Birding, October 8, 2026: Big wind, hidden birds

Where: Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Piper Spit, Weather: Cloudy with late clearing, 13°C There was a lot of cloud, even more wind and fewer birds on this abbreviated day of birding. Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake Seagulls gathered at Piper Spit. We started at Piper Spit, where we saw surprisingly few birds. Blackbirds were absent and most ducks that were not mallards were in low supply. This was offset somewhat by getting some (distant and partly obscured) shots of some Wilson’s Snipes hiding along the tall grass off to the north and west of the pier. We found them thanks to another birder with a VVBL1. We watched a seagull work over an ex-salmon in the shallows. The Dowitchers had moved elsewhere, probably due to the water level being a bit higher, or maybe because of the wind, as it was very windy. There was a single duck, but a healthy population of coots milling about the other groups of waterfowl, as they do. In all, it was a wee bit underwhelming, but…

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