Brit Birder in Wader Heaven

I dropped Jenny of at work for 9am this morning and decided to head out once more to Panama Flats in search of transient waders.
There were pretty much the same sorts of numbers of birds present as yesterday (minus one, thanks to a successful sorte by an adult peregrine...).
I roughly estimated around 140 western and 70 least sandpipers, plus 9 greater & 7 lesser yellowlegs.  A single pectoral sandpiper was also present, as was a dowitcher.
While I was scanning through the birds, and checking the outer areas for such things as Baird's sandpipers, I was joined by Brent Beach - another local birder I only knew through having seen his postings on the local birding forum.

While we were chatting and searching, he picked up a semipalmated sandpiper that I'd completely missed. Better still, it came very close and gave us great looks and allowed for the two pics here to be taken.
Ignoring the westerns feeding out in the deeper water, it was keeping company with least sandpipers in the wet muddy areas. It was clearly a juvenile bird, but I was thrown initially by its 'buffness', but apparently (as I read later) early juvs may show a buff breast.

Other birds seen included 4 killdeer and in the vegetated creek to the east of the pools, a solitary sandpiper and 3 spotted sandpipers.
The birding here is really great at the moment and the birds are extremely tolerant of human presence and general disturbance. As long as one exercises sensible fieldcraft, the views of some of these shorebirds can be amazing.

The shot of 2 lesser yellowlegs here was taken with a standard compact camera with a 3x zoom!   

I popped into Swan Lake briefly on my way home, but it was nearing midday and the place was pretty quiet, bird-wise. The only things of note that I saw included 6 least and 2 western sandpipers, and a Wilson's warbler.   
 
 

Flats Life

The day started out cloudy and cool, and I headed off to Panama Flats this morning to see whether the overcast conditions had dropped any new birds.

As I walked down to central bund toward the pools from the Carey Road end, I noticed an adult river otter and her 3 cubs running along the muddy shore of the northern pond.
The Canada geese got a bit flighty, but the majority of shorebirds seemed relatively unconcerned.
The otters had a splash around in what little water they could find and the animals eventually ran toward me, passing within a few feet (pictured).
Having a quick scan over the pools it was good to see that there were plenty of birds around.
I counted approximately 140 western sandpipers and 71 least sandpipers feeding in the muddy waters, but couldn't locate any semi-p sands among them.

There was a lone pectoral sandpiper, and a solitary sandpiper (pictured) present as well as 4 killdeer and a long-billed dowitcher. 
There were also 9 lesser and 12 greater yellowlegs in the area. 
Mallard numbers have increased too, with around 80 birds present. Among these somewhat suspect ducks were a couple of creamy-coloured 'farmyard' mongrels.

Return To Panama Flats

3 greater & 1 lesser yellowlegs

Once again, my mind was filled with passage waders this morning so I grabbed my 'scope, and customary optimism, and headed across to Panama Flats for a spot of quality Victoria wetland birding.
And by the look of things, I'd better enjoy it while it lasts.
The glorious weather we've been enjoying lately has taken its toll, and the water is fast receding...
Anyhoo, the muddy pools still held a few birds and over the course of a couple of hours the following were noted:

Killdeer 6
Greater yellowlegs 6
Lesser yellowlegs 11
Solitary sandpiper 1
Spotted sandpiper 4
Pectoral sandpiper 1
Western sandpiper 19
Semi-palmated sandpiper 1
Least sandpiper 47
Short-billed dowitcher 2

Pectoral sandpiper

Both the least and western sandpipers counts are likely underestimates, given their mobility and constant moving around the site.
Other birds present included the ubiquitous barn swallows, plus a couple of cliff and at least 1 northern rough-winged swallow. Oh, and several 'the heron'. And, of course those big stinky noisy geese and a few duckies.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Aziza Cooper for the first time, a Victoria birder with whom I am familiar via her frequent postings on the local birding forum. Slowly, I'm starting put names to faces, and getting to figure out who some of the more active local birdwatchers are.

When I got home, there was a small, silent empid catching flies in the apple tree. It was rather greenish, with a largish pale bill and whopping great eye ring and a bit of a crested appearance. If I were a gambling man, my money would probably be on Pacific-slope flycatcher. But, I'm not a gambling man, and its identity shall remain a mystery...

Wandering tattler - not wandering

Later, after walking downtown with Jenny, who was heading for an evening shift at Eddie Bauer's, I strolled back home via Dallas Road and the splendid Victoria waterfront.
First stop was Ogden Point where my old friend the wandering tattler was defying its moniker and remaining spectacularly loyal to its regular roost. As I was armed with Jen's new camera, I couldn't resist another shot...
The remainder of the walk was rather birdless, and even Clover Point failed to excite. Possibly, the kite surfers, paragliders, dog walkers, kite flyers and other assorted show-offs had collectively scared everything two miles offshore.       

Not so solitary sandpiper...

It was a little cloudy overnight, and I woke up with thoughts of grounded migrant shorebirds. Not how everyone greets the day, admittedly, but as we birder's know, the urge to follow our instincts can be just as strong as our quarry's desire to move south at the breeding season draws to a close.

So, I headed to my new favourite Victoria birding spot; Panama Flats.
The northern pool looked pretty lively as I approached, and through my bins I could see plenty of avian activity. There were lesser yellowlegs all over the place, and I counted at least 13. By comparison, 11 greater yellowlegs were also present.
As I scanned through the least sandpipers and western sandpipers, a larger bird caught my eye.

An adult solitary sandpiper. Nice. The bird gave excellent views as it fed close to me, among other species. A few minutes later I picked up another, this time a juvenile, and after about half an hour the two birds were feeding together.
I counted 46 leasts and 17 western sandpipers in total, but due to the fact that they were constantly moving around the area, these counts were probably conservative under estimates.
Also present were a single semi-palmated sandpiper, 5 killdeer, 5 spotted sandpiper and 13 short-billed dowitchers. The dowitchers called clearly identifying themselves as short-billed - I suspect that when I saw 13 'long-billed'  a couple of days ago, my interpretation of their brief calls was faulty, to say the least!
Good numbers of barn swallow were around too, and among them I noticed at least 2 cliff swallows and a northern rough-winged swallow. A single purple martin also flew through, but carried on in a southerly direction.

Farewell to Friends, Hello to Solitary Sandpiper!

On Saturday Jenny and I headed up island once more. Our good friends Rich & Lori Mooney, along with son Nolan, had finally booked their flights and were heading off to a new life in Surrey, England within a matter of days. We had to say our farewells!
Somehow or another (!) Rich and I managed to arrange one last bit of birding and spent some time scouring Holden Creek, while Jen and Lori walked to Jack Point.  

Jenny, me, Lori & Rich

To be honest, it was pretty dire. A killdeer and 4 least sandpiper were the sum total of our shorebird finding efforts.
Other stuff included a purple martin, peregrine, red-tailed hawk, osprey, American goldfinch and a pair of Eurasian collared dove (cor!).
To be honest, it wasn't strictly about the birding, but the opportunity to spend a bit of time together before they left for old Blighty... Bon voyage Rich, Lori & Nolan - and good luck in the UK!

Today (BC Day as it happens), I got out for a couple of hours to Panama Flats, late morning.
Quite a contrast to my last visit a few days ago.
The pools were notably busier with waders, and there were 7 lesser yellowlegs, 11 greater yellowlegs, 5 western sandpiper and 29 least sandpiper present, along with 13 long-billed dowitcher.
A couple of killdeer were in the grassy area on the eastern edge and at least 4 spotted sandpiper were seen. 

Best of all, however was the solitary sandpiper that had so far eluded me.
This is the first I've seen in Canada and as such, makes it on to my BC list!
At one point the obliging bird even had a good stretch, showing off that distinctive rump that clearly separates it from green sandpiper, a species I am very familiar with. Lovely!
So lovely, in fact, that I've included two photos here for your delight...

Once again the many swallows were on good form and went into a twittering panic when a peregrine came by. It was interesting to watch the least sandpipers, in particular, respond to the hirundines' alarm calls.
They would assume a crouching position, flattening themselves low in the mud or water while watching out for the overhead predator.

Later in the day, Jenny and I had a walk down to Ross Bay, Victoria. A drake white-winged scoter was swimming around close inshore, while we also spotted the usual rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots and what-not.