Is it just me, or does this January seem birdier than last year?  There are many great holdovers from 2015 still present: Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Redpoll, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Redwing among others.  At the start of my big year, it seemed there were only a few birds to chase anywhere on the island–including that dratted Great Gray Owl that eluded me despite five trips to Quadra Island.

 

My format for reporting my finds was a little non-traditional as I was keeping lists for each “county” (regional district) on the island.  I still have to make sure that my species table is synchronized with my eBird checklists, but the master list is accurate.  Here, for the first time, is my list of 269 species by date.  Within each date, the birds are in alphabetical order, because that’s what Excel wanted to do.  😉

1/01/15 – Running total 56

American Robin

American Wigeon

Anna’s Hummingbird

Bald Eagle

Bewick’s Wren

Brewer’s Blackbird

Brown Creeper

Bufflehead

California Quail

Canada Goose

Canvasback

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Common Merganser

Common Raven

Cooper’s Hawk

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

Eurasian Collared-Dove

European Starling

Evening Grosbeak

Fox Sparrow

Gadwall

Glaucous-winged Gull

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Hairy Woodpecker

Herring Gull

House Finch

House Sparrow

Killdeer

Lesser Scaup

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Mallard

Merlin

Mew Gull

Northern Flicker

Northern Shoveler

Northwestern Crow

Pacific Wren

Pine Siskin

Purple Finch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-necked Duck

Rock Pigeon

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

Steller’s Jay

Thayer’s Gull

Trumpeter Swan

Varied Thrush

Wood Duck

1/02/15 – 86

American Pipit

Ancient Murrelet

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Belted Kingfisher

Black Turnstone

Brandt’s Cormorant

Common Goldeneye

Common Loon

Common Murre

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Greater Scaup

Green-winged Teal

Harlequin Duck

Hooded Merganser

Horned Grebe

Long-tailed Duck

Marbled Murrelet

Northern Harrier

Northern Pintail

Pacific Loon

Pelagic Cormorant

Peregrine Falcon

Pigeon Guillemot

Red Crossbill

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-necked Grebe

Rough-legged Hawk

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

1/03/15 – 101

Barred Owl

Black-bellied Plover

Cackling Goose

Cedar Waxwing

Dunlin

Great Horned Owl

Hermit Thrush

Marsh Wren

Mourning Dove

Northern Pygmy-Owl

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Pileated Woodpecker

Western Meadowlark

Western Screech-Owl

White-crowned Sparrow

1/04/15 – 102

Mute Swan

1/05/15 – 105

Black Oystercatcher

Savannah Sparrow

Wilson’s Snipe

1/06/15 – 111

American Goldfinch

Bushtit

Eurasian Wigeon

Greater White-fronted Goose

Snow Goose

Surfbird

1/08/15 -112

Ruffed Grouse

1/09/15 – 118

American Coot

American Dipper

American Kestrel

Palm Warbler

Sky Lark

Yellow-rumped Warbler

1/11/15 -121

Pied-billed Grebe

Western Grebe

Western Gull

1/22/15 – 122

Chipping Sparrow

1/23/15 – 123

Swamp Sparrow

1/24/15 – 125

American Black Duck

Greater Yellowlegs

1/25/15 – 129

Common Redpoll

Orange-crowned Warbler

Ruddy Duck

Turkey Vulture

1/26/15 – 130

Eared Grebe

2/02/15 – 133

Short-eared Owl

Tundra Swan

White-throated Sparrow

2/03/15 – 134

Gray Jay

2/07/15 – 135

Sandhill Crane

2/09/15 – 137

Brant

California Gull

2/10/15 -140

Marbled Godwit

Mountain Bluebird

Ring-billed Gull

2/11/15 -142

Northern Shrike

Red-throated Loon

2/13/15 -143

Virginia Rail

2/14/15 -146

Hutton’s Vireo

Pine Grosbeak

Rhinoceros Auklet

2/15/15 -147

Black Scoter

2/16/15 -148

Northern Goshawk

2/26/15 – 149

Golden Eagle

2/27/15 – 150

Tree Swallow

2/28/15 – 151

Sanderling

3/02/15 -152

Violet-green Swallow

3/03/15 -153

Rock Sandpiper

3/05/15 -154

Ring-necked Pheasant

3/06/15 – 155

Barn Swallow

3/08/15 -157

Bonaparte’s Gull

Iceland Gull*

3/11/15 – 158

Rufous Hummingbird

3/12/15 – 159

Band-tailed Pigeon

3/25/15 – 160

Say’s Phoebe

3/26/15 -161

American Bittern

3/31/15 – 162

Barn Owl

4/02/15 – 163

Common Yellowthroat

4/03/15 -164

Spotted Sandpiper

4/05/15 – 165

Osprey

4/07/15 – 166

House Wren

4/08/15 – 169

Brown-headed Cowbird

Sooty Grouse

Western Bluebird

4/09/15 – 170

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

4/11/15 – 171

Whimbrel

4/12/15 – 172

Cliff Swallow

4/14/15 – 177

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Cassin’s Vireo

Least Sandpiper

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Townsend’s Warbler

4/16/15 -178

Sabine’s Gull

4/18/15 – 183

Baird’s Sandpiper

Cinnamon Teal

Purple Martin

Short-billed Dowitcher

Townsend’s Solitaire

4/19/15 – 185

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Lesser Yellowlegs

4/20/15 – 187

Long-billed Curlew

Western Sandpiper

4/21/15 -189

MacGillivray’s Warbler

Sora

4/23/15 – 190

American Avocet

4/24/15 – 192

Semipalmated Plover

Solitary Sandpiper

4/27/15 – 194

Wilson’s Warbler

Yellow Warbler

4/29/15 – 196

Long-billed Dowitcher

Yellow-billed Loon

5/02/15 -198

Caspian Tern

Semipalmated Sandpiper

5/03/15 – 205

Black-footed Albatross

Black-legged Kittiwake

Cassin’s Auklet

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel

Northern Fulmar

Pink-footed Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

5/04/15 – 206

Blue-winged Teal

5/05/15 – 209

Black-headed Grosbeak

Warbling Vireo

Western Tanager

5/06/15 – 210

Olive-sided Flycatcher

5/07/15 – 212

Swainson’s Thrush

Wilson’s Phalarope

5/08/15 – 215

Bullock’s Oriole

Pectoral Sandpiper

Vaux’s Swift

5/11/15 – 216

American White Pelican

5/14/15 – 217

Ruddy Turnstone

5/16/15 – 219

Great Egret

Lapland Longspur

5/18/15 – 220

Pacific Golden-Plover

5/20/15 -221

Willow Flycatcher

5/25/15 – 222

Western Wood-Pewee

6/03/15 – 223

Red-eyed Vireo

6/06/15 – 224

Common Nighthawk

6/08/15 – 225

Lazuli Bunting

6/09/15 – 227

Arctic Tern

Black Swift

6/17/15 – 228

Heermann’s Gull

6/19/15 – 229

American Three-toed Woodpecker

6/20/15 – 230

Green Heron

7/04/15 –  231

Clark’s Nutcracker

7/24/15 – 234

Red-necked Phalarope

Tufted Puffin

Wandering Tattler

8/02/15 – 235

Stilt Sandpiper

8/11/15 – 236

Bank Swallow

8/18/15 – 237

Franklin’s Gull

8/23/15 – 239

Red Knot

Yellow-headed Blackbird

8/25/15 – 240

Blue Grosbeak

8/29/15 – 241

Common Tern

8/31/15 -242

Eastern Kingbird

9/03/15 – 243

Horned Lark

9/04/15 – 244

American Golden-Plover

9/07/15 – 245

Broad-winged Hawk

9/08/15 -246

Northern Waterthrush

9/09/15 – 247

Magnolia Warbler

9/10/15 – 248

Rock Wren

9/16/15 – 249

Pomarine Jaeger

9/20/15 – 251

Buller’s Shearwater

Parasitic Jaeger

9/21/15 – 252

Northern Mockingbird

9/24/15 -253

Short-tailed Shearwater * (added late due to photo review)

9/27/15 -254

Swainson’s Hawk

9/30/15 – 255

Orchard Oriole

10/01/15 – 257

Black-throated Sparrow

Leach’s Storm-Petrel

10/04/15 – 258

Cattle Egret

10/15/15 – 259

Tropical Kingbird

10/18/15 -260

Clark’s Grebe

10/20/15 – 261

Red-naped Sapsucker

10/22/15 -262

Harris’s Sparrow

10/27/15 – 263

Rusty Blackbird

11/10/15 – 264

Glaucous Gull

11/29/15 – 265

Snow Bunting

11/30/15 – 266

Yellow-breasted Chat

12/08/15 – 267

Long-eared Owl

12/16/15 – 268

White-winged Crossbill

12/19/15 – 269

Redwing

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You might be wondering what I missed in 2015.  From eBird:

Redhead – 3 reports, many hours spent looking for this species

Wild Turkey – 1 report, don’t believe it is a “countable” bird.

Laysan Albatross – 1 report, from cruise ship

Flesh-footed Shearwater – 2 reports from well offshore

Short-tailed Shearwater-3 reports, several boat trips and shorewatches looking for this species.

Brown Booby – 2 reports, several boat trips and shorewatches looking for this species.

Brown Pelican – 2 reports, several boat trips and shorewatches looking for this species.

Willet – 1 report, chased but not found

Hudsonian Godwit – 1 report, chased but not found

Red Phalarope – 2 reports (one from a tour with many participants); several boat trips and shorewatches looking for this species.

South Polar Skua – several offshore reports; possibly most hard to take miss

Long-tailed Jaeger – 2 “local” and several offshore reports

Horned Puffin – 1 report from cruise ship

Crested Caracara – 1 report, chased hard for two full days

Western Kingbird – several reports over 2 days

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 1 report, 3 observers;

Red-throated Pipit – 1 report, but 2nd known; chased hard for several days

Nashville Warbler – 3 reports, chased all of them without success

American Redstart – 1 report, chased

American Tree Sparrow – 2 reports; chased 1

Clay-colored Sparrow -1 report, 2 others known; chased

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch – 2 reports, not chased

 

Of course, eBird isn’t the only source of bird information, and there were a few more that didn’t make this list.  The Great Gray Owl on Quadra Island was the most expensive miss of the year, and a Sage Thrasher in Black Creek also failed to materialize. Both Ruff and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper were reported at Long Beach, but not relocated by anyone.

 

Near misses–birds that I think I caught a glimpse of, but not clearly enough  to add to the list include a Northern Parula found by Chris Saunders at Swan Lake,  and Short-tailed Shearwaters and Red Phalaropes observed from Sheringham Point.  For the Victoria checklist area,  the Ambiguous Loon wins the prize.  Ian Cruickshank, Rick Schortinghuis were fairly sure that it was a Yellow-billed Loon, but we could not provide good enough photos to add it to the list. I did get the species in Port Hardy earlier in the year.

The South Polar Skua was one of the most disappointing misses.  Apparently, two were seen on the Ucluelet pelagic trip in September, but the word was not shared with most of the participants.  I was within feet of getting this species.

You might be wondering how 2015 compared to other recent years, birdwise.  Realizing that not everything is getting reported on eBird, all years are likely underestimates of birds seen, here are the numbers reported on eBird since 2010:

2015 – 290
2014 – 298
2013 – 296
2012 – 286
2011 – 287
2010 – 280

Knowing now what I didn’t know then, I think I might have been able to add  a few species to my year list with just a few changes in strategy. In my next blog post, I’ll share my thoughts about strategy for those who might be tempted to do a big year–or maybe it will outline what I’ll do next time!