Steller’s Jay

The Steller’s Jay is a relative of the Blue Jay. If you spot one you’ll see how similar they look. However, the Steller’s jay has longer legs, a thinner bill and a more noticeable crest on it’s head. Steller’s Jay has a black head with a prominent crest, flecked with blue., The body is blue with long stripped tail feathers.  This bird is a song bird, so you may hear them before you have a clear sighting. Quite a chunky bird, they average 120g and are very active birds. Inquisitive and clever birds, they like to get involved with their environment to search for food. They can be found particularly in forested areas such as campsites and national parks.  Their diet consists mainly of pine seeds, nuts, berries, and acorns. In summer months Steller’s jays feast on insects, bees wasps and other forest bugs.

Anna’s Hummingbird

A beautiful little green and pink bird, Anna’s Hummingbirds are found commonly in the Vancouver area.  The pink throats are only to be found on the males, and may appear grey or dull until sunlight reflects off them giving an iridescent effect. Certainly eye-catching to another Hummingbird!

Anna’s Hummingbirds are commonly found in gardens, parks, coastal scrublands and in the woodlands by rivers. They are looking for flowering plants to source sweet nectar. Their long, thin bills are perfectly designed to poke into flowers. If you want to help your hummingbird visitors, you can provide a free meal. Create a sugar water solution, 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. You can hang if from a hummingbird feeder in the shade during summer to feed your visitors for a few days before the sugar water spoils.

Downy Woodpecker

Strictly speaking, the downy woodpecker is not an overly colourful bird except for a scarlet cap on the males. The Downy woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker variety. They are sparrow sized, weighing around 25grams. Their markings are black and white stripes on the head and a broad white stripe down the centre of the back. You’ll also notice white tail feathers dotted with black spots. 

If you don’t see this little guy, you’ll probably hear him. As you will expect from the name and his famous cartoon character Woody woodpecker, the tap tap tap sound you will hear is his beak drumming against the trunk of a tree. If you’ve ever wondered why a woodpecker pecks wood now is the time to find out! Wood pecking occurs for 3 reasons. 

Firstly, by pecking into the wood the bird can uncover their food; insects and larvae. 

Secondly, pecking holes in dead wood for long enough provides a nest space for the birds. These are often quite safe hiding holes for woodpeckers. These holes also provide nest space for other bird species such as wrens and bluebirds who don’t have the wood pecking abilities but love to build nests in hollowed out trees too. So they really can be seen as construction workers for the bird community.  

Thirdly, the drumming on wood is a form of communication. The sound tells other woodpeckers in the area this is their territory or to attract a mate.   They particularly live in open woodlands, parks, and gardens.

As you can see, there is a great wealth of natural wildlife to be spotted when you take a breath and sit quietly for a while. Happy bird watching!

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George C.Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary

Only an hour’s drive away from Vancouver city lies the peaceful George C.Reifel Migratory Bird Sancturary. This area is home to Snow Geese during the winter months and over 300 bird species can be spotted here. The Sanctuary began in 1963 and is located on Westham Island in the Delta, covering 300 hectares of marshes, ponds, tree lined paths and water channels.

Commonly seen birds include a variety of ducks, geese and swan including Mallards, Blue Winged Teal, Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose, Snow Goose, Tundra Swan, Ring necked duck, Northern pintail, Northern Shoveller and many more. Other birds you might see include Great Blue Heron, Common Loon, Sandhill crane, Bald Eagle, Osprey, Black Bellied Plover. Nocturnal birdlife includes Barn Owl, Snowy Owl, Great Horned Owl and Common Night Hawk. Naturally the area is home to many gulls, sandpipers, woodpeckers, flycatchers, wren, sparrows, finches, and warblers too. You can find a full list on the official website https://www.reifelbirdsanctuary.com/ . 

Burnaby Lake Regional Park

Burnaby is home to a beautiful wildlife sanctuary. Birders can enjoy spotting Great Blue Herons, Osprey, Bald Eagles and many more species. It’s only a 25 minute drive away from Vancouver so it’s well within reach! There are plenty of activities here too. The whole family can enjoy an 11km nature walk around the whole lake. Plus there’s kayaking and canoeing available.  

Boundary Bay Regional Park

South of Vancouver in Tsawwassen lies Boundary Bay Regional Park. Of particular interest to bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts is 12th Avenue Dyke Trail. When the tide is out you can walk far amongst the pools of water left in sandy depressions. Sandpipers, herons, dunlin and brants are amongst the most commonly spotted birds here.

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There were also photo exhibitions, bird films, and 4D Albatross experiences! Plus event visitors could enjoy a wide range of entertainment including comedy, art, poetry and talks.

The actual festival itself was held between August 19th and 26th. And what a jam packed schedule! We hope the event organisers will hold another similar event when life has returned to normal. In the meantime we can relive the highlights of the 2018 festival.

Van Bird Festival Schedule 2018:

18th August: Festival Preview

Held at the Vancouver Public Library on West Georgia Street.  A free, family friendly event to meet the teams and enjoy bird themed art and entertainment.

22nd August: “Getting into birding” presentation at Science World, Quebec Street.

Jody Allair presented a talk about getting started on your bird watching journey.

23-25 August: Nature and bird Expo, West Building at Vancouver Convention Centre

An opportunity to meet the staff from Bird Studies Canada and discuss research and conservation.

24 August: Birds of a Feather: The Reciprocal Benefits of Protecting Biodiversity, West Building at Vancouver Convention Centre.

Purnima Barman and Midori Nicholson speak about the relationship between humans and birds, and the significance of birds in the Kwakwaka’wakw native culture.

25 August: Birds and Yoga. Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver Convention Centre.

Kate Fremlin leads a 1 hour yoga session. There are plenty of yoga poses inspired by birds, so here’s a chance to explore nature’s influence on the practice.

Other notable events included the Parade of Birds! Stilt walkers in bird costumes paraded from Harbour Green Park to Jack Poole Plaza, delighting the crowds of spectators. There was also a huge mural featuring more than 650 endangered birds artwork. Plus the whole occasion was marked by the Canadian Postal service with a special set of bird stamps.  

Festivals that highlight the natural world and how we can live a more eco conscience life are a great experience for the whole family. We know it is hard in 2020-2021 to envisage a time when festivals like this can run again. However, it will happen! And when these events are held please support them. 

How you can help

If you live in an area of natural significance or near a wildlife sanctuary perhaps you can get involved! Fund raising and raising awareness are key elements of any movement. We all owe it to the natural world and to future generations to protect birds and wildlife. We can start by educating each other and our children. Getting involved in fun festivals such as this is a great entry point.

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Encourage curiosity

Children often have a natural curiosity in the world about them so it shouldn’t be too difficult to spark even more interest.  A good idea is to be armed with as much knowledge yourself as you can! Kids favourite question is “why?” Closely followed with “how?”. It’s more than likely you won’t know all the answers either but you have google, and books to help you learn the answers together! This is a great opportunity to bond and learn with you child outside of school. 

Start off easy

Unfortunately bird watching can be a fruitless exercise on occasion. Children may not stay still and quiet for very long without the reward of spotting a new type of bird. When they are young, easy birds like pigeons, starlings, gulls, and ducks will probably satisfy their curiosity. And they are easy to find in your local park or by the sea. If you are lucky enough to live near a bird sanctuary or nature reserve you might also have a broader range of birdlife in plentiful supply.  If you don’t live in the countryside you can still get involved. Even just looking out of your window you will spot a wide variety of birds native to your area. Perched on window ledges, telegraph poles and in trees. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open!  

Nature collections

Children also enjoy collecting. Well, adults do too, but children especially are happy to collect random natural objects like shells, stones, sticks, feathers, and eggshells. This can also be a way to encourage an interest in birds and other wildlife.  It is important to teach children only to take discarded objects and curiosities. Broken egg shells and long disused nests (do not bring home lice and bugs that may live in old nests. It may be a collection item best kept in the garden shed and not in the house and ideally you leave it where it is so other birds can reuse the resources or the birds may return to use it again). It’s also important to teach children how to interact respectfully with nature. Not to scare off birds or leave litter that can harm them.

You can buy plenty of children’s resources and gifts too to inspire and educate your little ones. For example; install a bird feeder for your garden. Children’s binoculars, and reference books make good presents for budding birdwatchers. There’s also many craft activities that can be done together like colouring in books, or playing bird bingo. The key advice is to keep it fun and lighthearted. Your 5 year old will probably not want to walk for hours in the rain being quiet. Birdwatching and nature walks should be fun! Make sure your children are comfortable and enjoying themselves. As they grow older they will still have an interest and with it more patience for some serious birdwatching.

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