Wow, fall migration is definitely in full swing, and if you don’t believe me, just check out the University of Washington’s weather radar!

Yes, those are all birds!  The night of September 7 was amazing.  If you are interesed in seeing some of these kinds of tools in action, I’m giving a presentation on migration for the Victoria Natural History Society’s Birders’ Night on Wednesday, September 23.  Everyone is welcome!

I had hardly finished my last post when I got a call from Ed Pellizzon, from high up on Observatory Hill.  He had a bird in the grass that he hadn’t quite identified.  That was good enough for me!  I was on my way.  En route, my car was pelted with rain so heavy that I had to put my wipers on full speed. How could he even see a bird in this?  But less than five minutes down the road, it was dry as a bone.  By the time I got up the hill, Ed had identified the bird as a Horned Lark, a new species for my list (243).

 

Big Years would be a whole lot easier if birds could be as cooperative as this one. (More on that later.)  The lark came within a few feet of us as we were standing there, and ultimately stayed around for about 24 hours.  Many people got to see it, and it was as gregarious with them as it was with us.

On Friday, I took a calculated risk.  The annual Western Bird Banding Association meeting was being held in Vancouver, the nearest it’s been to us since I’ve been involved.  I had been asked to do a display table, and despite the fact that meant leaving the island, I had agreed.  It was only a weekend, right?  And not too far away if I had to come back for something great.

Before heading to Vancouver, though, I had arranged to go birding with Guy Monty, hopefully to get some terns and jaegers in Deep Bay. An early morning start got me there around 7:30 and the game was on. Guy is one of the best bird spotters I know, and when we hit the beach at the north end of Admiral Tryon, before we’d even raised binoculars, Guy called out “Golden Plover”.  I saw the bird fly, but there’s no way I would have ID’d it that quickly.  There was a 50/50 chance this could be a new bird for my list so details were critical. Thankfully, the golden-plover stayed close enough for some good scope views.  Guy had a pretty good idea of which one it was, but it was study time for me.  I took some photos and noted key field marks, but I’m not knowledgeable enough on these shorebirds to make a certain ID without consulting other resources.  What do you think?

It’s not enough to know what features to look for. You have to know which ones are associated with which species!  Ultimately, the count of four primaries beyond the tertials nailed this as an American Golden-plover (244)!  Here is a handy reference. There is no question that this big year is really improving my knowledge about differentiating difficult species.

As I headed to the 12:45 Duke Point Ferry,  the sign in Lantzville was discouraging. At 11:30, the 12:45 sailing was already full!  I was supposed to be picking up Judith Toms at Tsawwassen, and now I was going to be three hours late. I gave her a call so she could make other arrangements.  The three-hour delay gave me time to pick up a sandwich and some tea and make my way to the lineup in a leisurely manner.  I checked my emails and responded to a few at Tims before heading to Duke Point.  As I reached the ticket wickets, the sign now read “Possible Wait”.  What?  As I was dawdling, I should have been scurrying!  Long story short, I actually made the 12:45 ferry. Plan A was resurrected.

I had been looking forward to doing this crossing for a long time.  Jaegers had been seen along the route, and it was a brand new birding area for me.  Let me say, I was not impressed.  Once out of the terminal, I saw fewer than 20 birds of any kind–just Glaucous-winged gulls and a dozen cormorants on a channel marker– until we were back into the sheltered waters near Vancouver.  I guess some days must be better than others.

I picked up Judith and we joined up with Alison Moran and Gwen Ballus, as well as Alison’s mother, Bernice and sister, Heather for a great Italian dinner.

Saturday morning, we visited the bird banding station at Colony Farm, followed by lunch and the displays/workshops for the Western Bird Banding Association meeting.  Everything was going great until lunch was just about over.  Ding!  A message appeared on my phone that a Magnolia Warbler and Northern Waterthrush had been banded at Pedder Bay. The Northern Waterthrush would likely be one of several this fall, but a Magnolia Warbler????  I had to go back to Victoria.  Checking the timing and the ferry schedule, there was little point it rushing away immediately.  I’d have hit Pedder Bay with only about an hour of light to search for the bird.  So I did my display, went to a lecture, got most of the dinner (no time for dessert!) and headed to the last ferry of the night. Sadly, I would be missing the scientific sessions that were being held on Sunday.

At first light, I headed to Pedder Bay and searched for a couple of hours.  It had rained hard Saturday night, so I was optimistic that the bird was still in the area.  Sure enough, when I was about 500m away, it was retrapped near the banding station.

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Seven hours later, after searching intently all day, I had still not relocated the bird.  Nor had I refound the Northern Waterthrush that had also been recaptured. I was surprised that not one birder from town came to look for this bird, possibly only the 4th or 5th record for the area.  It was a frustrating day.

Monday, I spent time at both the Pedder Bay and Rocky Point sites.  No sign of the warbler at Pedder, but at Rocky Point, Daniel Donnecke picked out a Broad-winged Hawk in a small kettle of raptors.  Thanks to his sharp eyes and good directions, I was able to add the hawk as species 245.

In the meantime, I got a message from Jan Brown and Alan MacLeod that they had seen a Tennessee Warbler at Beacon Hill Park early Monday morning.  It had not been relocated during the day, but I headed there in the afternoon.

While still searching for the Tennessee, I got a call from Cathy Carlson at Whiffin Spit.  She had borrowed a stranger’s phone to tell me that she had a Lapland Longspur at the spit.  As soon as I hung up, I realized that last year at this time, Daniel had found a Smith’s Longspur.  I didn’t know how certain Cathy was on the ID, and couldn’t get back in touch with her.  There was only one thing to do–head to Sooke!  I rallied the troops in the form of Kim Beardsmore and Heather Tronsden, and we refound the bird on the spit. Despite some overenthusiastic imagination that this just might be a Smith’s, Cathy’s original ID of Lapland stood.

 

A return trip to Rocky Point on Tuesday to do the census and continue the setup for owl monitoring didn’t result in anything new.  I stopped by Pedder Bay on the way out, and guess what they had at the station?  Yes, the Magnolia Warbler was trapped for the third time in four days!  My afternoon plans were set aside for a repeat of Sunday’s adventures.  I saw the release. Gave the bird a five minute head start before I stared looking for it. Three hours later, I called it a day, but not entirely empty-handed.  I had a solid Northern Waterthrush call during my search for the Magnolia, so added species 246 for the list.  Consolation, I suppose.  I’m heading back to Pedder in just a few minutes to try once more.

Here are some other shots from my week:

 

 

 

 

My silence of the last week is not an indication of a lack of activity.  Quite the opposite, really.  It’s been a week of wanderings, back and forths across town, and almost dawn to dusk birding on most days. While trying to find new birds for my list, one of my other goals is to have good eBird lists for each regional district on the island.  After several attempts, I finally found Caspian Terns at Esquimalt Lagoon, adding this species to my Capital Region and Victoria Checklist area lists.

Well, one good tern deserves another, and reports of a cooperative Common Tern at Cattle Point send me in that direction  for a new bird (#241) for my year list.

A two-tern week in Victoria is pretty special, but did not prepare me for what was coming.  The big storms that came in this week had the potential to bring in some rarities from the north or even from Asia.

Technology has been a good friend on my big year quest, and the earth wind map is no exception.   The winds hitting the west coast of Vancouver Island on the weekend originated near Hawaii, headed north to the Aleutian Islands, then picked up speed and headed to our coast.  Port Renfrew was a must!

Needless to say, I was not expecting good weather, but when I arrived at Harris Cove, it was actually quite nice.  I took a long walk on the sandy beach, reminiscent of a short Long Beach, with disappointing results.  Only a handful of peeps, and although there were plenty of gulls, nothing out of the ordinary.  By the time I reached the north end of the beach (about 1 km from the car), the rain had started and came down in a torrent.  It didn’t take long to get soaked to the skin.

Once I got back to the car and some dry clothes, I headed around to the Beach Camp site to wait out the weather.  The gulls were having a field day in the high wind and pounding rain.  Wait a minute…. those aren’t gulls–those are TERNS!!!  I jumped out of the car and watched dozens of terns wheeling around, chasing each other and generally speeding through the air.  Given the year’s earlier sighting of an Arctic Tern in Sooke, I knew what to watch for to distinguish between Arctic and Common Terns.  Every one of them had pale upper wings and no strong dark carpal patch.  Relatively short bill, red with a dark tip.  Elegant terns have also been seen along the coast (but not as far north as BC), so I was watching for any field mark that might turn one  into an Elegant.  No luck.  They were moving around so quickly, it was difficult to even estimate the number, but ultimately, I figured a conservative count of 80 would be my report. There might have been twice as many, as they were spread all over the cove, and I couldn’t be certain about the birds all the way across the bay.  The photo below gives you just a small feeling of the number of terns in the air.  You’ll need to click on it to enlarge it to see the little white dots.  Almost all terns. Phenomenal!

 

 

Now I just needed to get a photo to establish the species, and that was not easy.  Wherever I went to get closer, they moved away.  Anyone watching my “Spot” that day would have wondered what the heck I was doing. Finally, at the Pacific Gateway Marina, I was able to get a  few pictures of one that passed quite closely.

 

 

Consulting with others, there was agreement that seeing this many terns at once, especially Arctics, inshore on Vancouver Island was a very rare sighting.  It was most likely a flock of Arctics that got blown into the cove by the storm.  I returned to Port Renfrew on Tuesday, and managed to still find three terns: one Arctic, one Common, and one too far away to be sure.  I have seen more terns on Vancouver Island this year than I have seen here the whole rest of my life!

Sunday provided an opportunity to add a “year” bird.  Chris Saunders texted that an Eastern Kingbird was at Swan Lake.  By the time I arrived, Mike McGrenere, Daniel and Leo Donnecke had also made their way for the chase.  Chris had witnessed a Downy Woodpecker chasing the kingbird away, and despite searching for more than an hour and a half, we couldn’t relocate it.  I knew what I needed to do.  I went home and set my alarm for 5:30 am.  Ugh.

The alarm went off, and I could hear the rain pounding down.  Birding in the rain isn’t especially productive, so I hit snooze.  Twice. Okay, maybe three times.  When I did get up, I puttered around, gathering up all the things I’d need for the day.  Then the phone rang.  Mary Robichaud had relocated the bird at the lake.  I dropped everything (literally) and ran to the car, getting to Swan Lake about 20 minutes after the call.  Mary hadn’t seen the bird for about 15 minutes.  I had to concede that if I missed this one, it was my own fault for dilly-dallying.  I knew I should have been there at sunrise!

Aziza Cooper arrived and the three of us spread out to give the are the best coverage.  Almost two hours passed, without a hint of the bird.  We moved to the boardwalk, bemoaning our bad luck, when Mary spotted something just about 30 m away.  Yes!  It was the Eastern Kingbird (#242)!

 

 

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There were a couple of frustrations this week as well.  A Clay-coloured Sparrow was banded at Pedder Bay, but I could not relocate it the next day. This species looks very similar to a Chipping Sparrow, so I thought I might have found some redemption at Martindale Flats last night. Having studied the field mark differences carefully, though, I determined “my” bird was a Chipping Sparrow.  Still on the lookout for the Clay-coloured.

 

I also received a photo of a Northern Mockingbird seen in the Langford area.  I changed my day plans and scrambled for more information: where and when was this photo taken?  Could I get there?  When was it last seen?  Sadly, the key answer was that the photo had been taken 11 days earlier, and the bird hadn’t been seen since.  I’m definitely struggling to get a timely and accurate report on this pretty conspicuous species!

A very rusty Pectoral Sandpiper had several of us convinced for a while that it was a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.  Mike McGrenere was the voice of reason that correctly identified this confusing shorebird.

 

Here are some more shots from my week.

 

 

Not at all!  And for that matter, neither is the bird of the day, week, month and in all likelihood, my whole big year!

Rocky Point Bird Observatory’s original site was chosen for migration monitoring for a number of reasons, chief among them, the number and diversity of birds that pass through the DND property. Alan MacLeod first brought this to the attention of the Canadian Wildlife Service in the early 1990s and since that time more than 300 species have been seen at Rocky Point and/or the surrounding waters.  Today, a new species was added to that list.

I was responsible for doing the census this morning.  This is a 90 minute survey along exactly the same route at the same time each day in relation to sunrise.  Starting at the station one hour after sunrise, the route winds its way through the net lanes and along the roads at Rocky Point.  I got about 100m along the route this morning and realized I’d left my camera back at the station.  I was torn–do I break the routine and get the camera, or just carry on. I made the decision to run back and get my camera–thank goodness.

About 20 minutes into the route, there are a couple of ponds. These are usually good for waterfowl, warblers, flycatchers and sometimes shorebirds.  Blackbirds, swallows and sparrows also make good use of the area.  As I approached the ponds, I saw a medium-sized dark bird fly from the grassy fields into the pond.  When I put up my binoculars, I realized that I didn’t know what it was.  Smaller than a blackbird, it was clinging to a cattail, making a metallic chip note, and flicking its tail to the side.  Weird.

My camera was at the ready on my hip, and I started shooting.  It doesn’t have a powerful zoom, but the image quality is good, so I can usually zoom in on the image. I even remembered to put the camera into movie mode to record the sound the bird was making (which was remarkably similar to White-crowned Sparrow chips.)

The census route is timed and I had to move on.  I didn’t even have time to look at the photos.  That would have to wait. It was a pretty birdy census today.  Migration is definitely on!

When I got back to the station, bander-in-charge Brian Pomfret and I sat down and took a first look at the photos.  Neither of us knew what it was, but Brian said he had a feeling it was going to be something good.  We thumbed through a field guide to try to find a likely candidate.  The closest seemed to be a Blue Grosbeak, but that was pretty unlikely, given its normal range.

 
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Cell phone reception is spotty at best, but a couple of text and email messages were sent out  to try to get confirmation from someone who was familiar with the species.

We returned to where the bird had last been seen, but there was no sign of it.  Whatever it turned out to be, I was pretty sure it would be #240 for my big year list!

By the end of our shift, we were pretty sure that it was, indeed, a Blue Grosbeak.  Not blue, because it is young, or female, or young and female.

Interestingly, once we reached civilization, we found that it was not the first Blue Grosbeak to be reported in BC this week.  A birder on Bowen Island had a bird coming to his feeder which was initially identified as a Blue Grosbeak, but eventually re-identified as a molting Purple Finch.  It turns out that the Rocky Point bird is the first Blue Grosbeak documented on Vancouver Island, the third for BC, and the first in the province since 1991!  Brian was right.  It did turn out to be something good!

 

 

As the likely additions to my year list dwindle, there is one area still with good potential.  I have to get out on boats and go after the marine birds!

With that in mind, I headed to Tofino on Tuesday morning in advance of a Thursday morning pelagic trip.  Before I even got out of town, an alert came in from Rocky Point: They had an Eastern Kingbird near the banding station!  I have no kingbirds on my list yet–something I desperately want to change.  But…. access to Rocky Point is restricted and since I had no legitimate (i.e. allowed under our permit) reason to go out there, I sadly had to leave that species unchecked.  This was, in fact, the second Eastern Kingbird seen there this year.  Or the same one in both the spring and fall.  We’ll never know. Of course, by the time that I did have a reason to go to Rocky Point a few days later, the bird was long gone.

There was a consolation prize to be had, though, if I could get there in time.  Passing by several Tim’s en route, I got to Chesterman’s Beach in Tofino in the late afternoon. Adrian Dorst had found a Franklin’s Gull there two days earlier, the first he’d seen in Tofino in 31 years.  It had still been there in the morning.

The beaches around Tofino are well worth a visit any time.

 

With very specific information on its favourite hangout, I made my way down the beach and…

Yes!  Franklin’s Gull for species 237!

Also in the puddle that held the Franklin’s were several Bonaparte’s Gulls and a few hundred shorebirds including two Short-billed Dowitchers.

 

While watching the gull, my phone rang. It was Lyndsey from the Whale Centre with a heads up that things weren’t looking too good for Thursday.  The winds were coming up and the forecast was looking pretty ugly.  But these things can change, so you never know!

Wednesday morning, I explored the beaches near Green Point while waiting to see if I could get a campsite for another night.

A Wandering Tattler flew in and posed for photos right in front of me!

Mark  Yunker arrived in Tofino on Wednesday afternoon and Jody Wells on Wednesday evening, all set to join a group of about ten for the 40 km offshore trip.  Mark and I spent the afternoon looking for birds, but the Franklin’s Gull was now AWOL. However, a trip to Wickaninnish Beach gave us great looks at Wandering Tattlers and Spotted Sandpipers foraging in the fresh vegetation left by a descending tide.

We met at the Whale Centre at 6:45 am on Thursday  with high hopes but expecting the worst.  Two to three metre seas at eight second intervals, with impending gale force winds may technically not be the “worst”, but it was sufficient to cancel the trip.  Pelagic list additions would have to wait. I hadn’t been to Amphritite Point yet this year, so we went to the lighthouse for a seawatch.  Among the birds were distant Sooty Shearwaters enjoying the conditions that would have made it a rough day for me and others.

I took a side trip on my way home to check out Deep Bay north of Qualicum where Guy Monty had seen a Common Tern earlier in the week, but I couldn’t relocate it.

 

Friday was a local day with stops at Maber Flats, Cattle Point and the Oak Bay Marina (Turkey Head).  My plan along the water was to look for a Red Knot, and bird that had been eluding me since the spring.  Many Black-bellied Plovers had been seen along the waterfront and I had it on good authority that knots would sometimes hang out with them.  When I got to the marina  in the early evening and scoped the offshore yellow (due to lichens) rock, there were thirty-seven plovers.  And one smaller, redder, sleeping shorebird!  Could it be?  I was maxed out on my scope, but I could see that it had a medium long bill.  Daniel Donnecke was kayaking somewhere out there, but I couldn’t see him.  I called Marie O’Shaugnessy.  She lives very close to the marina and has a long telephoto lens. Could we make this bird out to be a knot?
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While Marie and I were discussing the possibilities, Daniel came into view.  Marie thought it might be a dowitcher.  I didn’t think they would hang out on rocks like that. Daniel could get close enough to ID the bird–if only we could get his attention!   He carries a marine radio for safety, and I carry a cell phone.  Unfortunately, the two can’t communicate, so we had to rely on analogue techniques–me, jumping, waving  and yelling from shore! Eventually, Daniel did get to the islet, saw the bird and got some photos.  Sadly, when I caught up with him later, he confirmed the bird’s ID: Short-billed Dowitcher.  Curses!

 

The sea is my best shot for new species right now, so about two weeks ago, I took the online Pleasure Craft Operator’s Card course.  It takes about three hours followed by a pretty easy 50 question multiple choice test.  I passed, but that doesn’t mean that I can actually operate a boat.  It seems kind of weird to me that you have to do so much to get a car license, but you can legally take a boat out after very little “classroom” learning and absolutely no practical experience. Saturday, Daniel, Liam Singh, Sharon Godkin and I rented a boat at Pedder Bay for my first boat driving lesson–and of course, to look for some birds!

The sea was beautiful on Saturday, almost flat calm.  The birds were few and far between.  We ended up spending about 3 1/2 hours on the water with nothing unusual to report.  Is Pedder Bay the only place on the south island (or anywhere on the island, for that matter) where you can rent a small boat?  I can’t find any others.  Lots of charters for fishing–not many options for birding!

 

Saturday was also the day that Ian Cruickshank returned to Victoria, and in true Ian style, he had a rare bird within minutes of arriving home, I think. While heading to Tod Flats to try to see a Green Heron that had been found earlier, Ian called to say he had a Common Tern in view. At Oak Bay Marina.  On the rock that I’d stared at for three hours on Friday night.  At the same time of the day that I had been there. <roll eyes here>   The only good thing that I can say about that is that we visually scoured that rock on Friday evening, so I am certain that the tern was not there then.  I rounded up the folks at the Red Barn and two carloads headed to the marina to be the first people to see the last people who saw the tern.

On Ian’s advice, Liam and I went back to the marina for sunrise.  Mary Robichaud and Aziza Cooper also came to look for the bird. There was a beautiful sunrise. Smoke from the Washington State fires made it possible to look at the red sun in such detail you could see sun spots.

Sometime under cover of darkness, the tern had made its escape!  I was leading a field trip on a boat four hours later, so intended just to bird around the area. Our group split up.  Within minutes, Aziza called to say that Geoffrey and David Newell had found a Red Knot at the foot of Bowker, just a couple of kilometres away.  Off we went!  I was surprised when I got there that there were no recognizable cars, and no people.  Was I hallucinating??  I set up the scope and was working my way through the Black-bellied Plovers when the phone rang again. It was Aziza asking where I was.  Turns out I’m probably the only birder in Victoria that didn’t know that the “foot of Bowker” doesn’t mean the foot of Bowker, but rather a small lane one block south.  Same general spot on the beach, but a much better view from there. When I got there, Mary had the bird in her scope, so I took my look for the “tick” (238) and then set my scope up to savour the look.  I had just found it when again my phone rang.

 

Jody Wells had a Yellow-headed Blackbird at Saanichton Spit.  He was pretty excited and this was a bird I definitely needed.  I had just enough time–if the bird was cooperative–to get out back out to Saanichton (where I live) and then return to Oak Bay for the field trip. A potential fly in the ointment, though, was a major cycling event that would be travelling many of the streets throughout the region.  It felt kind of like I was in a video game maze, trying to pick the clearest paths to get to the goal.

When I got to the spit, Jody was perched staring into some tall sedges and used his phone to steer me in the right direction.  He had sat there watching the grasses moving as the bird wandered through them so he’d know where the bird was when I arrived.  Talk about dedicated friends!  The bird popped up almost immediately, then flew down again.  Then up and into a shrub, very badly backlit, but with a view sufficient to make it out as a young male.  Carefully moving around the shrub, we were both able to get some decent shots.  Not even 9 a.m, and I had two species for my list!

 

I managed to get back to Oak Bay and find a parking spot without getting held up by the cyclists.  A group of twelve headed out for a two-hour tour around the Oak Bay islands.  All eyes were watching for the tern, but it was not relocated.  It was a very pleasant trip on the water, though, with fantastic looks at Common Murres and Rhinoceros Auklets up close.  An afternoon trip had similar results.

 

Ian and Daniel were also on the water, but in a kayak.  They spent several hours poking around Chatham and Discovery and the area. And yes, they did find a tern–a different one than the one Ian saw the day before–and a Tufted Puffin!

 

Remember that time when I drove all the way to Tofino and searched for a Northern Mockingbird at Wickaninnish Beach while it was really at the Long Beach Airport?  Well, Sunday was like deja vu all over again.

I had been deciding whether to head to Sidney Island to pick up some local birds (on my list for the year, but not the Capital Region) or to restart the quest for a Red Knot off Oak Bay when an eBird alert came in.  Someone had seen a Northern Mockingbird at Whiffin Spit in Sooke at 7 am.  Problem was that it was now after 2 pm and I was still an hour away.  I headed out as quickly as I could, not feeling particularly optimistic about finding it.  Cathy Carlson joined me and we walked the length of the spit without finding many birds at all, and no mockingbird.

Mary Robichaud arrived and called from the parking lot.  We discussed strategy when she mentioned the poster’s reference to camping and a ferry landing.  I’d missed that, as I hadn’t looked at the checklist comment, just the bird description.  Analyzing the description, we concluded that he couldn’t have meant Whiffin Spit.  Maybe Sidney Spit? Wherever he meant, it clearly wasn’t Whiffin.  Sadly, we all went home empty handed.  Later in the evening, he changed the location to Port Renfrew.  We were only 70 km off!  Of course, at the same time,  a Common Tern was seen at Deep Bay and a Franklin’s Gull was at Long Beach.  I missed them all! Things are definitely heating up.

You can see the species I’ve seen and ones I haven’t on my Species List page at any time, but I’ve been thinking it’s about time for a “short list” of missing birds.  Of course, rarities are rare and I definitely want to know about them.  The following list, though, shows the birds that are uncommon but regularly seen on the island.  They are still missing from my Big Year list and I’d appreciate any help in changing that.

Redhead	Red-naped Sapsucker
White-tailed Ptarmigan	Least Flycatcher
Clark’s Grebe	Tropical Kingbird
Leach’s Storm-Petrel	Western Kingbird
Brown Pelican	Eastern Kingbird
Snowy Egret	Horned Lark
Cattle Egret	White-breasted Nuthatch
Broad-winged Hawk	Rock Wren
Swainson’s Hawk	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Golden-Plover	Northern Mockingbird
Red Knot	Red-throated Pipit
Red Phalarope	Snow Bunting
South Polar Skua	Northern Waterthrush
Pomarine Jaeger	Nashville Warbler
Parasitic Jaeger	American Tree Sparrow
Long-tailed Jaeger	Clay-colored Sparrow
Franklin’s Gull	Vesper Sparrow
Slaty-backed Gull	Harris’s Sparrow
Glaucous Gull	Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Common Tern	Yellow-headed Blackbird
Snowy Owl	Rusty Blackbird
Long-eared Owl	Brambling
Lewis’s Woodpecker	Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

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I hope to get a few of these on a pelagic trip from Tofino this week.

No new birds, but here are a some photos from this week’s searches:

 

One of the surprises to me this year has been just how difficult it is to find reported birds.  Normally, I’m not much of a bird chaser, in part because my “find” record is not that great.  I typically am not willing to put in the time or energy required tp relocate the bird and often leave without the sighting.  This year, though, I’ve brought much more focus to my bird chasing, getting to the spot as quickly as possible, and staying as long as necessary (or as long as I can) to try to find the bird.  Even with that, I come up empty more times than I succeed.  Of course, there are the “big” misses like the Crested Caracara in Nanaimo, the Northern Mockingbird at Long Beach and the legendary Great Gray Owl on Quadra Island, but there are many smaller chases that have been equally unrewarding.  This week, that included several trips to Swan Lake looking for a Bank Swallow, a Great Egret chase at Esquimalt Lagoon, and  rushing out to Pedder Bay in search of a Nashville Warbler sighted by Robin Robinson.

There were lots of swallows around, and some were gracious enough to sit on the railing for me, but not Bank Swallows. Young Tree Swallows can sometimes have a faint breast band, which can get a big year birder pretty excited, but fail to deliver that official “tick”.

Then there are the misses because I didn’t learn about the bird until too late.  Last Wednesday, two birders regaled me with photos of a Western Kingbird they had seen just ten minutes from my home on Tuesday.  I’m still 0 for 3 on kingbirds for the year.  If you see a kingbird, ANY kingbird, please give me a call!  🙂

My sister, Esther, and her husband, Bruce, almost did the “late” report thing to me during their visit when they casually, but sincerely, mentioned that they had seen a “Blue Jay” —- ten hours earlier.  When I suggested that they probably meant “Steller’s Jay”, they said that the jay they were looking at had a white belly, blue back and a crest.   The location at Pat Bay was less than 500 m from where I had seen a Blue Jay in Victoria eight years ago. Esther tells me I actually blanched.  I believe her!  Thankfully, in getting a more detailed description of the bird’s location and behaviour, it became clear that they had been looking at a Belted Kingfisher.  That’s probably for the best in keeping family relationships positive!

Bad luck, late reports, and mis-ids were all forgotten though, on Sunday when Heather Tronsden reported a small tern  hanging out with Bonaparte’s Gulls near Whiffen Spit.  Although I’d just returned  to town from Pedder Bay, I turned right around and headed to Sooke. While en route, the tern was tentatively identified as a Common Tern.  Elegant Terns have been reported recently near the mouth of the Columbia River, and I wanted to keep my mind open for that possibility.  Either way, the bird  had the potential to be species #236 for my year list.  I would arrive about two hours after the sighting.  What were the chances the bird would still be there?

I left a message for Heather asking for more details, and the answers were in my phone when I reached the spit.  The bird had been feeding on the inside of the spit,  and with a quick scan, I could see it!  It was a long way away, though, and I couldn’t see it well enough to ID it.   After firing off a few quick shots with my camera, I packed up and headed to the public wharf behind the Best Western Hotel to try to get a better look. There were plenty of seals and fisherman, but no tern, so I went back out the spit.

 

Aziza Cooper had arrived in my absence and had been watching the bird close to shore while I was at the dock.  By the time I got back to the spit, it was back where I’d originally seen it.  Of course.  Patience was a virtue in this case as about every fifteen minutes or so, the tern would come close to the spit and fish, well within camera range.  Between the two of us, I suspect we took about 200 photos, certainly enough for an ID.  Terns are quick, though, and the majority of the photos were blurry.  However, we were able to see enough of the wing pattern to be pretty sure it was an Arctic Tern, not a Common as first thought.

I could never have imagined that I would be even a tiny bit disappointed in seeing an Arctic Tern in Victoria. It’s a good bird, and a nice addition to my regional (county) list, but I already had it for the island this year.  A successful search, but still stuck at 235.

Even on days when I’m not chasing, I’m still birding.  I’ve been doing census at both the Rocky Point and Pedder Bay migration monitoring sites, and stopping at a lot of hotspots between other commitments. Sometimes the birds aren’t unusual, but there are often opportunities to get some interesting photos.

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While shopping with my sister and niece, I got a call from Marie O’Shaughnessy.  She and Mike Ashbee  were looking at a Great Egret at Saanichton Spit.  Even though I’ve already got one for my list, it’s always worth a trip to see another one!  We headed to the spit and saw it flying around the lagoon.  Jody Wells got there just after us and kept an eye on it for other birders heading to the site.

 

The week turned up some non-bird subjects as well.

Not all interesting items were even natural.

I just have one question.  Can I count Snowbird as a Big  Year species?

And last, but not least, another early morning text from Chris Saunders, and another scramble to Swan Lake, and finally, a Bank Swallow for species 236!

We followed this bird for several minutes as it flew over and behind vegetation, did an aerial manoeuvre with a Barn Swallow, zipped here, there and everywhere.   Its flight pattern was noticeably different than the other swallows in the crowd, and finally it crossed over us close enough for a distant photo.  I have to say, this is one I’m really glad to have checked off, but I’d still like a better look.  Maybe now it will sit on the railing for me!

 

We’re still having fun!  (See what I did there?)

I think Bank Swallows must be in cahoots with Great Gray Owls.  There have been a few sightings in the past week at Swan Lake, but despite spending several sunsets and a couple of early mornings there, I have yet to see (or hear) one well enough to be sure I wasn’t looking at something else.  Swallows have been gathering in great numbers around Victoria, prepping for their trip south.  When you’re immersed in flocks of hundreds of Barn Swallows, it’s hard to believe that this species is on the threatened list in Canada.  It is still common, but therein lies the problem.  When we see large flocks or see individuals every day, we miss the fact that this population has declined 76% between the 1970s and 2009.  That’s huge and worrisome!

Rare bird reports have picked up a little this week, so I’ve been doing a fair amount of chasing.  After getting the Wandering Tattler at Long Beach, Mary Robichaud found one closer to home at the Ogden Point Breakwater.  It took me two trips to refind it (I was there on the wrong tide the first time), but I can now show you much nicer photos of a Wandering Tattler.

There were also about two dozen Black Turnstones feeding, resting and bathing along the inside wall of the breakwater.

A Rock Wren was reported at Stocking Creek in Ladysmith. I’ve seen a few Rock Wrens, and the location at a creek was suspicious.  Normally these wrens are in bare or sparsely vegetated habitats. In Victoria, I’ve seen them on Christmas Hill, Island View Beach, and Harling Point.  The Island View bird was first reported by Stuart Clarke. I received a very cool gift from Stu this week.  He is a wildlife photographer and has just put out what I’m calling a “big year” mug.  He said that my big year was an inspiration for the mug, so he gave me one!  Thanks, Stu!

The description of the Rock Wren that was posted to eBird included seeing the bird doing “knee bends” which is something a Rock Wren definitely does.  But so does an American Dipper.  I’d never been to Stocking Creek, though, so it was worth a trip.

Dave Baird joined me and we walked the trails of this 13-acre park, just a little off the TransCanada Highway south of Ladysmith.  It’s a very pretty spot with a sandstone-bottomed creek and a small waterfall. Sure enough, we found an American Dipper not too far from the waterfall.

I headed to Rocky Point to do a census on Friday. Each day, we walk the same route starting an hour after sunrise, and count all of the birds we see and hear.  Sometimes a rarity or two turns up.  Not this week. I did manage a couple of interesting photos, though.
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Most of my other chases this week were for the Bank Swallow–until yesterday.  I was just about out the door to go to a surprise birthday party for my friend Tammy Ruffolo, when Geoffrey and David Newell posted that they had found a Stilt Sandpiper at Witty’s Lagoon.  The good news was that it wasn’t far from where the birthday party was being held.  The bad news — surprise!– was that I wasn’t going to be there for Tammy’s grand entrance.

I admit to being directionally challenged, so when the report read that the bird was at the north side of the Lagoon Trail, that meant nothing to me.  I knew how to get onto the Lagoon Trail and so I did–apparently at the south end.  The crew from the RPBO banding site at Witty’s Lagoon were making their trek up the long hill with the gear.  I urged them all to join me in the quest, but only Cheryl Hoyle took me up on it.  Eventually, we found Mary Robichaud along the trail and after making our way to the north side, met up with the Newells and Daniel Donnecke.  All of us got great looks at the Stilt Sandpiper, the first one I’ve seen here in about ten years.  A great addition to the list.  Before we left, the flock of peeps with the Stilt Sandpiper in tow, headed across the lagoon–right to where I had started out.

I got to the birthday party in time for cake.  Happy Early Birthday to Tammy, and to her mom, Penny, whose birthday in a couple of days was the ruse that kept Tammy in the dark about her surprise party.

I ended the day with another trip to Swan Lake.  It’s beautiful there, even without Bank Swallows.

Here are some bonus shots from my week.

 

Suffice it to say that Tofino and Long Beach are destinations for many naturalists and birders, so I knew I was not alone. Marilyn Lambert and several friends were celebrating a special birthday with a weekend getaway, and Saturday morning we managed to meet up.

I started the day with a brief stop at Florencia Bay and then a hike along the Nuu-chah-nulth Trail to South Beach.  The trail is a beautiful walk, although much of the boardwalk is definitely in need of repair.The route goes inland, taking you away from the roar of the surf.  Nuu-chah-nulth means between the sea and the mountains, and you are definitely between on this trail.

Interpretive signs are present along the trail, providing information on the significance of certain species to the First Nations peoples.The boardwalk winds through a lot of boggy areas, complete with peat moss and a wide variety of bog plants.  I puzzled over this seed pod.  What was the plant, and who had been eating it?  Seemed very wasteful!  I found a few of these along the boardwalk before I finally figured out what it was and who the messy culprit was.  What do you think?

The seed pods are from Skunk Cabbage, but I never did find the diner in act.  Prime suspects are red squirrels and Stellar’s Jay.

Seeing the cloud berry in fruit made me thing of bears.  There were lots of warnings around the park, and I realized that if I was to meet one along this 2 km trail, there were not a lot of good escape routes.  It also caused me to become aware that despite wandering the park for two days, I had yet to see any sign of bears–no scat anywhere.

South Beach is a bit of a misnomer.  I had spent a couple of days looking for this spot, but getting quite mixed up about where it was.  In fact, if I am honest about it, I walked the Nuu-chah-nulth Trail because of my confusion.  I had mistakenly thought the beach was at the south end of the Long Beach chain of bays, but that turns out to be Wya Point.  South Beach is north of Florencia Bay, and just barely south of the Kwisitis Visitor Centre.  I’d been a stone’s throw away and hadn’t even realized it!  Unlike most of Long Beach, this little pocket beach is rock and gravel.  Big rocks with huge breaking waves on even a calm summer day. Sea Palms, one of my favourite seaweeds, grow in the harsh surf, but occasionally break off and end up on the beach.  I have temporarily “planted” some in the gravel so that you can see why they are called Sea Palms.I expected to see more rocky shore birds here, but Black Oystercatchers and Pelagic Cormorants made up most of the avian biomass.

Marilyn and her friends arrived at South Beach shortly after I did, wisely taking the much shorter trail from the visitors’ centre.  And they had seen shorebirds!  We headed back that way, and quickly found Black Turnstones and Surfbirds as well as more Black Oystercatchers.  They seem to have had a good year.  Scanning the rocky shoreline with my scope, I finally found the bird I was looking for, a Wandering Tattler!  Closer inspection turned up another. Then another.  Three Wandering Tattlers for species 234 for my year!

 

The beaches in this area were covered in Velella in the spring, and their dried sails still littered the beach at the upper reaches.  Now, masses of something else was on the sand.

 

These are the tubes of billions of small tube worms, a favoured food source for gray whales.  When the whales scoop up the sandy ocean floor,  they are also scooping up these worms.Their baleen filters the goodies from the sand and water and these tiny worms provide the meal they are seeking.

I took the roadway back around to Florencia Bay, walking the Shorepine Bog trail en route.  I was secretly hoping I might find a Crested Caracara and my heart stopped a bit when I saw this in the distance:

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Not a caracara.  Not even a bird.  Just some lichen at the top of an old snag.

The most challenging part of spending time at Long Beach is the narrow and treacherous highway between Port Alberni and the Ucluelet/Tofino T-junction.  The speed limit is perfect if you have a small sporty car, and way too high if you don’t.  Many of the drivers are tourists (myself included) so have little or no experience with the road, and a surprising number of them are driving rented campers and RVs.  One might say that it’s an accident waiting to happen.  After my day at the beach, I found myself yawning far too much through the winding section.  About half way through, I started looking for a spot to pull off. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that I couldn’t find one.  I did pass a couple of small forest roads, but didn’t see them until too late to pull in.  Finally, almost at the end of the twists and turns I found a safe pullout and took a nap break. An hour later, I was back on the road.  I hadn’t gone a kilometer when I was stopped.  I could see the flashing red and blue lights reflected in a truck in the next curve up the road.

 

People were wandering all over the road and no traffic was coming the other way.  Turns out a young surfer should have also stopped for a nap break.  She apparently fell asleep and crossed the centre line, crashing head-on  into an SUV heading west.  We were held up for about an hour.

When I turned onto the  Inland Island Highway a couple of hours later, there was another major accident.  Another vehicle had crossed the centre–in this case, a wide, grassy median.  The triver of a large pickup with a very large camper had tried an evasive move, but ended up spinning right around and then flipping over.  The errant driver’s vehicle, truck and camper were all totalled.

My drive home was a stark reminder that even if you are following the rules and driving safely, you can still be involved in some very serious mayhem.

I had to be at Rocky Point Bird Observatory’s Pedder Bay site early in the morning, so instead of going home, I headed towards Metchosin. I was able to send my last post from Tims and catch up on local birding news before heading out to the banding sites for a few hours before the wake-up call.   Aziza Cooper had spotted a Tufted Puffin from Clover Point on Friday evening.  I’m so relieved I actually saw one on this trip!

Since my return, Mary Robichaud found a Wandering Tattler at Ogden Point.  I’m going to try for that bird today, but given my history with this species, I’m still glad that I got that one added on my trip to Long Beach!

So what bird will be next?

 

 

 

 

I don’t know how many of you tried to figure out what bird 232 might be, but I’m willing to wager that not one of you gave a thought to Crested Caracara.  Why should you?  None had ever been seen on Vancouver Island.  Until last Monday, that is.  I had just settled down to do some of the many things I’d promised others, including getting the rest of the banding gear and supplies ready for the RPBO season opening on Tuesday. That’s when Jeremy Kimm, who is one of the folks managing the BC Rare Bird Report in Russ Cannings’s absence forwarded a report, complete with photo(!) of an unmistakeable Crested Caracara seen in Nanaimo Monday morning.  This is the best bird seen on Vancouver Island this year, and the chase was on.

I took just enough time to fire off a couple of emails, including one to the finder, Graham Ford, to try to get more details, and then hopped in the car.  The responses had two hours to get to me before I’d be close to the sighting scene. En route, I called a few other people that I thought would want to know, and hoped that some of the mid-island birders might be able to join in the search.

By the time I got to Duncan and made my first stop to check messages (and tie my shoes—I’d left in such a hurry, I hadn’t even done that!), Graham had responded with an address and exact time he’d seen the bird.  It had been a few hours by then, opening up the possibility that the caracara might have travelled some distance.  Guy Monty was heading to Nanaimo from the north, so we split the territory.  I would check the Nanaimo airport and estuary, and Guy would check Nanoose and north Nanaimo, heading to the area where the bird had been seen.  I don’t know how people did this before cell phones!  Christopher Stevens also joined in the chase.  The three of us covered the area pretty well, including duplicating some of the higher potential areas such as Piper’s Lagoon.  The wind was a bit of an issue with a strong southeastern system possibly moving the bird away, but we were optimistic. After all, a caracara isn’t a small bird.  They have shown up in the Pacific Northwest in recent weeks in unprecedented numbers. Finally it was our turn!

We kept up the search until around 3 pm, but with no sign and no further reports, and other commitments looming large, we called it a day and headed home.  I took some of the backroads to cover agricultural areas, and found some perfect trees for this vulture-like falcon, but it had disappeared. It may be the bird of the year, but sadly, it’s not on my list.

 

Between Nanaimo and Ladysmith, I checked messages again and saw that Ralph Hocken was now reporting that he may have seen the caracara four days earlier.  It was a fly over, seen without binoculars, and such a far-fetched id, that he didn’t feel confident to report it. His sighting was at Neck Point Park, only about 1 km from where the photo was taken.  I swung around, vowing to look until dark.  Dave Baird joined in the search as soon as he got off work, and between us, we covered and recovered the territory near the two sightings—sadly to no avail.

Disappointed and tired, and knowing I had at least a couple of hours of work to do before my 3 am alarm would sound, I headed home. Then came the bombshell: someone had apparently seen the bird at noon at Piper’s Lagoon, but hadn’t reported it until late Monday. I was distraught.  Who was this “birder” who would relocate such an important bird and not call in the masses to share in the find? We’d been less than 10 minutes away from the lagoon at noon. There was a time in birding where seeing a rare bird that wasn’t seen by other birders held some cachet; these days, greater prestige is gained by sharing sightings.  Was this an “old-school” birder who was attempting to one-up the rest of the community?

I managed to squeeze in exactly one hour of sleep before I had to get up for the first shift at Pedder Bay. As soon as my duties were fulfilled, I headed north to try again for the bird. Now We really had to relocate the caracara.  Guy, Christopher, Dave and I were all in again.  Guy staked out the lagoon, and the rest of us tried other areas, including taking a trip up to a viewpoint which allowed us to see for miles all around the region. Surely a hawk-sized white bird would be possible to see. But it wasn’t. Eventually, we had to admit defeat, but not before the mystery surrounding the Monday noon sighting was solved.  It turns out that there was a miscommunication.  Ralph had contacted the local rare bird line with the information about his possible Thursday sighting. It was like the game of “telephone”.  By the time the report made it to the public, the sighting had occurred at the time of the call—which was not the case.  Still disappointed in not finding the bird, we were all greatly relieved to know the story behind the Piper’s Lagoon sighting and had our faith in the birding community restored.  Whew!

I had planned to take the van to Tofino on Wednesday, but having spent my two prep days chasing the caracara, I decided instead to finally fix my broken van plumbing (damaged on my Winter Harbour trip). I spent much of the day under the van, and I got it fixed (yay). I manage to fix a few other little things at the same time, and relocate the floor in my car. It’s been buried under even more of a mess than usual with chasing, season openings, and other odd jobs.

My early Thursday start to Tofino turned into a late Thursday start, and by the time I arrived, the Green Point campground was full (as expected.) There are private campgrounds, but the ones I checked online cost as much as $62 a night with a two night minimum.  That wasn’t going to happen.  I found a nice quiet place to park on Thursday night.  I’ll tell you the location if you might need to use it, but I don’t want to put it here in case steps might be taken to restrict it.

Friday morning, I did a bit of beach walking for shorebirds and gulls, got checked into the campground (only because the rain scared enough people off) and made arrangements to go out on a whale watching trip in the afternoon.

 

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I had been on one of the Jamie’s Whaling Station trips in May.  We’d missed puffins by a day. Time was running out for the best chance to see this species, so I inquired specifically about them.  They had been seen this week, but were only seen a few times a week—no guarantee.

When I boarded the vessel, I explained to the crew why I was looking for a Tufted Puffin. Tofino is one of the few places you don’t have to explain what a big year is—much of the movie “The Big Year” was filmed in Tofino, so they are well familiar with the term.  Captain Wayne Dolby chose a route that gave us the best chance to see puffins, and the crew, Michelle, Étienne and Rachel kept their eyes out for the birds. They even radioed the other whale watching boats to see if anyone had seen them recently. En route, three Red-necked Phalaropes flew in and landed near some floating kelp, answering the question about what bird would be 232. Would Tufted Puffin be 233?

Fortunately, the best route for puffins also gave everyone great looks at Sea Otters and stellar views of Steller’s Sea Lions, so no one was too put out by the bird search.  Despite the crew’s best efforts, Cleland Island once again failed to provide puffins.

 

The Gray Whales near Flores Island were much more cooperative, with a mom and calf, and two others putting on quite a show.

The crew of the Leviathan hadn’t give up on puffins though, and the route home took us out just a little farther.  We were just about half an hour from the dock when Captain Wayne spotted a Tufted Puffin on the water, and then another!  I not only got a look, I got a photo or two!

 

With that, bird 233, a tough Tufted Puffin was in the bag, thanks to the crew of the Leviathan going above and beyond!  We heard later that a few of the passengers had not been feeling too well, and while the puffin chase probably didn’t cause the seasickness, it probably did prolong the discomfort.  I’m truly sorry about that!

On landing, I found this interesting bird. I think it might be the first known occurrence of the Vancouver Island Antpitta!

Of course, that species is not yet recognized, so I can’t add it to my list. 😉  Molt does strange things to common birds!  This is actually a Song Sparrow in the midst of a molt.  It has managed to lose its tail as well, possibly to a predator. Pro-tip: the block of greater coverts in simultaneous molt identifies this bird as a hatch-year individual.  An adult bird would lose each covert in turn with the secondary feather that it covers.

There is more to tell, but time is short before the next alarm clock rings.  Species 234 was found on Saturday.  Can you guess what it was?  (If you look at the species list, that’s cheating!)

 

No, I didn’t.  It’s been a busy couple of weeks helping get everything ready for the beginning of the migration monitoring season at Rocky Point and Pedder Bay. We start on July 21, but before the nets get opened, a lot of work needs to be done, from preparing the gear to physically clearing the sites and setting up the nets.   It takes a suprising amount of effort on the part of behind the scenes volunteers to make everything appear easy!

This seems like an appropriate time to remind everyone of one of the objectives of my big year. If you are so inclined, you can support Rocky Point Bird Observatory directly by making a donation on the website, pledging an amount based on my big year results, or becoming a member or volunteer.  We’ve been monitoring bird populations on Vancouver Island since 1994 with thousands of hours of volunteer effort each year.  All support is greatly appreciated!

Despite all of the preparation, I have managed to get out birding most days.  The shorebirds have started to come back with the adults passing through the area in the last couple of weeks.  WItty’s Lagoon and Saanichton Spit have been the local hotspots.  The birds have been mostly Western and Least Sandpipers, but a Pacific Golden-Plover and Ruddy Turnstone turned up on Saanichton Spit on the same day.  Elaine Preston found the Golden-plover and got a message to the bird walk group at Outerbridge Park just as we were finishing our walk. Great timing as several birders were able to enjoy seeing this bird. Jody Wells, Cathy Reader, and Daniel Donnecke have been very helpful in keeping track of shorebirds in the area in case an oddity shows up. Daniel spotted the Ruddy Turnstone amongst a flock of gulls at Saanichton Spit.

Common Nighthawks have been viewed through out the region, including nesting birds in appropriate settings.  They are known to nest in open fields, flat rooftops, rocky outcrops and wood-strewn beaches.  The spectacles, though, have largely occurred over parking lots where good numbers of nighthawks gather near dusk to take advantage of insect blooms.  I don’t really understand why there’s such an attraction to parking lots, but it may be the heat generated by the expanse of asphalt may be attractive to the insects. Michael Simmons told me he has seen this kind of activity around urban areas where the birds nested on flat roofs. I don’t know if that is the story behind Victoria’s nighthawks, but might be worth checking out.

 

I already had the nighthawk for my year list, but I was particularly happy to see one or two in Island View Beach Park on several nights in the last week.  These were particularly significant sightings in that they confirm what birders in the area already know–that nighthawks use the park. Island View Beach Park is the subject of a new parks plan, and it’s important that species of concern are documented in order to ensure their protection in the park going forward.

 

I’ve chased a few birds of note including a probable Northern Parula  at Swan Lake heard by Chris Saunders.  I thought I might have had a glimpse, but it was too small a part of the bird and for too short a period for me to confidently identify it, so  sadly, it does not get added to the list.  I headed to Nanaimo after a report of an American Redstart, but could find no sign of the bird.

 

David Allinson had a possible Least Flycatcher in Metchosin, and although I checked the area, I couldn’t get there until several hours after the sighting, so missed out on that one as well.

So lots of hours spent birding, but no new birds for the list.  I have managed to take a few photos, though.  A pelagic trip out of Tofino was in the works for next week, but too few people signed up, so it has been cancelled.  I’m heading there anyway, and may try to find a way to add a bird or two to the list.  Fingers crossed!

I’ve taken quite a few photos over the last couple of weeks.  Not all of them are birds!  I hope you enjoy these.

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