ORCHARD ORIOLE on Balaklava Island - Sept 28-30th

British Columbia has a bit of a history with good birds being turned up by lighthouse keepers.  We are fortunate to have a relatively new recruit to the birding community in Ivan Dubinsky, who is stationed at the Scarlett Point Lighthouse on Balaklava Island.  The island sits 18 kilometres northwest of Port Hardy near the north end of Vancouver Island, and naturally this makes it an interesting spot with solid potential for rarities.

Ivan's first good score was a Tropical Kingbird last year.  Today (September 28), he upped the ante with a fantastic bird: an Orchard Oriole!  This species has been documented more frequently over the past 10 years, but overall there are still fewer than 10 records for the province.

The bird was still present on September 30th, the 3rd day in a row it was seen.

The bird has not been seen since Sept 30th.

The bright lemon yellow underparts and slightly-decurved, shorter bill point to Orchard Oriole (Photo: Ivan Dubinsky)

RUFF in Delta, Sept 25th

On Sept 25 at 3:00pm, Kevin Louth found a juvenile male Ruff at the wood pilings East of 96th St on the dyke at Boundary Bay in Delta. The bird was later relocated by multiple observers at the foot of 96th St. The bird was best viewed by a scope and came no closer than 80 metres from the dyke. The bird was in a Black-bellied Plover flock with one Marbled, Bar-tailed and Hudsonian Godwit therin.

The flock took off just before 7pm and was not relocated.

Photo credit: Peter Candido (Ruff is bird in the grass to the left)

Photo credit: Peter Candido (Ruff is unbanded and in flight)

WHITE-FACED IBIS in Revelstoke

A Plegadis ibis was found on September 24th at the airport ponds in Revelstoke by Dusty Veideman, and later seen and photographed by additional people an hour or so later. Immature/winter plumages of White-faced Ibis can be challenging to differentiate from Glossy Ibis (which has not yet been recorded in the province).

A White-faced Ibis was recorded from this same general area on May 17th, 2015 (see the May archives for details).

Photo: Dusty Veideman

FERRUGINOUS HAWK in Creston, Sep. 20

On September 20th a Ferruginous Hawk was found in Creston by Jim Lawrence. The bird was seen off of Kootenay River Road, where it was perched on a fence post in the distance. It eventually flew closer to the road, and was seen for at least 2 hours, beginning at 10:30 am.

Photo: Jim Lawrence

Chestnut-sided Warbler in Castlegar, September 17

On September 17th a Chestnut-sided Warbler was found at Twin Rivers Park in Castlegar by Craig Sandvig. It was first seen at 11 am and present at least through the early afternoon that day. There have been no reports on subsequent dates.

The bird was at the beginning of the Millennium Walkway Trail that starts at the end of 3rd St. It was in the shrubby/forested section at the start of this trail, but did not go past the bench overlooking the river.

This is the 60th record for the province of BC.

Photo: Craig Sandvig

BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER in Hope, September 7

An immature male Blackburnian Warbler was found September 7 at approximately 3 pm in Hope by Rick Toochin. The bird was found in the trees along the far north edge of the property at 62180 Delair Rd.

This property is apparently open to the public. 

Update: Two observers could not relocate the bird on September 8th, and it may have migrated out of the area. 

Brown Booby In Knight Inlet - Aug 28th

A Brown Booby was photographed by Derek Kyostia in Knight Inlet on August 28.  The bird was at 126 06.694 W, 50 39.854 N.

Photo: Derek Kyostia

BC FIRST: BLUE GROSBEAK, Metchosin - Aug. 25

A Blue Grosbeak was found the morning of August 25th at Rocky Point, Metchosin, by Ann Nightingale. The bird was seen for several minutes where it perched in the cattails at the edge of a pond after flying in from a grassy field. The bird was calling repeatedly during the several minute observation.

Important note: Rocky Point is on Department of National Defense land. There is no public visitation of this site.

This is the first confirmed photographed record for the province of British Columbia.

Words defy me. Blue Grosbeak, Metchosin. Photo: Ann Nightingale

Additional photos and an audio/visual clip can be seen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/28936564@N08/with/20859677126/

Little Stint in Ladner!

Kevin Louth found a Juvenile Little Stint between 104th and 112th at Boundary Bay at 3:30pm on August 8th. The bird flew in on its own calling and was last seen flying East.

More details will be posted here as they come in.

Apparent LITTLE STINT at Pantage Lake near Quesnel

August 2 - Rod Sargent photographed this small shorebird at Pantage Lake that most agree looks like an adult Little Stint in fading alternate plumage. Pantage Lake (NW of Quesnel in central BC) is continuing to turn up some fantastic birds thanks to regular coverage by Rod and fellow Quesnel birder Adrian Leather. Past highlights from this site include recording 20+ Sharp-tailed Sandpipers at one time, 2 Ruffs, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and presumed nesting Arctic Tern. *Unfortunately, access to the site is very difficult as it is mostly surrounded by private land and the lake is fringed with expansive marshy vegetation so requires several hours of tough kayaking/canoeing even if you know where to go. As far as I know, the bird has not been re-sighted.

Features suggestive of Little Stint include bight orange tones to the face, colour, wing-coverts, and especially the tertials (Red-necked Stints tent to have dull tertials), pale throat, and overall structure. Peep identification, particularly in molt can be a tricky task so please comment if you have reason to believe this is NOT a Little Stint (Photo: Rod Sargent).