I noticed on one of the the Vancouver island birding forums that someone had posted seeing some yellowlegs at a small suburban site not far from home a couple of days ago. So, having never previously visited Summit Hill reservoir, I stopped off there on my way to work this morning.
There were 7 lesser yellowlegs busily feeding along a partially exposed median. they looked pretty incongruous in the concrete surroundings, but seemed to be finding plenty of food.
A small party of northern rough-winged swallows were flying around a female black-headed grosbeak was in the adjacent oaks.
Looks like a promising visible migration spot...
Hi Jon,
ReplyDeleteSummit Park is definitely an under-appreciated migration spot. Victoria's first Chestnut-sided Warbler was found there and there was a Tufted Duck on the reservoir back in the 70s (perhaps also Victoria's first record?). I usually make a couple stops in there during spring migration and the best sighting I've had was a Nashville Warbler. If you add it into your repertoire you might be rewarded with something interesting!
If you have a change, pop in to King's Pond one day and check if any shorebirds are happening there as well. The water level usually drops low enough for things like dowitchers and yellowlegs in the fall. I think there was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper there one fall. You can't trust the masses to check the "lesser" spots.