Exploring McCarthy Woods for new warbler lifers!

Yesterday I came across this blogger's post about all the interesting birds found in McCarthy Woods and nearby areas.  So today, I went there to look for them myself.

McCarthy Woods is quite beautiful this time of the year where the White Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) dominate the forest floor.

Bees and birds and a wedding

Yesterday (20th), we learned about pollinator foraging behaviours and the techniques they used when visiting different type of flowers and inflorescence in order to maximize their gain and minimize the loss.  We also began brainstorming about our field projects, and another student and I were thinking of teaming up to study what are the effects of ants on stigma receptivity and pollen germination.

This morning was a lecture on abiotic pollination - wind and water.  In the afternoon, we were off to the botanical garden to bag some flowers and start on our project.

Carpenter bee stealing nectar from the columbines.

Carden memories come to an end & Niagara Falls

My summer field season concluded yesterday. I am now in my friend's home in Ontario before I fly back to B.C. on Saturday. There are many memories, photos, thoughts, emotions, and experiences from the last 4.5 months that I would like to share, but now they remain unorganized in my head. Hopefully, I will be able to share them as time progresses.

Here are some photos from the last few days on the field site and last boat rides on Lake Dalrymple.

Orange Sulphurs enjoying the salts on the road.

A juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird posing for the camera.

Birding before the rain

It is currently raining pretty hard right now. Thankfully, I went out birding just before the rain came down. It's a pretty rewarding day overall.

First up, a pair of adult Bald Eagles right next to each other and just right above me. Amazing!

Enjoying the view.

Love the above shot, especially with the stylish hairstyle on this adult.

Probably the same Great Blue Heron as yesterday catching small fishes.

A female Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). They are a bit harder to spot since they don't perch on treetops and sing away, but they are there.

Perching American Goldfinch.


I am guessing this is the same heron as above, but it just flew to this treetop for a bit of a break. Also perching.

After birding, my father brought me to try out a Greek restaurant in downtown Vancouver called Stepho's Greek Taverna. It's not bad, but it must be pretty famous with the line-ups outside the taverna. It's relatively inexpensive with large portions. It was started to rain after we finished, otherwise, I was hoping I could go to Stanley Park and watch wildlife. Maybe next time.

By the way, I saw the Great Horned Owl again, as well as the nesting Killdeer, and no turtles were spotted today. Good news, I guess.
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Turtle finding!

Quite a nice day today, except for the rain that came down when I was about to head back and the flat tire on my bike which made the paddling through the rain even more difficult. Sigh.

Great Blue Heron herding the Gadwalls onward.

Catching a small snack.

A Brown-headed Cowbird that likes to perch on treetop at the worst lighting conditions ever. Nice songs though.

Near the Terra Nova Rural Area, a pair of Cinnamon Teals and a (immature?) Hooded Merganser were spotted in the pond (as well as the nesting Killdeer).

While looking at the ducks, I accidentally stepped on something solid. And this was what I saw when looking down! A turtle shell??

Is it still alive? This is the upper shell, also known as the carapace.


It looked fine to me.

The lower shell, also known as the plastron. It's a small-sized turtle that's about the size of my palm. I wonder what species is it? [Edit: According to Hugh, it seems like another case of exotic pet unwanted and abandoned. I hope bad karma goes to whoever that abandoned this creature.]

I was thinking why it was there and what to do with it? Either it's a wild turtle or someone has decided to release it there. And should I leave it back on the grass or should I bring it home and decide it's fate when I get home. Eventually, I decided to leave it be and put it closer to the water edge to see if it will go into the pond where it's safer from human feet.

Slowly, it came out of hiding and slowly crawled into the pond and away it goes! Hope I made the right decision.

Uh-oh. Rain is coming. Time to pack up the camera and go home.
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All About Little Birds

I saw and photographed quite a variety of small birds, so I thought I'd share these hard-to-see, easily-missed, but pretty-looking birds.

Of course, it was another beautiful day.

This is a Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris).

The Marsh Wrens are quite difficult to see and photograph because they hide within the reeds of the cattails when people approaches them, but you know they are there because of the machine gun-like songs.

A medium-sized dark bird. At first, I was not certain what species this is because it is definitely not a Red-winged Blackbird (lacking the red "badge"). Looking closer, I noticed a hint of brown-color on the head, which means it could be a Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). Then I heard its song that sounds like water droplets falling slowly into a pond, so I was quite certain that it was a M. ater. Awesome, another lifer for me.

Photographing these Yellow-rumped Warblers (Dendroica coronata) is a huge pain in the neck because they like to hop from branches to branches and never staying still for more than one second.

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) resting.

Taking off!

American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) is one of the easiest birds to spot right now because they like to sing loudly for a long time, and plus they are one of the brighestest birds to spot in these leafless shrubs.

Have a good weekend, everyone!
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