Cassin's Finch in Atlin!

Well folks it's been a slow winter for unusual sightings in British Columbia (at least on a provincial scale), so I thought I would post this remarkable feeder report from Atlin, British Columbia. This is our first report ever on the blog from Atlin so that's exciting in its own right! Not far from the Yukon border, one would not expect too much diversity at a bird feeder, but as you can see from Cameron Eckert's report below--the finches are putting on a show!

Cameron was following up on a report/photos of a potential Cassin's Finch seen by Hein and Wil de Vries in late January. On Feb 2 he made the drive down from Whitehorse and followed up with this report]

"It was -30C when I left Whitehorse at 7:30am this morning, and 2 hours later rolled into Atlin, just in time for sunrise, where it was a pleasant -24C with a light north wind. It was a stunning blue-sky day with a curtain of ice fog drifting over Atlin Lake which has yet to freeze. Despite the current cold snap, it's been a record-warm winter.

The de Vries' yard was awash in Pine Siskins when I arrived, though the first two birds I spotted were the Cassin's Finch and the American Tree Sparrow. Over the next couple of hours I also tallied 3 Purple Finches, 20 Common Redpolls, 8 Pine Grosbeaks, 1 Downy Woodpecker, 1 adult White-crowned Sparrow, 2 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 6 Common Ravens, as well as a flock of 53 Snow Buntings in the meadow across the street. 

There is only one Yukon winter record for Purple Finch, so I assume that it's similarly rare in winter in Atlin. This is the first record that I know of for Cassin's Finch in Atlin -- thanks to Hein and Wil for getting the word out about these interesting birds.

Cassin's Finch (Photo: C. Eckert). Note the bold streaks in the undertail and relatively straight culmen.

When I dropped by later in the day, the Cassin's Finch was singing a long rambling "subsong" -- fairly easy to pick out from the cacophony of siskins."

--Cameron Eckert

**So, first record for Atlin, and possibly the northern most Canadian record of the species?**

Dec. 28--BOREAL OWL on Race Rocks for Sooke CBC!

The Sooke CBC took place on December 28th and at the end of the day one bird's name was creating quite the buzz.  Race Rocks ecoguardian Alex Fletcher picked up Val George and Garry Fletcher and brought them over to Race Rocks.  Nobody expected this little boat ride would turn up the first record of Boreal Owl for the Victoria checklist area!

Incredible shot of southern Vancouver Island area's first Boreal Owl (Photo: Val George)

Race Rocks is not accessible to the public as it is an ecological reserve.  For more information on this sighting, head on over to the Race Rocks Log to read an account, including more photos, from Garry Fletcher: http://www.racerocks.ca/wp/

Dec 25--Ancient Murrelet lands in Clearwater

While not a provincial rarity, it's always notable when a murrelet turns up inland and even more so when it is captured alive! This poor fellow was found by Allen Selbee in his backyard in Clearwater. He believes it struck his window before pushing its way penguin-style through some snow before he trapped it and brought it inside. Apparently it was taking some food but no word as to how it's currently doing. Obviously it must have been pretty weak and cold to end up in that position. Will update again soon. Special thanks to Dennis Leonard for getting this report out.

Update: Unfortunately this bird has passed away despite having eaten well upon capture.

Autopsy Report courtesy of Ildiko at the UBC vert museum:

"Cause of death was extreme starvation which can be from malnutrition or extended migration.

The breast muscles had atrophied but more importantly the liver and other internal organs had shrunk to about 1/3 normal size.  In such cases the heart remains the same size or grows slightly."

Dec 18--SNOWY PLOVER--Pacific Rim National Park

On December 18th, Robin Kite observed a colour-banded Snowy Plover on Wickanninish Beach (south end of Long Beach, near the Pacific Rim National Park visitor's centre). Frances Bidstrup of Point Reyes Bird Observatory confirms that this bird was banded as a fledgling near Centerville Beach, California this summer (2014). This is the 19th record for BC.

The bird was not seen since Dec 18th.

Dec 18-22--Northern Mockingbird in Lillooet

Jeff O'Kelly found this Northern Mockingbird at a private residence in Lillooet and Ian Routley snapped this great record shot on Dec 22. It's been a somewhat slow winter season for rarities in BC so it's nice to see this report from the upper Fraser.

Dec 9- Jan 9: Lesser Black-backed Gull continuing in Fraser Valley

First discovered on November 4th by Rick Toochin, this Lesser Black-backed Gull (one of very few records for the BC coast) has been tough to pin down over the last month. Rick refound it today (Dec 9) near the junction of Vye and Bowman Rds in Sumas Prairie, near Abbotsford.

Photo: Rick Toochin

Dec 20--Rick reports seeing it at the end of Schneider Rd foraging with Glaucous-winged Gulls.
Jan 9-- Gord Gadsen reports seeing the bird on Annis Rd in Chilliwack.

Retro Report: White-winged Dove in Steveston, BC (2002)

Alan Moat just rediscovered some photos he has of a White-winged Dove his daughter Janice spotted at their home roughly 12 years ago. This bird was not reported at the time and the photos went missing until just recently. Unfortunately the exact date cannot be ascertained at this time but Alan believes it was in the spring of 2002. Thanks for digging this up Alan!

Believe it or not this would be the first-record for the Vancouver checklist area!!!

Photo: Alan Moat [Steveston (Richmond) circa ~spring 2002]

Dec 1-6: WHITE-EYED VIREO near Nelson, BC (First Provincial Record)

UPDATE: No reported sightings on Dec 7. Apparently a 3-hour search was unsuccessful

UPDATE: RELOCATED ON DECEMBER 6th at 11am (Same area as on 5th)

UPDATE: RELOCATED ON DECEMBER 5th at 1:15 P.M.
From Janice Arndt: "It was seen close to yesterday's location, about 20-30 metres towards the lake from where Paul placed a ribbon (note: there are various bits of ribbon tied to bushes and trees in the area; I assumed the pink- and silver-striped ribbon was Paul's). I was able to watch the vireo for a minute or two and during that time it found and swallowed a substantial but unidentified food item from a hawthorn tree, which was nice to see. There were also a few Golden-crowned Kinglets nearby."

UPDATE: RELOCATED ON DECEMBER 4th at 12:00 P.M.
Paul Prappas and Craig Sandvig's diligent efforts paid off today.  Paul wrote on wkbirds: "The bird was located in a completely different part of Kokanee Creek Park from where we first discovered it.  Enter the park at Redfish Campground, go over the bridge, and head down to the river mouth. From the river mouth take the trail to your left, fork to the right and follow it along the grasslands which are on your right.  At the Grassland Trail junction, the bird was found.  We've tied a pink ribbon at that place."

Sweet, sweet documentation! (Photo: Paul Prappas)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is fresh off the press - Paul Prappas wrote on wkbirds:

"Today, December 1, while conducting the Waterfowl count, Gary Davidson, Carolee Colter and I found an extremely out of range White-eyed Vireo at Kokanee Creek Park. There is absolutely no mistake as the bird came right by us and we all got wonderful looks at its white eye, bright yellow lores, overall yellow tinging with distinct wing bars. The wing bars are very bold and the overall yellow is quite bright. Much brighter than the goldfinches this time of year.

Unfortunately, we were unable to get photographs of the bird, but our hope is it will stay around for a day or two.

The bird was found in the wooded area between the Redfish Campground picnic area and the shore line, at about 11:30 AM. We stayed for a good 40 minutes, but were unable to locate the bird."

For those not familiar with the location, here is what I was sent: 17.5 km east of Nelson on W Arm of Kootenay Lake. Specifically: Red Fish Campground picnic area near lake.

Hopefully some lenses make their way out there and we can get some photo-documentation for the BC Bird Records Committee!

Cattle Egrets pushing north this fall

In recent years this species has been quite scarce or even absent in the province so it's nice to see a cluster of sightings from Vancouver Island and one in the far NW of the province in recent days. Below is a brief summary of 5 reports.

Tyee Rd bird (Photo: Liam Singh)

#1: October 3--SW of Kitwanga, Skeena Valley (N of Terrace)--Sandy Schreven

#2 Nov 7--Cattle Point, Victoria--Michael Shepard

#3: Nov 7--Esquimalt Lagoon, Victoria area--John Costello & Chantal Jacques

#4: Nov 9-Dec 4--Shell Gas Station on Tyee Rd, Esquimalt (Victoria)--Steven Roais
*Most recently seen in NE corner of Helmckin Interchange (Dec 4)

#5: Nov 10-15+--Itattsoo Village (Ucluelet)--Adrian Dorst

Nov 9--Iceland Gull (Kumlien's) in Penticton

With more coverage there would likely be more of these turning up (especially on the coast) but since many are not photographed I thought I'd post this one I found this afternoon along Okanagan Beach in Penticton. Unfortunately this is the only usable photo I managed (Digi-scoped).

First cycle Iceland (Presumed Kumlien's) Gull with adult California Gull. Right after this photo was taken a fire-cracker-type noise flushed all the gulls. Will post updates if it sticks around. (Photo: Russell Cannings)

ID Features that makes this an Kumlien's Gull (the Canadian form of Iceland Gull):

• Uniform pale plumage (i.e. Primaries do not contrast with mantle) eliminated Thayer's, Herring, California, Ring-billed, Mew.
• This is aged as a "First Cycle" (Born this summer) based on fresh and neatly patterned plumage. Second cycles would be paler and look more washed out. Bill would likely be showing more pale pink by second-cycle as well. We use "cycle" to refer to the molt sequence as this does not always line up with specific seasons or "breeding/non-breeding"
• Small body size and bill size/shape eliminated Glaucous-winged and Glaucous
• In general, Iceland Gulls are smaller/paler versions of Thayer's Gulls; averaging smaller billed, more rounded head.
• You can also think of them as mini Glaucous Gulls. 
• Even with the above notes, these guys can be tricky to ID as gull complexes have so may variables (sexual dimorphism, hybrids, subspecies, etc)