Birding in Vancouver - Sean & Aki’s Wedding

Thursday January 10, 2019

We (Bill, Barbara & Grant) arrived around noon and were met at the airport by Craig & Pamela, who had arrived earlier and rented a car. We drove to our Airbnb at 4899 Moss Street and got settled in. The rest of our family was driving in from Kamloops, having flown to Calgary and stopped off at Canmore and Golden.

Barbara and Bill birded on Moss Street where we quickly discovered mixed flocks of House Finches and Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon). Further up the street, we spotted a Norther Flicker (Red-shafted), then another and another. Bill raced back to get Pamela who came out in time to see them.



Barbara & Bill carried on to Renfrew Ravine Park and hiked the trail along the top. It looked really birdy, but we actually did not see much there. Craig texted that our grandsons had arrived, so we hurried back, but not without seeing the woodpeckers again.



Friday January 11, 2019

While Craig and Pamela visited a friend, the rest of us visited the Aquarium in Stanley Park, which we all really enjoyed. We had lunch on the patio accompanied by a persistent Glaucous-winged Gull.



There was even a tropics section with exotic birds.



We watched the outdoor dolphin, seal and sea lion shows, and the sea otter and penguin exhibits.



Then we hiked down to the seawall to see the familiar water birds. One nice find was a Horned Grebe.

Saturday January 12, 2019

While Kirk & Karine & boys & Grant took the sky train to the Science Centre, Craig & Pamela drove us to Jericho Park to see their marvellous ponds and seashore.



We saw a few Golden-crowned Kinglets and Spotted Towhees. But mainly we saw waterfowl, including many American Wigeons. Barrow’s Goldeneyes and Horned Grebes were in the sea. What a great day we had!



We returned to our Airbnb to get changed for the family gathering at Yaletown Brewing. The rest of our gang met us there, going by sky train. We had an informal dinner with Sean and Aki and other relatives.

Sunday January 13, 2019

This was Sean and Aki’s wedding day. We were due at Brix & Mortar for the wedding (our grandsons were ringbearers) at 2:30 pm. Craig and Pamela went to church in the morning, so the rest of us went with Kirk to Deer Lake Park in Burnaby for a few hours. It was a lovely, popular trail.



From the parking lot, we could see Green-winged Teals and a perched Bald Eagle. A woman asked if we were looking for the Mandarin Duck! Apparently, it had been seen regularly here and at Burnaby Lake. I guess today it was at the latter.



As we made our way along the trail, we saw some American Wigeons and American Coots. Barbara also spotted a male Wood Duck. The boys were picking up plastic garbage for disposal, a lesson learned at the Aquarium.



There were warning signs about wild animals, but it seemed unlikely that we would encounter any with so many people around. Two-thirds of the way around the lake, we spotted an Anna’s Hummingbird perched on a wire. That’s a lifer!



We returned to our Airbnb and got ready for the wedding.

Monday January 14, 2019

Our noon hour flight was cancelled and we got rebooked at 5:15. This gave us another day, so we accompanied Craig and Pamela to the Bloedel Conservatory. There were many exotic tropical birds and orchids in the dome – bird photos follow at the end.



Craig and Pamela were meeting friends for lunch at the VanDusen Botanical Garden nearby. We toured the gardens and they joined us later. We saw a few good birds, including a small flock of Varied Thrushes.



Birds seen at the Bloedel Conservatory

Blue and Yellow Macaw


Green-winged Macaw


Yellow-crowned Parrot


Moluccan Cockatoo


Sulphur-crested Cockatoo


Electus Parrot


African Grey Parrot


Blue-faced Parrotfinch


Border Canary


Bullfinch


Canary


Diamond Dove


European Goldfinch


Mannakin


Orange-cheeked Waxbill


Owl Finch


Pied Imperial Pigeon


Princess Parrot


Red-rump Parakeet


Red-billed Firefinch


Red-cheeked Cordonbleue


Red-winged Laughingthrush


Ringneck Dove


Roul-roul Partridge


Silver Diamond Firetail & Society Finch


Tanager


Zebra Finch



The following birds could not be identified from the sheet provided: