Living in Greater Vancouver offers endless opportunities to get outside and explore our amazing city. Each winter we head to South Delta to walk the Boundary Bay area and enjoy the experience of a natural eagle habitat. This is an amazing place to walk with bald eagles soaring around you by the hundreds.
This 24 km radius of land is located in Ladner, BC just off 72 street in what use to be a Vancouver Wireless Station. As the eagle population has grown so has the popularity of this site. They have now added a small parking lot and outhouse to the park so along with the paved walkways it is an easily accessible venture for all ages and physical abilities. Each year a bird count is held at the end of December and between 600 and 1300 bald eagles are recorded. We visited on a sunny Sunday near the end January and were not alone on our walk. There were hundreds of other bird watchers with children and dogs in tow. You might think all the activity would scare off the birds but they were obviously use to the spectators and continued their day without any regard for the cameras pointed at their every move.
It was fascinating to watch them perched high in a tree as they scanned the area below. At times we counted 16 eagles in a single tree and were mesmerized as they left their branches to take flight. Being an amateur photographer I tried to get photos of them in flight but it is very difficult and gave me a whole new appreciation for bird photography. I was equipped with an older Canon Power Shot camera and my husband sported an iPhone 6. We felt very inadequate as everyone around us seemed to have high tech cameras with foot long lenses. Regardless of the photographic equipment I couldn’t help but think pictures would not do this experience justice. It is impossible to capture the excitement and beauty of these creatures in a single photo. That being said we still tried and tried and tried. We took over a hundred photos and were only really pleased with a handful. Here are some of our favourites.
If you live in the area get out there this weekend, it is really is worth your time. Many of us have seen an eagle or two but nothing like this. Next time I complain about the high housing prices in our beautiful city I will look at these photos and the many others I have posted and remember why everyone wants to live here.
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