Good morning chorusers. Eight days, on the tale end of our trip to Vancouver, we visited the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary near the town of Delta, British Columbia. As the town’s name indicates the sanctuary is located within the estuary of the Fraser River, a nutrient rich habitat that is good for both agriculture and birds.
The sanctuary is run by the Waterfowl Protection Society of British Columbia. Although ducks and geese are the main focus there are plenty of other birds there as well.
Our goal for the day was Saw-Whet Owl a bird I have never seen. We didn’t see any of those but I did get an unexpected lifer in the form of two Rough-legged Hawks soaring with a group of juvenile bald eagles. They were much too high for photos.
The striking thing about this sanctuary is that, within restrictions, feeding the birds was encouraged. You weren’t allowed to do it near the entrance and they sold the food so that the birds didn’t get junk. I know people have greatly differing views on feeding birds. This did make parts of the walk seem more like being in a zoo as many of the ducks were absurdly tame as well as a few birds you wouldn’t necessarily expect to beg for handouts. It did make for some good photos though.
It appears I didn’t take any pictures of the ubiquitous mallards
And that’s it for me. Please post any and all bird-related stuff in the comments. And also please check out the backyard bird race which should be up at 6 AM Pacific time. I’m going back to bed for an hour but will see you soon.