Reifel Bird Sanctuary

What the sanctuary is

Its full name is the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, and it's one of the 92 migratory bird sanctuaries Environment and Climate Change Canada counts across the country. The Canadian Wildlife Service and the Province own the land. The British Columbia Waterfowl Society, a non-profit, has run the visitor side since 1963 and now does so under a long-term agreement with the federal government. The sanctuary overlaps the Alaksen National Wildlife Area next door, and it's part of the Fraser River Delta Ramsar site.

Inside the gates are several kilometres of walking trails, which the society keeps for quiet birdwatching. Some stretches are gravel and some are grass, and the grassy ones turn muddy after rain, so wear shoes that can take it. About 1 km in, the observation tower looks over the ocean marsh, with the Vancouver area and Vancouver Island on the horizon. The society says most people spend an hour to an hour and a half walking.

The main visitor facilities are by the parking lot. You pay admission at the Gift Shop, which also sells birdseed, snacks and books, and has binoculars to buy or borrow. Indoor washrooms are close by, in a building that also holds the society's museum collections, open for viewing now and then.

Getting there

The address is 5191 Robertson Road, Delta, on Westham Island. The only road onto the island crosses the Westham Island Bridge over Canoe Pass, which has a swing span and narrows to a single lane on a wooden deck. TransLink maintains the bridge and is planning a new crossing, and its project page has the latest.

From Ladner Village, head west on 47A Avenue, which turns into River Road, and follow it about 3 km to the bridge, on your right. Across the bridge, take Westham Island Road and then Robertson Road to the end. A sign there points left to the sanctuary's gates, and its driveway runs about another kilometre to the parking lot. It's about 9 km in all.

For the drive from Vancouver, Environment and Climate Change Canada's directions take Highway 99 south through the Massey Tunnel, then Highway 17A south to Ladner Trunk Road, which heads west through Ladner, turns into 47A Avenue and then River Road. Our Massey Tunnel guide has the traffic and counterflow links to check before you set out.

The society says no public transit runs out to the sanctuary, so TransLink's Trip Planner can only cover part of the trip. Bikes, skateboards and anything else on wheels stay outside, apart from wheelchairs and strollers.

Parking

The lot is at the end of the driveway, beside the Gift Shop, and the society says it holds 100 cars. When it fills, the signs show where you can leave the car on the driveway's south side, and on the busiest days traffic staff are out directing cars.

Leave the dog at home. Dogs aren't allowed anywhere on the grounds, the lot included, and the society points out that the lot has little shade for a dog left in a car.

Hours, admission and booking

The society sets the sanctuary's hours and closure days, its admission and its booking rules, and its own site is the place to check all three before you go. The booking page also covers what to do if you turn up without a booking or can't book online.

Weather closures go out on the society's X and Facebook accounts, and it uses the contact details people give when they book to send closure alerts.

Every visit has to fit inside the posted hours: the sanctuary keeps no early or late openings for birders or photographers, and it treats entry outside those hours as trespassing. Groups can book guided tours, and schools can book programs, through the society's programs page.

Birds through the year

The society's short version: bird numbers and variety are usually highest from fall to spring. For the detail, see its season-by-season guide and its weekly list of the species seen.

October to early December is the society's pick for big migrating flocks of ducks, geese and swans, and it says the lesser snow geese draw a crowd every year. Its snow goose page names mid-October to mid-December and mid-March to mid-April as the best times to see them at Reifel, and says nearly all of them move to the Skagit between late December and February. By the society's account they nest on Wrangel Island, in Russia, and come south each fall to winter around the Fraser and Skagit river estuaries, the sanctuary included.

Winter is quiet, in the society's word, and it counts the sanctuary's friendly mallards, its sandhill cranes, the black-capped chickadees and a range of hawks, eagles and owls among the season's highlights. Spring migration is under way by March and April, the society says, and the southbound migration begins in late summer and early fall, when a wide mix of shorebirds that nest in the Arctic stops in.

The sanctuary is also inside the count area of the Ladner Christmas Bird Count, which Birds Canada coordinates.

Rules and accessibility

Wildlife laws apply here, and the society's rules are strict. No dogs or other animals, anywhere. Feed the birds only the duck food and chickadee food the Gift Shop sells in small bags, and bring nothing of your own for them, birdseed included. Some spots are posted as no-feeding zones: the ocean-front trail, the tower, the blinds, the parking lot and the areas around the buildings.

Keep to the trails, pick nothing, and stay at least 2 m from any nest. Hunting and fishing are banned, and the society says harassing or harming a bird is illegal here, so don't chase, pet or try to pick one up.

Leave bikes and other wheels behind (wheelchairs and strollers excepted), along with drones, speakers, musical instruments and sports gear. There's no smoking, littering or cooking, and picnics are allowed only at the designated facilities by the entrance. The society's rule list has the rest, and its feeding page explains the seed.

The society says its facilities are wheelchair accessible apart from the observation tower, and it has one wheelchair to lend. Keep the grassy, muddy stretches in mind with a chair or a stroller.

For a sick or injured animal, the society sends people to Wildlife Rescue for birds and bats, to Orphaned Wildlife Rescue (OWL) for raptors and owls, and to Critter Care for mammals. Its home page lists how to reach them.

What's nearby

The Alaksen National Wildlife Area is next door. Its gate is straight ahead at the end of Robertson Road, where the sanctuary's driveway turns left. Alaksen is open for day visits, with three trails (one leads to an observation deck over the estuary), its own parking lot and accessible washrooms. Dogs are allowed there on a leash, and Environment and Climate Change Canada posts Alaksen's hours.

Much of the rest of Westham Island is farmland, and Westham Island Park, a City of Delta park, is about 3 km back along the road.

Back on the mainland, Wellington Point Park sits on River Road West between the village and the bridge, about 6 km from the sanctuary by road. The society points birders to Ladner Marsh, Boundary Bay and Brunswick Point as well; the Brunswick Point Trail is a gravel dyke path on the mainland side of Canoe Pass.

History

Farmers and fishers settled Westham Island from the 1870s, and before the bridge was built, a small ferry carried people across.

George C. Reifel bought his property here in 1927, when this end of the island was still a scatter of undyked river islands. By 1929 he had a family retreat there, with all the equipment and building materials brought in by barge. His dykes and causeways made habitat for waterfowl and a road link that tied his "Reifel Island" into Westham Island. The family farm grew more than a third of Canada's sugar beet seed during the Second World War, by the society's account. Reifel's 1929 shooting lodge, designed by the architect Ross Lort, was later adapted for Environment Canada's Pacific Wildlife Research Centre.

The British Columbia Waterfowl Society formed in 1961. Two years later Reifel's son, George H. Reifel, gave it a long-term lease for a bird sanctuary named after his late father, and the society has run it ever since. Ducks Unlimited Canada helped with water management in the wetlands and is still a partner.

The family later sold part of the land to the federal government and donated the rest, on condition that it be managed mainly for waterfowl and keep George C. Reifel's name. The farm became the Alaksen National Wildlife Area, established in 1976. Sources differ on when the sanctuary was designated: Environment and Climate Change Canada gives 1967, while the society's history ties the designation to the family's sale and donation, around 1972.

Questions and answers

Do you need to book a visit to Reifel Bird Sanctuary?

The British Columbia Waterfowl Society sets the booking rules and posts them on its booking page, which also covers arriving without a booking. Check it before you drive out.

Can I bring my dog to Reifel Bird Sanctuary?

No. Dogs and other animals aren't allowed anywhere on the grounds, the parking lot included. Next door, the Alaksen National Wildlife Area allows dogs on a leash.

Can you feed the birds at Reifel?

Only with the duck food and chickadee food sold at the Gift Shop, and only outside the posted no-feeding areas.

When are the snow geese at Reifel Bird Sanctuary?

The British Columbia Waterfowl Society, which runs the sanctuary, names mid-October to mid-December and mid-March to mid-April as the best times to see the lesser snow geese there.

How long does a visit to Reifel take?

Most visitors spend an hour to an hour and a half on the sanctuary's trails, the British Columbia Waterfowl Society says.

Is Reifel Bird Sanctuary wheelchair accessible?

The British Columbia Waterfowl Society says the sanctuary's facilities are wheelchair accessible except the observation tower, and it lends one wheelchair. Some trails are grass and get muddy after rain.

Can you get to Reifel Bird Sanctuary by bus?

No public transit runs out to the sanctuary, the British Columbia Waterfowl Society says. TransLink's Trip Planner can plan the parts of the trip a bus covers.