A highlight of my visit to British Columbia (apart from the plants) was to experience springtime birds in a different part of the world, and most species I hadn’t seen before. There are two albums below plus some videos showing a selection of pictures taken with my handheld Panasonic DNC-TZ80 which has an amazing zoom…
Many of the pictures in the first album from Victoria are taken from my fantastic Airbnb room which overlooked the harbour!
See further down for an album from Vancouver (mainly in the fabulous Stanley Park).
At the bottom are several videos for your entertainment including Pileated woodpecker, Rufous-sided towhee, two squirrel species, bald eagles, American wigeon, Great blue heron, Northwestern crow, American robin, White-crowned sparrow, Red-winged blackbird, Northern flicker and American goldfinch
Having a day and a half free in Vancouver before travelling to Quebec, I was keen to visit Stanley Park again! I first visited this remnant old growth forest right next to downtown Vancouver back in the late 80s and was so impressed that they had deliberately left dead trees standing and trees where they had fallen…this is what makes this place so special and rich in wildlife as these pictures taken in a 3 hour walk in the park show. I’ve also included some pictures taken in the UBC Botanical Garden (amazing to look up and see a pair of bald eagles sitting atop a tree in the middle of the garden) and also the Van Dusen botanical garden, both of which I visited on one day!
..and now some videos.
First, a drumming Northern flicker:
A downy/hairy woodpecker at Beacon Hill, Victoria
Pileated woodpecker in Stanley Park:
American wigeon, Vancouver:
Rufous-sided towhee in the UBC garden:
Hermit thrush? in Stanley Park:
Melanistic form of the Eastern Gray squirrel (introduced):
American wigeon at Beacon Hill, Victoria:
Hunting Great Blue Heron in Stanley Park:
Northwestern crow gathering nesting material:
American robin:
White-crowned sparrow on cattail seed (Typha):
The catttail beds and vegetation around were teeming with birds:
American goldfinch singing:
