We're heading out to BC again in May 2018 for another wildlife-packed, two week birding trip; leaving the UK on May 19 and returning on June 1.
There are still a couple of places available - for more details see: ribblebirdtours.co.uk
Thursday, 25 January 2018
Tuesday, 9 August 2016
Back In BC - 2016
It's been quite a while since I posted here but in the wake of a trip back to BC in May I thought it would be prudent to update the site!
For the second consecutive year I joined a group of birders from the UK for a two-week tour of the area. The trip was organised by Ribble Bird Tours and I was drafted in as itinerary planner / guide / driver / interpreter etc. As you can clearly see from the attached efforts I was not employed as a photographer... (pics taken using handheld snapper held up to my 'scope).
We flew out to Vancouver on Friday 20th May and returned on 5th June 2016.
Our tour started with a couple of days in and around Manning Park where we searched for a range of alpine & forest birds and mammals. Sought after birds including varied thrush, Clarke's nutcracker, harlequin duck, sooty grouse and mountain chickadee got the trip-list off to a good start.
We then spent some time in the spectacular Okanagan Valley, making a couple of stops along the way for such cracking birds as lazuli bunting, Bullock's oriole, mountain bluebird and Say's phoebe.
The habitat changed dramatically as we headed into the drier interior, and so did the avifauna. Here we were joined by the always affable Chris Charlesworth, one of the region's best known birders, to maximise our opportunities. Highlights here included sage thrasher, white-throated swift, common poorwill, caliope & black-chinned hummingbird, Cassin's finch & American three-toed and Lewis's woodpeckers.
After a few days on the mainland we headed over to my old stomping ground of Vancouver Island. We did some birding at some of my favourite spots in and around my old home-town Nanaimo before heading up to Mount Washington where we were treated to great views of Steller's and gray jays along with ruffed grouse, chestnut-backed chickadees and Townsend's warbler.
We then drove west to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Here we took a trip to see black bears and were treated to multiple sightings of these stunning beasts. We were also lucky enough to spot sea otters and grey whales from shore.
Bird highlights of the west coast included a range of species such as Pacific wren, MacGillivray's warbler, rufous hummingbird and black swift. We met up with my pal Ian Cruikshank who joined us for a spot of birding around the Tofino area - Ian is a top-notch naturalist who seems to be constantly finding everything from unusual ferns to rare birds!
After leaving the old-growth rainforest and wild west coast we headed south to my other former home-town, Victoria. From here we explored some of the best areas on southern Vancouver Island.
Days spent birding a range of habitats allowed us to catch up with marbled murrelets, pigeon guillemots, red-breasted sapsuckers, several more flycatcher and warbler species plus a couple of unseasonal wildfowl - summering trumpeter and tundra swans! Local expertise was provided by Rick Schortinghuis - a great guy and a great birder.
From the island we headed back toward Vancouver but not without spending some time at Boundary Bay and the George C Reifel Bird Sanctuary. This famous area is worth a visit at any time of the year and here we saw a number of good birds including northern harrier, both lesser & greater yellowlegs and sandhill crane.
For details of the 2017 trip to BC or any other birding tours with Ribble Bird Tours visit the website or email smrbt@blueyonder.co.uk
Full list of species seen on 2016 trip:
For the second consecutive year I joined a group of birders from the UK for a two-week tour of the area. The trip was organised by Ribble Bird Tours and I was drafted in as itinerary planner / guide / driver / interpreter etc. As you can clearly see from the attached efforts I was not employed as a photographer... (pics taken using handheld snapper held up to my 'scope).
We flew out to Vancouver on Friday 20th May and returned on 5th June 2016.
Lewis's woodpecker |
We then spent some time in the spectacular Okanagan Valley, making a couple of stops along the way for such cracking birds as lazuli bunting, Bullock's oriole, mountain bluebird and Say's phoebe.
The habitat changed dramatically as we headed into the drier interior, and so did the avifauna. Here we were joined by the always affable Chris Charlesworth, one of the region's best known birders, to maximise our opportunities. Highlights here included sage thrasher, white-throated swift, common poorwill, caliope & black-chinned hummingbird, Cassin's finch & American three-toed and Lewis's woodpeckers.
Say's phoebe |
We then drove west to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Here we took a trip to see black bears and were treated to multiple sightings of these stunning beasts. We were also lucky enough to spot sea otters and grey whales from shore.
Bird highlights of the west coast included a range of species such as Pacific wren, MacGillivray's warbler, rufous hummingbird and black swift. We met up with my pal Ian Cruikshank who joined us for a spot of birding around the Tofino area - Ian is a top-notch naturalist who seems to be constantly finding everything from unusual ferns to rare birds!
Wilson's phalarope |
Days spent birding a range of habitats allowed us to catch up with marbled murrelets, pigeon guillemots, red-breasted sapsuckers, several more flycatcher and warbler species plus a couple of unseasonal wildfowl - summering trumpeter and tundra swans! Local expertise was provided by Rick Schortinghuis - a great guy and a great birder.
From the island we headed back toward Vancouver but not without spending some time at Boundary Bay and the George C Reifel Bird Sanctuary. This famous area is worth a visit at any time of the year and here we saw a number of good birds including northern harrier, both lesser & greater yellowlegs and sandhill crane.
For details of the 2017 trip to BC or any other birding tours with Ribble Bird Tours visit the website or email smrbt@blueyonder.co.uk
Full list of species seen on 2016 trip:
- Canada Goose
- Mute Swan
- Trumpeter Swan
- Tundra Swan
- Wood Duck
- Gadwall
- American Wigeon
- Mallard
- Blue-winged Teal
- Cinnamon Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Pintail
- American Green-winged Teal
- Redhead
- Ring-necked Duck
- Lesser Scaup
- Bufflehead
- Common Goldeneye
- Barrow's Goldeneye
- Hooded Merganser
- Common Merganser
- Ruddy Duck
- Ruffed Grouse
- Sooty Grouse
- California Quail
- Pacific Loon
- Common Loon
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Red-necked Grebe
- Eared Grebe
- Western Grebe
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Pelagic Cormorant
- Great Blue Heron
- Turkey Vulture
- Osprey
- Bald Eagle
- Northern Harrier
- Cooper's Hawk
- Northern Goshawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- American Kestrel
- American Coot
- Sandhill Crane
- Semipalmated Plover
- Killdeer
- Black Oystercatcher
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Sanderling
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Wilson's Snipe
- Wilson's Phalarope
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Mew Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- California Gull
- Glaucous-winged Gull
- Caspian Tern
- Common Murre
- Pigeon Guillemot
- Marbled Murrelet
- Rhinoceros Auklet
- Rock Pigeon
- Band-tailed Pigeon
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Barn Owl
- Flammulated Owl - heard only
- Great Horned Owl
- Barred Owl
- Common Poorwill
- Black Swift
- Vaux's Swift
- White-throated Swift
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Anna's Hummingbird
- Calliope Hummingbird
- Rufous Hummingbird
- Belted Kingfisher
- Lewis's Woodpecker
- Williamson's Sapsucker
- Red-naped Sapsucker
- Red-breasted Sapsucker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- American Three-toed Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Western Wood-Pewee
- Willow Flycatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Hammond's Flycatcher
- Gray Flycatcher
- Dusky Flycatcher
- Pacific-slope Flycatcher
- Say's Phoebe
- Western Kingbird
- Eastern Kingbird
- Hutton's Vireo
- Warbling Vireo
- Gray Jay
- Steller's Jay
- Clark's Nutcracker
- Black-billed Magpie
- American Crow
- Northwestern Crow
- Common Raven
- Purple Martin
- Tree Swallow
- Violet-green Swallow
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Bank Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Mountain Chickadee
- Chestnut-backed Chickadee
- Bushtit
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Pygmy Nuthatch
- Brown Creeper
- Rock Wren
- Canyon Wren
- Bewick's Wren
- House Wren
- Pacific Wren
- Marsh Wren
- American Dipper
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Western Bluebird
- Mountain Bluebird
- Townsend's Solitaire
- Swainson's Thrush
- Hermit Thrush
- American Robin
- Varied Thrush
- Gray Catbird
- Sage Thrasher
- European Starling
- Cedar Waxwing
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Yellow Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Black-throated Gray Warbler
- Townsend's Warbler
- MacGillivray's Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Wilson's Warbler
- Western Tanager
- Spotted Towhee
- Chipping Sparrow
- Brewer's Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Black-headed Grosbeak
- Lazuli Bunting
- Bobolink
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Western Meadowlark
- Yellow-headed Blackbird
- Brewer's Blackbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Bullock's Oriole
- Pine grosbeak
- Purple Finch
- Cassin's Finch
- House Finch
- Red Crossbill
- Pine Siskin
- American Goldfinch
- House Sparrow
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
A Fond Farewell...
Farewell Canada! |
I will keep the blog 'alive' as a resource for anyone who is planning a visit to this wonderful part of the world - the sightings archive should provide some clues as to the sorts of things a relatively active birder can hope to see on Vancouver Island over a period of time. The links too, are a handy reference.
I am always happy to hear from anyone heading out to BC in search of birds and will gladly offer any tips on locations, etc. to traveling birders. Email me at joncbirder AT yahoo.com
I would like to thank all the wonderful BC birders that I had to pleasure to meet during my 3 years as a resident in both Nanaimo and Victoria. I'm sure that I will be back to visit from time to time, so I expect that you haven't seen the last of me!
And, if you would like to keep up with my birding exploits on the other side of the pond I am frequently updating the Birding Aldcliffe blog, detailing sightings on my local patch in Lancaster, Lancashire.
Cheers, and as Douglas Adams so eloquently put it - 'So long, and thanks for all the fish'.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Palm Friday
Northern harrier |
As I got out of the car I glanced over toward the wee sparrow-fest taking place by the path at Hyacinth Park. One each of tan- and white-striped white-throated sparrow were feeding alongside golden-crowned, white-crowned, song and house sparrows plus several fox sparrows, including the 'resident' partial albino bird. This really is a striking individual, with at least 70% of its feathers being pure white. I didn't see hide nor hair of the Harris's sparrow unfortunately.
With water levels now at an impressive height, the flats are teeming with birds. On the downside the volume of water is such that access is fairly restricted even with wellies. As a result, a full circular walk of the perimeter is impossible and I could only make it to the southeastern quadrant if I was prepared to fully retrace my steps back to Hyacinth. The good news is that I had time and I was able to give the whole site a fairly decent bit of coverage over the 3 hours or so that I was there.
I scoured the dabblers but failed to locate any Euro-teal although I did spy 4 Eurasian wigeon in among the mass of American wigeon. Pintail numbers continue to impress, and alongside the many mallard there were also a few northern shoveler and gadwall. Bufflehead and American coot were present in small numbers and a lone drake ruddy duck was on the southwest quadrant pool.
As I trudged along the muddy bank path I flushed half a dozen Wilson's snipe from a boggy patch. By the end of my visit this number had doubled, although I expect that the true figures far eclipsed those seen.
Red-tailed hawk |
Along the eastern edge of the flats I came across large numbers of foraging sparrows including good numbers of Lincoln's sparrows. Among a group of these near the grey building I was delighted to see a cracking adult swamp sparrow who charmed me with stunning out-in-the-open views.
A group of bushtits actively feeding by the path close to the Gladioli entrance (well, it would be an entrance if it wasn't under 2 feet of water) looked promising and I scanned through the darting birds in the hope of spotting something more transient. After a couple of minutes of being diverted by ruby-crowned kinglets I finally noticed a warbler. Hmmm, an eastern 'Taiga' orange-crowned warbler by the looks of it. Then it was gone. The flock moved away and I was stood staring into a birdless vista.
Western meadowlark |
Only the second palm warbler that I've seen on the island, my first being one that I found at the Nanaimo River Estuary soon after my arrival on the island in 2009. In fact, checking the dates the two birds were only 3 days apart!
The flock once again moved off and faced with the discovery that I was flooded in I turned about face and walked the whole way round again. En route back to Hyacinth I did get to see swamp sparrow again and a dazzling western meadowlark (pictured) made a welcome appearance.
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Knot The Bird I Was Looking For...
While just about every other birder in BC and beyond has been justifiably getting excited about the citrine wagtail discovered on Vancouver Island this week, my own birding forays have been somewhat more subdued.
For those not following the wagtail tales, this bird not only represents the first of the species to be found in British Columbia, but for Canada. And more remarkably, it's only the second record for the whole of North America. Given that the other record is 20 years old and comes from the geographically and culturally distant state of Mississippi it's little surprise that no-one saw this one coming!
To read more about this mega and to see some decent photos, check Jeremy Gatten's blog post here.
Being in the comfortable position of having seen citrine wagtail in the past, I chose to forego the 6+ hours round-trip up to Comox and have instead been dedicating my birding windows on trying to find interesting seabirds and shorebirds closer to home.
My main nemesis in this regard is the annual but unpredictable rock sandpiper, a species I have been searching for for some time. Of course, there are guaranteed stake-outs that involve drives and ferries but I'd really like to find one in the Victoria area. Being familiar with its Atlantic counterpart the purple sandpiper, there's something about rock sands that really appeal to me. Given the rapidly shrinking amount of time left to me here on the island, I suspect that I may have to save this particular tick for another day!
Even in the absence of that darned sandpiper, highlights have been had in recent days.
While checking the waterbirds from McMicking Point on Saturday I was rewarded with the sight of a pair of snowy owls sat on the small island just to the east of Trail Island. One was an adult male while the other appeared to be a 1stw female (both pictured, badly, here).
As I later scanned through the many seabirds off Harling Point, including long-tailed ducks, ancient murrelets and such, I relocated the Clark's grebe with a single western grebe and 4 brant flew by.
The following day (Sunday) Jenny came along and we once again saw the snowy owls, but they were more distant, sat on Trial Island itself. Later we saw a third snowy owl sat forlornly in the galeforce winds on a small islet off Oak Bay Marina.
Despite there being much to do at home, I still managed to find a couple of hours this week (now that I've finished work) to check out the local rocky headlands and the Government House grounds.
In fact as Jenny and I walked home from town on Monday, we took the long route along Dallas Road and got crippling views of a brown pelican near Ogden Point. Unfortunately I only had my little point and shoot camera with me so the pic's even worse than my usual crappy standard but you can still tell what it is! There was also a Heermann's gull nearby. 3 sanderling were with black turnstones on the beach near Holland Point.
This was my first brown pelican in BC waters; this bird is just one of several that have appeared in the local area recently presumably associated with an El Nino (also, as Jeremy Gatten pointed out, the likely cause of the Cattle Point elegant tern).
This morning I once again spotted the snowy owl duo on Trial Island but found little else of note from McMicking or Harling Points. After a thorough soaking I thought I'd try my luck at Clover Point before heading home for hot chocolate and some dry clothes.
I was rather glad that I did!
Having checked around the point for anything interesting (and finding just a lone sanderling) I had one last look down by the slipway and noticed a flock of black-bellied plover feeding on the grass. Just as I raised my rain sodden binos a soggy jogger flushed them and as they flew out over the water and back again I noticed a slightly smaller, drabber bird among them.
They once again settled on the grassy area and I found the bird again, recognising it immediately as a red knot. Pretty scarce in these parts with one or two records a year or so, this was reasonable compensation for my drenching. Only problem is, as someone who spent most of his life birding around Morecambe Bay in Lancashire I'm used to seeing knots in multiples of tens of thousands! Now where the hell's my rock sandpiper..?
For those not following the wagtail tales, this bird not only represents the first of the species to be found in British Columbia, but for Canada. And more remarkably, it's only the second record for the whole of North America. Given that the other record is 20 years old and comes from the geographically and culturally distant state of Mississippi it's little surprise that no-one saw this one coming!
To read more about this mega and to see some decent photos, check Jeremy Gatten's blog post here.
Being in the comfortable position of having seen citrine wagtail in the past, I chose to forego the 6+ hours round-trip up to Comox and have instead been dedicating my birding windows on trying to find interesting seabirds and shorebirds closer to home.
My main nemesis in this regard is the annual but unpredictable rock sandpiper, a species I have been searching for for some time. Of course, there are guaranteed stake-outs that involve drives and ferries but I'd really like to find one in the Victoria area. Being familiar with its Atlantic counterpart the purple sandpiper, there's something about rock sands that really appeal to me. Given the rapidly shrinking amount of time left to me here on the island, I suspect that I may have to save this particular tick for another day!
Male snowy owl |
While checking the waterbirds from McMicking Point on Saturday I was rewarded with the sight of a pair of snowy owls sat on the small island just to the east of Trail Island. One was an adult male while the other appeared to be a 1stw female (both pictured, badly, here).
As I later scanned through the many seabirds off Harling Point, including long-tailed ducks, ancient murrelets and such, I relocated the Clark's grebe with a single western grebe and 4 brant flew by.
1stw female snowy owl |
Despite there being much to do at home, I still managed to find a couple of hours this week (now that I've finished work) to check out the local rocky headlands and the Government House grounds.
Brown pelican |
This was my first brown pelican in BC waters; this bird is just one of several that have appeared in the local area recently presumably associated with an El Nino (also, as Jeremy Gatten pointed out, the likely cause of the Cattle Point elegant tern).
Red knot |
I was rather glad that I did!
Having checked around the point for anything interesting (and finding just a lone sanderling) I had one last look down by the slipway and noticed a flock of black-bellied plover feeding on the grass. Just as I raised my rain sodden binos a soggy jogger flushed them and as they flew out over the water and back again I noticed a slightly smaller, drabber bird among them.
Red knot and black-bellied plover |
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Panam Flghts
Dawn at Panama Flats |
The sun was just rising but there was enough light to scan through the mass of wildfowl on the southwest and northwest quadrants.
As on my last visit to this wonderful site there were hundreds of pintail, American wigeon, green-winged teal and mallard. In amongst the quacking congregation there were also smaller numbers of northern shoveler, gadwall and a few hooded merganser and bufflehead too. I was hoping to locate a Eurasian teal in the mix, but only found a couple of drake Eurasian wigeons.
There were good numbers of tiny cackling geese, in with many Canadas of varying sizes. During the first hour of daylight flights of ducks and geese continued to arrive and depart, truly adding to the wonderful feeling that many of these birds are just arriving from northern climes.
Peregrine |
I walked the perimeter of the flats and stopped briefly to admire an adult peregrine (pictured) before coming across a flock of dark-eyed juncos and mixed sparrows feeding on the muddy path in the northeast corner.
Among them were a number of Lincoln's sparrows and I got a brief but convincing look at what was almost certainly a swamp sparrow. Disappointed that I couldn't get the thing to emerge for a better look, I plodded on conscious of the time and my need to get to work.
Just after passing the grey building adjacent to Carey Road, another flock of sparrows exploded from the weedy pathside grass. A dark sparrow caught my eye as it flitted away and I got my bins on it as it clung to some tall grass stems. Now, that definitely was a swamp sparrow! It dropped down and strangely seemed to emerge again immediately several feet to the right. Odd.
As I enjoyed more good looks at the bird it was joined by another from the left - there were two together! They flitted off in unison toward the central berm, stopping frequently in tussocks of vegetation. Nice!
Northern harrier |
On my way to the car I noticed one of the wintering white-throated sparrows at Hyacincth.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Another Lifer In The Bag
Clark's grebe |
Mid-morning I set off to McMicking Point. A couple of days ago a photo was posted on the local birding forum of a couple of western grebes from nearby Harling Point. My attention was only drawn to these pics by fellow expat Brit birder David Caudwell who noticed that one of the birds was in fact a Clark's grebe and posted a comment on the forum.
Still somewhat irritated by that 'one that got away' a short while ago, (see previous post here) I thought I'd spend some time scanning the water in search of the rare beast. After all, this would be a world tick for me.
I arrived at McMicking Point around 11am and started methodically checking the mass of birds on the water. I soon found a pair of 'westerns' some distance away. Even at distance things didn't look promising. The birds got closer over the next half hour and I was able to confirm their identity as the commoner species. I couldn't see any other western-type grebes at all, just a handful of red-necked grebes.
Among the many birds on the ocean were huge rafts of surf scoter, along with smaller numbers of white-winged scoters and long-tailed ducks. Common and red-breasted mergansers were plentiful and among the commoner alcids, including good numbers of marbled murrelet, were at least 20 ancient murrelets.
Pacific loons were fishing in several small groups and a single red-throated loon was also present, as were a couple of common loons.
While I was here, I thought I might as well check Trial Island just in case the snowy owl spotted there recently was to be seen. It wasn't.
A peregrine was hunting over the island flushing otherwise unseen flocks of black-bellied plover and dunlin. A northern shrike was also hunting on the island, perching up on prominent signs and posts near the shore while a pair of bald eagles sat around doing very little.
Clark's grebe with 2 western grebes |
Of course, when I got back to the site I couldn't find the single bird for love nor money. Nor could I even locate the pair of definite westerns. Brilliant.
I continued to scan the sea for any signs of my quarry. Then, all of a sudden (just before 1pm) 3 grebes sailed into view right below me. And as I raised my bins, I realised that my quest was over. There, in front of me were 2 western grebes and a cracking winter plumage Clark's grebe. The white in front of the eye, the pale flanks, orange bill and narrower black stripe on the back of the neck were all clearly visible. I managed to snap a couple of half-decent record shots through my 'scope before the trio drifted a little further out. They remained together, snoozing on the water just off Trial Island.
That was a very well spent two hours!
Clark's grebe's are pretty rare in the Victoria area, and until the 80's the species was actually considered to be a pale variant of western grebe.
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Showy Snowy Courts Favour
Snowy owl, downtown Victoria BC |
Two northern harriers, a red-tailed hawk and a peregrine were patrolling the area and I came across my first western meadowlark of the fall (always a treat).
I noticed a couple of white-throated sparrows along the trail at Hyacinth. We're all getting rather blasé about these ordinarily scarce-ish sparrows this year!
My lunchtime stroll by Langford Lake was unremarkable. Most of the diving ducks had vacated leaving 40+ American coot, up to 20 ruddy ducks and several pied-billed grebes. Curiously, all the ruddies appear to be juveniles or females with no sign of any adult males. There were lots of pine siskins around and a pileated woodpecker made an appearance.
During the day I heard about a snowy owl that fellow expat Pete Boon had discovered near his home in Nanaimo. I've only ever seen one snowy owl - a bird that I twitched back in 1991 in Lincolnshire. Me and my mate Ziggy drove down in his scabby old Volkswagen Polo to that bleakest of English east coast counties. After a decidedly uncomfortable night trying to sleep in his car on a freezing January night, we spent hours the next morning searching for the owl. We eventually caught up with it, and got fairly decent views of the impressive Arctic predator as it hunted in the semi-distance over a ploughed field.
Urban owl |
So, when I heard that a snowy owl had been spotted - get this - on the roof of the Law Courts in downtown Victoria (?!) today, my mind was on a quick getaway from work. As it happened I was due to collect some brochures from the printer and headed there before they closed. That gave me just enough time to drive by the court house and have a quick scan while there was still some light.
Not exactly snowy owl habitat... |
After I'd had a good eyeful, and taken a couple of snaps, I headed into the court building and took the elevator up to the fifth floor from where I was able to get exceptional views of the owl from the windows overlooking the portion of roof it had chosen as its daytime roost.
Both court staff and visitors off the street were gathering to admire the 1st winter female owl as she sat casually admiring the scenery from her lofty perch.
Not exactly the way I expected to see my second ever snowy owl, but hey - I'm not complaining!
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Wetland Wonderland
Panama Flats (complete with cackling geese...) |
I decided to concentrate my efforts on Panama Flats now that the water levels are sufficiently high to be attracting a mix of wildfowl.
As I stepped from the car in the parking area by Hyacinth Park I noticed a few sparrows along the footpath. They were mostly fox sparrows, but a handsome white-throated sparrow was showing well too.
At the flats, the southwest quadrant was positively teeming with ducks. Hundreds of pintail, American wigeon, mallard and green-winged teal were busily dabbling in the water. Scanning through, I couldn't find any Eurasian teals but I did see one drake Eurasian wigeon.
Northern shoveler and hooded merganser were also present in lower numbers, along with a few American coot.
Sat high in the usual conifer, a peregrine was keeping an eye on activity below.
Yet more birds were on the northwest quadrant, including the 'resident' flock of cackling geese and the greater white-fronted goose that has been associating with them for a few weeks. Two more drake Eurasian wigeon (one pictured) were found among the throng of commoner ducks and there were several gadwall present.
I flushed a Wilson's snipe from a wet grassy patch before walking along the central berm. A juvenile northern harrier drifted by and started quartering the marshy areas and as I watched it I heard the distinctive sound of a calling greater yellowlegs. The bird flew in from the north, settling and feeding for a few minutes before taking off once more, continuing south.
As I stepped from the car in the parking area by Hyacinth Park I noticed a few sparrows along the footpath. They were mostly fox sparrows, but a handsome white-throated sparrow was showing well too.
At the flats, the southwest quadrant was positively teeming with ducks. Hundreds of pintail, American wigeon, mallard and green-winged teal were busily dabbling in the water. Scanning through, I couldn't find any Eurasian teals but I did see one drake Eurasian wigeon.
Northern shoveler and hooded merganser were also present in lower numbers, along with a few American coot.
Sat high in the usual conifer, a peregrine was keeping an eye on activity below.
Snoozing drake Eurasian wigeon (left) |
I flushed a Wilson's snipe from a wet grassy patch before walking along the central berm. A juvenile northern harrier drifted by and started quartering the marshy areas and as I watched it I heard the distinctive sound of a calling greater yellowlegs. The bird flew in from the north, settling and feeding for a few minutes before taking off once more, continuing south.
Passerines were pretty thin on the ground, with just a scattering of savannah sparrows and red-winged blackbirds seen. 3 American pipits flew low over, but I didn't see whether they dropped down or carried on through.
Monday, 5 November 2012
Tern'd Out Nice Again
The dark autumn mornings and evenings always plays havoc with my birding. The lack of available light before and after work means that, like all other keen birders, I'm restricted to weekends and the occasional weekday lunch break. Of course, most of us have other things going on in our lives too, which means that even the weekends are rarely open to non-stop avian exploration.
But the really frustrating thing is when a 'good' bird is found midweek. The last few days of the working week can drag by, as we keep our eye on the news - will 'it' stick around until Saturday? And even if it does, will domestic necessities get in the way? Such is the plight of the active lister!
Thankfully, one of last week's local scarcities did stick around and I even managed to get out to see it.
Following Ian Cruikshank's discovery of a tropical kingbird at Cattle Point late on Thursday afternoon, several local birders headed out in an attempt to relocate it on Friday morning. Unfortunately it failed to materialise, but Steven Roias did spot what he initially assumed to be a common tern fishing offshore. Common terns, despite their name, are not at all common in this part of the country these days and ordinarily this would be a noteworthy find. However, what Steven later came to realise was that he hadn't been watching a un-common tern but in fact a major rarity - an elegant tern!
He immediately put the news out and before long the bird was relocated in the same general area. Now, having only seen this species once before (off Monterrey, California some 12 years ago) I was quite keen to catch up with this smart and distinctive seabird.
By noon on Saturday I finally got my window of opportunity and drove out to Cattle Point in the hope of seeing the tern. I arrived and noticed a complete absence of birders. I hoped that wasn't a bad sign… I took up position on the high bluff overlooking both the point and Bowker / Willow Beach, so I might have a wider sweep of the whole area. It turned out (no pun intended) to be a pretty good move as the tern soon appeared and landed on a buoy close offshore. After gorging my senses on this beautiful vagrant for a few minutes I got a few hasty snaps through my 'scope.
The tern would go off fishing for short spells, often returning to rest on one of the floats. After some time it headed off and went some distance offshore before swinging back around and fishing between the Oak Bay Beach Hotel and Victoria Golf Club.
I then spotted Rob Walker who was on the point, and presumably looking for the tern. I walked down to let him know where the bird was, and he mentioned that he had just seen a Lapland longspur. Before long the longspur was showing nicely and a few more birders were turning up. The elegant tern appeared and flew by us, heading in the direction of Cordova Bay. This bird likes to get around!
Other birds in the area included good numbers of marbled murrelets and other common alcids, plus a trio of ancient murrelets. Both red-necked and horned grebes were on the water as were plenty of American wigeon, plus hooded mergansers and bufflehead. Shorebirds were thin on the ground with just black turnstone and a couple of surfbirds.
Walking back to the car I came across a single mourning dove.
Happy with my looks at the tern, I then decided to stop off at a few of the regular coastal watchpoints on my way home. I started out at McMicking Point, just southwest of the golf club. On the greens was a small gaggle of ball-dodging greater white-fronted geese while the nearby rocky islets were teeming with roosting cormorants and gulls. Scanning through, there were also several shorebirds in the mix including a couple of dowitchers, plus black-bellied plovers, dunlin, surfbirds, black oystercatchers and black turnstones.
Gulls included lots of Bonaparte's, mew and glaucous-winged along with smaller numbers of Heermann's, California and a couple of Thayer's gulls.
Next stop was at Harling Point and the Chinese Cemetery. A huge raft of surf scoter also hosted around 20 white-winged scoter and half a dozen long-tailed duck. A handful of common loons were alongside 15 Pacific loons and a single red-throated loon was close by. Red-breasted mergansers, more red-necked grebes and all the expected auk species were all present in varying numbers.
I made one final call at Government House before heading home but the only bird worthy of note was a barred owl.
Talking of owls, while Jenny and I were walking back from town on Sunday afternoon our attention was drawn to the sound of some agitated Northwestern crows near the Moss Street, Fairfield junction. On closer inspection, there was also a small group of people gathered beneath a tree and gazing upward outside the Fairfield Market. The two things weren't unconnected - looking up we saw a great-horned owl casually preening on one of the outer branches. The crows quickly tired of the unresponsive owl and left, but it was great to see many people enjoying the sight of this impressive predator in the middle of their neighbourhood!
Monday morning I took advantage of the briefly lighter mornings (we turned the clocks back this weekend, a full week later than in the UK) and started my day at Clover Point. It wasn't too birdy, just a few dunlin, black turnstone and black-bellied plovers present plus the usual gulls, sea ducks and alcids. I also made a brief stop at Ogden Point, where I 'scoped the feeding Bonaparte's gulls in search of Saturday's little gull, but it wasn't to be seen.
For a week or so, I may at least be able to squeeze a few more pre-work birding forays in before we plunge once more into days of book-ended gloom… sometimes spring seems such a long way away.
But the really frustrating thing is when a 'good' bird is found midweek. The last few days of the working week can drag by, as we keep our eye on the news - will 'it' stick around until Saturday? And even if it does, will domestic necessities get in the way? Such is the plight of the active lister!
Elegant tern |
Following Ian Cruikshank's discovery of a tropical kingbird at Cattle Point late on Thursday afternoon, several local birders headed out in an attempt to relocate it on Friday morning. Unfortunately it failed to materialise, but Steven Roias did spot what he initially assumed to be a common tern fishing offshore. Common terns, despite their name, are not at all common in this part of the country these days and ordinarily this would be a noteworthy find. However, what Steven later came to realise was that he hadn't been watching a un-common tern but in fact a major rarity - an elegant tern!
He immediately put the news out and before long the bird was relocated in the same general area. Now, having only seen this species once before (off Monterrey, California some 12 years ago) I was quite keen to catch up with this smart and distinctive seabird.
Elegant tern - look at that bill! |
The tern would go off fishing for short spells, often returning to rest on one of the floats. After some time it headed off and went some distance offshore before swinging back around and fishing between the Oak Bay Beach Hotel and Victoria Golf Club.
I then spotted Rob Walker who was on the point, and presumably looking for the tern. I walked down to let him know where the bird was, and he mentioned that he had just seen a Lapland longspur. Before long the longspur was showing nicely and a few more birders were turning up. The elegant tern appeared and flew by us, heading in the direction of Cordova Bay. This bird likes to get around!
Other birds in the area included good numbers of marbled murrelets and other common alcids, plus a trio of ancient murrelets. Both red-necked and horned grebes were on the water as were plenty of American wigeon, plus hooded mergansers and bufflehead. Shorebirds were thin on the ground with just black turnstone and a couple of surfbirds.
Walking back to the car I came across a single mourning dove.
Gulls included lots of Bonaparte's, mew and glaucous-winged along with smaller numbers of Heermann's, California and a couple of Thayer's gulls.
Next stop was at Harling Point and the Chinese Cemetery. A huge raft of surf scoter also hosted around 20 white-winged scoter and half a dozen long-tailed duck. A handful of common loons were alongside 15 Pacific loons and a single red-throated loon was close by. Red-breasted mergansers, more red-necked grebes and all the expected auk species were all present in varying numbers.
I made one final call at Government House before heading home but the only bird worthy of note was a barred owl.
Talking of owls, while Jenny and I were walking back from town on Sunday afternoon our attention was drawn to the sound of some agitated Northwestern crows near the Moss Street, Fairfield junction. On closer inspection, there was also a small group of people gathered beneath a tree and gazing upward outside the Fairfield Market. The two things weren't unconnected - looking up we saw a great-horned owl casually preening on one of the outer branches. The crows quickly tired of the unresponsive owl and left, but it was great to see many people enjoying the sight of this impressive predator in the middle of their neighbourhood!
For a week or so, I may at least be able to squeeze a few more pre-work birding forays in before we plunge once more into days of book-ended gloom… sometimes spring seems such a long way away.
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