First time to Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary: Part 1

This morning was the first time that I been to the infamous Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island. I had heard nothing but exciting encounters from friends and family, and I finally get a chance to see it for myself today. Such a memorable moment.

The weather today was kind of nice, so there were plenty of people there, ranging from families to amateur naturalists to professional photographers. The parking lot was full when we got there before noon - full of car and full of Mallards. Many parking spots were in fact taken by lazy Mallards, so I had to get out of the car and "encourage" the mallards to move along while my family parked the van.

The whole sanctuary was in fact overran by mallards. None of them were afraid of humans, and they were either following you for food or flying right over your head for a sudden landing.

Since I saw and photographed many birds, I will just post the photos and leave it at that.

American Coot (Fulica americana). Note their interesting lobed toes (compared to gallinules for the rest of their relatives in the Family Rallidae).

Sleepy Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Couldn't get a clear face shot because they were too far away and they are mainly nocturnal feeders.

I believe they are male House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) still in their breeding plumage. They can be identified by their black bib and black bill.

On the other hand, the female House Sparrow is best identified by their buffy eye stripe and unstreaked breast.

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis).

The acrobatic and highly vocal Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus).

A beautiful male Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) that flew onto this trunk just to pose for me. Thank you, sire!

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). The glossy black male on the left, and the first-year male on the right.

The always magnificent-looking Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)! I believe this is one of the best photos that I have taken with both the male and female so perfectly positioned. Just this photo makes my day.

First-time seen Golde-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa). I identified it mainly by the color of its crown. I didn't even know that I had taken a picture of it until I sort through the pictures. What a lucky find!

I also observed a Bald Eagle and many Sandhill Cranes flying above me in the sky, but I was too late in taking pictures, such a shame. Anyways, many more photos to come tomorrow (Part 2). Stay tuned!

By the way, I watched the PBS's "Nature" television series on American Eagle tonight. Great footages and stories, although watching them swooping down on coots made me kind of sad because I really enjoyed the coots today. But hey, it's all a part of life. A preview video of tonight's episode can be seen here. I would love to have the chance to see so many of them up close at the same time, perhaps at Brackendale this winter?
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Richmond's Nature Scene

I was planning to go to UBC today. But with the heavy workload this past week, I kind of slept in and didn't woke up until around 10am. So I decided to check out the local nature scenes here in Richmond instead.

I encountered these two moths when I walked out of the apartment door. Beautiful creatures when you looked at them up close. I had asked for help at bugguide.

The first spot that I checked out was Minoru Park which homes many waterfowls this fall, such as these Canadian Geese, Mallards, and Wigeons.

One sad scene at the park was seeing this deceased duck lying on the surface of the water, a casualty of the not yet arrived harsh seasons ahead. Not sure what the cause of death is but I sure hope it is not due to some diseases and that the city people come remove it soon (so that it won't contaminate the water). R.I.P.

I saw about five rabbits in the park today, which was more than last time that I was here. I don't have a good feeling about this whole situation. Sure they are cute, but I don't think overpopulation of another species (besides humans here in Richmond) will be welcomed.

To take my mind off these depressing issues that I saw in the park, I decided to pay attention to the beautiful and cheerful colours in the park.

Then I saw this pretty ladybug, but it was hiding in the shade so I nudged it to get it to move to a brighter spot. I accidentally flipped too hard and it flipped over so I quickly returned it to the more comfortable position.

Afterwards, I walked from Minoru Park to the community park in Garden City to check out the Hooded Mergansers that Hugh of Rock Paper Lizard observed - which I don't think I have ever seen one before.

Before I get to the Hooded Mergansers, I did saw some interesting things there, such as: these horny flies; playful wren (?); a lady bug underneath the leaf litter that I almost stepped on; and these tired-looking Canada Geese.
There were also many fungi here in the community park. I never noticed them before, but Richmond does have many fungi in the fall.

There were also these mysterious cream puff look-alike fungi?

Now, I finally got to the Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)! These birds are fish-eaters and nest in tree cavities just like the Wood Ducks. The male can be identified by its black and white crest while the female has a grayish brown and shorter crest. They dive underwater to find food, and they can do so because they can change the optical refractive properties to enhance their underwater vision, as well as having a third eyelid (called nictating membrane) to act as a pair of goggles for eye protection.

I saw two males and one female in the main body of the "lake" and they were so far away (with my camera) that I decided to walked around the park one last time before heading home. But then I observed two females in an isolated and smaller "pond" at the outer edge of the park (and right across from residential areas too). Being in a smaller space, I ran back and forth as they dive away from me so that I can take some up-close pictures - which didn't turn as good as I hoped. I noticed the crest falling whenever they came right out of the water but then the crest raised right back up, it must be cool to have waterproofed "hair". My mom says they look like Marge of The Simpsons, but I don't really see the similarity, perhaps when Marge is dressed up for Halloween.

And then it was time to go home.
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Chasing the Elusive Moon

Chasing the Elusive Moon

The mighty winds came and blew the dark clouds
away from this open land
along with my gray mood.
With that, appeared the elusive Moon.

So beautiful and yet so secretive and shy,
she hid
behind the structures of men.

But I was ready,
ready to document her simply beauty,
even for just one quick glimpse.

As I chased her,
she hid and then peeked.
So beautiful, her beauty is my strength to continue.
The trees danced furiously with the wind to cheer me on.

Finally, on an open land.
She had nowhere to hide.
Not anymore.
Her beauty is finally mine to observe.

In the daylight,
she was the graceful lady.
But it was the only matter of time.
Then she will become the vixen of the darkness.

Oh, how I love you, the elusive Moon.
Good night, my sweet lady,
and I shall search for you again tomorrow.

~

Enjoying the view from the office today. Midday and Afternoon.
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Boundary Bay Exploration

Explored the 12th Avenue Dyke Trail of Boundary Bay Regional Park today. Maybe I'll try the Dyke Trail next time, but it did took a while to walk and look for wildlife at the same time (with the weather permitting). I went there after low tide so I wasn't able to see the shorebirds feeding during then, or perhaps I hit the wrong area. Still, it's an impressive wildlife viewing area that I am sure I will return soon.

I read about this park from Rock Paper Lizard and Wanderin' Weeta and always wanted to pay a visit, and today gave me the perfect chance. The weather today is mostly gray and cloudy, although some blue skies could be seen southward. To me, here seems like the dykes and beaches of Steveston but with more sea birds and much larger in area.

As soon as I was there, I was greeted by a welcoming male Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) - the only kingfisher in North America, which I have never seen so up-close before. It is very noticeable with its loud and dry rattling call, and I know it's a male because of the lack of rust belly bands. I overheard someone saying that there used to be two pairs of them around, but only one left now. I also had the opportunity of watching it dived straight down into the water and came up with a small fish, what a show and such a great start!

If you look out to the sea, you will see many tiny black specks on the surface. But using a binocular, you will realize that every individual black dot is a bird out in the sea.

Can't be too sure of the species out there, but here are the identifiable ones closer to the shore: Northern Shoveler and Green-winged Teal (?).

Feeling naughty, I decided to flip over a couple of logs to see what are there, and I discovered many Sand Fleas or Beach Hoppers (Traskorchestia traskiana). Of course, I returned the log to its original position after I was done.

There were also many of these invasive Asian Snail (Batillaria attramentaria) on the beach. These animals hitch-hiked with the Japanese oysters brought here many years ago to recreate the oyster industry in Pacific West Coast.

Didn't saw any live crabs today, but I did saw these empty shells of: Red Rock Crab (Cancer productus) - on the right; Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister) a.k.a. Master Crab - on the left. I hope I identified them correctly.

The flowers of sand dune plants are quite pretty and standout in this gray-filled environment and day.

As I was going back home, I was greeted by the same kingfisher again. Such a well-mannered fellow. I will have to look for him again next time.

See you next time, Mr. Kingfisher!

~

While I was waiting for my bus going back home, a Korean tourist (named Lee) came up to me to ask the how long it takes to get to Steveston and is it worth going there. Looking up at the clouds around 4:00pm, I truthfully told him that it is not worth going to Steveston with this kind of weather and at this time. We chatted for a little bit, and Lee is apparently going back to Korea (after a week stay here in Vancouver) tomorrow morning and his friends recommended him to visit Steveston Village. He seemed to be disappointed with my answers, but that's the truth (to me, at least). So he left. But then he came back to ask to take a picture of me (with his nice looking DSLR) for memory, and I obliged. I hoped I gave him the right answers, and it was definitely an interesting moment.
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Oh...how I hate & love Mondays...

Today was such a terrible in the office. I missed the shipment schedule for one of the seminars on Thursday in Victoria, and with the holiday tomorrow, it's up to my boss to spend big money to get it over by then. I hate Mondays.

But then Mondays have some of my favorite TV programs, such as "Life in Cold Blood"! A great episode today all about snakes, so exciting!!

Here are some interesting facts that I learned and reviewed from today's episode:
1. Flowerpot Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus) looks like worms and feeds on ant and terminate eggs and pupae.
2. Mozambique Spitting Cobra (Naja mossambica) can spit their venom to deter confronters and predators, as demonstrated by Sir David Attenborough and his protective gear. The venom is aimed at the eyes of other animals to cause blindness (in humans).
3. Hog-nosed Snake can play dead and produce a foul smell when threatened.
4. The Crab-eating Snake only eats the legs of crabs in mangrove forests when the tides are low.
5. Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata) and its exclusive diet of newly-molted crayfish only.
6. King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, and even though they have the venom, they will perform quite majestic wrestlings only between two competitors for potential mate.
7. Anaconda, during pregnancy, moves between the warm dry surface and cool water to maintain their body temperature at 29 degrees Celsius. They give birth to live offspring, of up to 40 baby boas.
8. Sea snakes live in the sea, and even though they have lungs, they can also absorb oxygen (in the seawater) through their skin, but they do come up to the surface once in a while to get a gulp of fresh air. They can regulate the salinity in their body by excreting salt from a gland near its tongue, and they drink fresh water during raining days near the surface.
9. And there was this unknown non-venomous sea snake that had turtle-like lips that can graze fish eggs from corals and they are such slow grazers that even algae form on its body.
10. Finally, there is always this interesting trick to help you identify the harmless King Snakes from the venomous Coral Snakes. But this does not apply to the snakes outside of Southeastern USA.

Red touch yellow, kill a fellow
Red touch black, venom lack

Anyways, today's weather was particularly nice. Too bad, I was stuck in the office the entire day. Hope the weather continues (although the forecast says otherwise), so that I can enjoy my outdoor adventure tomorrow. Boundary Bay, perhaps? Cross my fingers.

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Foolish Pleasure*...

*The title of this post is from a fishing boat's name that I saw when I was out enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon. Enjoying nature is such a simple and easy pleasure and yet so few people do it nowadays - either because they are fools or perhaps they think only do-no-good fools enjoy nature. If the latter case, then I am proud to be a fool to indulge in this foolish pleasure.

I saw these beautiful colours behind Steveston Martial Art Centre. Nice little place to visit to see the Japanese style buildings and feel the culture of Ancient Japan.

While I was beside the baseball diamond, I came across this American Robin.

As well as this Dark-eyed Junco, which are also called "snowbirds" because they have "gray skies above, snow below" coloring. Hey, sounds like the perfect bird for describing the weather of Lower Mainland!

Then I saw where the design for lamp shades came from.

Lamp shade, nature style.

The skies before a bad weather are always the most interesting ones, whether it be the pre-typhoon clouds in Taiwan or the pre-rainy clouds here in Lower Mainland. Here is the proof.

Just as I was snapping these pictures away, I heard a thunderous honking sounds in the distance. Yep, it is the Snow Geese again along Sturgeon Bank. What a sight it was to see these animals traveling en masse. Truly breath-taking.

Then I saw these Red-winged Blackbirds not in their usual marsh habitat but on the sterns of "Foolish Pleasure" and other boats. I guess they are enjoying their foolish pleasure as well.

God, I need to stop trying so hard to incorporate foolish pleasure into this post. Oops.
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Pleasant walk on a pleasant day

Today's weather was extremely cooperative when it came to taking a nice stroll along the dyke. If I knew it was going to be this nice, I'd probably go farther (southward, e.g. Boundary Bay) to do my weekend exploration. But who can be certain about anything when we are talking about Vancouver's weather. If I knew, then I'd bike instead of walk, but again, who's for certain.

Today had nice clear sunny breaks and the blue sky peaked down at us when the clouds were kind enough. But for most of the times, the sky looked like the pictures below. Not extremely pretty, but at least it was pleasant enough that I didn't have to use my umbrella at all.

Seemed that many creatures were enjoying this temporary break from all that rain we had in the last couple of days.

Such as this Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus).

I came across this unidentified insect today when I was at the Terra Nova Natural Area. I took several pictures before I poked gently at it and only to find it dead. Another creature dead, sigh.

Now that most of the leaves are gone, it is quite interesting to see the "treasures" they hide during spring and summer, such as these bird nests. I am pretty sure the top two pictures belong to a Bald Eagle (since I saw one resting beside it last month). The bottom two, I don't know. I always find it amazing to be able to identify birds by their nests, sort of like a tracker identifying tracks of an animal.

As for the creatures that were out and about, these were what I saw.

European Slug (?)

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta).

Today's the first time I observed a turtle in Terra Nova thanks to the two dads and their children.

Dad #1: "Can you see it?"
Child: "No."
Dad #2: "Maybe I will throw something at it to make it move then you can see."
Me approaching.
Dad #2: "Maybe I won't."

This Great Blue Heron was staying on top of a dirt mound looking all magnificent and proud. Then it got spooked by me (or vice versa, when it gave out its raspy hair-standing call) and flew to the ponds.

Chasing after it, I came across some surprises. Many Mallards, as well as these two birds: Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) and Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), both of which are my first observations this year.

A. clypeata (male) can be identified by its green head, white breast, brown sides, and more importantly the large and spatulate bill that is longer than its head. The Bufflehead stayed quite far away from me to not get a close look or take a good picture, but it should be a female with the smaller and elongated white patch on her head.

By then, I was already three hours into my short stroll, so I turned around to head back home and see if I can get more pictures of the turtle. But it was already gone when I reached the spot, at least I already got some decent pictures.

This is what I mean by the large quantity of rain dumped on us these last couple of days. There should a cement floor to that railing where you can stand there and watch animals, but it has already overflowed to the point of covering the floor. If that's the case, then Richmond is much lower than the actual sea level (than normal). Scary.

Ah, such a pleasant day full of firsts. I love it!
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Turning indoor for nature viewing...

Vancouver's rain season has finally arrived! Hooray (Major sarcasm)!!!

Can't really go anywhere because most creatures are just like us and want to stay out of the rain in dry and warm places. Anyways, I am still very busy with my job so I can't really do a decent blog until the weekend, and with the weather these days, I wonder if I will find anything interesting post at all.

Well, on Tuesday and Wednesday night (just before I go to bed), I did saw some interesting critters in my home. One was unknown, but it didn't move too much and was dead the next morning. What's with the deaths lately?

Cute unknown creature. Only about 3mm long (thanks to my camera's amazing 1cm Macro).

On Wednesday night, I saw this gnat inside the bathroom. I quickly captured it in a plastic container and took these pictures.

Window Gnat (Sylvicola fenestralis)?

Too lazy to open the window, I covered with a mesh before I go to bed and released it the next morning. The last time I had gnats in a container, I tipped the lid a little bit to get some air into it, but by next morning, the gnats were gone! I wonder how they did it because the space that I left was very very small. I am also curious how they get into my room through my window screen. Interesting creatures, these gnats.

Mosquito identification can be processed here, but no gnats. Pity.
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Tiny Happiness...Rest In Peace

Today, I learned from one of the technician assistants (of Taipei Zoo) that one of the bats that we took care of during our internship had pass away last month.

A-shi

The bat's name was A-Shi (or Tiny Happiness, translated into English). Her name was derived from a famous disabled hero in Taiwan, and the reason was because she had disfigured wing structure had disallowed her to fly. During our time at the zoo, we (the interns) all took turn taking care of it, feeding, cleaning her box, and playing with her.

I still remember her playing on my hand trying to wiggle out of my fingers or when she was trying to fly by hopping a few centimeters above the floor before falling down. Not realizing that she doesn't have the correct wing structure to fly, she still tried time after time relentlessly. It's her courage that impresses me the most. Her friendliness with people that handled her allowed us to break the usual human attitudes towards bats are invaluable.

I know that she won't have a long life with her disability, but it still hurts me deeply to find out a month later that one of my good friends had passed away. I shed many tears, had moments of silence, and sincerely wish A-Shi a great afterlife where she can return to normal and fly in the sky.

R.I.P.

Interestingly, my playlist is just playing 정엽 - Too Shy To Say (Dedicated To Stevie Wonder). And I, in turn, dedicate this song to A-Shi.

You make me smile
You make me sing
You make me feel good everything
You bring me up
When I've been down
This only happens when you're around

And I can't go on this way...
With it stronger every day...
But being too shy to say
That I really love you...

I wanna fly
Away with you
Until there's nothing more for us to do
I wanna be
More than a friend
Until the end of an endless end

And I can't go on this way...
With it stronger every day...
But being too shy to say
That I really love you...

And I can't go on this way...
Feelin' it stronger every day...
But being too shy to say
That I really love you
Ohh.. ooh...
I... do...

Here are two of the last few pictures of A-Shi the last few months prior to her death (taken by my friend at the zoo). Thank you.