Birding, July 18, 2026: Blood on the beach

Where: Iona Beach, Terra Nova, Richmond Nature House (Richmond), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)Weather: Mostly sunny, 21°C It was Richmond up in the hizzy today, which meant planes, planes and also some birds. Iona Beach Freight ship plying the waters off Iona Beach. After some early morning showers, the sky mostly cleared up and it was pleasantly warm–and super muggy–for the remainder of the day. We started at Iona Beach and worked back toward a group of people shooting something apparently exotic. But it was just mallards. I guess they are exotic if you don’t see them normally. But in the same green sewer pond we also saw a Northern Pintail couple, the first we’ve seen this summer. We took an alternate trail into the wooded area and did not see much there. A trip down to the river provided the first of several blood sacrifices from Nic as he walked manly through thorny brush. Once we moved into the open area, filled with scrub and smaller trees, it was chickadees everywhere,…