Victoria Day at the Colony (Farm Regional Park)

I decided to concentrate on only one location on this holiday Monday, as it seemed I was spending as much time driving as birding on some weekends. It was about this time last year that the Black-headed Grosbeaks arrived here, so they were my target bird for the day.

The walking trail that parallels the Lougheed Highway was where I had success previously. It didn't take long for me to hear a Grosbeak song, similar to a Robin but more melodic. For a large bird, they can be hard to find high up in the treetops. My first photo was a bit obscured, the second one caught the bird in the open.


Black-headed Grosbeak - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC - 2017 Bird #149

The male is quite different looking from the female, she is more brownish with no black to speak of. I only saw the singing males on this day. This photo is a better capture.


Black-headed Grosbeak - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

Also present were numerous Cedar Waxwings, but they were also high up in the trees. This is a long distance zoom with the Nikon.

Cedar Waxwing- Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

The north end of the park is bordered by the Coquitlam River, quite a bit below my vantage point. Looking down, I saw some movement and found a Spotted Sandpiper on the shoreline. I had to use the super zoom again. I did not realize until I saw this photo on the computer that there were two of them.

Spotted Sandpiper - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

Here's a closer look at one of them. As mentioned in my previous post from Iona, it's a treat to see them in breeding plumage. In Fall they are just brown and white.


Spotted Sandpiper - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

On my way back to where I'd parked, I took some more shots of the birds I'd seen on my way in.

Black-headed Grosbeak - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

Cedar Waxwing- Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

I moved east to the main parking lot and met another birder and his wife. We spent some time looking for Lazuli Bunting but had no luck. They had parked on the far east side of the park and mentioned they had seen Eastern Kingbird on the way in. I decided I could do some more walking and headed that way with them.

The park is bounded by the Coquitlam River. This is the main bridge for crossing from west to east. That's the Port Mann bridge in the background.

We did spot the Kingbird, but it was quite distant. I couldn't locate it with the Nikon, so this cropped photo from the Canon was the only one that turned out. I knew I'd see more of them on my upcoming trip to the Okanagan in early June. This was my 150th species of the year!

Eastern Kingbird - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC - 2017 Bird # 150

There's a marsh area on the east side of the park where there are plenty of Blackbirds. 

Red-winged Blackbird - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

On my way back I saw a couple of our more common Sparrows.

Song Sparrow - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

White-crowned Sparrow - Colony Farms Regional Park, Coquitlam BC

I'd spent nearly four hours in the park and the heat in the afternoon meant it was time to head for home.