Starting from Scratch ~ part 1 [#1 to 5]

I have been taking pictures of birds for a few years now, however I have not been keeping track of the birds I’ve seen.  So I thought this spring, I would start from scratch and start tracking the birds I can identify.  My mission starts at Burnaby Lake where I know I can start off with a lot of the common birds and ducks.  It was a short visit but a good start.

Northwestern Crow [Corvus caurinus] ~ #1

As soon as we get out of the car and start walking towards the Lake I see a few crows playing in the trees. The lighting was bad so I didn’t get a picture, but here’s a shot I took two weeks ago on my last trip to Burnaby Lake. When the sun starts to set the crows start to gather, before they head off to their nightly roosting spot.  It’s quite a scene actually, especially when they all start cawing and bobbing in unison before taking off to their next spot.

Fox Sparrow [Passerella iliaca] ~ #2

We continued walking and although I heard lots of bird song coming from the tops of the trees, my next bird I could identify was the dusky little Fox Sparrow foraging on the ground.  Wasn’t fast enough with my camera though so didn’t get a shot today.  However I did get a shot on my last visit.

Wood Duck [Aix sponsa] ~ #3

The next birds that we viewed were the dramatic Wood Ducks. I love the markings and colourings of this duck.  First we walked by some females.  Actually this was one of three in a row, that had just chased away a male who was trying to hang out with them.

I snapped a few pictures of these ducks but this was the best one I got of the male. The lighting is working a little against me here, but I like his shining blue/purple feathers.

Mallard Duck [Anas platyrhynchos] ~ #4

There’s no shortage of Mallards in Burnaby Lake (or most places I’ve gone birding in the Lower Mainland).  The males’ shiny green heads are everywhere.  Click here to see a picture on my Flickr site of a pretty female I snapped a picture of last year.

Song Sparrow [ Melospiza melodia] ~ #5

While watching the ducks in the water I was scanning the bushes. There was a cute little Song Sparrow sitting nearby. I never appreciated the variety of sparrows there are until I started trying to identify them in my pictures. [and if you are reading this and think my id is not correct, please let me know … some of these id’s can be a bit tricky]. Usually the little birds are hard to get pictures of because they rarely sit still, but luckily for me this one was taking a break, and didn’t even mind that I was getting close.  I know the picture is still a little fuzzy, I’m trying to experiment more with my camera and sometimes it doesn’t work as well as I hope.

And that was about the first half of what I spotted … more to come….