Apr 12--SAGE SPARROW in Kelowna

From Avery Bartels:

At Munson Pond this morning (9:30am) I had a Sage Sparrow. It was foraging on its own, on both sides of the road but was last seen on the north side as it ducked behind the piles of debris and wood chips. A couple hundred metres after turning onto Munson Rd. there is a bare field (mostly bare ground, with little grass) on the left. I first had the bird here before it flew across the road and continued foraging on a dirt track and the aforementioned wood chip piles.

The bird was quite pale brown with a contrastingly grey head, strong white malar stripe, a fairly short and weak white supercilium, an unmarked nape with a streaked back, faint wingbars and and a dark spot on the centre of its chest, underparts white. It often held its long tail cocked up and ran about quite actively.

I managed to digiscope a couple of poor shots with my ipod which I will post when I figure out how to do transfer them off my ipod. [April 12]

--Will post photo soon

Brown Pelican found near Prince Rupert

Press Release---

A brown pelican is being nursed back to health in Prince Rupert after veering almost two-thousand kilometres off course. The large bird with the nearly two metre wingspan was spotted, disoriented and wobbly, on a Port Edward dock earlier this week, far from its usual northerly limits along the Oregon coast. Prince Rupert Wildlife Rehab Shelter volunteer Amy Maund says people had been tossing fish to the pelican, so it wasn't starving, but an examination has revealed some eye and head injuries. The feisty pelican has perked up, since then, and is now preening and snapping his beak while shelter officials try to figure out why he ventured on his unexpected northerly adventure.

MOTTLED PETRELS in BC Waters

Ryan Merrill (Of "Mission to Haida Gwaii 2011" fame) just returned from a NOAA research cruise, and reports seeing three MOTTLED PETRELS in BC Waters (off Carmanah Pt, BC). This was around March 3rd, 2012. Here are the other highlights---

[Mottled Petrel--Note dark belly and black bars on underwing]

Laysan Albatross (4)
3/3 1 Nitinat Canyon, WA
3/5 1 Guide Canyon, 32nm off Ocean Park, WA
3/6 2 21-23nm off Cape Lookout, OR

Mottled Petrel (9)
2/21 1 4.3nm off Caramanah Point, BC - unusually close to land!
3/3 1 29nm off Caramanah Point, BC
3/3 1 Nitinat Canyon, 40nm off Caramanah Point/Cape Alava - this
bird was seen in both countries
3/3 3 Nitinat Canyon, 39-43nm off Cape Alava, WA
3/5 3 Astoria Canyon, 23-29nm off Cape Disappointment, WA

Sooty Shearwater - 2 off Ocean Shores 3/4

Short-tailed Shearwater - 33 total in BC,WA & OR

Manx Shearwater – 1 15nm off Long Beach on 3/5

Yellow-billed Loon - Scott saw one in Boundary Pass near Saturna Island on 3/2

Red-legged Kittiwake - Nitinat Canyon, 37nm off Cape Alava, WA, adult on 3/3

Apparent Black-tailed Gull - 14nm off Long Beach, WA, adult on 3/6

[Single Parakeet]

Parakeet Auklet (871!)
2/16 6 Tillamook
2/17 10 Clallam
2/20 2 Clallam
2/21 1 BC
2/23 2 Clallam
3/3 21 Clallam
3/4 358! Grays Harbor max of 85 in view at once
3/5 438! Pacific 160+ different sightings
3/6 33 Tillamook

[Group of Parakeets!]

Tufted Puffin (8)
3/3 1 Nitinat Canyon, WA
3/5 7 Willapa Canyon, WA

For more photos, click HERE.

[More reason to sign up for the WildResearch pelagic in April?]

Northern Mockingbird in Squamish

[Photo: Chris Dale]
First found by Patrick MacNamara approx 2 weeks ago-- Its regular hangout is the Holly tree in the back yard of house number 1260 on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Victoria Street. Sometimes it is down a nearby alleyway at some other hollys.

Last seen March 24

Check out a VIDEO of it!

New Canadian "Big Day" Record

FEBRUARY 13--Russell Cannings, Jess Findlay, and Jeremiah Kennedy successfully cracked the 130-barrier for the first time in Canadian history--nabbing 131 species in one day, in the Vancouver area. This beat the previous February record of 109, and the best winter record (from Jan): 127

For more details, click HERE.

Feb 7-12+: ICELAND GULL in Penticton

This adult ICELAND GULL (possibly of the nominate glaucoides subspecies?), was found by Laure Neish on the morning of Feb 7.

Comments on subspecies welcome.

This bird was hanging out with the main Penticton Gull flock along Okanagan Beach (near "The Peach" concession stand at the east end of Lakeshore Drive).

SUMMER TANAGER continues!

[Photo: Ralph Hocken]
This female-type (possible "first-winter" male?) Summer Tanager is still being seen in the Columbia Beach area (Parksville); as of January 26th. It has been present since late November.

Jan 30/31--*Two* Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the Okanagan

Jan 30--

Chris Charlesworth and Michael Force report seeing a 2nd-cycle LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at the mouth of Vernon Creek (Okanagan Landing, just SW of Vernon) today. This is apparently a different-looking individual than the bird seen in Oct-Nov. There is also an adult GLAUCOUS GULL present.

Jan 31--

Chris Charlesworth just found this adult at Maude Roxby, Kelowna!

Feb 14 UPDATE: Lately, both LBBGs have been in Penticton

LESSER GOLDFINCH near UBC (Vancouver)

The bird has not been seen since the morning of January 25th

(Photo: Jeremiah Kennedy)

BRAMBLING in Victoria!

Photo by Ray Lapshinoff

An apparent HY female Brambling was seen at a feeder at a private residence in Victoria from Dec 31 to Jan 2. The bird was reported today, but could not be relocated despite a thorough effort by 15 or so birders all day today.

Stay tuned for updates as available!