crescent beach

Crescent Beach Pier at Sunset

Tourists and locals watching the sunset (and mountains on Vancouver Island) from the pier at Crescent Beach in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

sunset at crescent beach pier

Taking in the Sunset at Crescent Beach Pier (Purchase)

I recently made an evening trip to Crescent Beach for some photography. I was already in the area and hadn’t photographed the Crescent Beach or Blackie Spit area in several years, and thought I’d check it out again to see what has changed and make a few photos if I could. Places like Crescent Beach are locations I tend to prefer in the “off season” – there is less of a crowd and it feels more like being out in nature than it does otherwise. On this evening, a rare, warm evening in early April, it was much more crowded than I’d anticipated but everything still went well (only a few “yahoos”). I rarely photograph a sunset directly, preferring how that light reflects off of other things, but this sunset worked fairly well with the pier. Crescent Beach’s pier is much smaller than the White Rock Pier but still gives a nice view of Boundary Bay, the North Shore Mountains, and even the mountains on Vancouver Island (which you can see in the background on the above photograph). I think this is the first time I’ve photographed the Crescent Beach Pier itself, though I do have a photo of reflected light underneath it from a few years ago.

learning to sail at crescent beach

Learning to Sail at Crescent Beach (Purchase)

I’ve often photographed the view of Burnaby’s Metrotown area towers from Blackie Spit. They tend to provide a nice background with the North Shore Mountains’ Lions just above. While I was standing under the pier a number of small sailboats from the Surrey Sailing Club passed by with what looked like sailing class. The people in this particular sailboat seemed to be practicing leaning on one side which I think is called “hiking”. This had their sail at a near 45° angle to the water, which was would have seemed strange in this photograph I think. It took them several minutes before they were mostly upright and I made this image.

blackie spit and the golden ears mountains

The Golden Ears and Boundary Bay from Blackie Spit (Purchase)

These last two photographs show my other favourite landscape subject from the Blackie Spit area – the Golden Ears Mountains (Mount Blanshard). The Belt of Venus/Earth’s Shadow was not overly strong on this particular evening, but provides enough color in the northeast sky to make things interesting. The photo above shows a low tide at Blackie Spit. While not evident in this photograph at many times of the year once can see a lot of shorebirds running around in the area. The photograph below shows the Golden Ears as seen from underneath the pier looking northeast after sunset.

sunset golden ears at crescent beach blackie spit

The Golden Ears from Crescent Beach at Sunset (Purchase)

For more photographs of Crescent Beach and other areas in Surrey, BC visit my City of Surrey Gallery.

Winter at Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit

The tidal marsh at Crescent Beach (Blackie Spit) with the skyline of Burnaby and the North Shore Mountains in the background.

skyline of burnaby behind blackie spit and boundary bay from crescent beach

Burnaby Skyline in Winter from Crescent Beach (Purchase)

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   New Years Day 2016 was rather chilly at about 1°C, but was a clear and sunny day so I thought it was a good opportunity to photograph Crescent Beach in a different season than I had before. I also assumed that since it was rather cold there would not be many people out on the trails and the paths near the beach. I was very wrong, it was more crowded than I’d normally seen it. I couldn’t argue with the conditions though, I had some nice light at sunset and earlier when I was photographing the shorebirds at Crescent Beach along with this skyline photograph of Burnaby from Blackie Spit. I’ve photographed this view of Burnaby, BC before, but it takes on an extra dimension at sunset with some snow on the mountains. I would like to photograph the tide marsh at Blackie Spit during high tide as well, but found during an earlier day that my favourite vantage point is not accessible at high tide! I do like how the foreground works here without water, and again with the photo of Mount Blanshard below. In the first photo above the mountains are (L to R) Mount Strachan, Unnecessary Mountain, The Lions, Brunswick Mountain, Cobug Peak, Beauty Peak, Dam Mountain, Goat Mountain and Mount Fromme. The ski area on the right is Grouse Mountain.

boulders in the green waters of gold creek at golden ears provincial park

Silhouetted Tree Branches at Blackie Spit (Purchase)

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   One of my favourite spots at Crescent Beach is the Blackie Spit Wildlife Refuge Area. At the entrance to this area there is a sign asking people to keep their dogs out and away from the wildlife. I find that there are often a lot less people in this part of the park. While I was photographing there on New Years Day my main landscape lens died and I started looking for scenes suitable for other lenses. This silhouette from a maze of tree branches stood out, and I made this photograph with my longer 70-200mm lens. Photographs are often stronger when they isolate the most interesting part of a scene, but in this case everything was so chaotic I made a photograph illustrating that apparent disorder. I’ve actually made a number of photographs purposefully of seemingly chaotic scenes, I should make those into a series one day after a shoot some more of them.

belt of venus golden ears from crescent beach

The Golden Ears after sunset at Crescent Beach (Purchase)

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   This photograph looks northeast from Blackie Spit over the tidal flats, the mouth of the Nicomekl River, and towards Mount Blanshard (the Golden Ears Mountains) and Mount Robbie Reid. I have usually seen the most pronounced Belt of Venus (Earth’s Shadow) effect while up in the mountains, but on this evening the blue to purple band was quite distinct at sea level. I had to make this photograph a number of times to avoid all the flying Canada Geese flocks taking off in the evening. I made another photograph with these Canada Geese in the photograph later on, though I had to experiment with shutter speeds to get the right amount of blur (while keeping them discernible as birds).

waves at crescent beach sunset

Waves at Crescent Beach (Purchase)

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   As I was walking back to my car I noticed the waves from a passing boat created these fairly evenly space waves on the shore at Blackie Spit. The pilings here are the remains of the Crescent Oyster Company buildings which were built on pilings above the water. The Crescent Oyster Company was bought by a competitor in 1957 after which the buildings were removed, but these pilings remain.

For more photographs of Crescent Beach visit my Vancouver Coast & Mountains Gallery.

Video of Dunlin (Calidris alpina) at Crescent Beach

Video of Dunlin (Calidris alpina) foraging in the sand at Crescent Beach in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

Dunlin (Calidris alpina) foraging at Crescent Beach

 

   I photographed these Dunlin (Calidris alpina), or at least I think that is the right species ID, back on New Years Day at Crescent Beach, Surrey, BC. I don’t shoot a lot of video, but in this case I thought it would show the frenetic activity on the beach as they foraged. The Dunlin here are most likely feeding on the biofilm and small invertebrates in the intertidal zone. These birds just almost never sit still – seemingly always moving, running, or flying as a group. The video looks like it might be sped up (it isn’t) but watch the Seagull, who hasn’t had the stimulants the Dunlin appear to have consumed. This species only stays here in estuary during the winter, and has usually moved on to breeding grounds by spring. I have thought about purchasing a small microphone to record audio along with the video as the internal microphone on my Canon 7D isn’t that great and likes to pick up all sorts of extra noise. That probably wouldn’t have helped me in this case, as someone behind me on the path was loudly complaining about their coffee maker. This video has no sound as a result, and is better off for it.

Blackie Spit Sunset in Crescent Beach

Late evening light from the nature trails at Blackie Spit in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

sunset at blackie spit showing boundary bay and the coast range mountains

Sunset at Crescent Beach’s Blackie Spit (Purchase)

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   Earlier this year I spent a fair bit of time exploring Crescent Beach and photographing the various views to be found there – many of them from Blackie Spit. The majority of these photographs included urban views such as Burnaby and the Northshore Mountains but the area does have a lot more natural scenes as well. I thought I would post this photograph made from Blackie Spit but this time with more of the natural view. There is an old dock or bridge in this scene but I liked that this composition had the lush grasses (or sedges, perhaps) in the foreground along with the mountains in the background. Some warm sunlight at the end of the day helped too.

For more photographs from this area visit my Vancouver Coast & Mountains Gallery.

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelalus phoeniceus)

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelalus phoeniceus) in the marsh at Elgin Heritage Park in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

red-winged blackbird in the marsh at elgin heritage park in surrey bc

Male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelalus phoeniceus) in the marsh at Elgin Heritage Park in Crescent Beach

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   I have made a few trips to Crescent Beach’s Elgin Heritage Park recently, usually on my way to Blackie Spit. On this trip I set aside some time specifically to try to photograph Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelalus phoeniceus) in the marshes along the Nicomekl River. The males were quite active, singing and jumping from stalk to stalk in the Bulrushes. There were even some territorial squabbles where they would chase each other through the foliage like jet fighters. The females were not nearly as noticeable, though I had a few that stayed near me long enough to photograph as well. As the female Red-winged Blackbirds are drab in comparison, the males were really the more vibrant photography subject.

For more of my wildlife photographs visit the Animals and Wildlife Gallery in my Image Library.

Bigleaf Lupines at Elgin Heritage Park

Bigleaf Lupines (Lupinus polyphyllus) in the forest at Elgin Heritage Park in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

bigleaf lupines at elgin heritage park in crescent beach

Bigleaf Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) at Elgin Heritage Park in Crescent Beach (Purchase)

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   These are some of the numerous Bigleaf Lupines (Lupinus polyphyllus) growing in Elgin Heritage Park in Surrey, BC. On my way to photograph Red-winged Blackbirds in the marsh boardwalk, I stopped to photograph these lupines growing in some of the meadows along the way. I’ve mostly seen these lupines on the roadsides around Metro Vancouver and into the Fraser Valley, so it was nice to see them in relatively photogenic location.

bigleaf lupines at elgin heritage park in crescent beach

“Barn” nesting space for Barn Owls at Elgin Heritage Park (Purchase)

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   This is a small “barn” built in Elgin Heritage Park to encourage nesting Barn Owls. This seems like a good location for owls, I saw many small rodents (and not just baby rabbits) around the trails, especially under the boardwalk in the marsh.

For more of my wildflower photography please visit my Wildflower Gallery in my Image Library.

Burnaby and the Northshore Mountains

Burnaby’s Metrotown and the North Shore (Pacific Coast Range) Mountains. Photographed from Blackie Spit in Crescent Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Buildings in Burnaby and the Northshore Mountains from Blackie Spit in Crescent Beach

Burnaby and the Northshore Mountains from Blackie Spit (Purchase)

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   Last week I went to Blackie Spit in Crescent Beach to photograph birds, the estuary, and whatever else I could find. I specifically chose an evening at high tide as I have previously been here and sometimes the canals and flats are not nearly as photogenic with mud, dry/crusty algae, and other low tide qualities. This was one of the views near sunset – the buildings of Burnaby’s Metrotown area with Boundary Bay in the foreground, and the Northshore Mountains in the background. A friend initially thought this could be the buildings of downtown Vancouver but Google Earth confirmed this is indeed Burnaby. This photo illustrates one of the things I like about this region, mo matter where you are there is likely a view of the mountains even when many kilometers away. The panorama below shows a bit of a wider view of the area I photographed, including more of the mountains and some of the old dock pilings (I presume) left over from old infrastructure.

Burnaby and the Northshore Mountains from Blackie Spit in Crescent Beach

Northshore Mountains and Burnaby’s Metrotown from Blackie Spit (Purchase)

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For more of my Mountain photographs visit the Mountain Photos Gallery in my Image Library.