Last of the Curlews

January Birding

2009-02-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

Ugh...I haven't updated this blog in quite some time, even though ive gone out birding quite a bit. Well January is now over and I will just combine all the Highlights of the last few weeks instead of separating them.

Jan 21st.

After the cosmic letdown of not being able to photograph the little Saw-Whet Owl I found in Chilliwack, I was lucky enough to find another one. This time at Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver. It started out as a chase to find a Great Gray Owl that had been reported from Lighthouse Park. Lighthouse park is a large park of Second Growth forest and rocky shoreline. There really is no good habitat for a Great Gray Owl. I wasn't expecting to find it, and I didnt. I spent about an hour or so searching around the point where it was seen and photographed.

There was nothing of interest, and I wondered how that Owl ended up here in the first place. I moved on to Whytecliff park, hoping for atleast a Black Oystercatcher or some sort of Rock shorebird. Again, nothing of real interest.

it was already noon and I was getting tired of birding North Vancouver. It was only the Owl that brought me out there in the first place. I had planned on going to Delta to see a Golden Eagle that had been seen for the last few days. On a side note, the Golden Eagle was found undearneath a power pole suffering from Electrocution. Last I heard it was still at a Wildlife Rescue facility for Raptors. Hopefully it survives.

Even after 3 hours of lackluster birding, I was not about go give up. I went to Maplewood Flats in hope I could find something decent. The feeders were busy with birds, at one point a Towhee, House Finch, and Song Sparrow shared the feeder, only to be replaced by a Red-winged Blackbird. Junco's, Chickadees, and Pine Siskin were also plentiful.

From Finished

Leaving the feeders I walked through the silent forests, I checked the evergreens for signs of Owls. I found whitewash under a few trees, but no Owls. I was about ready to give up, when I heard a commotion about 500 feet off the trail. Some Chickadees were raising quite a racket, even an American Robin had gotten involved. I bushwacked my way to where all the noise was coming from. And I found this little guy.

From Birds

My day turned out not to be a waste afterall.

Jan 25tth

Jan 25th was the day I went after the Golden Eagle, at this point I handn't found out about the electrocution. There seemed to be alot of birders out after the owl. They were pulled over all over the streets of Delta scanning distant trees for the Golden Eagle. I had a few moments where I thought I had found the bird, only to be staring at Juvenile Bald Eagles. I picked up a few good birds, an American Kestrel on 41B St, I found our resident Willet fairly easy. And I got a few good photo's of a couple birds at Reifel. At the end of they day I was at 95 species for the month, with only one more day of birding in January to go.

From Finished Product

Jan 31st.

Jan 31st I set out to make it to a hundred species for the month. I started off at the White Rock Pier. Probably the best place to get Long-tailed Duck, and if you're lucky all 3 scoters at once. It was very windy, and I only got the 2 common scoter species, and I also couldn't locate any Long-tails.

My next location was Redwood Park to pick up a Pileated Woodpecker, and any forest species I had missed over the month. I easily found the Pileated, and added a Stellers Jay as well.

From Finished

It was already getting late, and because of the weather I knew most places would be crowded with joggers and dog walkers. I arrived at Blackie spit, and quickly scanned the tidal inlet. I was lucky and the resident Long-billed Curlew and his 6 man Marbled Godwit posse were easily viewable.

My next stop was Elgin Heritage park for Long-billed Dowitchers. I found them quite easily, a couple Dunlin had joined them.

From Finished

The dowitchers were my 100th species for the month, but i still had some time to kill so I decided to drive over to Boundary Bay for a few more species. Along 72nd Street is a Transfer station that attracts alot of Gulls. There is a field right beside it that usually floods and the Gulls come over to bathe after feeding at the dump. Its probably the best place to hone ID skills as you can get pretty close to them and theres always new gulls coming and going.

I managed to spot a first year Glaucous Gull, as well as one pure Western Gull. I saw an interesting looking gull that I tried to turn into a Kumliens Iceland Gull. It didn't have the right features really, but the wingtip had long streaks of white on it, unlike a Thayer's. I wish I could've got a picture, sadly I don't have a digiscoping set up. My guess is it was just a Thayer's with an abberant plumage or something.

My last stop was 96th Street for the Gyr Falcon that sits atop a radio tower. I was lucky and scoped him out right away. My month list total was now 105. Not bad for January. My final species list is as follows. My only lifer was the Slaty-backed. Hopefully in February I can make it to the interior for the Lesser Black-backed Gull.

January 2009 List

1 Snow Goose
2 Brant
3 Canada Goose
4 Mute Swan
5 Trumpeter Swan
6 Gadwall
7 Eurasian Wigeon
8 American Wigeon
9 Mallard
10 Northern Shoveler
11 Northern Pintail
12 Green-winged Teal
13 Ring-necked Duck
14 Greater Scaup
15 Lesser Scaup
16 Harlequin Duck
17 Surf Scoter
18 White-winged Scoter
19 Bufflehead
20 Common Goldeneye
21 Barrow's Goldeneye
22 Hooded Merganser
23 Common Merganser
24 Red-breasted Merganser
25 Ruffed Grouse
26 Common Loon
27 Pied-billed Grebe
28 Horned Grebe
29 Double-crested Cormorant
30 Pelagic Cormorant
31 Great Blue Heron
32 Black-crowned Night-Heron
33 Bald Eagle
34 Sharp-shinned Hawk
35 Cooper's Hawk Reifel Refuge BC
36 Northern Goshawk
37 Red-tailed Hawk
38 Rough-legged Hawk
39 American Kestrel
40 Gyrfalcon
41 American Coot
42 Sandhill Crane
43 Black-bellied Plover
44 Killdeer
45 Black Oystercatcher
46 Spotted Sandpiper
47 Greater Yellowlegs
48 Willet
49 Lesser Yellowlegs
50 Long-billed Curlew
51 Marbled Godwit
52 Black Turnstone
53 Sanderling
54 Dunlin
55 Long-billed Dowitcher
56 Wilson's Snipe
57 Mew Gull
58 Ring-billed Gull
59 Western Gull
60 California Gull
61 Herring Gull
62 Thayer's Gull
63 Slaty-backed Gull
64 Glaucous-winged Gull
65 Glaucous Gull
66 Rock Pigeon
67 Great Horned Owl
69 Belted Kingfisher
70 Downy Woodpecker
71 Hairy Woodpecker
72 Northern Flicker
73 Pileated Woodpecker
74 Northern Shrike
75 Steller's Jay
76 Northwestern Crow
77 Common Raven
78 Black-capped Chickadee
79 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
80 Bushtit
81 Red-breasted Nuthatch
82 Brown Creeper
83 Bewick's Wren
84 Winter Wren
85 Marsh Wren
86 Golden-crowned Kinglet
87 American Robin
88 Varied Thrush Stanley
89 European Starling
90 Bohemian Waxwing
91 Cedar Waxwing Stanley
92 Spotted Towhee
93 Fox Sparrow
94 Song Sparrow
95 White-crowned Sparrow
96 Golden-crowned Sparrow
97 Dark-eyed Junco
98 Red-winged Blackbird
99 Brewer's Blackbird
100 Purple Finch
101 House Finch
102 Red Crossbill
103 Pine Siskin
104 American Goldfinch
105 House Sparrow

105 Species
1 New Species

Duh..OH!

2009-01-19T20:33:00.002-08:00

So Sunday I went out to Island 22 in hopes of my first Western Screech Owl. Gord from the Fraser Valley Birds posted a picture on the Fraser Valley rare birding forum. The Screech Owl is a pretty rare bird nowadays in Greater Vancouver area. The habitat they used to reside in has been overthrown by the larger, Barred Owl.

A recent study by one Ornithologist, found Screech Owls absent from over 75% of locations where they were once known to breed. In the Fraser Valley, Screech Owls are still relatively common, for Owls atleast.

So when I got to Island 22, I started methodically checking each evergreen tree. After about an hour, I saw a large Hemlock that was very Isolated in a forest of Decidious Brush. I had to bushwack myself towards the tree, I still have scratches from the Thorns. When I made it to the tree, I was startled to find a pair of gorgeous eyes staring down at me. It wasn't the Screech Owl, but a Saw Whet Owl.

Here's where there should be a really good picture of a Saw Whet Owl. Unfortunately, im an idiot, and I forgot to put the battery back in my camera before I left in the morning. It was till back at home, sitting on the charger! Cosmic Letdown...

Anyways, after seeing this Owl, and realizing I had no camera, I was dreading what other wonders I would find. I didn't find anything to match the Saw Whet, but I did find a Great Horned, roosting at eye level, another photo opportunity wasted by my absent mindedness. I flusehd two Ruffed Grouse, a pleasant suprise, as these are almost extirpated from the Greater Vancouver area. On the way home I spotted an American Kestrel on the wires along Highway one.

-Ryan

Canadian Waterbird Survey

2009-01-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

I did the CWS survey on Thursday, for the first time. My route is from the Bridge to Brockton Point in Stanley Park. Doing the count I realized why I rarely bird the seawall, even early in the morning, its still very popular for Joggers/Bikers/Dog Walkers, and the rest of the ilk that birders usually try to avoid at all costs.

There was dense fog, that did not dissapate for the 2 hours and some I spent walking the seawall. I was a little dissapointed in the birding, I thought there would be more species of waterbird. Gone were the Rafts of Scoters, I have seen over the years in winter. I only saw one Common Loon, and since the tide was in, there was no chance of any rock shorebirds.

The only highlight of the day, was a non waterbird Cedar Waxwing.

From Finished Product

There were lots of Barrow's Goldeney and Buffleheads, nothing else really. It was a nice walk, though cold. Hopefully the birding gets better..cause I have to do this route every second Sunday of the Month.

Barrow's Goldeneye

From Finished Product

After finishing the Watercount, my lust for birds was still not satiated. I decided to try my luck at Maplewood. Maplewood was pretty quiet, I spent most of my time at the garden by the nature hut entrance, trying to photograph feeder birds. I managed to get a few of a nice looking House Finch. Also a lone Pine Siskin feeding on the ground.

House Finch

From Finished Product

Pine Siskin

From Finished Product

-Ryan

Search for the Slaty Back

2009-01-12T00:29:00.000-08:00

One or two Slaty-backed Gulls usually show up each winter on the Lower Mainland, Sadly most of the time they reside in the Greater Vancouver Landfill. A zone with restricted access, though every winter a few birders gain access for the Christmas Bird Count. Sometimes they are found in the farm fields surrounding the dump. And I’ve spent a good many hours with my scope seeking one out. So when I heard that a Birder in the Fraser valley had found on at a Transfer station in Abbotsford about a week ago while on the Christmas bird count. Gord, operator of the Fraser Valley Birding website( http://www.bcbirding.proboards3.com/index.cgi)found the gull on top of a roof that holds trash waiting to be transferred to the dump.

Now I’ve yet to post my top ten species to see in 2009, but I can tell you that Slaty-backed Gull was on it. So when I found out about the sighting, I made sure this Saturday I would go out there to do my darndest to find the bird.

I arrived at the Transfer station without too much difficulty, the directions I got from Gord were spot on. I had my hot cup of coffee, my scope, my camera, binoculars, Superdrag on the stereo, I was ready for my first lifer of the year. I wasn’t exactly sure what a Transfer station was, or how I would even see the Gull. I knew it was off limits, but apparently all the gulls sat on the roof of a large garbage warehouse. I pulled my car to the side of the road and started scanning the gulls on the roof, here’s what I was looking at.

From Jan10th

I was dismayed as I finished scoping the gulls to come up with nothing. There were the standard Glaucous-winged Gulls, the Glaucous-winged hybrids, I did pick out one Herring Gull, and there were also a few Thayer’s. But nothing stood out with a dark-back. I tried getting a look in through the door of the warehouse. Gulls were inside ruffling through the trash, and bursting into flight when a tractor came roaring in. This bird could be anywhere.

I have terrible luck with chasing rare birds. The birds I’ve missed would add up to an impressive life list. But one thing I’ve learned over the years, is when you get there and the birds not there, don’t give up. In my earlier years when a bird wasn’t there I would usually head off on my merry way, only to learn later that the bird came back later on. No if you want the rewards of rarity, you sometimes gotta tough it out. So by now after an hour of waiting, my coffee was almost done and I was getting a little impatient. I decided I needed a refill, and maybe I could check around the recycling depot, as Gord said Gulls also hung around there.

No luck at the Depot, but after about half an hour I returned with hot coffee, and renewed energy. I got out my scope and started again, to go over the 50-60 gulls sitting on the roof. I was starting to think I was not going to see this bird, when one of the Gulls right on the edge of the roof caught my eye. It had a finely streaked head, with a dusky yellow eye. Not the startling, almost evil yellow eye I was expecting, but definitely not a dark eye like Glaucous-winged. My initial thought was maybe Herring? I was almost going to train the scope away from the Gull when he turned just slightly, revealing a dark, very dark wing…I exclaimed out loud, not worrying weather any of the people at the dump my hear me. I started getting excited, but still, at this angle, it would be impossible to really judge the darkness of the wing, as lighting is very manipulative, instead of waiting for the Gull to show me, I quickly drove to a better angle and hopped out, feverishly setting up the scope.

Aha!

From Jan10th

I just got my first lifer of 2009, and my 328th on my life list.
Sadly with my camera, the light, and my digital zoom, the pictures aren’t the best. I really need to also get a dig scoping set up, oh I don’t know how these birders afford all this stuff.
But yes, Success, what a nice feeling.

By now 3 hours had slipped away, but I didn’t feel like going home. Even though the rain was a constant, I toured the Fraser valley, turning up very little in bird life, but enjoying the drive. I will leave this with a few pictures of the rest of my day.

From Jan10th

From My Pictures

-Ryan

2008 Year List

2009-01-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

my goal for 2008 was 250 species, and I made exactly that. Thanks in part to a small trip to Las Vegas, that was for the most part non birding related. 16 lifers this year, almost half coming from the vegas trip, the rest were rarities, or birds that have been nemesis' for me, like Long-eared Owl.
Then there was the Cackling Goose which I hadn't realized was a separate species until this year.

1. Greater White-fronted Goose
2. Snow Goose
* 3. Ross's Goose
4. Brant
* 5. Cackling Goose
6. Canada Goose
7. Mute Swan
8. Trumpeter Swan
9. Wood Duck
10. Gadwall
11. Eurasian Wigeon
12. American Wigeon
13. Mallard
14. Blue-winged Teal
15. Cinnamon Teal
16. Northern Shoveler
17. Northern Pintail
18. Green-winged Teal
19. Canvasback
20. Redhead
21. Ring-necked Duck
* 22. Tufted Duck
23. Greater Scaup
24. Lesser Scaup
25. Harlequin Duck
26. Surf Scoter
27. White-winged Scoter
28. Black Scoter
29. Bufflehead
30. Common Goldeneye
31. Barrow's Goldeneye
32. Hooded Merganser
33. Common Merganser
34. Red-breasted Merganser
35. Ruddy Duck
36. Chukar
37. Ring-necked Pheasant
38. Ruffed Grouse
39. Sooty Grouse
40. Dusky Grouse
41. Wild Turkey
42. California Quail
* 43. Gambel's Quail
44. Pacific Loon
45. Common Loon
46. Red-throated Loon
47. Pied-billed Grebe
48. Horned Grebe
49. Red-necked Grebe
50. Eared Grebe
51. Western Grebe
* 52. Clark's Grebe
53. American White Pelican
54. Brandt's Cormorant
55. Double-crested Cormorant
56. Pelagic Cormorant
57. American Bittern
58. Great Blue Heron
59. Green Heron
60. Black-crowned Night-Heron
61. Turkey Vulture
62. Osprey
63. Bald Eagle
64. Northern Harrier
65. Sharp-shinned Hawk
66. Cooper's Hawk
67. Red-tailed Hawk
68. Rough-legged Hawk
69. American Kestrel
70. Merlin
71. Gyrfalcon
72. Peregrine Falcon
73. Prairie Falcon
74. Virginia Rail
75. Sora
76. American Coot
77. Sandhill Crane
78. Black-bellied Plover
79. American Golden-Plover
80. Pacific Golden-Plover
81. Semipalmated Plover
82. Killdeer
83 Black Oystercatcher
84. Spotted Sandpiper
85. Greater Yellowlegs
86. Willet
87. Lesser Yellowlegs
89. Whimbrel
90. Long-billed Curlew
91. Marbled Godwit
92. Ruddy Turnstone
93. Black Turnstone
94. Red Knot
95. Sanderling
96. Semipalmated Sandpiper
97. Western Sandpiper
98. Least Sandpiper
99. Baird's Sandpiper
100. Pectoral Sandpiper
101. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
102. Dunlin
103. Short-billed Dowitcher
104. Long-billed Dowitcher
105. Wilson's Snipe
106. Wilson's Phalarope
107. Red-necked Phalarope
108. Mew Gull
109. Ring-billed Gull
110. Western Gull
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)
111. California Gull
112. Herring Gull
113. Thayer's Gull
114. Glaucous-winged Gull
115. Glaucous Gull
116. Caspian Tern
*117. Forster's Tern
118. Rock Pigeon
119. Band-tailed Pigeon
*120. Eurasian Collared-Dove
121. Mourning Dove
122. Barn Owl
123. Great Horned Owl
*124. Northern Hawk Owl
125. Barred Owl
*126. Long-eared Owl
127. Short-eared Owl
128. Common Nighthawk
129. Common Poorwill
130. Black Swift
131. Vaux's Swift
132. White-throated Swift
133. Anna's Hummingbird
134. Calliope Hummingbird
135. Rufous Hummingbird
136. Belted Kingfisher
137. Lewis's Woodpecker
138. Red-breasted Sapsucker
139. Downy Woodpecker
140. Hairy Woodpecker
141. Northern Flicker
142. Pileated Woodpecker
143. Olive-sided Flycatcher
144. Western Wood-Pewee
145. Willow Flycatcher
146. Least Flycatcher
147. Hammond's Flycatcher
148. Gray Flycatcher
149. Dusky Flycatcher
150. Pacific-slope Flycatcher
151. Say's Phoebe
*152. Tropical Kingbird
153. Western Kingbird
154. Eastern Kingbird
155. Northern Shrike
156. Cassin's Vireo
157. Warbling Vireo
158. Red-eyed Vireo
159. Gray Jay
160. Steller's Jay
161. Blue Jay
162. Clark's Nutcracker
163. Black-billed Magpie
164. American Crow
165. Northwestern Crow
166. Common Raven
167. Horned Lark
168. Purple Martin
169. Tree Swallow
170. Violet-green Swallow
171. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
172. Bank Swallow
173. Cliff Swallow
174. Barn Swallow
175. Black-capped Chickadee
176. Mountain Chickadee
177. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
*178. Verdin
179. Bushtit
180. Red-breasted Nuthatch
181. Brown Creeper
182. Rock Wren
183. Canyon Wren
184. Bewick's Wren
185. House Wren
186. Winter Wren
187. Marsh Wren
188. American Dipper
189. Golden-crowned Kinglet
190. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
*191. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
192. Western Bluebird
193. Mountain Bluebird
194. Townsend's Solitaire
195. Swainson's Thrush
196. Hermit Thrush
197. American Robin
198. Varied Thrush
199. Northern Mockingbird
*200. Crissal Thrasher
201. European Starling
202. American Pipit
203. Cedar Waxwing
204. Bohemian Waxwing
205. Orange-crowned Warbler
206. Nashville Warbler
207. Yellow Warbler
208. Yellow-rumped Warbler
209. Black-throated Gray Warbler
210. Townsend's Warbler
211. MacGillivray's Warbler
212. Common Yellowthroat
213. Wilson's Warbler
214. Western Tanager
215. Spotted Towhee
*216. Abert's Towhee
217. American Tree Sparrow
218. Chipping Sparrow
219. Clay-colored Sparrow
220. Brewer's Sparrow
221. Vesper Sparrow
222. Lark Sparrow
223. Savannah Sparrow
224. Fox Sparrow
225. Song Sparrow
226. Lincoln's Sparrow
227. White-crowned Sparrow
228. Golden-crowned Sparrow
229. Dark-eyed Junco
230. Black-headed Grosbeak
231. Lazuli Bunting
232. Bobolink
233. Red-winged Blackbird
234. Western Meadowlark
235. Yellow-headed Blackbird
236. Brewer's Blackbird
*237. Great-tailed Grackle
238. Brown-headed Cowbird
239. Bullock's Oriole
240. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
241. Purple Finch
242. Cassin's Finch
243. House Finch
244. Pine Grosbeak
245. Red Crossbill
246. Pine Siskin
*247. Lesser Goldfinch
248. American Goldfinch
249. Evening Grosbeak
250. House Sparrow

Total Species: 250
New Species: 16

And the year begins

2009-01-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

While everyone else was still hungover in their beds, or their gutters. I was trudging through a fresh five centimeters of snow, on top of another foot or so, feet already soaked, looking for my first rarity of the year.

A few days ago, a Northern Goshawk was reported from the ponds at Jericho beach. Last year an immature had spent the winter, and it was believed to be the same individual. To make things more interesting, another Goshawk, an immature was also seen. Some speculated it was the returning adult, with its offspring.

From the parking lot I quickly spotted 2 Bohemian Waxwings up at the top of a willow tree. My first for the winter!

Walking towards the ponds, I passed through some low shrubbery, I paused when I noticed a couple of bunnies, I was surprised when 3 more came out of the dense brush, they were all very curious of me. Obviously these were all at one time pets, and it was sort of heartbreaking to see these guys out in the snow, I’m pretty sure they were hungry, especially in the snow.

From jan1st

Birds were active everywhere in the snow. I counted at least ten Spotted Towhees, lots of Fox and Song Sparrows, and a few White-crowns as well.

Halfway to the ponds I spotted the shape of a raptor sitting in a willow tree, I got a look at it just before it took off, I only saw it from the back, but it was obviously the adult Goshawk. It was being harassed by crows, but by the time I had walked around the pond, it had flown back into the willows, above the only open water, which was teaming with ducks. The Goshawk has adopted a simple feeding plan, it waits above the open water, and picks off Widgeons one by one. This has probably been made a lot easier with the freezing of Jericho ponds, as all the ducks are crowded together and really have no option of escape when a Goshawk comes barreling down on them. For whatever reason he seems to always pick off Widgeon, even though the Mallards outnumber them 2:1.

Northern Goshawk

From jan1st

I followed the beach on my way back, there wasn’t much out on Georgia straight, but I did see a single Sanderling.

Sanderling

From jan1st

After Jericho, I hit up Stanley Park. Lost Lagoon was also mostly frozen over. Where there was open water, I found a Common Goldeneye, eight Ring-necked Duck, and the resident pair of Mute Swans.

Common Goldeneye

From jan1st

Ring-necked Duck

From jan1st

Mute Swan

From jan1st

After Stanley Park I headed out to Maplewood Flats. I met Illya(again) as well as Rob Lyske, who is the resident Maplewood birder. I birded Maplewood with them, it was really quiet through the forests. I did however find a Lesser Yellowlegs on the shoreline, along with Greater Yellowlegs and California Gull. They had seen a Spotted Sandpiper there earlier, I was not as lucky. John Reynolds, another North shore birder met up with us. I was introduced as Ryan aka “Tropical Kingbird Ryan”. I think its pretty funny that that’s how I am now known amongst the birders, which is actually pretty cool. I think I’ve gone relatively unknown since I’ve been in Vancouver. It’s nice to be recognized for once as being a decent birder who knows what he’s doing.

After Maplewood I probably should’ve called it in, but instead of going home and drying off my feet, I drove out to Iona. I thought maybe I could find something interesting in the sewage lagoons. When I arrived I saw that no birder had set foot in there for quite some time, with good reason, the Lagoons were frozen over, and I didn’t really find anything special. One pond was open and I got Gadwall and Shoveler, birds I hadn’t seen on the day.

I had a good chuckle walking back to my car. Here it was New Years Day, everyone had gone out and partied last night, and I had gone to bed early, and now was walking through the snow around the Sewage Ponds. And yet I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The only birder to bother

From jan1st

BIg Day 2008!

2008-12-31T22:53:00.000-08:00

So December has been the month from hell, literally. It’s like hell just opened up here in the Lower Mainland, but instead of spewing molten lava, decided to spew loads and loads of snow. This snow, well I don’t like it. My car was stuck on and off for 3 days, and when I could drive, it was only on main roads and barely at that. I mention this because my December list for 08 ranks as the worst species total ever. As of last night it was at 58! 58?, I’ve never fallen under 100 species since I’ve lived here. Its almost impossible not to see 100 species every month, the only months that should give you trouble would be June and July, that’s when there’s the least amount of species, because really Vancouver is about Migrants, or wintering birds. Not a lot of birds breed here, well compared to other places, we just don’t have the Warblers like the interior has, nor do we even have the waterfowl, as most of the waterfowl that graces our home turf, leaves to nest in greener pastures.
But anyways, last night I came up with a wild idea; why don’t I have a big day, to end the year of 2008? That way I can make my 100 species for the month, and do something I’ve never really done on my own before. Usually by 1-2pm I pack it in. But not this time! I decided I was going to do it from Dawn until Dusk. So let me tell you all about it.

So I went to bed about 2 in the morning, my plan was to wake up at 630am. I set my alarm, and the next thing I know its 630am. Nope, not going to happen, I reset my alarm for 7am. Nope not going to happen, finally at 730 I drag my ass out of bed. I don’t know how I did it, if I had to go to work I probably would’ve called in sick, but this is birding man, its um…in my blood.

830 A:M - Tsawassen Ferry Jetty

Well my plan was to start at the Tswassen.This is the only place to find Willet in the lower mainland, actually there’s just one Willet, the same one that has been here for like 10 years. I don’t know why one Willet chose to stay here, but it did.
There was a terrible wind, the tide was in, and I could barely hold my scope steady. Basically, I saw next to nothing, the only reward was this one delightful little Black Oystercatcher:

I had planned on going to Beach Grove, but since I was already late, I decided my best bet was to go straight to Reifel, along the way I found a field full of Black-bellied Plover, and a few Dunlin. I also spotted a Eurasian Collared Dove.

11:00 A:M Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary

On the way into Reifel, I noticed another car pulled over, and right away saw the dark shape sitting in a bare tree, it was a Great Horned Owl, he looked fairly agitated, unfortunately he was backlit, but I’m subjecting you to see this picture anyways…haaaa!

Of course the main reason to hit up Reifel are the species that you can only find there. Black-Crowned Night Heron, Sandhill Crane, and its probably the best place to find the most species of Owls. I found a Barn owl in the big tree by the parking lot. This tree is an Owl magnet, its hosted Boreal, Saw-Whet, Barn, Barred, and Great Horned. And its probably hosted more than that, that’s just what I’ve seen there.
There were reports of a Townsend’s Solitaire around the entrance but however I had no such luck. The Night-Heron was there though:

Probably the best bird of the day for me was this American Bittern. I’ve only seen 5 in my life, and 4 of them were at Reifel, I just managed to catch this guy walking back into the reeds. Five seconds later and I never would’ve noticed him.

Reifel gave me a lot of species, but because most of the ponds were still frozen over, I missed a lot of Waterfowl. I have never, ever not seen a Wood Duck at Reifel, but I guess this was a first, also missed Northern Shoveler. Other notable species that I DID see were five Cedar Waxwings, and ok so that was the only other notable species: Here’s some pictures of other birds I saw:

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Bewick’s Wren

Greater Scaup

Red-tailed Hawk

So after Reifel I made my way to Boundary Bay. I went to one of my luckiest locations, 64th Street. This is where I found a Tropical Kingbird in October, the rarest bird I have ever found on my own before anyone else. I will talk more about this some other time. So when I was there I ran into Illya, a young birder, younger than me, and with a bigger life list! I’ve seen him around a lot, enough to know who he is. I walked with him for a bit discussing some birds, we were looking for the Northern Mockingbird that had been staying around 64th for the last 2 weeks. I saw it last week, but this time it was a no show, neither were the 5 Savannah Sparrows I had also seen that week.

I went on to 72nd Street where I met up with Mike Tabak. While there I got a Short-eared Owl, and he mentioned about a 1st Winter Glaucous Gull along 72nd by the Turf Farm, I managed to find that one ok. I then went to 96th to find the Gyrfalcon that regularly sits on a giant airplane tower. I pulled my car up onto the Dyke, which you aren’t allowed to do, and I’m always nervous about doing, because one time I got yelled at for it, but I wasn’t about to walk 2 km to see the Gyrfalcon. I managed to scope it right away, it was already 3pm, so I had to scrap any plans of going to Jericho Park for a Northern Goshawk. I figured the best bet was Blackie Spit, because I knew there would at least be a Long-billed Curlew, as well as Marbled Godwits.
My risk paid off, as they were right where they were supposed to be.

Long-billed Curlew

These guys seem to winter there every year. Its really interesting how Vancouver has these places where a bird will come back each year, but only to a certain location. You can’t find a Willet anywhere else but one spot, you can’t find a Black-crowned Night-Heron anywhere else, nor can you find a Long-billed Curlew. Anyways, I didn’t really come close to 100 species, the final total was 76. Which I guess is pretty good, since I started late, and the weather basically ruined the first 2 hours.
Tomorrow I may try to best 76, with a Big Day to start off 2009!
-Ryan

Big Day December 31st.
1. Pacific Loon
2. Common Loon
3. Horned Grebe
4. Pelagic Cormorant
5. Double-crested Cormorant
6. American Bittern
7. Great Blue Heron
8. Black-crowned Night-Heron
9. Trumpeter Swan
10. Snow Goose
11. Canada Goose
12. Brant
13. Mallard
14. Northern Pintail
15. Gadwall
16. American Widgeon
17. Eurasian Widgeon
18. Green-winged Teal
19. Lesser Scaup
20. Greater Scaup
21. Harlequin Duck
22. Surf Scoter
23. Common Goldeneye
24. Bufflehead
25. Red-breasted Merganser
26. Hooded Merganser
27. Northern Harrier
28. Red-tailed Hawk
29. Rough-legged Hawk
30. Bald Eagle
31. Gyrfalcon
32. American Coot
33. Sandhill Crane
34. Black-bellied Plover
35. Black Oystercatcher
36. Greater Yellowlegs
37. Long-billed Curlew
38. Marbled Godwit
39. Dunlin
40. Mew Gull
41. Ring-billed Gull
42. California Gull
43. Herring Gull
44. Thayer’s Gull
45. Glaucous Gull
46. Glaucous-winged Gull
47. Western Gull
48. Rock Dove
49. Eurasian Collared Dove
50. Barn Owl
51. Short-eared Owl
52. Great Horned Owl
53. Northern Flicker
54. Downy Woodpecker
55. Northern Shrike
56. Northwestern Crow
57. Black-capped Chickadee
58. Brown Creeper
59. Marsh Wren
60. Bewick’s Wren
61. Golden-crowned Kinglet
62. Varied Thrush
63. American Robin
64. Cedar Waxwing
65. European Starling
66. Spotted Towhee
67. Fox Sparrow
68. Song Sparrow
69. Dark-eyed Junco
70. White-crowned Sparrow
71. Golden-crowned Sparrow
72. Red-winged Blackbird
73. Brewer’s Blackbird
74. House Finch
75. Purple Finch
76. House Sparrow

The Inaugeral Post

2008-12-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess this is it. I have finally done the inevitable, I have finally decided I need to share my birding experiences with the general public, instead of hiding my lists away in binders, for I dunno my grandson to find some 50 years later. Yes, I guess every birder may come to this point where they want to become exhibitionists. Well if nothing else, maybe I can show people I have a personality, I may be obsessed with these feathered creatures, but I can have fun with it as well?

Ahem, anyways, where to start? I've been a "birder" since the ripe age of thirteen. Though, in reality, I've always had a fascination with our natural world ever since I can remember. I attribute a lot of this with my grandfather. Since I was old enough to walk, every Sunday him and my Grandmother would take me out to lakes, parks, or bird sanctuaries. We would drive through Kootenay National Park, all of us intently waiting the next animal we would see on the road. My grandfather always liked to see Herons, in Cranbrook where I grew up they were not so common as on the coast.

I guess just appreciating nature in that way would probably have sufficed me for the rest of my life, but it wasn't until I was 13 and on vacation with my mom that I discovered birding. It was in a book store outside of Vernon, where I used some of my vacation money to purchase the Stokes guide to Birds of Western North America. It was my second official field guide, my first being that old Audubon’s field guide, the one with the pictures in one place and the descriptions in the other. Back then I thought that book was the bees knees, now I cringe when I look at the god awful photographs. They blurry flycatchers, the bleached out Goldeneyes. I still have it of course, and even the updated ones, I love collecting bird books no matter how irrelevant.
Anyways, it wasn’t exactly the field guide itself, the pictures were a step up from the Audubon’s, and I liked that each page had the range map and description right there. It was the opening writing. Donald and Lillian Stokes talked about how birdwatchers could keep lists, life lists, month lists, location lists. It had never occurred to me before!

It was that August of 07 I made my first Life list, it was a decent list I guess, for a starter. Even before I was a birder, I still loved and watched birds, I think it was somewhere below 100 species. I also started my August month list, which turned out to be like 57 species.
Even though I started listing, I still had no idea there were real birders out there. I lived in Cranbrook, and I had never seen a birder before. I didn't have internet out there, there was no such thing as bird groups, or list servs, or rare bird alerts. I just figured I was some weird kid who was doing something really lame. My friends never even knew I was a birder for like 3 years, then one day they caught me alone in my room, feverishly devouring a Birders World mag.

Anyways, its been 14 years and my life list is still fairly small compared to a lot of people, but too be fair 85 percent of it consists of birds I’ve seen in southern B.C. But from now on I guess my birding experiences shall not just be stored in my mind, or in my binders, nor on my Ebird account. They shall now be public record...on this said blog..last of the curlews.

-Ryan