[revs]

Been spending quite a bit of time on mountains the last little while, between Queen Elizabeth park, Burnaby Mountain, Cypress and Grouse i've been making the rounds, as i should.
All too often it's easy to get into the trap of going further and further out to look for specific birds when often they can be found in your backyard, with a little perserverance and luck, of course knowing the area and what birds to expect at the time helps, and that is only acheived after a few years of birding.



Ive been to Burnaby Mountain a few times the last few weeks looking for grouse and Townsend's warblers, and while i got lucky with the grouse i only got a brief look at a Townsend's warbler the last time.
I'll take this shot of a White-crowned Sparrow at least, always good to leave with at least one shot



I've gotten Sooty grouse on Cypress Mountain in past years and happened to spot a hen last weekend near the ski hill, unfortunately a motorcyclist roared by and scared the bird into the bush right when i was setting up, Debra stopped by later and i could only tell her about the bird, did take one shot however to document the bird.



As i have reported on the local Yahoo birding group (by the way, why don't they list this site on their list of "other" local birding group/sites?) Eurasian Collared-doves have invaded lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver, this morning i saw 6 birds, up from the 2 or 3 i see daily. I hesitate to bring my big lens into the alley to properly document these birds (for obvious reasons) but did bring out the 80-400 lens on a cruddy day, good enough



Yesterday morning, even though i technically should have (and could have) gone into work since we had a company lunch at 12pm i am still technically on a 4 day work week and until i hear differently will use those fridays to work the bird photography aspect of my life.
I decided to take the advice i gave Debra last weekend about the picnic area at Cypress perhaps being a good location for Townsend's warbler and arrived just after 6am, a bit chilly where the morning sun had yet to reach i must admit.
Bird of the location was Chipping Sparrow, other birds in the area were Warbling Vireo, Pine Siskin, a Steller's Jay but no warblers i could detect.

Next, i decided to head down to the lookout as i was still looking for Townsend's warbler this year, i've gotten shots in the past but nothing really decent, after looking and hoping i started to detect bird-activity and finally got my Townie, although the looks were a bit farther than i would prefer.



While i was walking around i couldn't help noticing a van that looked like it had been parked overnight, eventually a couple of groggy guys piled out of the van, having i guess spent the night, no doubt they were wondering why some guy was walking around their car all the time with a big camera.
hey, it's a public parking spot not a camp site, deal with it

There were two little red-leaved trees (i need to work on my tree ID one of these days) planted on the side of the parking lot (next to the van) and i noticed it getting hit up by birds regularily.
Took some close shots of a Warbling Vireo in those trees as well as a couple of Black-throated Grey warblers.





Before i decided to pack it up i noticed a MacGillivray's warbler in a distant tree and took some shots, this species used to be a 'nemesis' bird but i've gotten it in 3 different locations now on the north shore in the past few years.



Since i still had some time before the company lunch thingy i stopped off at Grouse mountain and walked a bit of the powerline trail.
Next to Maplewood Flats it's a location i hit up more often than others during the year, hey, it's close and some interesting birds can be found with some looking.



Wilson's warbler.

while i often aggresively crop images to isolate the subject (it's just my preferance) i do appreciate a nice shot that showcases environment sometimes too.



first Brown-headed Cowbird of the year for me.





Got my first Western tanagers of the year at Grouse as well

Met Debra again on the way down and told her about the tanagers, hope she too got some looks, as for me, i went to the company lunch, and having not eaten anything the whole morning found myself nursing a headache later on after drinking a Stella.
The whole time i was thinking about getting back home to process the shots from the morning ahh, priorities

[featherweight]

Great shots as always Paul, love the Tanagers!
Sadly I dipped on them at Grouse, I did manage a couple of halfway decent shots of them a couple of weeks ago at Maplewood though. The only bird I found at Cypress was the Chipping Sparrow, I think I spent too much time at Grouse & got to Cypress too late! Still trying to get this season's nemesis bird for me - the Black-throated Gray.

[Birder2000]

Great shots. I like the MacGillivray's Warbler, the Black-throated Grey Warbler, the Warbling Vireo, and the Western Tanager shots the best.

[keithric]

"All too often it's easy to get into the trap of going further and further out to look for specific birds when often they can be found in your backyard, with a little perserverance and luck, of course knowing the area and what birds to expect at the time helps, and that is only acheived after a few years of birding."

So true!
Some beautiful shots, Paul, and equally important, lots of variety.

[tdadswell]

Nice documentation and blog with the photo's...love the MacGillivray's and the Tanager's!!!! Still waiting for a shot of the MacGillivray's myself. I know it'll come, but the waiting is the hardest...LOL

[Canonshooterman]

Nice work Paul! You've be doing a good job hitting up all the local birds!