Fraser Valley Birds November 2019, Northern Pygmy Owl, Great Egret, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Sturgeon, Peregrine Falcon

The following are some birds we encountered in the first few weeks of November.

We took a day trip up to Harrison Hotsprings and found this Northern Pygmy-Owl in Sasquatch Park.  We walked under it once and only located it on our return.  They are quite small and not easy to spot.

We searched hard to find a rare Clark's Grebe at Island 22 in Chilliwack but only came up with a common Western Grebe.

While we were looking for grebes this fisherman landed a Sturgeon in front of us.

This Bushtit posed nicely.  Because of the dark eye, we know it is a male.  Females have pale eyes.

I had to wait for this friendly Red-breasted Nuthatch to get off my camera before I could get a picture.  It was looking for sunflower seeds at a local wildlife reserve.

A Peregrine Falcon sat on the shore of Harrison Lake.

We are a few hundred miles north of the Great Egret's range but every so often one shows up here and usually in the fall.  The backlit shot accentuates the wing feathers like an x-ray. 

This Gray-blue Gnatcatcher is the 23rd record for British Columbia and the second record for Dian and I in B.C.  We found our first one at Kelowna, Nov. of last year.  These birds usually migrate south in the fall from their ranges in southern states.  However, this one came north.   It was found by John Gordon in Maplewood Flats, North Vancouver.

Another view of the Gnatcatcher.  This bird was missing a few feathers in its tail.

Pied-billed Grebe at a local park in Abbotsford.

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