Burnaby Lake - An inner-city birder's paradise.

The basin of Burnaby Lake was gouged out by passing glaciers some 12,000 years ago. This natural water body is home to a myriad of birds and other wildlife, including turtles, salamanders, and numerous small mammals. The lake has fish in it; carp and the Northern pikeminnow which can get up to 25 pounds. It is fairly shallow; sediment has been filling it in over the years. As a result, it is crowded with aquatic plants making it an ideal environment for organisms both above and below the water.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to visit the lake. There are many trails around and access points to the lake; we parked at Burnaby Lake Nature House on the park's north side. Docks allowed water access; the number of birds present in the area was startling. Even though it is mid-January there were hundreds of ducks and other wetland birds (below). There were over two dozen long-billed dowitchers (top photo) feeding in the shallows; it was wonderful to watch them forage.
I was hoping to catch sight of a Mandarin drake that had been photographed there. Apparently, it was present earlier in the day but I had missed it; another time I suppose. Besides the waterfowl and dowitchers, I spotted a flicker, raven, robin, song sparrow, juncos, towhees, chickadees, and a number of the ever-present crow. There was quite a population of red-winged blackbirds as well.

With much of the avian life being accustomed to a human presence, I had no problem getting plenty of good shots. I got some stunning close-ups of male wood ducks and green-winged teals. Many times I was too close; my 500 mm lens could only manage to get in a portion of the body. Perfect for photos of the head but no so much if a full-body image is desired (see below image). Since I was shooting on the north side of the lake I found much of the scene backlit by the sun. I had to go out to the end of the dock and shoot with my back to the sun in order to get decent lighting. However, the birds were amiable to this and accommodated my attempts to photograph them with little sign of distress.
I spent about an hour and a half wandering around the area. I took 200 photos during that time. It was an excellent visit.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen

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