Mid October Update

Great Blue Heron-Iona Island

After the Tropical Kingbird and Black-necked Stilt chases, things slowed down quite a bit for me. I had to work 9 days, and nothing new really showed up in Vancouver, or elsewhere. As thanksgiving weekend approached, my plan was to go to Smithers and try for a Rock Ptarmigan on Hudson Bay Mountain. There was only a narrow window of time left for me to find this last species of Ptarmigan.

Lapland Longspur-Iona Jetty

I also stood a chance at finding something rare along the way. The lakes near Vanderhoof boast a number of extremely strange bird records including Ross's Gull and Demoissell Crane. I would be happy with something as dull as a blasted Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, or even a Snow Bunting at this point.

very light Pectoral Sandpiper-Sewage Ponds

compared to regular Pectoral's he really stands out

As per usual, there is always some sort of problem that gets in the way of my master plan, this time it was a show on Friday night that my band was invited to play. I didn't really want to do it, but I was out voted, and it looked like people were actually excited to come to this one, so I figured, no harm no foul. I could do both..right?
Wrong. A day before the show, I started feeling ill, kind of flu-y. The day of the show, I really felt sick, but the show went well. However, the day after, I could not move, let alone drive to Smithers. Everything had been ruined.

Come Sunday, I was feeling okay enough to get off the couch and spend the morning birding with Russell, who was in town for Thanksgiving. We toured around all the spots at Iona, finding a mag flock of Yellow Warblers, but not much else in the way of excitement other than a Short-eared owl who thought he was a Broad-winged Hawk, soaring high above us.

Great Horned Owl-Terra Nova

Great Horned Owl-Terra Nova

That day, a Yellow Wagtail had been seen near where the old Citrine Wagtail showed up last year, just a stones throw down in the small settlement of Royston. Although I was weary of another Ferry excursion, I really had no choice but to go. Russell, Daniele Mitchel, and I all went out that morning. Operation: Wagtail Recovery.

It was a complete failure, and coming home empty handed was only made worse when I got word of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper that had been seen all day at the Pilings, which I had planned on visiting until this Wagtail Mission.

On my last day of this 4-day weekend, I set forth on a Vancouver bird marathon. I started at the Iona Jetty, walking the entire 4km one way to the very end, where I found my first Snow Bunting of the year. Oddly enough, unlike the usual way of feeding along the jetty in the grass, this one was gleaning food from the barnacles way out on the rock spit. He really made me work for him, a good 8 km round trip.

River Otters-tip of the jetty

River Otters

River Otters

River Otters

The rest of the day was spent around the Pilings, hoping to spot the Sharpy. There were hundreds of Plovers, Dunlin, even some Western Sandpipers, a few Sanderlings, a very late Baird's Sandpiper, a Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs side by side, demonstrating their differences, but no Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

Finally able to get decent photos of a Bushtit

Bushtit-Garry Point

Bushtit-Garry Point

I followed a group of Pectorals for hours, hoping the Sharp-tailed would pop out of some heap of dried seaweed, but it never did. Although my four days off were mostly unsuccessful, I at least could take pride in the fact I had been determined enough to even do the amount of birding I had done, considering how terrible I felt.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron