Sunday afternoon turned out bright and sunny, so we drove down for a short walk on Boundary Bay. As we neared the parking lots at Centennial Beach, we saw two mature eagles posed nicely in a tall tree. We stopped.
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| Two black specks with white heads |
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| Walking closer and zooming in. Regal birds. |
Before we were able to get much closer, the pair lifted off and flew across the field to a distant stand of trees. As they went, they disturbed another large bird sitting alone; the three of them swung around and around the new chosen resting place for a while, like a dog turning three times in his bed before settling down for a nap.
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| Housing, bare trees, and just visible, three large flying objects. |
At home, something about that third bird struck us as a bit odd, so we blew up our photos to the maximum.
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| Not an eagle. A turkey vulture. |
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| This is an eagle. Big, puffy head, solid body. |
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| Turkey vulture. Small, bare head, thinner body. Black wing linings, dark grey flight feathers. Splayed primaries. |
There were at least a pair of these vultures; we saw two over the marshland, again, not recognizing them.
They're not supposed to be here; turkey vultures breed in BC, but
winter from California on south, or on the east coast around Florida. Maybe, as our local climate warms, the range may be shifting northwards. Or it may just be that Tsawwassen has always been hospitable; it's our
banana belt, after all. Whatever the reason, we'll be looking for them in the future.
*UPDATE; Several of the commenters think they're immature bald eagles. They may be right.
