Spring Migrant Medley

Spring migration is one of the most exciting periods for birding: new species arrive daily, there is an explosion of bird song, the excitement of mixed-species flocks, and the tantalizing possibility of finding some unexpected wayward traveller. There is a handful of species that pass through Vancouver in fairly small numbers during the spring, but connecting with them can sometimes be quite challenging. I present a few photos of some local spring scarcities below.

Chipping Sparrow (#190) - 22 April 2015 - Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver.   

Nashville Warbler (#193) - 25 April 2015 - Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver.

Townsend's Solitaire (#197) - 26 April 2015 - Grant Narrows

Dusky Flycatcher (#202) - 30 April 2015 - Maplewood Conservation Area

Spring Bonus: Lapland Longspurs

I greeted the sunrise on April 21 on the Iona poo pipe hoping to nab the previously reported Lapland Longspurs before work.  I found the birds enjoying the morning rays of sun around the 1.5 km mark where I spent some time photographing them. It's an uncommon treat to see them locally in their breeding colours, since they generally pass through in late fall. 

Count update: 188 as of April 21.

Kitsilano Action

The first three weeks of March were quite uneventful, but then a quick succession of hot birds popped up in Kitsilano within the last week and I was lucky to connect with all three. The first was a PALM WARBLER at Jericho Park which showed itself for all of 3 seconds during 4 hours of searching on March 22, and then, with a pump of the tail, flew overhead and out of sight. To lend further credibility to my sighting, I was standing next to two very skilled birders at the time, neither of whom got on the bird despite my calm, precise description of its whereabouts. What can I say, maybe I just wanted it more?

Next were a MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD and a SAY'S PHOEBE at Locarno Beach. Mountain Bluebirds have a fairly reliable, but short, passage window through Metro Vancouver in late March/early April when they turn up at a handful of regular locations. However, expecting to be away in early April, I was fairly eager and glad to get my bluebird. 

phonescoped Mountain Bluebird - 26 March 2015 - Locarno Beach, Vancouver.

The Say's Phoebe was the result of the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect when someone found it while looking for the bluebird. Say's Phoebes also show up in Vancouver annually, usually around late March/early April, but in very small numbers and are notorious for remaining in an area for just one day or less. Luckily, I was notified by several people that it was found and used my powers of persuasion on YOAT to get us from the office to Locarno Beach by whistling some phoebe-like "pidiweews" within his earshot. True to the phoebe trend, it was not seen the following day.

phonescoped Say's Phoebe - 26 March 2015 - Locarno Beach, Vancouver.

I wonder where the phoebe is?

Count update: 172 as of March 26.

Winter Wrap-up

It is now March and winter is over. While the rest of society still has another 21 days of winter to endure, for birders spring officially starts on March 1st. It’s no secret that birding customs are odd, so the fact that birders don’t follow the Gregorian calendar should not come as a surprise. For birders, winter spans the period from December 1^st to February 28^th and equally as fascinating as the birder’s calendar is the ‘winter’ list.

I did not understand winter listing during my initial forays in to the mysterious world of birding. I wondered why spring lists or lists for any other season were not kept? At the time, a mentor offered the explanation that since winter days are short and there isn’t much daily turnover in the bird community, winter listing is more manageable compared to hectic migrations. At the time this seemed like a reasonable explanation, however it took moving to Alberta to discover the real reason behind winter listing. 

Living on the coast we sometimes forget that much of the rest of the country gets blanketed with that gross white stuff, temperatures plunge below subzero and bird life is largely absent during the winter months. At times like these, additional motivation is often necessary to get outside and look for the few birds that are regretting the decision they made in November when instead of migrating they thought, “this isn’t so bad, I think I’ll stay.”

Townsend's Warbler - 31 Jan 15 - Shoreline Park, Port Moody. One of the relatively few TOWAs reported locally this winter. It represents a good 'winter bird' and anybody who went to Port Moody specifically to see it needs help; I was looking for redpolls at the time, so I'm ok. 

But I digress. For me the significance of winter’s end is the relief it represents by marking the end of my mistake of participating in a “big 2/3 winter” list (January 1 to February 28) competition, which up until now had caused me undue stress. But now, with just a flip of the calendar I no longer need to worry about searching for trivial things that will become common at the appropriate season. There will be no more prowling around suburban areas for Mourning Doves or walking along stagnant ditches for Wilson’s Snipe. I can now leave common birds to be common birds and get back to birding, pausing to chase only significant year birds along the way. Naturally, with such an attitude I lost the little competition I was in, and by quite a significant margin too. Final score: ILPO 165 vs. MITO 170. Not a bad haul for two months of winter birding, I suppose. Equally as impressive is that at least three other birders tallied Metro Vancouver lists in excess of 160 for the same last two thirds of winter. For perspective, the two biggest Metro Vancouver winter lists (i.e., three whole months) I was previously aware of were 173 and 162. But then, I never paid much attention to winter listing and probably never will again. Or at least certainly not for another nine months.

White-throated Sparrow - 21 Feb 15 - Windjammer Slough, Ladner. Giving me that same look that I always get from non-birders. 

Count update: 165 as of Feb 28

Tufty

Previously on the Vancouver Big Year blog, the ptarmigetters were loafing in the warm glow of success when Daniele noticed a rare bird alert had been issued: "Tufted Duck is back at Iona" he says. So much for "if some of Vancouver's most active birders are clambering around mountain peaks with me, they're not turning up rare birds elsewhere".

The Tufted Duck was first found on January 31st, but was dipped by those who twitched the following day, myself included. At the time we were under speculation that this was the same bird as last year, which also turned up mid-winter and was initially quite unsettled and difficult to find before settling at the Iona ponds until mid-March. However, after it could not be located on subsequent visits during the following two weeks, I had parted with that theory and dismissed it as a one-day wonder.

Meanwhile, there was only one person who did not respond to my ptarmi-ptrek APB. Naturally I took the opportunity to gloat by phoning him from the summit: "Hey Mike, I'm on top of Seymour and I need help identifying this all white bird with feathery feet." In retaliation to this poor birding etiquette and under the assumption I was still on the mountain,  Mike went and re-found the Tufted Duck.

Fortunately there was still daylight remaining and I justified going right away as follows: 1) There was risk that this was another one day visit; 2) I would have very little time for twitching during the work week; 3) I would be very unproductive at work with my mind occupied by Tufty. So there I was at Iona, where Daniele quickly found the bird in the NW pond making for a pretty spectacular finish to the day.

Tufted Duck - 2/15/2015 - Iona Island inner ponds.

Count update: 162 as of Feb 15.

Ptarmigan Ptrek

Ptarmigan are a bit of a mythical creature within the Vancouver checklist area. Suitable habitat is quite limited and the likelihood of encounter is greatest during the winter months when high elevation snowfall moves these mountain chickens around on adjacent peaks. However, for this same reason, accessibility in to this habitat becomes difficult and few birders make the effort to look for them. The Checklist of the Rare Birds of the Vancouver Area lists 11 records of Rock Ptarmigan and 4 records of White-tailed Ptarmigan, though I have been recently made aware of a couple additional observations of White-tailed Ptarmigan that are unaccounted for on this checklist.

There are enough records that ptarmigan are a possibility and one that I figured needed to be explored during a big year. The traditional approach for local ptarmigan seekers has been a late fall hike following the first snowfall, but our unseasonable winter with hardly any snow prompted me to organize this effort in February. I anticipated this proposition would require the most foolish of birders and would take some convincing still. But to my surprise everyone responded with a resounding “yes” and our group progressively expanded to 16 individuals. I was quite pleased with our group size for these reasons:

• the more eyes looking for these cryptic chickens, the better the chance of success; 
• it would be a fun success to share with a good group of friends; and 
• if some of Vancouver’s most active birders were clambering about mountain peaks with me, they would not be turning up rare birds elsewhere. 

At the start of the day some had remarked that our good luck was used up simply picking a suitable day for a mountain hike two weeks in advance. But we received some encouraging news that suggested otherwise when we stopped some backpackers to ask if they had seen any white chickens. Surprisingly, they said they had (being Australian, they actually said “white dove”) and even showed us an iphone photo of a White-tailed Ptarmigan strutting about their camp site on Mount Seymour!

I had clambered up some rocky outcrop just before pump peak when I heard someone shout “I got it!” from up above. I could see Rob looking at something across a saddle, but could not see the white blob in front of him. This meant it was scampering time. I took the most direct route (not advisable) and got to the peak to find most of the group having lunch with a WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN in front of them.

Chicken ptarmigana for lunch.

Between our group, there was probably over 200 combined years of Vancouver birding experience, and yet this was a new Vancouver bird for everyone but one member of our party! Brilliant views were had before the bird gradually descended down a chute on the back side of the peak, where it would have been invisible had we passed through an hour later. This really put in to context just how lucky we were to come across this chicken.

White-tailed Ptarmigan - 2/15/2015 - Pump Peak, Mount Seymour

"The Ptarmigetters" excited by success and having temporarily forgotten that they still need to get down.

A celebratory coffee was had in North Vancouver where the fine points of how wing-clipped Kakapos gain enclosure ingress were debated, when Daniele noticed a rare bird alert had been issued. To be continued….

Strix nebulosa

As the weekend approached, there were no critical year birds to chase and I was looking forward to birding wherever I wanted rather than where my year list dictated. However, that did not last long once a couple reports of Great Gray Owls popped up on Saturday. The first report came from a rather inconvenient location relative to my residence, and naturally my reaction was: "For flock's sake, I'm going to have to drive all the way over there again". But then, saving grace came in a second report from a much closer and considerably unlikelier location, and so with a healthy dose of skepticism I decided to follow up on that one instead. After a little bit of looking, a lot of standing around, and then returning after birding somewhere else, the Great Gray Owl had materialized! 

Great Gray Owl - 2/8/2015 - This nest box appears to be its favourite perch; perhaps it will stay to nest in it this spring?

Count update: 159 as of Feb 8.