GREAT SHEARWATER and SCRIPPS'S MURRELET in BC

Yet again, Paul Lehman and Co. have observed some great birds off BC by taking advantage of some California--Alaska cruises.

On July 31, they observed a "Scipps's-type" Murrelet (i.e. Xantus's complex) approximately 120 miles SW of Vancouver Island--apparently still in Canadian waters.

On the way back south, they ran into some large concentrations of seabirds near Triangle Island, including a mass of FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS numbering close to 10,000 individuals. The species highlight in that area however was a GREAT SHEARWATER that was photographed 111km NNW of Triangle Island on August 5th. This is the second photographed record for BC, and probably the 3rd record all-time (first being one with good supporting fieldnotes).

Great Shearwater (Owen Schmidt)

Aug 4--RED-NECKED STINT at Boundary Bay

Photo: Mike Tabak

Found by John Chandler on Aug 4.

*AUG 5 UPDATE: Most recently seen at 5:45pm near the pilings west of 104th St, Boundary Bay (Ryan Johnson et al.)

RBA: CRESTED AUKLET photographed near Tofino!!! (July 30+Aug 1)

July 30th--Jay Feaver photographed this CRESTED AUKLET near Cleland Island (Tofino area). Thanks to Adrian Dorst for getting the word out.

*UPDATE: The bird was NOT seen on the Friday search-mission. Stay tuned for more updates...

Back-Story: (From Adrian Dorst)--"The auklet, an adult, was found by another whale-watching boat driver, Orin Lawson. While he is not a birder, he noticed it was different from any other
water bird he had ever seen. It was subsequently photographed by Jason Feaver. I got permission to post it so check it out in my photo section. The bird was a bit far away but fortunately the photo was very high resolution so that it could be blown up, leaving no doubt about the bird's identity. I'm told it was right in the gap at Cleland. It has not been spotted today, which is not surprising, as whalers don't spend a lot of time looking at birds."

HAWAIIAN PETREL in BC waters

Courtesy of Barbara L. Carlson:

"Paul E. Lehman, Steve Ritt, and group were aboard a non-stop cruise ship from San Francisco to SW Alaska. This was the same route Paul was on late May/early June when he saw several rare birds off BC.

The clear highlight off BC on this northbound leg was HAWAIIAN (dark-rumped) PETREL! It was seen on Thursday, July 11, 220 km SW of the tip of the Brooks Peninsula on Vancouver island.

They started at dawn 240 km SW of Vancouver Island. By dusk they were 45 km west of Haida Gwaii. Other birds of interest during that day included 4 South Polar Skua, 10 Long-tailed Jaeger, 5 Parasitic Jaeger, 4 Sabine's Gull and 1 Arctic Tern."

--There are less than 5 records for Canada. It's all about coverage!

Black-throated Blue Warbler (Princeton)

From Rhys Harrison:

"On Tuesday July 9 around noon I saw a male Black-throated Blue Warbler on the
TransCanada Trail pathway in Princeton town centre. The bird was in a small
stand of deciduous trees alongside the asphalt path on the main road, north,
side and alongside a new development of 4 or 5 town houses. It would be approx
600m east of the tunnel." (No photograph obtained)

Stay tuned for updates.

Possible SUMMER TANAGER in Prince George

July 4--Heather Sapergia & Suzanne Bahr were birding in "Forests for the World" near UNBC in Prince George, and saw an unfamiliar bird. They suspect it to be a female SUMMER TANAGER. Here are some of their comments:

Suzanne:

"We were about half way  from Shane Lake and the parking lot, on the lower trail..  This bird's bill was large and yellow color and it's wings blended more into the body unlike the female Western which has the white barring on the median & greater coverts. Also somewhat larger that the Western."

Heather:

"The colour was yellow to olive and not much variation between body and wing.  We both got a good look at it but no pics and no sound that we could hear."

Stay tuned for updates...

June 21--Another Lark Bunting!

Getting kind of "old news" now, but I still desperately need one at least!

This morning Mike Bentley had a male LARK BUNTING in his backyard in Fernie, BC.

*No subsequent reports. Stay tuned...

June 13-15: Brown Thrasher--North Coast

"1 individual at the Hakai Beach Institute site [CALVERT ISLAND, NE of Port Hardy].  Feeds around grass clippings and compost pile during periods when few people around (when relatively easy to observe; shy when many people around).  Has been present since at least 13/06/2013" ---Brian Starzomski (photos)
*First found by Keith Jordan.

June 8--WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER

Isn't June supposed to be the worst month for shorebirds? Well today Daniele Mitchell photographed this
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER at Robert Lake in Kelowna. It was present from 4:30pm to around 8:30pm when it disappeared.  It has not been seen since. This is the first photographed WR for the Okanagan and
is probably the second all time for the area. 

LEAST AUKLET and more off BC!

From Barbara Carlson:

[Reporting for Paul Lehman]

Yesterday, 6 June, Paul Lehman and Larry Peavler were cruising south in BC waters on their way back to San Francisco. They saw an adult LEAST AUKLET paralleling the boat for three minutes! It was flying with Cassin's Auklets. This was 97 km northwest of the northwest tip of Vancouver Island.

They also saw an adult Thick-billed Murre approximately 55 km east of the south end of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Late in the day, they had a MANX SHEARWATER behind a trawler approximately 50 km west off central Vancouver Island.

Earlier in the day, traveling through Hecate Strait, they saw a mass of dark shearwaters, some 80,000 Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwaters. A large number of these were molting Short-tailed, which is unusual for BC waters at this time of year.

Throughout the day, large numbers of Leach's Storm-Petrels (2,600) were seen. Also were some 700 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, 700 Ancient Murrelets, and 11,000 Cassin Auklets. There were 180 total number of Black-footed Albatross, with 125 of these being behind the same trawler where they beheld the Manx Shearwater.