Saturday 17 July 2010

Brit birder's dream day out

Quite a bit of activity around the Nanaimo River estuary this morning.
I started off at Holden Creek. There seemed to be fewer least sandpipers here today, probably c50 in total though they were spread around, and were quite mobile, so an accurate count wasn't possible. There was an increase in western sandpipers, with 20 or so in the area, plus at least 2 semi-palmated sandpiper.
On the marsh flashes, along with the peeps, were a single lesser yellowlegs and a pectoral sandpiper. See the attached vid. below.
An osprey attempted to fish on the creek for a while.

At the Nanaimo River estuary (Raines Road) a group of 3 greater and 1 lesser yellowlegs were on the pools, as were 2 killdeer and a pair of spotted sandpiper.
Up to 5 spotted sandpiper were on the river as were another 4 greater yellowlegs.

Things are getting really exciting down here now, it'll be interesting to see just what comes through in the next few weeks... For a Brit birder, this is like a dream day out on the Scillies or the Isle Of Lewis!    

2 comments:

  1. Sure I've seen that on the Ribble Marshes a few years ago...nah musta been a dream!!!

    Cheers

    Dave
    PS really enjoying your news from the far west; even got your mystery birds right - so far.
    Really must visit that part of the world one day

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  2. Cheers for the comment Dave.
    You really MUST visit this part of the world, indeed. The birding is simply great, and the supporting cast of other critters makes it better still.
    Maybe I can turn the tables on this wader business and find a ruff or lapwing for the locals to enjoy!
    All the best

    Jon

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