Anna's hummingbirds at Saxe Pt. Park.

Anna's hummingbird


American Starling

A fellow birder told me about a rare sighting of Black-necked Stilts in the Brentwood Bay area, at a place called Maber Flats. It is just down the road from the Brentwood Bay eagle nest so I walked the trail out to the flats and saw 2 of them. I believe there have been 4 reported in the past 2 weeks and someone reported seeing a pair mating a few days ago. It is only the 4th time these birds have been sighted in the area, as far back as records have been kept. Here is the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site where you can see pictures of them. Black-necked Stilt

Here are some pictures I took but even with my 500mm lens they were a long ways away.

Beautiful pictures, Kay - love the hummie!

Hi Kay: Congrats on finding the Black-necked Stilts. For some reason, it took a little bit longer than usual to click the picture bigger in order to get a real good look at the Stilts. You’re definitely right about them being rarely seen in your area. My birding book shows them in Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon as well as Southern Alberta. That’s the closest they come to B.C. so these guys are a little off course. Are the ones you’ve seen drawing a lot of attention from birders? Hope you get to see them again. Also enjoyed your photos of the swan fight, the sunning turtles and Anna’s Hummingbird, but I’m sure the Stilts made your day.

Hi Ed, thanks for your comments. We were away for 4 weeks and since arriving back home late last Sat. night, I have been very busy trying to get through hundreds of vacation pics, and taking advantage of some sunny days to get out to see some eagles and other wildlife, which of course means more pics

We met with our travel agent Fri. morning and he is the birder who told me about the BN Stilts. They had been in the area for at least a couple of weeks before we got home and I do believe they were definitely getting a lot of attention. It's always exciting for me to see a bird I haven't seen before but especially gratifying when I see one that is rarely seen in my area. I wish they had been a bit closer so I could get a better pic.

I will be posting some of my vacation pics on the dedicated thread soon, and in the meantime I have posted a few on the Nesters thread in the Relaxation and Chat forum.

I have a hummingbird nest in my back yard. Here is Mummy Hummy in the tiniest nest imagineable.

Oh Elle, you are so lucky to have a hummer nest
Thanks for the picture, I so miss our Phoebe and Fluff
Hummer hugs to you