I must have dozed off on the couch, when the sweetest alarm clock rang, my "Surfin Bird" ringtone. Much as in "The BigYear", I have assigned the above mentioned song to Victoria birders, so usually it means that something has shown up somewhere.
In this case, it was Mike McGrenere calling, with news that he had found a juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at McIntyre Reservoir. It figures that the one day I decided not to check the reservoir, something shows up! As quickly as I could put on a pair of shoes I was out the door, texting Jeremy G. and Ann N. on my way. Jeremy left just as quickly, and Ann put the word out to the birding community.
I decided to pass on a quick coffee stop, as a similar stop had cost me an Orchard Oriole in Tofino a couple of years ago, and got to McIntyre in record time, finding Mike and Jeremy intently scanning the fringes of a now full body of water with very little shoreline. A couple of Pectoral Sandpipers ducked in and out of the waterside weeds, and a Greater Yellowlegs patrolled the fringe while 3 Western Sandpipers flew back and forth. Eventually a bird that seemed a bit brighter appeared on the far side and promptly disappeared from view. We all watched the area, Mike and Jeremy via scope, and me with binoculars as I had broken my tripod at Sidney Spit yesterday.
The bird finally came back into view, and Jeremy G was able to get the ID on it. We all got great looks at the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper right out in the open, and managed to watch it in the company of a Pectoral Sandpiper for about 5 minutes. Elaine P. showed up in time to get a brief look, and then disaster struck.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in low and fast, looking for a meal, and the shorebirds all scattered, sending the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper north in the company of 4 Pecs. The birds looked for a time like they would circle back, and then disappeared just as a number of other birders showed up, an almost perfect reenactment of what happened last year with the Red-necked Stint at Witty's Lagoon.
We continued to search and eventually relocated 4 Pectoral Sandpipers as the hawk continued to patrol for dinner. When I left at 5pm, the bird still hadn't reappeared.
A great bird for the year, and my first Sharp-tailed Sandpiper for the Victoria Checklist Area! Many thanks to Mike for finding this bird and getting the word out!
Bring on the fall rarities!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Going the Distance
This weekend was not only a great weekend of birding, it was also a weekend of distances and somewhat non-traditional transportation. That is if you consider, as I do, cars to be the usual means of conveyance for birding.
Early Saturday morning found a group of 12 of us at Mariner's Village in Sooke, gathered for a 6am departure bound for Swiftsure Bank, at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (the open ocean), for Rocky Point Bird Observatory's Pelagic trip. After the fog that settled over the last trip I was expecting the worst and hoping for the best. The stars must have aligned somehow, as there was absolutely no fog on the water Saturday, anywhere! Another factor, the water, also proved to be a non-issue, as it was the calmest day I have ever seen out on the bank.
Anyway, back to the birds. There was little in evidence in the Strait itself, aside from the expected Common Murres and Rhinoceros Auklets, and a group of resident Orcas, but once we crossed an invisible line running from Cape Flattery to Carmanah Point, boy did it ever pick up! Our first birds came during a drift to allow for washroom breaks, when two Pink-footed Shearwaters cut across the bow, followed by two more, then two more, and soon we were surrounded by gliding shearwaters, some coming very close alongside and allowing those with cameras an incredible opportunity! Before too long, a Sooty Shearwater, which should have greatly outnumbered its pink-footed relatives, passed in front of the boat and disappeared.
With everyone ready to go again, we started heading further into the open water, quickly coming upon a jaeger drifting on the surface. We puzzled over it until it took off, revealing a long, twisted tail with a spatula tip. Pomarine Jaeger! Before long we would find another Pom, and three unidentified jaegers that did exactly what I figured they would do, give a quick pass and then fly directly away from us, disguising all useful field marks.
Once we were out among the sport fishing boats, Capt Russ Nicks spotted a cloud of birds from his perch above, and we headed toward them, stumbling upon a massive gathering of Pink-footed Shearwaters and the odd Sooty Shearwater. We estimated roughly 300 Pink-foots, an absolutely incredible number! Also weaving among the shearwaters, and forming their own clouds, were about 200 Sabine's Gulls, another incredible count! Add in the 30-40 Humpback Whales, 6 or 8 of which we got good looks at, and one that surfaced in the middle of a flock of shearwaters not far from the boat, and everyone was in awe. We also had a distant look at a small pod of transient Orcas at the edge of the bank. California Gulls and Red-necked Phalaropes rounded off the seabird count, and we also had flyover (and new pelagic ticks for most, if not all) American Goldfinch, Anna's Hummingbird, and Brown-headed Cowbird.
The trip back in gave everyone great close looks at our resident Orca "superpod", plus closeups of Common Murre, Rhinoceros Auklet, Harbour Seal, and more Red-necked Phalaropes, plus a small gathering of California Gulls just outside Whiffin Spit.
All in all, a great trip! This is the first time I have ever been either fishing or birding offshore and had not a single person succumb to seasickness. Notable, however, was the lack of Northern Fulmars and low numbers of Sooty Shearwaters. There have been upwards of 500,000 Sooties off Ocean Shores lately, so maybe no mystery there, but where are our fulmars?
Sunday was a target birding day, and another shot at Tugwell Lake. My father-in-law decided to join my wife and I on this, our second hike of the year up Butler Main Line, just west of Sooke. The weather was mild, if not a bit on the chilly side, and the sky was grey. Perfect longer distance hiking conditions!
The birding was much slower than it was a couple of months ago when my wife and I went up there, with very few birds calling. It didn't take long to stumble upon one of my targets, as we flushed a male Ruffed Grouse around km 1.5, which flew to a low branch nearby, then disappeared when I switched from binos to camera. Newly fledged Dark-eyed Juncos were a common sight, and once we hit the more open habitat from km 4-8, small numbers of MacGillivray's Warblers and White-crowned Sparrows were seen. Also in the first 8 kilometres we encountered single Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, Hammond's Flycatcher, and Western Tanager.
We were looking forward to a quick rest at km 8 after the long approach hill, but any weariness disappeared when two Gray Jays flew left across the road in front of us, followed by another flying right. Cameras were out, and we waited for the birds to reappear. The single that had flown right flew back directly over our heads and then disappeared into a clump of trees in the middle of the clearing. I was so intent on refinding the birds that it took my father-in-law three tries to get my attention and point out another bird 200ft or so further down the road, just past the clearing. A good look revealed the bird to be a female Sooty Grouse. I tried to get close enough for a picture, but the bird strutted off into the trees before I could get much more than a dot. Two grouse and two jays! Not a bad start to a day of birding in the Victoria Checklist Area!
We hung around the kilometre 8 clearing for just over half an hour, hoping for the jays to come closer, but only managed to get distant looks at the north end of the clearing. We also heard two Gray Jays calling just south of the clearing. I am not sure if these were two of the three and had managed to sneak past us, or if there were actually 5 birds. These are definitely not picnic area Whiskey Jacks, as they kept their distance from us. Of note, this is the same location where a family of Gray Jays hung around last August, and this is also a fairly low elevation for them. There were none present (detected) when I was there a couple of months ago, and they are known to breed at Tugwell Lake itself, so perhaps this is a favoured post-breeding dispersal site.
While we were waiting for the return of the jays, the sky darkened a bit, thunder rolled, and the wind picked up. We figured that this was probably a sign to cut our hike short, and checked as far as km 8.5 before turning around. Highlights on the way down were two black headed, young-of-the-year Turkey Vultures, good numbers of Steller's Jays (which were also pretty much absent a couple of months ago), and the odd Band-tailed Pigeon. Of note, zero Red Crossbills. Back down near the gate, a family of California Quail were in the middle of the road, and a single Evening Grosbeak called.
The weekends birding entailed (aside from driving) 17 kilometres by foot and 100 kilometres or so by boat, not to mentioned great looks at a number of birds that are a treat locally.
Only two species were seen within the confines of the Victoria Checklist Area (bordered in the west by a line drawn from the Otter Point picnic table to Ladysmith), bringing the year's total to 219 so far.
Bird on!
Early Saturday morning found a group of 12 of us at Mariner's Village in Sooke, gathered for a 6am departure bound for Swiftsure Bank, at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (the open ocean), for Rocky Point Bird Observatory's Pelagic trip. After the fog that settled over the last trip I was expecting the worst and hoping for the best. The stars must have aligned somehow, as there was absolutely no fog on the water Saturday, anywhere! Another factor, the water, also proved to be a non-issue, as it was the calmest day I have ever seen out on the bank.
Anyway, back to the birds. There was little in evidence in the Strait itself, aside from the expected Common Murres and Rhinoceros Auklets, and a group of resident Orcas, but once we crossed an invisible line running from Cape Flattery to Carmanah Point, boy did it ever pick up! Our first birds came during a drift to allow for washroom breaks, when two Pink-footed Shearwaters cut across the bow, followed by two more, then two more, and soon we were surrounded by gliding shearwaters, some coming very close alongside and allowing those with cameras an incredible opportunity! Before too long, a Sooty Shearwater, which should have greatly outnumbered its pink-footed relatives, passed in front of the boat and disappeared.
With everyone ready to go again, we started heading further into the open water, quickly coming upon a jaeger drifting on the surface. We puzzled over it until it took off, revealing a long, twisted tail with a spatula tip. Pomarine Jaeger! Before long we would find another Pom, and three unidentified jaegers that did exactly what I figured they would do, give a quick pass and then fly directly away from us, disguising all useful field marks.
Once we were out among the sport fishing boats, Capt Russ Nicks spotted a cloud of birds from his perch above, and we headed toward them, stumbling upon a massive gathering of Pink-footed Shearwaters and the odd Sooty Shearwater. We estimated roughly 300 Pink-foots, an absolutely incredible number! Also weaving among the shearwaters, and forming their own clouds, were about 200 Sabine's Gulls, another incredible count! Add in the 30-40 Humpback Whales, 6 or 8 of which we got good looks at, and one that surfaced in the middle of a flock of shearwaters not far from the boat, and everyone was in awe. We also had a distant look at a small pod of transient Orcas at the edge of the bank. California Gulls and Red-necked Phalaropes rounded off the seabird count, and we also had flyover (and new pelagic ticks for most, if not all) American Goldfinch, Anna's Hummingbird, and Brown-headed Cowbird.
The trip back in gave everyone great close looks at our resident Orca "superpod", plus closeups of Common Murre, Rhinoceros Auklet, Harbour Seal, and more Red-necked Phalaropes, plus a small gathering of California Gulls just outside Whiffin Spit.
All in all, a great trip! This is the first time I have ever been either fishing or birding offshore and had not a single person succumb to seasickness. Notable, however, was the lack of Northern Fulmars and low numbers of Sooty Shearwaters. There have been upwards of 500,000 Sooties off Ocean Shores lately, so maybe no mystery there, but where are our fulmars?
Sunday was a target birding day, and another shot at Tugwell Lake. My father-in-law decided to join my wife and I on this, our second hike of the year up Butler Main Line, just west of Sooke. The weather was mild, if not a bit on the chilly side, and the sky was grey. Perfect longer distance hiking conditions!
The birding was much slower than it was a couple of months ago when my wife and I went up there, with very few birds calling. It didn't take long to stumble upon one of my targets, as we flushed a male Ruffed Grouse around km 1.5, which flew to a low branch nearby, then disappeared when I switched from binos to camera. Newly fledged Dark-eyed Juncos were a common sight, and once we hit the more open habitat from km 4-8, small numbers of MacGillivray's Warblers and White-crowned Sparrows were seen. Also in the first 8 kilometres we encountered single Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, Hammond's Flycatcher, and Western Tanager.
We were looking forward to a quick rest at km 8 after the long approach hill, but any weariness disappeared when two Gray Jays flew left across the road in front of us, followed by another flying right. Cameras were out, and we waited for the birds to reappear. The single that had flown right flew back directly over our heads and then disappeared into a clump of trees in the middle of the clearing. I was so intent on refinding the birds that it took my father-in-law three tries to get my attention and point out another bird 200ft or so further down the road, just past the clearing. A good look revealed the bird to be a female Sooty Grouse. I tried to get close enough for a picture, but the bird strutted off into the trees before I could get much more than a dot. Two grouse and two jays! Not a bad start to a day of birding in the Victoria Checklist Area!
We hung around the kilometre 8 clearing for just over half an hour, hoping for the jays to come closer, but only managed to get distant looks at the north end of the clearing. We also heard two Gray Jays calling just south of the clearing. I am not sure if these were two of the three and had managed to sneak past us, or if there were actually 5 birds. These are definitely not picnic area Whiskey Jacks, as they kept their distance from us. Of note, this is the same location where a family of Gray Jays hung around last August, and this is also a fairly low elevation for them. There were none present (detected) when I was there a couple of months ago, and they are known to breed at Tugwell Lake itself, so perhaps this is a favoured post-breeding dispersal site.
While we were waiting for the return of the jays, the sky darkened a bit, thunder rolled, and the wind picked up. We figured that this was probably a sign to cut our hike short, and checked as far as km 8.5 before turning around. Highlights on the way down were two black headed, young-of-the-year Turkey Vultures, good numbers of Steller's Jays (which were also pretty much absent a couple of months ago), and the odd Band-tailed Pigeon. Of note, zero Red Crossbills. Back down near the gate, a family of California Quail were in the middle of the road, and a single Evening Grosbeak called.
The weekends birding entailed (aside from driving) 17 kilometres by foot and 100 kilometres or so by boat, not to mentioned great looks at a number of birds that are a treat locally.
Only two species were seen within the confines of the Victoria Checklist Area (bordered in the west by a line drawn from the Otter Point picnic table to Ladysmith), bringing the year's total to 219 so far.
Bird on!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Green Birding and other Miscellany
It's always nice to pick up a bird that I missed last year, it gives me a bit of hope that maybe there is still hope to hit 252 this year! So far this year, I have seen a couple of regular/semi-regular species that didn't end up on my Big Year 2011 list, including Common Redpoll, Lazuli Bunting, and Ruddy Turnstone. Another such bird decided to show up yesterday at Swan Lake, courtesy of a visiting birder named Jose.
Green Heron is a bird that I have only seen once on Vancouver Island, and that was 13 years ago at the Duncan Forest Museum Pond. I have had no problems seeing them anywhere else from here to Ontario to Arizona to Costa Rica, but they have always eluded me (and most other local birders) right here on my own home turf.
Ann Nightingale sent out a text yesterday morning that an individual had been discovered near the south end of the bridge at Swan Lake, and by some happy coincidence I was due to be passing through the area between meetings with clients, so I figured I might as well drop in!
When I arrived, everyone there had seen the bird, but it had dropped out of view as I stepped on to the bridge. Go figure. After about 5 minutes or so of staring into the willows, the Green Heron flew up, and eventually ended up perched on an exposed branch, giving dynamite views.
This long-standing local nemesis bird made a great number 217, and puts me only 35 away from my target. 20 or so of these should be fairly easy, but we need a good fall migration to make up for the terrible spring window.
Now, on to the miscellany......
The weather is looking superb for tomorrow's RPBO Swiftsure Bank expedition. This will be my first of three full pelagic trips this year, with a Tofino trip and Westport trip to follow. Birds that have been seen in the past out yonder have included Black-footed Albatross, South Polar Skua, all three jaegers, Sooty, Pink-footed, Manx, and Short-tailed Shearwaters, Sabine's Gull, Arctic Tern, Northern Fulmar, etc, etc.
I remain with my fingers firmly crossed, as I have not been out into the open ocean since July 31, 2010, and have had three Westport trips (2 January and 1 September) cancelled since then due to weather.
As an offering to the birding gods for good luck, I post these pictures, which were taken off Grays Canyon, Westport, WA, on that long ago trip.
And this one, from a Swiftsure Bank fishing trip a few years back:
Good birding,
Green Heron is a bird that I have only seen once on Vancouver Island, and that was 13 years ago at the Duncan Forest Museum Pond. I have had no problems seeing them anywhere else from here to Ontario to Arizona to Costa Rica, but they have always eluded me (and most other local birders) right here on my own home turf.
Ann Nightingale sent out a text yesterday morning that an individual had been discovered near the south end of the bridge at Swan Lake, and by some happy coincidence I was due to be passing through the area between meetings with clients, so I figured I might as well drop in!
When I arrived, everyone there had seen the bird, but it had dropped out of view as I stepped on to the bridge. Go figure. After about 5 minutes or so of staring into the willows, the Green Heron flew up, and eventually ended up perched on an exposed branch, giving dynamite views.
This long-standing local nemesis bird made a great number 217, and puts me only 35 away from my target. 20 or so of these should be fairly easy, but we need a good fall migration to make up for the terrible spring window.
Now, on to the miscellany......
The weather is looking superb for tomorrow's RPBO Swiftsure Bank expedition. This will be my first of three full pelagic trips this year, with a Tofino trip and Westport trip to follow. Birds that have been seen in the past out yonder have included Black-footed Albatross, South Polar Skua, all three jaegers, Sooty, Pink-footed, Manx, and Short-tailed Shearwaters, Sabine's Gull, Arctic Tern, Northern Fulmar, etc, etc.
I remain with my fingers firmly crossed, as I have not been out into the open ocean since July 31, 2010, and have had three Westport trips (2 January and 1 September) cancelled since then due to weather.
As an offering to the birding gods for good luck, I post these pictures, which were taken off Grays Canyon, Westport, WA, on that long ago trip.
And this one, from a Swiftsure Bank fishing trip a few years back:
Good birding,
Monday, August 13, 2012
Visibility Zero
To say I was disappointed by the Mini Pelagic that I organized as a small fundraiser for Rocky Point Bird Observatory on August 11 would be a bit of an understatement.
I have been watching the weather for a week, making sure that everything would be good for the trip, and all signs pointed to the positive. Trips like this are full of possibility, as the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca are very poorly birded aside from trip on the MV Coho to Port Angeles. These trips still turn up good birds, but are much further inside the Strait than what I had planned.
Anyway, back to Saturday. My heart sank when we reached the dock, and there was very little visibility. 12 other eager birders had made the trip out, hoping for the same exciting birds as I was. A quick consult with Russ Nicks, skipper for our trip, confirmed my worst fears, that after a week of quite clear weather, the Strait was completely socked in with thick fog to the east and the west, with some patchy clear areas around Race Rocks. So much for going west to Otter Point and closer to open water!
We headed out, chasing the clear patches to the east, and hoping for some bait ball action on the water. Common Murres and Rhinoceros Auklets were visible on the water, but that was about it. When we finally broke through the fog, somewhere around Pedder Bay, there were very few birds evident on the water, and definitely not the large gatherings of swarming gulls and accompanying Jaegers I was hoping for. Again, lots of alcids were visible, but nothing along the lines of Tufted Puffin or, dare I say it, Long-billed Murrelet!
We counted a large number of California Gulls, Heermann's Gulls, and Glaucous-winged Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murres, and Pigeon Guillemots. Chumming failed to attract any birds, and I find myself wondering if maybe someone had been out to feed them earlier in the morning!
Back into the fog, we circled Race Rocks, hoping to find a Brown Pelican or something of the like. Sharp eyes quickly located a Spotted Sandpiper on the rocks, followed by a Surfbird in its breeding finery, and a few Black Turnstones and a Black Oystercatcher among the intimidating masses of sea lions. Making a pass of the main island/rock, I noticed a shorebird that reflected very brightly in the light, and we all ended up getting good looks at a stunning breeding plumaged Ruddy Turnstone! Add in Red-necked Phalaropes, and there you have our list for the day.
The trip back to Sooke to end our 3 hour tour was also foggy, and turned up nothing new. A trip scheduled 4 months ago turned out to be the foggiest day of the year so far, but I did receive positive feedback from a couple of the participants, and I hope the rest won`t hold the weather against me!
There are still a couple of spots left for the Swiftsure trip in two weeks, which will be 8 hours out into the open ocean.
Thanks to those who came out in support of Rocky Point!
Good birding, land and sea,
I have been watching the weather for a week, making sure that everything would be good for the trip, and all signs pointed to the positive. Trips like this are full of possibility, as the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca are very poorly birded aside from trip on the MV Coho to Port Angeles. These trips still turn up good birds, but are much further inside the Strait than what I had planned.
Anyway, back to Saturday. My heart sank when we reached the dock, and there was very little visibility. 12 other eager birders had made the trip out, hoping for the same exciting birds as I was. A quick consult with Russ Nicks, skipper for our trip, confirmed my worst fears, that after a week of quite clear weather, the Strait was completely socked in with thick fog to the east and the west, with some patchy clear areas around Race Rocks. So much for going west to Otter Point and closer to open water!
We headed out, chasing the clear patches to the east, and hoping for some bait ball action on the water. Common Murres and Rhinoceros Auklets were visible on the water, but that was about it. When we finally broke through the fog, somewhere around Pedder Bay, there were very few birds evident on the water, and definitely not the large gatherings of swarming gulls and accompanying Jaegers I was hoping for. Again, lots of alcids were visible, but nothing along the lines of Tufted Puffin or, dare I say it, Long-billed Murrelet!
We counted a large number of California Gulls, Heermann's Gulls, and Glaucous-winged Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murres, and Pigeon Guillemots. Chumming failed to attract any birds, and I find myself wondering if maybe someone had been out to feed them earlier in the morning!
Back into the fog, we circled Race Rocks, hoping to find a Brown Pelican or something of the like. Sharp eyes quickly located a Spotted Sandpiper on the rocks, followed by a Surfbird in its breeding finery, and a few Black Turnstones and a Black Oystercatcher among the intimidating masses of sea lions. Making a pass of the main island/rock, I noticed a shorebird that reflected very brightly in the light, and we all ended up getting good looks at a stunning breeding plumaged Ruddy Turnstone! Add in Red-necked Phalaropes, and there you have our list for the day.
The trip back to Sooke to end our 3 hour tour was also foggy, and turned up nothing new. A trip scheduled 4 months ago turned out to be the foggiest day of the year so far, but I did receive positive feedback from a couple of the participants, and I hope the rest won`t hold the weather against me!
There are still a couple of spots left for the Swiftsure trip in two weeks, which will be 8 hours out into the open ocean.
Thanks to those who came out in support of Rocky Point!
Good birding, land and sea,
Friday, August 10, 2012
Records were made to be broken!
While pursuing a record of one kind (again), I figure there are a few more that could potentially be taken down.
According to the ABA Big Day Report, the following are Big Day (for those non-birders, birding like a bat out of hell for 24 hours, and living on a steady stream of legal, liquid stimulants and fast food, all in the hopes of seeing as many species as possible) records for British Columbia. Even being stuck on an island, we have potential to beat a few of them:
January - 127
February - 131
March - 105
April - 163
May - 202
June - 162
July - 176
August - 120
September - 136
October - 121
November - 117
December - 121
To me, the March, August, and October records look particularly doable, and I would definitely welcome anyone that wanted to join in on taking a run at one of them! (or any of them, or all of them, just for fun!)
A Big Day is a bit about birding, and a lot about strategy and the thrill of the chase. Also, you never know what will turn up. Jeremy G mentioned a few weeks ago that everytime we do a "Big-ish" or straight up Big Day, we always turn up some great birds, and he isn't sure why we don't do them all the time! (Field work in Fort Mac and Golden may have something to do with it Jeremy.... just sayin').
Being that this blog is also dedicated to Victoria Birding in general, and a little beyond the boundaries of our fair city, I am going to create another tab of Big Day and Big Year Records, and yet another for local highlights. There used to be a list floating around of month by month records, if anyone may know where to find it, please let me know! Or, in the absence, if you have pulled off an amazing Big Day or Year within BC, also drop me a line and it will go on the list barring a bigger one coming to light.
The weather and chum are all set, and the boat full for tomorrow's Rocky Point Bird Observatory fundraising Mini-Pelagic with Capt Russ Nicks from Sooke Coastal Explorations. Hopefully the birds will cooperate, and I will have some tales and photos to regale you with tomorrow.
Good birding (and listing)!
According to the ABA Big Day Report, the following are Big Day (for those non-birders, birding like a bat out of hell for 24 hours, and living on a steady stream of legal, liquid stimulants and fast food, all in the hopes of seeing as many species as possible) records for British Columbia. Even being stuck on an island, we have potential to beat a few of them:
January - 127
February - 131
March - 105
April - 163
May - 202
June - 162
July - 176
August - 120
September - 136
October - 121
November - 117
December - 121
To me, the March, August, and October records look particularly doable, and I would definitely welcome anyone that wanted to join in on taking a run at one of them! (or any of them, or all of them, just for fun!)
A Big Day is a bit about birding, and a lot about strategy and the thrill of the chase. Also, you never know what will turn up. Jeremy G mentioned a few weeks ago that everytime we do a "Big-ish" or straight up Big Day, we always turn up some great birds, and he isn't sure why we don't do them all the time! (Field work in Fort Mac and Golden may have something to do with it Jeremy.... just sayin').
Being that this blog is also dedicated to Victoria Birding in general, and a little beyond the boundaries of our fair city, I am going to create another tab of Big Day and Big Year Records, and yet another for local highlights. There used to be a list floating around of month by month records, if anyone may know where to find it, please let me know! Or, in the absence, if you have pulled off an amazing Big Day or Year within BC, also drop me a line and it will go on the list barring a bigger one coming to light.
The weather and chum are all set, and the boat full for tomorrow's Rocky Point Bird Observatory fundraising Mini-Pelagic with Capt Russ Nicks from Sooke Coastal Explorations. Hopefully the birds will cooperate, and I will have some tales and photos to regale you with tomorrow.
Good birding (and listing)!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Finally!
At 8:15am on Sunday, the title of this post was looking like it was going to be "Red-eyed Vireo - 4, Victoria Birder - 0". Happily, this is not the case.
Sunday was a housework kind of day, so I headed out before 6am, bound for Cowichan Bay and my fourth try for Red-eyed Vireo. I was going to leave it for next weekend as I will be in Duncan anyway but, as Mike McGrenere pointed out on Saturday afternoon, next weekend is August, and August means migration time. As dire as my chances of beating Chris Saunders' record are this year (thanks in no small part to a dismal spring, rarity-wise), I didn't want to tempt fate too much on a supposedly simple bird such as this.
For those who have visited the "Red-eyed Vireo Spot" in Cowichan Bay, I'm sure you can relate to the difficulty in locating these birds, even when they are singing right above you. The trees, mostly cottonwoods and maples, are big, really, really big. They are also dense. On each of my previous trips up in the last month and a bit I have had four different birds singing non-stop, always from the same trees, and I have never managed a look for the tick. Last weekend, I had a look at a bird high in a cottonwood that really couldn't have been anything else, but it was so distant and lit up by the rising sun, that I decided against counting it. This is a far cry from last year, when a single pish on my first visit brought six inquisitive Red-eyes in for an eye level visit. I think perhaps their shyness this year may come from the fact that a family of Cooper`s Hawks have set up shop in the same patch of trees, and likely nested right in the middle of the vireo area.
For those who haven't been there, the "spot" is an old dirt road, gated off, and likely on reserve land, directly across Cowichan Bay Rd from the Dock Road. It is a neat little pocket of riparian forest, and always full of birds. The vireos can be heard most days immediately upon exiting ones vehicle.
Anyway, back to Sunday morning. I arrived in Cowichan Bay at 6:30am, to deafening silence. The birds started up after a couple of minutes, with Swainson's Thrush and Pacific Wren leading the charge, followed by Bewick's Wren, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and Yellow Warbler. After 20 tense minutes, I finally heard the first Red-eyed Vireo singing a way back in the trees. About 60ft down Cowichan Bay Rd (heading toward Duncan) there is a small trail that leads into the trees, again most probably on reserve land, and therefore "technically" off limits. I headed down this trail and quickly had two vireos singing right above me. Well, really high above me. After they went silent, a couple started up over where I had originally started. Back I went, again unsuccessfully.
This back and forth went on for an hour or so, with a brief stop at the base of the Dock Road, where a small patch of trees held a pair of Black-headed Grosbeaks, a female Yellow Warbler feeding a young Brown-headed Cowbird, Downy Woodpeckers, Orange-crowned Warblers, and more. No vireo here, though I did get a quick glimpse of what may have been a Warbling Vireo.
By 8:15am, I was ready to start yelling into the trees out of frustration. I headed back over to the smaller trail to the east where 2 vireos were singing. These could be heard from Cowichan Bay Road, and didn`t sound too far off. The trail eventually takes two directions, left down a small embankment toward the river, and right, along the back of a couple of houses. One bird was singing in each direction and I opted for the right branch this time, having tried repeatedly for the left hand bird already. It didn`t take long to pin down the singer, but I still couldn`t get a look! A quick pish and a Swainson`s Thrush popped up beside me. Another quick pish and a bird flew from one branch to another, in the vicinity of the singing bird. I quickly got on it and confirmed that even though it wasn`t the singing bird, it was indeed my first visual Red-eyed Vireo for the year!<
With the singing birds, and the silent one I actually saw, there were a total of six birds on Sunday, my highest count this year as well!
In other news, there is a pair of Merlin that have decided to call my neighbourhood home. I am not sure if they are nesting or have nested, but one or two are very vocal and visible almost every day in the morning or evening around the Tim Hortons on Goldstream Ave in Langford. Who knows, maybe they just like donuts......
Now where on earth is my Virginia Rail.......
Sunday was a housework kind of day, so I headed out before 6am, bound for Cowichan Bay and my fourth try for Red-eyed Vireo. I was going to leave it for next weekend as I will be in Duncan anyway but, as Mike McGrenere pointed out on Saturday afternoon, next weekend is August, and August means migration time. As dire as my chances of beating Chris Saunders' record are this year (thanks in no small part to a dismal spring, rarity-wise), I didn't want to tempt fate too much on a supposedly simple bird such as this.
For those who have visited the "Red-eyed Vireo Spot" in Cowichan Bay, I'm sure you can relate to the difficulty in locating these birds, even when they are singing right above you. The trees, mostly cottonwoods and maples, are big, really, really big. They are also dense. On each of my previous trips up in the last month and a bit I have had four different birds singing non-stop, always from the same trees, and I have never managed a look for the tick. Last weekend, I had a look at a bird high in a cottonwood that really couldn't have been anything else, but it was so distant and lit up by the rising sun, that I decided against counting it. This is a far cry from last year, when a single pish on my first visit brought six inquisitive Red-eyes in for an eye level visit. I think perhaps their shyness this year may come from the fact that a family of Cooper`s Hawks have set up shop in the same patch of trees, and likely nested right in the middle of the vireo area.
For those who haven't been there, the "spot" is an old dirt road, gated off, and likely on reserve land, directly across Cowichan Bay Rd from the Dock Road. It is a neat little pocket of riparian forest, and always full of birds. The vireos can be heard most days immediately upon exiting ones vehicle.
Anyway, back to Sunday morning. I arrived in Cowichan Bay at 6:30am, to deafening silence. The birds started up after a couple of minutes, with Swainson's Thrush and Pacific Wren leading the charge, followed by Bewick's Wren, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and Yellow Warbler. After 20 tense minutes, I finally heard the first Red-eyed Vireo singing a way back in the trees. About 60ft down Cowichan Bay Rd (heading toward Duncan) there is a small trail that leads into the trees, again most probably on reserve land, and therefore "technically" off limits. I headed down this trail and quickly had two vireos singing right above me. Well, really high above me. After they went silent, a couple started up over where I had originally started. Back I went, again unsuccessfully.
This back and forth went on for an hour or so, with a brief stop at the base of the Dock Road, where a small patch of trees held a pair of Black-headed Grosbeaks, a female Yellow Warbler feeding a young Brown-headed Cowbird, Downy Woodpeckers, Orange-crowned Warblers, and more. No vireo here, though I did get a quick glimpse of what may have been a Warbling Vireo.
By 8:15am, I was ready to start yelling into the trees out of frustration. I headed back over to the smaller trail to the east where 2 vireos were singing. These could be heard from Cowichan Bay Road, and didn`t sound too far off. The trail eventually takes two directions, left down a small embankment toward the river, and right, along the back of a couple of houses. One bird was singing in each direction and I opted for the right branch this time, having tried repeatedly for the left hand bird already. It didn`t take long to pin down the singer, but I still couldn`t get a look! A quick pish and a Swainson`s Thrush popped up beside me. Another quick pish and a bird flew from one branch to another, in the vicinity of the singing bird. I quickly got on it and confirmed that even though it wasn`t the singing bird, it was indeed my first visual Red-eyed Vireo for the year!<
With the singing birds, and the silent one I actually saw, there were a total of six birds on Sunday, my highest count this year as well!
In other news, there is a pair of Merlin that have decided to call my neighbourhood home. I am not sure if they are nesting or have nested, but one or two are very vocal and visible almost every day in the morning or evening around the Tim Hortons on Goldstream Ave in Langford. Who knows, maybe they just like donuts......
Now where on earth is my Virginia Rail.......
Friday, July 6, 2012
Target Birding, Okanagan Style!
My wife and I decided to take advantage of the Canada Day long weekend by heading east, and spending three nights in Penticton.
Despite the number of years I have been birding, I was still missing a number of "Okanagan Specialties", and I had previously spent as much time birding in the Washington State Okanogan as I had on our side of the border. I was hoping to correct this and made up my list, checked it twice, and sent off emails hoping for hints to find my targets, which ended up numbering 12.
We were in high spirits when we rolled off the first ferry on Saturday morning but things started to look bad when we passed Hope and the skies opened up in a big way. Luckily, things cleared when we entered Manning Park and started birding. Lightning Lake was quiet, so we moved up to Strawberry Flats, hoping for a couple of specific species. We heard Barred Owl and three Dusky/Sooty Grouse calling, and had a smaller woodpecker fly over, though we couldn't get a good look. Walking around the trails and up the closed road beyond the parking area, we didn't turn up much else, but on the way back a small shape caught my eye, about 60ft up the Poland Lake trail.
Binoculars revealed my first target of the trip, and a lifer!
Princeton turned up a good number of birds, including Ruddy Ducks and American Coots with young, a treat for an Island Birder. Slow birding followed us to Penticton, and I ended the day with a trip down Max Lake Rd, where I picked up target three and another lifer, Common Poorwill.
Sunday morning found us up and out early, with my wife sleeping in the passenger seat (she had caught some kind of bug, and spent most of the weekend sleeping in the passenger sear). We headed up Shuttleworth Rd headed for Venner Meadows, hoping for another dark woodpecker. Despite over three hours of searching, we only managed to find the usual suspects, including Red-naped Sapsucker, Evening Grosbeak, Clark's Nutcracker, etc.
Vaseux Lake treated me better, and I managed to find Chukar and Rock Wren (Canada birds) in very short order. The wrens were singing from many exposed rocks, and the Chukar were hopping from rock to rock across the base of the cliffs. River Rd, north of Oliver, also treated us well, with views of Black-chinned Hummingbird (Canada bird) and Yellow-breasted Chat and Bullock's Oriole singing from the shrubs. A trip down to Km10 of Camp McKinney Rd produced my first Gray Flycatcher for Canada.
A valley favourite, Road 22, was also very birdy in the afternoon, turning up target number eight of the trip, a Veery singing from an exposed perch (BC bird). The ever-present Bobolink were very evident, as were Lazuli Buntings, Grey Catbirds, Yellow-breasted Chats, and others.
A detour through White Lake on the way back to Penticton turned up little except an early Greater Yellowlegs, but did provide some nice scenery, though the water had disappeared from the lake.
Monday, our last full day in the Okanagan, started with a return to Venner Meadows and a 4km walk. As the day before, Black-headed Woodpecker was nowhere to be found. Very vocal and active Cooper's Hawks and a Red-naped Sapsucker nest with young were nice consolations, as were the Pine Siskin and Red Crossbill numbers.
We had some time to kill before going after the next target, so we detoured up the Naramata Bench and visited a couple of favourite wineries - Therapy Vineyards and Poplar Grove. At Therapy, I managed to snag a couple of bottles of their 2011 Artist Series Riesling-Kerner, a spectacular wine which is unfortunately only available in their shop, and soon to sell out. I didn't fare as well at Poplar Grove, where I only managed to get my name on the list for a shot at their 2009 Cab Franc when it is released in the fall.
Post-wining, we made our way up to Casa Cannings, where both Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds were holding court. From there, Russ led us to a much and long-wanted lifer, Flammulated Owl. Apparently this individual bird is likely the source of most of the life ticks in British Columbia. Not a bad way to end the day.
I headed back out to White Lake very early on Tuesday morning, hoping to pick up a couple of last-minute birds before heading home. Despite the mild weather and no rain (which had been on and off all weekend), there were few birds active. Brewer's and Vesper Sparrows sang from the sage, Eastern and Western Kingbirds kept watch from the powerlines, and a family of California Quail bobbled across the road.
Finding no new birds, I returned to Penticton, packed the car with our luggage and my wife (thankfully she doesn't read this blog!) and headed south towards Osoyoos with the aim of hitting a few fruit stands and a few birds. The dark sky above us was split by lightning and the rain made it easy to pull over and seek refuge among endless cherries and bottles of Ogopogo Hot Sauce, both of which came home from me. 40km and 8 fruit stands later, we happily encountered a break in the weather, in the exact vicinity of Nighthawk Rd and the Chopaka Border Crossing.
I had tried to bird Nighthawk on Sunday, but the rain was heavy to begin with, and only increased in intensity every time I got out of the car. Tuesday allowed me to have my wife drop me off near the the border crossing, and head down the road for a nap. The sagebrush along this road has always been a favourite of mine, having turned up Clay-coloured and Grasshopper Sparrow for me in the past.
I had a different bird in mind as I walked up the road. Trying to filter out and listen through the endless song of at least two dozen Western Meadowlarks, plus calling sparrows and Black-billed Magpies, I finally heard what I was waiting for as I approached the wrought iron ranch gate near which my wife had decided to park. Scanning the tops of the sage I saw nothing, until I turned my attention to a small deciduous tree in the middle of it all. Perched near the top was the singer, a male Sage Thrasher! I had considered this new for Canada bird highly unlikely, and had not even included it in my target list, but there it was, singing away in plain sight!
Singing behind me revealed a second bird, eyeing me and singing from a fencepost across the road. The only thing better than an unexpected species is two singing individuals! This was also the first appearance of this less than annual breeder in the Okanagan this year. A perfect way to cap off a great weekend of birding,
Along the way, we also managed to pick up another target, and a long-standing Nemesis Bird for me:
We were first alerted by a begging juvenile. When we tracked the bird down, we saw a sight that left me puzzled. The recently fledged Great Grey Owl was attempting to beg food from an adult Barred Owl! It would move from branch to branch around the Barred, and occassionally would land beside it on the same branch. Bizarre! Eventually we tracked down one adult while another called in the distance. A couple of pictures, and we left them, hoping the real parents would step in for the negligent Barred.
All in all, we found 10 of my original targets plus one big bonus bird. Of these, 4 were lifers, 6 were Canada birds, and 1 was a BC bird. Not a bad trip, though my next target trip will have to be a little further north!
Good birding,
Despite the number of years I have been birding, I was still missing a number of "Okanagan Specialties", and I had previously spent as much time birding in the Washington State Okanogan as I had on our side of the border. I was hoping to correct this and made up my list, checked it twice, and sent off emails hoping for hints to find my targets, which ended up numbering 12.
We were in high spirits when we rolled off the first ferry on Saturday morning but things started to look bad when we passed Hope and the skies opened up in a big way. Luckily, things cleared when we entered Manning Park and started birding. Lightning Lake was quiet, so we moved up to Strawberry Flats, hoping for a couple of specific species. We heard Barred Owl and three Dusky/Sooty Grouse calling, and had a smaller woodpecker fly over, though we couldn't get a good look. Walking around the trails and up the closed road beyond the parking area, we didn't turn up much else, but on the way back a small shape caught my eye, about 60ft up the Poland Lake trail.
Binoculars revealed my first target of the trip, and a lifer!
This male Spruce Grouse was not only very accomodating as it let me approach, but it walked the last bit toward me before lunging at my camera and then my hand! It made quite the show of pumping its tail and grunting at me, and after a couple of pictures we left it alone and continued to the Spruce Bay part of Lightning Lake, where we headed down the Skyline Trail. Despite my falling off a log, in slow motion it seemed, and incurring a few bruises and cuts while trying to track down a soft tapping, we kept going and located target two, 2 separate Three-toed Woodpeckers, a Canada bird.
Princeton turned up a good number of birds, including Ruddy Ducks and American Coots with young, a treat for an Island Birder. Slow birding followed us to Penticton, and I ended the day with a trip down Max Lake Rd, where I picked up target three and another lifer, Common Poorwill.
Sunday morning found us up and out early, with my wife sleeping in the passenger seat (she had caught some kind of bug, and spent most of the weekend sleeping in the passenger sear). We headed up Shuttleworth Rd headed for Venner Meadows, hoping for another dark woodpecker. Despite over three hours of searching, we only managed to find the usual suspects, including Red-naped Sapsucker, Evening Grosbeak, Clark's Nutcracker, etc.
Vaseux Lake treated me better, and I managed to find Chukar and Rock Wren (Canada birds) in very short order. The wrens were singing from many exposed rocks, and the Chukar were hopping from rock to rock across the base of the cliffs. River Rd, north of Oliver, also treated us well, with views of Black-chinned Hummingbird (Canada bird) and Yellow-breasted Chat and Bullock's Oriole singing from the shrubs. A trip down to Km10 of Camp McKinney Rd produced my first Gray Flycatcher for Canada.
A valley favourite, Road 22, was also very birdy in the afternoon, turning up target number eight of the trip, a Veery singing from an exposed perch (BC bird). The ever-present Bobolink were very evident, as were Lazuli Buntings, Grey Catbirds, Yellow-breasted Chats, and others.
A detour through White Lake on the way back to Penticton turned up little except an early Greater Yellowlegs, but did provide some nice scenery, though the water had disappeared from the lake.
Monday, our last full day in the Okanagan, started with a return to Venner Meadows and a 4km walk. As the day before, Black-headed Woodpecker was nowhere to be found. Very vocal and active Cooper's Hawks and a Red-naped Sapsucker nest with young were nice consolations, as were the Pine Siskin and Red Crossbill numbers.
We had some time to kill before going after the next target, so we detoured up the Naramata Bench and visited a couple of favourite wineries - Therapy Vineyards and Poplar Grove. At Therapy, I managed to snag a couple of bottles of their 2011 Artist Series Riesling-Kerner, a spectacular wine which is unfortunately only available in their shop, and soon to sell out. I didn't fare as well at Poplar Grove, where I only managed to get my name on the list for a shot at their 2009 Cab Franc when it is released in the fall.
Post-wining, we made our way up to Casa Cannings, where both Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds were holding court. From there, Russ led us to a much and long-wanted lifer, Flammulated Owl. Apparently this individual bird is likely the source of most of the life ticks in British Columbia. Not a bad way to end the day.
I headed back out to White Lake very early on Tuesday morning, hoping to pick up a couple of last-minute birds before heading home. Despite the mild weather and no rain (which had been on and off all weekend), there were few birds active. Brewer's and Vesper Sparrows sang from the sage, Eastern and Western Kingbirds kept watch from the powerlines, and a family of California Quail bobbled across the road.
Finding no new birds, I returned to Penticton, packed the car with our luggage and my wife (thankfully she doesn't read this blog!) and headed south towards Osoyoos with the aim of hitting a few fruit stands and a few birds. The dark sky above us was split by lightning and the rain made it easy to pull over and seek refuge among endless cherries and bottles of Ogopogo Hot Sauce, both of which came home from me. 40km and 8 fruit stands later, we happily encountered a break in the weather, in the exact vicinity of Nighthawk Rd and the Chopaka Border Crossing.
I had tried to bird Nighthawk on Sunday, but the rain was heavy to begin with, and only increased in intensity every time I got out of the car. Tuesday allowed me to have my wife drop me off near the the border crossing, and head down the road for a nap. The sagebrush along this road has always been a favourite of mine, having turned up Clay-coloured and Grasshopper Sparrow for me in the past.
I had a different bird in mind as I walked up the road. Trying to filter out and listen through the endless song of at least two dozen Western Meadowlarks, plus calling sparrows and Black-billed Magpies, I finally heard what I was waiting for as I approached the wrought iron ranch gate near which my wife had decided to park. Scanning the tops of the sage I saw nothing, until I turned my attention to a small deciduous tree in the middle of it all. Perched near the top was the singer, a male Sage Thrasher! I had considered this new for Canada bird highly unlikely, and had not even included it in my target list, but there it was, singing away in plain sight!
Singing behind me revealed a second bird, eyeing me and singing from a fencepost across the road. The only thing better than an unexpected species is two singing individuals! This was also the first appearance of this less than annual breeder in the Okanagan this year. A perfect way to cap off a great weekend of birding,
Along the way, we also managed to pick up another target, and a long-standing Nemesis Bird for me:
We were first alerted by a begging juvenile. When we tracked the bird down, we saw a sight that left me puzzled. The recently fledged Great Grey Owl was attempting to beg food from an adult Barred Owl! It would move from branch to branch around the Barred, and occassionally would land beside it on the same branch. Bizarre! Eventually we tracked down one adult while another called in the distance. A couple of pictures, and we left them, hoping the real parents would step in for the negligent Barred.
All in all, we found 10 of my original targets plus one big bonus bird. Of these, 4 were lifers, 6 were Canada birds, and 1 was a BC bird. Not a bad trip, though my next target trip will have to be a little further north!
Good birding,
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