Photos top to bottom: Female Mallard eyes birder; Wood Ducks display; Sandhill Crane seeks grain
As you drive south from Vancouver, BC, through its 2.4 million person metropolitan area, you pass by the airport. An hour further south, you come to another one, but this one serves only feathered aircraft. Located near suburban Ladner, BC, this bustling international airport is called George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
To get there, you drive west of Ladner, then cross a narrow wooden bridge over the south fork of the mighty Fraser River to Westham Island, situated in the mouth of the river, dividing the Fraser into northern and southern channels. Here you leave behind suburbia and re-enter the rich farmland that comprised much of this area before. In winter, you are likely to see Bald Eagles, Trumpeter Swans, and maybe a Peregrine Falcon along this stretch. Then after a few kilometers of 90-degree turns that trace property boundaries, you turn into the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
The first time I visited the 850-acre/300 hectare George C. Reifel Sanctuary on British Columbia’s Fraser River Delta in the late 1970s, I remarked to my college friends that it resembled a bird airport. A plethora of waterfowl were taking off and landing in the many ponds and channels that comprise this sanctuary, making loud and frequent splashing sounds as they skidded to their watery landings all around us. Buffleheads, Canvasbacks, Teal, Scaup, Wigeon and Mallards were among the thousands of ducks at this sanctuary. It was exhilarating being surrounded by so many multicolored flying, swimming waterfowl.
Each winter, I re-visit this marvelous place. Recently, my wife and I encountered a flock of 800-plus Snow Geese as we drove into the sanctuary entrance, close enough to take movies complete with their constant chatter as a sound track. This flock was actively feeding in preparation for its journey back to its Wrangel Island, Russia breeding grounds. When we opened the door of our car in the refuge parking lot, three Sandhill Cranes flew just 30 feet overhead, uttering their loud, resonant prehistoric rattling calls, reminding us that birds are indeed dinosaurs.
Within thirty minutes of walking through this sanctuary we saw four Black-crowned Night Heron, a Merlin, several Bald Eagles, and an uncountable numbers of Gadwall, Wigeon, Pintail and Mallard ducks. You know you are in a good bird refuge when you don’t know what to look at first, and, and where rare sightings occur along with the common. Our rarity was a female Northern Goshawk hunting in the Alder trees at the western edge of the sanctuary. We also enjoyed a rare look at a common species – the Great Blue Heron – in a cloud of 45 flocking together above us, creating blue-gray airborne spectacle. Neither of us had ever seen so many herons in flight together before. By the time we were done with our three-hour walk in 35-degree temperatures with snow flurries, we tallied 51 species of birds. More than 280 species total have been recorded at Reifel Sanctuary over the years.
Bird airports like Reifel Sanctuary exist because of people like the Reifel family who had foresight and conservation values. George C. Reifel purchased the property on an island in the Fraser River Delta in 1927 to make into a family retreat. It already had three natural sloughs traversing the island at the mouth of BC’s largest river. He constructed dykes and causeways to create waterfowl habitat. Eventually he granted a lease to the BC Waterfowl Society and involved Ducks Unlimited in the management of his property.
Years later, the Reifel family negotiated a combined sale and donation to the Canadian government to manage the site for its waterfowl and to keep George Reifel’s name. Located within an hour of the city of Vancouver, and close to the U.S. border, Reifel Sanctuary hosts 600,000-700,000 human visitors annually.
The sanctuary is strategically located at the mouth of the Fraser River, the largest estuary along the Pacific Coast of North America. It, along with the larger, adjacent Alaksen National Wildlife Refuge, is a crossroads for migratory birds that travel from 20 other countries and three continents. This is not just a bird airport; it is an international bird airport.
Among the many visitors are kids and families. Reifel Sanctuary, with its flat trails, numerous feeders and policy of selling bags of grain to feed birds, is an attractive outing for kids, families and tourists. This is a great way to connect people to nature in a close-up and personal way. Kids can have a “wow!” nature experience that will help develop an appreciation for birds and nature. One child we brought to this refuge has since become an ornithologist.
Thankfully, bird airports like Reifel Sanctuary exist throughout the U.S., Canada and other parts of the world. Originally established for hunting, these reserves now also cater to people who hunt with cameras, binoculars and their own two eyes. They provide strategic stopover, feeding, resting and staging areas for birds migrating along their flyways.
Wildlife Refuges, like parks and other nature preserves are testimony to the intelligence and compassion of the human species. They are a good investment because we rely upon the health of the planet as much as birds and other wildlife do. We also need inspiration and joy, which sanctuaries like Reifel provide in abundance.
