My Birding Adventure

I wanted to spare anyone reading this blog my long winded drivel of the last post and make a little cartoon/photo entertainment today, but darn! my computer illustration program is ancient and acting like a fussy old man. It's newest cantankerous rebellion is deciding to only measure things in MILLIMETRES and if I try to select otherwise, it beats me with it's cane and throws mashed peas at me. I know it just wants to sit there, do nothing and think of the good old days of its youth (when Bush was only a governor). I fear it won't survive another hardware upgrade. Pooh I say, pooh!

so anyhoooo.....

The past weekend I was overjoyed when everyone in my family said yes to my suggestion of visiting the Reifel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island. This is a beautiful area of protected wetlands in Ladner, BC where the Fraser River meets the Pacific ocean. 280 species of birds have been spotted there, so I was anticipating some spectacular photo opportunities.

At the entrance I immediately was taken with my first bird encounter. Ducks and lots of them. I bought a little bag of seed for each of my daughters. These boisterous birds are used to being hand fed.

Walking along the trail, more ducks appeared ahead, ready to be fed.

And then... more ducks.

I could hear other birds, I knew they were somewhere out there, but...

At last, at the end of our visit, I spotted some different birds...

Leaving the gift shop, we were again accosted by ducks. I didn't like the shifty look about them. They were moving closer...

and CLOSER...!

Quickly, we made our escape off the island away from those swarming ducks!

The lesson to be learned, the best time to see a variety of birds at the Sanctuary (without a good pair of binoculars) is the spring (nesting time) or winter, when a lot of species have migrated there. Or right now... if you just love ducks.