The Early Bird part 2

Another Friday and another early morning to beat the rush hour traffic out of North Van to Boundary Bay.
I had half a heart to spend some time twitching the Sage Thrasher at 64th but first i would have to wait in my car for the morning to properly arrive as it was still pretty dark.
When i finally couldn't wait anymore i headed out, i decided to walk up to 72nd, i wasn't after snowy owls this time, but rather their short-eared cousins.
Like every bird photographer, i knew where the hot spots were and hoped to get some nice perched portrait shots if possible.

No sage thrasher's presented themselves but i had to smile when i saw this bird on that particular sign, still not quite light enough but i took the shot anyways.





wasn't long before i started seeing these guys off in the distance

I walked on and finally arrived at the spot i had had luck at before and sure enough, there was some action.



After a while i finally got my big break and had an owl land on a post right where i was standing, being the only one out there with it, i felt a sense of calm and took aim.



Super happy with that shot i soon felt the presence of others coming, the owl was still perched and one fella was able to walk by discreetly to view it as well, cool.
What wasn't cool was the other fella that followed, he saw me set up off to the side on the dike and he saw the owl and then he purposely (yes, i truly believe he did) walked in front of my lens and the bird, which then flushed and flew off.
Needless to say i was choked, it's happened to me before of course and it's usually a jogger or dog walker, i cut them some slack but when the guy has a little point and shoot camera and looks like he too has come for the owls i have to say something, "hey buddy, not cool walking in front of a photographer and bird, you walk behind them, geez"
to which he replied "hey guy, it's all digital now anyways, what does it matter?"
"well you flushed the bird for one thing you @#$%! "
The other guy there, perhaps sensing the situation escalating into something ugly soon stepped in and first told him that "he's right you know, you shouldn't have done that" and second came up to me and diffused my temper with a friendly chat, he worked at OWL and was just out for a walk, cheers bud!
When i walked away i took the idiot guys picture, i half thought of shaming him publicly but left it at that, i believe in bird karma and he surely won't be getting any good shots for ages, i hope

anyways - rant over - i headed over to Reifel to wrap up the morning, as always, i'm on the look out for common redpolls and thought it was worth a shot.

First off i spent some time with the night-herons, dear old friends.



Later i came across a small flock of evening grosbeaks by the tower, last time i came to Refiel i got Pine Grosbeak, this time it was the Evening variety (actually, this year i cleaned up as far as grosbeaks go, and all in BC as well - Black-headed, Rose-breasted, Pine and of course Evening).



Bonus bird for me was this Peregrine falcon



I often see shots of harriers in flight and i love them as much as anyone but i get a bigger rush when i get one perched, they always seem in flight



All in all a good morning

Pine Grosbeak

My friday morning was spent at Reifel, i got there super early and was the first person out.
The rain was intermittent throughout the morning but died down from heavy rain just as i was allowed in at 8:30am, rain cover on camera and lens just in case though.
I had no idea i would next run into a nemesis bird called Pine Grosbeak but that's just what happened, i heard a strange call i had never heard before and saw a solitary bird in a tree with berries, my heart told me it was my desired Pine Grosbeak and a look through the viewfinder confirmed it, Lifer of the Day!
Not a great look but i'll take it for now.
I assume this was one of the 2 birds reported earlier (monday) in a detailed Reifel account by a birder.



Later at Maplewood in North Vancouver i came across a Varied Thrush in the afternoon sun, got off a few shots i'm happy with.



On Saturday morning i headed to Whytecliff park in West Vancouver looking for Harlequin ducks (didn't find any there), found lots of divers in the parking lot and a couple of Black Oystercatchers, couldn't resist taking a few shots of them



Later at an undisclosed location i was set up low on a beach waiting to get some birds in close when all of a sudden 3 large dogs rush onto the beach flushing all the birds i had been patiently waiting for, after what seemed like an annoyingly long wait the owner came into view looking dumb.
When i verbally scolded the person for disobeying the posted No Dogs! West Vancouver Bylaw sign out front the person told me that "oh, well, i just live right here and always bring my dogs out in the morning", the owner went on to say that "just so you know, we are fighting that bylaw blah blah blah"

could have had some nice shots to post had it not all happened but, oh well..