British Columbia and the Northwest

We traveled to British Columbia this summer leaving behind 101 degree F temperatures and the dog days of Texas for the cool NW.  Temperatures in BC ranged from 57-71 degrees F.  We flew into Seattle and rented a hybrid to drive to Tsawassen to hop a ferry to Galiano Island where we spent two days.  From there we crossed back onto the mainland and went up the Sea to Sky Highway to Squamish and the Whistler Area (site of the 2010 Winter Olympics) for two more days.  We spent several days in Vancouver before returning home.  I made no bones about my intentions to find good birding and inquired of many.  Canadians would greet an inquiry with “Oh ya” before completing an answer.

Pigeon Guillemots, Herring Gulls, and Double Crested Cormorants were observed on the passage across to the island.  Great Blue Herons waded the bays.  On Galiano, we saw seven Bald Eagles. Four were viewed while traipsing the Bodega Ridge trail at the northwestern end.  Three more were found at Bellhouse Provincial Park at the southern end of the island.  Two of the three at Bellhouse were fledglings having flown for the first time on the morning we were there to observe.  I added Townsend Warblers to my life list at Bodega Ridge.  Northwest Crows, American Robins, Canada Geese as well as Rufous Hummingbirds, Lincoln and White Crowned Sparrows, Northern Juncos, Bewick Wrens, and Turkey Vultures were sighted on the island.  Butterfly bushes on the island are more like trees.  Drawn to them were impressive Swallowtails.

Horseshoe Bay, the gateway to the Sea to Sky Highway, produced Glaucous Winged Gulls and Ravens.  There is a great provincial park near Squamish called Alice Lake where both the male and female Varied Thrush was found.  A Steller’s Jay also was noted in Squamish.  Everywhere around Squamish are warnings about Grizzlies.  Seed feeders are banned here because of bears (hummingbird feeders are okay).  Last year a Grizzly was wandering downtown and had to be removed.  Nature offers some wonderful and spectacular phenomenon along this trek. Shannon Falls, the tallest fall in North America at 70 meters, just south of Squamish is easily accessed.  Brandywine Falls, south of Whistler, is half as tall but very beautiful.

The South Area Salt Marsh WMA in Ladner, BC, south of Vancouver, produced Bushtits for my life list.  Spotted Towhees and Black Capped Chickadees were probably the most frequently seen birds everywhere we went including here.  Downy Woodpecker, Belted Kingfisher, Western Wood Pewee and American Goldfinches also were noted.  Three more Bald Eagles were found.  Two immatures were flying across the slough. One roosted above my head as I watched the Bushtits.

The Campbell Valley Regional Park south of Langley, BC and just north of the US Border produced another bird for my life list, the Chestnut Backed Chickadee.  Barn Swallows were plentiful over the Little River Loop, a marshy area, while Lincoln and Fox Sparrows and Spotted Towhees populated the trails.

Saving the best for last, George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary was my favorite place to bird.  When asked where to bird in BC everyone mentioned Reifel, and I would have to agree.  George Reifel donated his farm and accompanying salt marsh to the Province on two conditions, that it be maintained forever as a migratory bird sanctuary and that it always bear his father’s name.  It has been wonderfully maintained and developed as a wetland.  Most people I talked with were apologetic that this was not the season for Reifel, migration being far more productive.  However, there were plenty of species to observe.  The ponds were full of Mallards, Canada and Lesser Canada Geese, Western Sandpiper, Long billed Dowitchers, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pied Bill Grebe, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Red Winged Blackbirds, Tree Swallows, Great Blue Herons, and Marsh Wren.  Sandhill Cranes were on the mud flats. Four more Bald Eagles and a Red Tailed Hawk worked overhead.  The trails produce Black Capped Chickadees, Brown Headed Cowbirds, House Sparrow, Bewick Wren, American Robin, European Starling, House Finches, Wilson Warbler, Red Breasted Nuthatches, Spotted Towhee, and a Common Yellowthroat.

Of course, we had a grand time.  Canada is a great place to visit and to bird.  Oh ya!