Wednesday, April 27, 2016

RBA: White-cheeked Starling in Tofino - April 27-29th

On the morning of April 27th, 2016  at 7:30am Adrian Dorst found and photographed a White-cheeked Starling in Tofino as it fed on the second fairway at the Long Beach Golf Course. This bird could be ship assisted or an escapee. This would be the first ABA record if accepted. There is one other record from 1998 in Homer, Alaska but it was rejected due to provenance. The bird was seen by multiple observers on April 28th and 29th in the same location.

There are specific rules in place to view this bird. Birders are welcome early in the morning before the golfers arrive but must be out by 8:30am. When parking at the Golf Course please do not block any gates. Please stay off the green entirely when looking for or viewing this bird. Patience is key with this bird and it is best for one to stay in one place and wait until the bird appears. Please be respectful of these rules as the Golf Course management is generously opening it up to birders.

Evenings may be a possibility but only with a guide  and Wednesday and Thursday evenings are exempt.

The location for the Long Beach Golf Course is 1850 Pacific Rim Hwy, Tofino.

There has been no sightings of the bird on April 30th or May 1st.

Photo: Adrian Dorst

3 comments:

  1. Congrats to Adrian Dorst on his 300 th species for the west coast. Adrian is a tireless birder who is always searching through all the usual suspects and has had some great rarities in his 30 years of tallying West Coast birds

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  2. Perfect timing! Come and tick this mega and stay for the 19th annual Tofino shorebird festival! Still a few spots left on the pelagic trips....

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  3. Bird was seen by Aziza and me in the evening of April 28, and by a few out of province birders on the morning of April 29. My guess is a few of the shorebird festival attendees will be keeping tabs on it!

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