Amazing bird photos: Gull scoops golf ball at Piper Spit in Burnaby


It’s a bird. It’s an egg. Or is it?

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Tamara Sale has been going to Piper Spit at Burnaby Lake regularly for nearly two decades to photograph the dozens of bird species that find sanctuary in the marshy nature park.

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But only once was the avid wildlife photographer able to capture this: A gull scooping up what it thinks is an egg, only to fly off with a rather inedible golf ball.

(The nearest golf course is on Burnaby Mountain, more than four kilometers away as the, ahem, crow flies; so how the ball ended up near Piper Spit is anyone’s guess.)

Sale says gulls at the spit like to make a spring treat from the eggs of redwing blackbirds, scooping them up and dropping them to the ground for an easy meal. Not that the blackbirds are happy about it.

A redwing blackbird tries to chase off a gull in Piper Spit at Burnaby Lake, in an image captured by wildlife photographer Tamara Sale.
A redwing blackbird tries to chase off a gull in Piper Spit at Burnaby Lake, in an image captured by wildlife photographer Tamara Sale. Photo by Tamara Sale

She’s also spotted blackbirds harrying the gulls to shoo them away from their nests.

The captivating images are among hundreds Sale has shot over the years, some of which she published in 2013 in her book The Birds at Piper Spit. (It can be found in local libraries and on Apple Books.)

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Sale says gulls are also fond of the eggs of Canada geese, though the big, aggressive birds make snatching up those prizes much more difficult.

A gull makes a successful identification of an actual bird egg, in an image from wildlife photographer Tamara Sale.
A gull makes a successful identification of an actual bird egg, in an image from wildlife photographer Tamara Sale. Photo by Tamara Sale

Speaking of the Canada goose, Sale once shared another spectacular photo to mark Mother’s Day, which just happens to be coming up this Sunday. It showed that Canada Geese might be noisy and tough, but they make very good and vigilant moms.

The mother goose was close to a path that saw lots of human traffic, so it was probably being extra protective of its gosling because of all the people around.

Then again, a hug never hurt anyone. Happy Mother’s Day.

A Canada goose puts a protective wing around its very young hatchling in an image by wildlife photographer Tamara Sale.
A Canada goose puts a protective wing around its very young hatchling in an image by wildlife photographer Tamara Sale. Photo by Tamara Sale


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