Townsend’s Solitaire at Terra Nova

According to the BC bird alert page for the Lower Mainland a Townsend’s Solitaire has been seen at Richmond’s Terra Nova park since December 31st. Yesterday was the first opportunity I had to head out that way and take a look for it. Arriving at the parking lot for the community gardens (49.170753,-123.196398 from google maps) around 0830, I witnessed several hundred Snow Geese in flight overhead! The birds were flying in a south easterly direction and must have come from the waterfront.

The Solitaire had been seen around the parking lot for the community gardens as well as in the gardens themselves. I started off by scanning the bushes on the west side of the parking lot. Near the red barn looking building I found a Bewick’s Wren. Occasionally the bird would call and pop into view before dropping back down and foraging through the undergrowth. As I was enjoying the wren a bird flew into a tree just at the edge of my field of vision. It was the Townsend’s Solitaire! I followed the bird as it moved south from tree to tree before flying across Westminster Highway and out of sight into the trees in that part of the park (this part of Westminster Highway is not really a “highway” but more of a quiet street).

I spent the next twenty minutes checking out what else was going on; which included some close up views of a group of Purple Finches feasting on berries. After scanning the marshes from the dyke at the end of Westminster Highway I turned around to find the Townsend’s Solitaire perched close by in a tree! Here the bird provided some of its best views yet. For a “grey bird” this species’ plumage is quite beautiful in my opinion; a subtle smooth grey, accented by the dash of buffy yellow on the wings and the white eye ring.