Snow

So much for Vancouver’s much-vaunted Mediterranean climate. It’s infrequent, I know, but I still take the snows we’ve had this winter as a personal affront.

Until, that is, I venture forth and find out once again how beautiful winter is on the shores of English Bay.

The snow concentrates birds at woodland edges and roadsides, where they can still get to the leaf litter and flowing water. Today at Acadia Beach Gellert and I found flocks of Song Sparrows and Varied Thrushes all around the parking lot.

Down on the beach proper, a pair of (or, at least, two) Pacific Wrens were working the rocks.

For being a secretive woodland bird, these wrens sure spend a lot of time out in the open, especially on dark days like this one. I still haven’t seen one sing from the beach yet, though.

There was relatively little action out on the water. A flock of about 100 Surf Scoters had three White-winged Scoters with it, and small numbers of Buffleheads and Barrow’s Goldeneye were bouncing around here and there. Closer were in were a few Red-breasted Mergansers and a drake Common Goldeneye, which didn’t seem to mind Gellert at all.

He was probably hoping for a little protection from the half dozen Harbor Seals, any one of which would probably have been very happy with a goldeneye lunch.

I guess a little snow isn’t such a bad thing after all. I guess.