Day 5: Birds in Boundary Bay

One of our contacts on Flickr posts a stunning array of bird photos, many of which are taken along the dykes of Boundary Bay. I've been down there a few times and seen bald eagles up close and far away, herons, golfers, wildfowl and garter snakes. One of the most common birds of prey there is the Northern Harrier and I've longed to get a good photo of one of them drifting and dinking over the marshes. But they're hard to catch, and tend to stay well away from crowds of the bird watchers armed to the teeth with their telephoto lenses.

My first foray onto the dyke today was met with a heavy shower of rain, and I quickly retreated back to the car. I began driving home, but pulled over at a spot where numerous eagles were flying back and forth. I parked the car and explored an area I'd not seen before, a gated paved road. An information board informed visitors that the area used to be the Vancouver Wireless Station operated by the Royal Canadian Signal Corps to monitor Soviet Arctic communications during the Cold War. All that remains is the network of paved streets that formed the base, and they're open to the public to wander around.

I didn't go very far, but in that time I had close encounters with half-a-dozen dogs, several herons, a few golden-crowned sparrows, and more than a dozen bald eagles. At times the eagles flew less than 10 feet above my head, and I missed more than a few photos due to the camera not focussing quickly enough. But I still got plenty :-) and having taken enough I returned to the car and decided to drive to a different part of the dyke, this time at the end of 64th Ave.

I parked up and wandered out into a new shower of rain. I spotted a lone tree out on the marsh and dropped down off the dyke in order to get a picture of it silhouetted against the sky. As I walked back up onto the dyke I saw a bird flying straight towards me. And not any old bird: a male Northern Harrier in breeding plumage. I raised the camera and quickly fired off a couple of shots as it flew right past me at little more than head height. Wow! I was thrilled to have such a close encounter.

I wandered a little further along the dyke and encountered the harrier once more as I was on my way back to the car. Of course I couldn't resist taking more photos, and watched it hover over the long grass, talons down ready to grab any unsuspecting mouse or vole. I'd say I have my photo covered for today... :-)

Other photos from today are on Flickr.

Male Northern Harrier