadn't pushed a vehicle since I was seventeen when my friend and I got our car stuck in a snow bank. Yikes, today I feel what a difference 40 years makes!!! And there is a new van that has a date with a carwash. In this farming area we saw the usual Brewers and Red-winged Blackbirds, Starlings and Gulls.

Anyway, a second sign revealed our target to be a place for Orphaned WildLife, not a home for owls; it was closed, so we, being so close, opted to go the approximate half-mile further to Boundary Bay. It was now 12 noon, the sun came out and there they were, two gorgeous Snowy Owls (Nyctea scandiaca). The first was on a large driftwood tree trunk almost directly south of the parking area and the second was a couple hundred yards further west and a bit further out towards the bay, also on a large driftwood tree trunk. After ogling the first for about 5 minutes (I believe it was an adult female; she moved around giving great views of back, side and face), I walked further west to get a better look at the second, who proceeded to preen himself. I believe the second was an adult male. We did not see the Short-eared Owl which, we had been told, had been spotted earlier in the day. Of course, there were whole flotillas of ducks out in the bay, too far away to identify withou!
t a scope, and a mature Bald Eagle surveying the terrain from a post to the east.

Routes 99 and 10, and Boundary Bay, British Columbia

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Brewers Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca)
Gull sp.

>From there we proceeded on to the last targeted birding area for the remainder of the day Reifel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island. Here we added a few additional waterfowl and other birds to our list.

One of the joys of visiting Reifel is hand-feeding the chickadees. I take a mixture called 'Nuts and Berries' which contains hull-less nuts such as sunflower seeds, peanuts, and pumpkin seeds mixed with safflower seeds, raisins and other goodies. It is pretty amazing to have a little Black-capped Chickadee land on my outstretched palm and grab the largest peanut there! This time I had a Chessie - Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) - take seed from my hand along with the numerous Black-cappeds. This Chessie, being the only individual of the species present, appeared to be free from hierarchical considerations that seemed to effect the behavior of the Black-capped individuals. When several Black-capped Chickadees approached my hand at the same time they would side-step a direct landing for a while, perch on a nearby branch, then come in one at a time. The Chessie avoided this nonsense and "bullied right up to the bar" no matter if a Black-capped was on the app!
roach or not! This little bird also sat on my fingers and sorted through the seeds until it found what must have appeared to be the best-looking morsel before snatched it and flying off. One of these days I will go to the refuge and, rather than spending a lot of time being a human bird feeder, actually make my way around ALL the trails!

A special treat for one member of our party, who had started back to the warming hut ahead of the rest of us, was a close-up look at a male Wood Duck that had perched on top of one of the platform feeders beside the trail. The duck proceeded to squeeze itself under the roof of the feeder to get seed from the wooden tray!

Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Westham Island, British Columbia

Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)
Mallard
American Widgeon
Northern Shovelers
American Coot
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocarax auritus)
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Great Blue Heron
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
Canada Goose
Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
White-Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
American Robin
Crow sp.
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
Red-winged Blackbirds
Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
Spotted Towhee
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier

That's All!
--
Judy Rowe Taylor
Mukilteo, WA
mailto: judyrowetaylor at comcast.net