Loggerhead Shrike May 26th Hope Airport

Another Loggerhead Shrike was found by Gord Gadsden at Hope Airport. For more details click here

RBA: May 24 - LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE in Revelstoke

Catherine Craig found a single Loggerhead Shrike at 6:15 am on the grassy flats south of Machete Island in Revelstoke near the Airport on May 24th!!

This is the third Loggerhead Shrike for that exact location in 6 years!

RBA: BROWN THRASHER in Kootenay National Park, May 21

A Brown Thrasher was observed and photographed in the Kootenay River Day Use Area at Kootenay National Park north of Radium at 8 AM on May 21 (Frank Chappell, et al) and was not seen since.

This is the 37th record for the province of BC.

Brown Thrasher. Kootenay National Park. May 21 (Frank Chappell).

RBA: HAWAIIAN PETREL off the West Coast of Vancouver Island - May 19th

At 3pm on May 19-2015, Ilya Povalyaev, Mike & Sharon Toochin, Peter Candido, Gary Rosenberg and Paul Lehman and his WINGS tour group, saw a Hawaiian Petrel as it crossed the bow of their Princess cruise ship. The bird was approximately 27 km SW of the Brooks Peninsula (49.91 N, 128.13 W).

Map to approx location HERE

They noted the high arcing flight typical of Pterodroma petrels. It had pointed wings, a long attenuated tail and was gleaming white below and very dark above (darker than Cookilaria petrels). No photos were obtained.

This record also appears in:
Lehman, P. 2016. Pelagic Birds from Cruise Ships Along the Pacific Coast: Southern California to Southwestern Alaska, 1995-2016. North American Birds. 69(3): 316-341.

RBA: GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE in Golden - May 18th

On May 18th Doug Leighton found a Green-tailed Towheer at his home near Golden. This was a one day wonder and was last seen feeding at 6 PM on the 18th.

This is the 11th record for BC.

Green-tailed Towhee. Golden, May 18 (Doug Leighton).

White-faced Ibis in Revelstoke - May 17th

On May 17, Wayne and Brent Diakow found an adult White-faced Ibis in Revelstoke. The bird was seen at 10:40 am when it flew in and landed in the marsh just north of the Revelstoke airport. The bird was not seen since.

May 13 - Aug 10: A dozen White-faced Ibis at Separation Lake near Kamloops

Rick Howie reports a group of a dozen WHITE-FACED IBIS at Separation Lake, located south of Kamloops along Hwy 5A. The birds were feeding at the north end of the lake where a road will allow fairly close access, though please be careful not to flush the birds. Rick saw the ibis at about 4 PM on May 15.

Update: These birds were originally located by Chris Chutter on May 13th, but the sighting may not have been known to many. As of May 24 two birds were seen at Separation Lake in Knutsford. As of May 25 two Ibises were present at Separation Lake in Princeton off Summerland Rd. On August 10 an  observer saw 4 Ibises at the main parking lot at Beaver Ranch Flats (on Hwy 5A - North of Merritt near Quilchena).

The birds have not been seen since August 10th.

White-faced Ibis at Separation Lake, near Kamloops. Part of flock of 12. May 15 (Rick Howie).

RBA: Ross's Goose in Ladner May 10 -16th

RBA: On May 10, 2015, Ben Keen found a single Ross's Goose with a flock of 57 Snow Geese (with one dark morph) right in the farmer's field just south of the parking lot at Brunswick Point in Ladner!

As of  10:00 am on May 16th the bird was last seen in the grassy field on river road just east of the plowed field by the Brunswick Point parking lot with a flock of 50+ Snow Geese (with 1 juvenile blue goose). The bird was relocated by Steve Ansell the morning of May 11th and multiple observers thereafter. The bird is easily viewed with bins (when in field near road).  A Scope is required when the bird is in distant fields.

There has been no sightings since May 16th.

*In this photo by Brian Stech you can see the bird is close to the road in a grassy field and easily viewed by bins. 
All identifying characteristics are clearly visible in this photo: 
bright white bird, small size, stubby small pink bill and prominent dark eye.*

 *In this in-flight photo (L) by Peter Candido and flock photo (R) by Ben Keen, you can see the overall size and 
beak difference of the Ross's Goose as compared to the larger Snow Geese!* 

Great Egret at Brunswick Point in Ladner!

On May 7, 2015,  Richard Swanston found a single Great Egret at Brunswick Point. The bird was first seen at the bay on the high but falling tide on the Eastern side of Brunswick Point. It was later chased off by a Bald Eagle and went to the far Southern area of the marsh. After this, another Bald Eagle chased it off to the far South West corner of the marsh.

Update **The bird was later relocated at the SW point of  Brunswick Point marsh but has not been relocated as of May 8. **

Photo: Richard Swanston

May 5-6--Hooded Oriole in Chilliwack!

A first-summer male Hooded Oriole was photographed coming to a hummingbird feeder at a private residence in Chilliwack. The bird was present multiple times on May 5 and 6.

The location is on private property and there are no public viewing opportunities for this feeder. Birders may get lucky viewing it on Broadway Street between Airport Rd. and Brooks Ave.

The home owner has had no sightings of this bird so far on May 7.

Not your average hummingbird! Orioles are notorious 

hummingbird feeder bandits, but the sight of a Hooded 

Oriole at a B.C. feeder just tastes that much sweeter.

Costa's Hummingbird in Burnaby - May 3rd

This male Costa's hummingbird showed up on May 3, 2015 at a feeder at a private home in North Burnaby.
The location is not open to the public.

The bird has not been relocated as of May 3rd.

This is the 26th record for BC.

Photo: Pat Stephens

Loggerhead Shrike Hope Airport April 3-4

Jamie and Gord Gadsden located a Loggerhead Shrike at Hope Airport.

The bird was not seen on April 5th.

Photo: Jamie Gadsden

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)

Nov 8-26--Another Acorn Woodpecker! This one in Victoria

Klaus Emmaneel reports an Acorn Woodpecker near the 12th Hole on Cedar Hill Golf Course (Victoria area)--flying through the oaks around 230pm on Saturday.

Photo: Klaus Emmaneel

This is a first record for Vancouver Island and the 9th ever for BC.

*Still being seen on November 26th near the end of Diana Rd.

It was not seen on Nov 27th.

Nov 8--Acorn Woodpecker in Powell River

Seen at a private residence in Powell River (Pierre Geoffray) in the morning of Nov 8, 2014.

This is the 8th record for BC (and Canada). *Not seen since Nov 8th.

Photo: Pierre Geoffray

Nov 5-Dec 9--Lesser Black-backed Gull in Abbotsford

Rick Toochin found this adult Lesser Black-backed Gull along Whatcom Rd in Sumas Prairie (Abbotsford area) about 100m south of Hwy 1. It was present all afternoon of Nov 5th with around 50 other gulls. The mantle-colouration is presumably paled a bit as a result of the lighting but one can tell from this photo that it is distinctly darker than nearby Glaucous-wings and the characteristic large red gonys is noticeable in this photo. Despite annual occurrences in the interior this is a very rare gull on the BC coast.

Nov 23: Seen in field with other gulls along Angus-Campbell Rd. (Rick Toochin & Ed Klassen)

Nov 4-6--WHITE WAGTAIL in Delta

On Tuesday, Nov 4, Mark Wynja found this White Wagtail in the corn-stubble field southeast of the intersection of 34th Street and 33A Ave in Delta, BC. This is near Brunswick Point. It was associating with pipits. There was a report of a Red-throated Pipit seen briefly on Nov 5 so if you are there looking at the Wagtail, feel free to keep an eye out for other vagrants.

Nov 8 UPDATE--No confirmed observations on Nov 7th or 8th

Photo: Peter Candido

Photo: Peter Candido

Oct 30-Nov3: *Another Blackburnian Warbler--this time in Revelstoke

There are a lot of birding chat groups around BC and I'm usually pretty good at monitoring them fairly regularly. I admit this one slipped by me for a couple days!

Originally reported as an unknown warbler on October 30th, this apparent hatch-year female Blackburnian Warbler has been frequenting the "Southside" neighbourhood of Revelstoke since then. It was seen again today (Nov 3) and apparently it's been hanging with chickadees. This is near the corner of Edward St and 4th St. Look for the feeders just up Edwards ~70m (NE) and that is roughly where it has been seen off and on. It's been mainly gleaning in the cottonwoods.

This is Revelstoke's 26th warbler species all-time! Pretty darn good for a small western mountain town.

Please report YES or NO sightings!

Photos and report from Darlene Cancelliere

Nov 1-3--Blackburnian Warbler in Victoria

Today Ian Cruickshank found a Blackburnian Warbler in Beacon Hill Park (in the vicinity of Goodacre Lake and the bandshell--foraging in vine maples and oaks with kinglets). It was seen throughout Saturday..

Here are some tips from Steven Roais for finding it:

1.) Deciduous trees (maples in particular)

2.) other bird activity (especially golden-crowned kinglets)

3.) persistent chip call (once heard, easy to locate)

4.) look high up into the canopy (bird was as close as 10 feet from the ground but mostly in the 20 foot range)

The bird was not seen as of Nov 4th.

[Photos below from Geoffrey Newell]

Oct 26--Brown Thrasher near Chetwynd

Glenda and Evan Pye found this Brown Thrasher in their yard today (just east of Chetwynd) and apparently a Gray Catbird has been around too! Hopefully both birds smarten up and head south soon. As you can see, it's not exactly Mexico up there.