STANLEY PARK NOTEBOOK
/Editor’s Note: Our founding Stanley Park Notebook columnist Jacqui Birchall is once again off on her regular winter sojourn to Mexico, and Nate Lewis, who took over the column in the winter months the past few years, has moved on to other projects. So this month we welcome to our team Molly Sheanh, who will cover this beat for this winter, and we hope winters to come. Jacqui will return to duty in the spring.
BIRDING IN THE PARK AND AT THE LAGOON
Migratory waterfowl have made their way to local shores
by Molly Sheanh
(click images to enlarge)
Autumn has swung through Vancouver once again. The beautiful colours of fall foliage and the return of heavy rainstorms remind us that everything has a season, and that summer cannot last forever. The changing of the seasons allows us an opportunity to practice the art of letting go and moving towards our next destination with grace.
At this time of year it is easy for many of us to fall into a bit of a rut, with the typical Vancouver precipitation and decreased daylight hours forcing us to turn inward, both figuratively and in actuality. While I personally enjoy this season as a time to look inward, reflect, and get cozy, it can be somewhat uncomfortable in numerous ways.
Lost Lagoon, located in Stanley Park. Once a tidal mudflat, the construction of the Stanley Park causeway cut this body of water off from Burrard Inlet, creating the lagoon as we know it today. (Molly Sheanh Photos)
That said, I find that putting on my rain coat, a warm scarf, and a sturdy pair of shoes to head out into Stanley Park for a forest bath and some bird watching can drastically improve my outlook on life, at least for a morning or afternoon.
November and December are prime months for birding in Stanley Park, as several species of migratory and resident birds can be spotted at various Vancouver beaches and Lost Lagoon, while they either make their journeys to their next destinations, or make Stanley Park and Vancouver home for the winter months.
Stanley Park and English Bay are located within a network of conservation areas known as Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). This network of conservation areas has been established to connect birds and people, and to protect, identify, and monitor species to assist in academic and conservation research.
At the end of November, I attended an event hosted by Stanley Park Ecology (SPE) titled “Birds of Feather: Winter Wings”, which was led by species-at-risk biologist Kim Dohms, who works with the Canadian Wildlife Service. We were lucky to have a sunny morning on our side as the group made a leisurely stroll around Lost Lagoon, with two juvenile bald eagles soaring high above us to the north.
Flocks of migratory and resident ducks on Lost Lagoon.
We learned about seasonal and year-round avian residents of Stanley Park, with a heavy focus on aquatic species. Right now, migratory duck species such as the American widgeon and the bufflehead can be found in large numbers on the Lagoon, arriving from their inland and northern ranges to take refuge for the winter. A few surf scoters were present, although they tend to prefer marine environments. Frank Lin from SPE noted that there were over 4,000 of this species recorded recently in English Bay.
Year-round resident species like gadwalls, mallards, and wood ducks mingled and preened themselves in the sun, and a few hooded mergansers, another migratory duck species, were also present. Their beautiful feathery plumage, from which their name derives, was on occasional display like a crown, when they were not diving beneath the watery surface for their next meal, of course.
Fall foliage and calm waters at Lost Lagoon.
Buffleheads are also diving ducks, with widgeons, mallards, gadwalls, and wood ducks being of the dabbling variety; you will often see them with their bottoms in the air as they reach for their next meal.
You can view these species for yourself at Lost Lagoon or along the seawall, taking a moment to breathe in the seasonal wonder of the natural world through its fauna and flora. The ephemeral state of Lost Lagoon and Stanley Park as a whole teaches us to seize the moment, as the next season of life is just upon the horizon, and no day is ever exactly the same.
