Blackie Spit remained the focus of my birding in October. My targets consisted of a mix of regular late fall migrants such as Northern Shrike, possible but unlikely October rarities such as Tropical Kingbird, and unprecedented mega rarities such as Tundra Bean-Goose.
Cackling Geese continued to gather in Mud Bay in good numbers throughout the month, peaking at an estimated 3,600 on the 13th, and joined by hundreds of Snow Geese later in the month. Despite the promise that these flocks contained, the only other species I could pick out was Greater White-fronted Goose; eighteen on the 10th and four on the 13th. The nearest Tundra Bean-Goose bypassed the Semiahmoo Peninsula 650 km to the east.
Tundra Bean-Goose outside the Semiahmoo Peninsula (Oct 18, 2024)
On the 3rd another Horned Lark was present at Blackie Spit, about two weeks after the last report in September. On the 5th, a late Osprey was a year bird and one that I had accepted missing since I only have a handful of October records from anywhere in Metro Vancouver. A trickle of late migrants continued into early October, with a Black-throated Gray Warbler on the 5th, a Hammond’s Flycatcher and a Yellow Warbler on the 10th, and best of all a Nashville Warbler on the 11th. On the 16th, a Mountain Bluebird was found at Blackie Spit, but I could not make it out there that same day. While searching unsuccessfully the next day, I found a Swamp Sparrow in the reed canary grass by the base of the spit. This was just the second record for the SemiPen and at the exact same location and time of year as the first record, almost a decade ago. A second year bird that same day was a juvenile American Golden-Plover, which I saw again on the 22nd along with my second American Kestrel of the year. Blackie Spit is typically not a hotspot for owls, but on the 24th and 25th I managed to see three species in two days there: Barred, Great Horned, and Short-eared Owls. Lapland Longspurs were also a reliable feature of Blackie Spit throughout the second half of October, including a high count of eight on the 25th. Much to my relief, a Black-crowned Night-Heron, which I had missed earlier in the year, returned to Nicomekl Portage Park on the 29th.
Nashville Warbler at Blackie Spit (Oct 11, 2024)
Short-eared Owl with friends at Blackie Spit (Oct 24, 2024)
Black-crowned Night-Heron at Nicomekl Portage Park (Oct 29, 2024)
Throughout October I started visiting to the White Rock waterfront more frequently as there was a small handful of target birds that are most reliable there. Several thousand Western Grebes gather in Semiahmoo Bay from late September to mid-November, and among these flotillas there are sometimes Clark’s Grebes. In addition to the inherent challenge with this needle in a haystack scenario, the grebes spend a lot of time sleeping or well offshore which further diminishes the odds of finding the one in one thousand Clark’s Grebe that may be present. Indeed, these were the challenges that I encountered throughout October and during each visit I felt like I had adequately seen only a small fraction of the grebes present. On the 13th I attempted to kayak out to the distant grebes, which was also not without its challenges. Although the sea state started out calm, a slight chop gradually developed. Given the low vantage point when seated in a kayak, even a slight chop hides grebes remarkably well in its troughs. More frustratingly, it also rotated my kayak in undesired directions whenever I stopped paddling to scan the grebes. I picked out one Clark’s x Western Grebe hybrid but the real measure of success was returning to land without having submerged my optics.
Clark's x Western Grebe hybrid off White Rock west beach (Oct 13, 2024)
Several days later, on the morning of the 21st, ROFO texted to notify me that many grebes were feeding relatively close off the end of the White Rock pier and showing well. Seizing the opportunity, I headed to the pier and an hour later picked out at a Clark’s Grebe! A female Redhead, found by ROFO was mingling with scaup west of the pier. The day before I had a male east of the pier. This was another of my target birds.
Clark's Grebe (front) with Western Grebe (back) at White Rock Pier (Oct 21, 2024)
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