Strait of Georgia Pelagic

No big year is complete without a pelagic trip, even if there aren't any pelagic waters in the checklist area. Sporadic reports of Long-tailed Jaegers and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels from ferry crossings between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island offer tantalizing possibilities of what lies beyond reach of a scope on land. And so, to explore those possibilities, a group of us decided to take a boat ride through the Strait of Georgia on September 6.

My primary target was Heermann’s Gull, which I had already seen at Point Roberts, WA, but the objective was now to get one in Canadian waters. Wandering Tattler was target number two, since we are gradually passing their period of peak occurrence and there still have been no sightings in the Vancouver checklist area! But, lastly, Parasitic Jaeger was the only target I truly expected.

Our trip took us from Point Grey to Point Roberts, through waters three fathoms deep and alongside inaccessible breakwaters known only to the hardiest seafarers. It also offered a very different perspective on Vancouver birding, offering novelty in an otherwise thoroughly birded landscape.

Figure 1: Strait of Georgia pelagic route.

Our first stop along the tip of the Iona north jetty produced 11 Surfbirds, 4 Black Turnstones and 60 Sanderling. Offshore from Sturgeon Bank we observed our first Parasitic Jaeger, giving chase to a feeding flock of Common Terns.

#244 - Parasitic Jaeger - 6 Sep 2015 - Strait of Georgia.

At the end of the Sand Heads jetty, which sticks out some 6 km to the west of Steveston, sat my primary target: Heermann's Gull. We observed a second Heermann's Gull closer to the base of the Sand Heads jetty with a gull and tern roost on a sandbar (which contained some 90 Caspian Terns). We estimated 3,000 Western Sandpipers roosting along the outer two thirds of the jetty, and 200 Black-bellied Plovers closer to the base, which also had 2 Red Knots mixed in. I can only imagine all the rare birds that have sat on these rocks over the years! 

#245 - Heermann's Gull - 6 Sep 2015 - Sand Heads Jetty,  Strait of Georgia.

We observed a second Parasitic Jaeger offshore from Roberts Bank, which displaced a group of Common Terns roosting on a floating log. The highly anticipated loop around the 'backside' of the Tsawwassen ferry jetty breakwater was tattlerless, but afforded close views of 60 Brandt's Cormorants. A third Parasitic Jaeger was observed just south of the Iona south jetty on our return trip and close views were had of Common Terns roosting on a floating tern mattress.   

Parasitic Jaeger - 6 Sep 2015 - Strait of Georgia.

Common Tern - 6 Sep 2015 - Floating Tern Mattress, Strait of Georgia.

Many thanks to Melissa for organizing the trip and skipper John for piloting!

Count update: 245 on Sep 6. 

The Hunt for Ruddy

As we approached the mid-way point of August, one of my easier remaining target birds was Ruddy Turnstone. A couple adults had been seen in Boundary Bay while I was out of town in late July, and the juveniles were due to arrive any day. This year they made me work for them. The following are excerpts from my Birder's Diary. 

Friday, August 14: I headed for Boundary Bay during the passage of a low pressure system, hopeful that it would bring the next batch of shorebirds. There I found KELO, and we took turns using each other as a wind shelter while staring teary-eyed through our scopes. Final Ruddy count: 0.

Saturday, August 15: Two juvenile Ruddy Turnstones are found by KELO at Boundary Bay. Meanwhile I'm in West Vancouver, celebrating a successful tattler hunt that unknowingly took me out of checklist bounds.

Sunday, August 16: I'm back at Boundary Bay where the shorebird showing is poor.

Monday, August 17: My third attempt for Ruddys yields the exact same number. But I found a consolation prize better than my primary target: a Buff-breasted Sandpiper (#239). Views were distant but good, but no photos were obtained because the tide shuffled the birds as I approached closer and the Buff was not to be seen again. 

Tuesday, August 18: Together with a foolish cohort in pursuit of the same goal, I staked out a private hummingbird feeder where a Calliope Hummingbird had been photographed. It turns out we are two days too late. As I try to drown my woes in a bowl of pasta, text messages start coming in about Ruddy Turnstones showing well at Boundary Bay. A mad dash from Coquitlam to Boundary Bay gets me there right at sunset (made possible only by MEHA's twitching-mode driving). In the failing light I desperately plead to borrow a dejected shore-birder's scope, then proceed to falsely exclaim "Buff-breasted Sandpiper!", and miss Ruddy Turnstone for the fourth time in five days. These were a productive 15 minutes. 

Wednesday, August 19: I head back to Boundary Bay with a case of twitch-dip blues and a hurt pride. My Ruddy record diminishes further to 0/5, but I find a redemption bird: three Hudsonian Godwits feeding with a plover flock. They were observed simultaneously by MITA from further west, and then they buggered off, not to be relocated again on the rising tide. If I hadn't seen one earlier in August, this would have been another huge score.

Saturday, August 22: A successful connect with a Great Egret (#240) in Tsawassen encourages another attempt for Ruddy. But another evening high tide is shaping up like another Ruddy dip. I stand at the foot of 96th St. with MAWY, as two motorized paragliders make low flights over the mudflats spooking all shorebirds. As their activity subsides, I spot a turnstone a long way out and a long way west. While MAWY stays on the bird, I race further west and lock on to it for closer views: white throat, dark necklace and orange legs clinch the ID as a Ruddy (#241). I snap a record shot and MAWY comes over for a closer look, thereby satisfying MITO's earlier request to have all my birds verified in light of the Buff incident. At last, I'm 1/6. Victory! 

#240. Great Egret. 22 August 2015. Tsawassen, BC.

#241. Ruddy Turnstone. 20 August 2015. Boundary Bay, BC. Long-range, in-the-dark, shorebird photography; my specialty.

Count update: 241 + 1 on August 22.

Waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush is an uncommon fall migrant through our area, with their passage peaking in the second half of August (I. Povalyaev 2015, anecdotal data).  In anticipation of their arrival I had already started checking places like Reifel where I have previously seen them just as the reports started coming in according to schedule. I took my birding kit (bins, scope, camera, census shoes) to work on Monday with the intention of going to Stanley Park that evening to look for a NOWA reported there the previous day. Instead, I got word of another report from Hastings Park that morning. This is just up the street from my office, so, by the end of my lunch break I had waterthrush on my year list. 

#238 - Northern Waterthrush - 17 Aug 2015 - Hastings Park, Vancouver.

The Tattler That Didn't Count

Following the report of a whack of good birds (Wandering Tattler, Heerman's Gull, Ancient Murrelet) from Howe Sound on Aug 3 a group of us decided to take a zodiac out on Aug 15 to see if we might have any such luck. Most of these birds were reported from Pam Rocks, a stack of rocks in the middle of Howe Sound, just south of Christie Islet, which itself is south of Anvil Island. To the best of my knowledge, the western Boundary of the Vancouver checklist area winds down the middle of Howe Sound, halfway between the mainland and Gambier Island, then wraps around Bowen Island and out in to the Straight of Georgia. Pam Rocks is pretty much in the middle of Howe Sound, so whether it falls in or out was a bit of mystery.

Pam Rocks is the barely visible speck above the red arrow.

Success was had at Pam Rocks when we spotted the crevice dwelling Wandering Tattler. I collected a GPS waypoint knowing that I would later need to sort out which jurisdiction it belonged to and we carried on to Christie Islet. Not having anything more to go by than a rather vague written description of the western boundary, I decided to defer to eBird and let it tell me which "county" the place mark fell in. Queue drum roll…. Sunshine Coast. D'oh! But a fun day on the water regardless, with good company and some interesting bird and marine life.

#238. Wandering Tattler. 15 Aug 2015. Pam Rocks, Howe Sound.

Carrying on to Christie Islet (left of JEKE's head), with Anvil Island in the background.

On the way back we checked out the mysterious back side of the Grebe Islets, where we enjoyed close up views of 90 Surfbirds.

Adult Surfbird in pre-basic moult. 15 Aug 2015. Grebe Islets, West Vancouver. 

Juvenile Sufbird. 15 Aug 2015. Grebe Islets, West Vancouver.

Count update: 237 + 1 on 15 Aug 2015.

Guttifer's Nested Checklist Theorem

Guttifer's Nested Checklist Theorem, named after pioneer lister Tringa Guttifer (read about T. Guttifer here), states that the total of one checklist area cannot exceed the total of a second checklist area, if the first checklist area fits within that second checklist area. 

Birders unfamiliar with this theorem are likely still aware of its principle. For example, Vancouver Island is part of BC and thus an individual's Vancouver Island life list cannot exceed their BC list, since any bird observed there would, by default, also represent a BC bird. BC is nested within Canada, and so it goes on.

However, the official Vancouver checklist area is an international one, and blatantly contradicts Guttifer's Nested Checklist Theorem, through the inclusion of Pt. Roberts, WA. Due to this outrageous discrepancy with one of listing's founding principles, many local birders are opposed to including anything seen at Pt. Roberts on their Vancouver list. Many players now choose to go by the new eBird Metro Vancouver County checklist area, which for all purposes is identical to the official Vancouver checklist area with the exception that it excludes Pt. Roberts. 

So where does this leave me? Pt. Roberts is a fantastic birding area offering some of the best and most easily accessible sea watching around Vancouver. I often wish it was part of BC, but then suddenly realize how quickly it would get developed, and immediately become thankful that it isn't. It would be a shame to disregard such a birding hotspot, but in order to compare apples to apples, a distinction needs to be made between birds seen only in Pt. Roberts. As such, my list will be reported as 2XX + Y, where Y represents Pt. Roberts additions. 

There are two species that are most easily seen within the Metro Vancouver checklist area at Pt. Roberts: Heerman's Gull and Ancient Murrelet. The time to see Heerman's Gulls locally is now, and in between high tides on August 3rd I visited Pt. Roberts to get my "security" Heerman's Gull.

#231 + 1. Heerman's Gull. 3 Aug 2015. Lighthouse Park, Pt. Roberts, WA.

I now plan to make a subsequent effort to see a Heerman's Gull in the Vancouver checklist area north of the border because, if for no other reason, 2XX + Y is such an ugly format for a list total.

Count update: 236 + 1 as of August 6, 2015.

Playing Catch-Up

A number of good birds had accumulated in my absence. My first order of business upon returning to town on August 3rd was the morning high tide at Boundary Bay. The main objective: Bar-tailed Godwit. I had read reports about this bird in agony for ten days, but with reports continuing through to August 1st, it seemed that I had a reasonable chance of seeing this bird.

The morning tide was perfect and thousand of peeps fed close to the dyke in the soft morning light. However, only about 200 plovers were present at 104th St., whereas up to 900 had been reported accompanying the godwit. With no other plovers to be seen in either direction, I feared that many birds had moved out in the last two days. A Red Knot was with the plovers and the Franklin's Gull flew past back and forth a few times; a good year bird, but not the primary target.

#229 - Franklin's Gull - 3 Aug 2015 - 104th St., Boundary Bay

I was joined by Mel and Yousif and we decided to walk west towards the mansion as the tide began to recede. A mixed flock east of the mansion had my first Baird's Sandpiper of the year (#230). Then, coming from the other direction, the Tabak brothers alerted us that the Bar-tailed Godwit was present with a large plover flock west of 88th Street. At this distance, hundreds of tiny heat-distorted blobs were all that was visible through the scope. It was time to boogie. As we drew nearer along the dyke, the flock moved further away in pursuit of the falling tide. It seemed as if we were't getting any closer and I considered aborting and returning on the rising evening tide instead, but was persuaded otherwise. Just when we got as close as we would get, without fail the flock took flight, wheeling back and forth above the mudflats. Serendipitously, I quickly locked on to a larger bird and we were soon all watching it in flight among the plovers. Definitely a godwit... with a plain barred underwing, barred tail, and no cinnamon tones; this was it, the object of my despair! We watched it land and decided to walk out on the flats for better views, but turned back because heat distortion proved too intense. As lousy as those views were, I remember it as clearly as the photo below. 

#231 - Bar-tailed Godwit - 3 Aug 2015 - 88th St., Boundary Bay. (Photo from Cairns, Australia; because nothing makes a sighting more credible than a photo from somewhere else.)

I returned on the evening tide hoping for better views of the barwit, and to try for a hudwit that we learned was seen in overflight the previous evening. The Hudsonian Godwit was present with plovers in front of 104th St., completing my godwit slam quite early in the year and distracting me sufficiently long that I did not make it to 88th St. to look again for the barwit until after the tide had risen.

#232 - Hudsonian Godwit - 3 Aug 2015 - 104th St., Boundary Bay.

The following morning's high tide at Boundary Bay did not produce either of the godwits, though one Pacific Golden-Plovers was still kicking about, as was the Franklin's Gull. It now seemed I was quite lucky to have seen the barwit. Meanwhile, hot shorebirds continued with the arrival of a Stilt Sandpiper at Reifel, feeding in the company of two Red-necked Phalaropes and three Lesser Yellowlegs. All three species were year birds! 

#233 Red-necked Phalarope, #234 Lesser Yellowlegs and #235 Stilt Sandpiper - 4 Aug 2015 - Reifel Bird Sanctuary.

My latest addition came from acting upon a call about a Solitary Sandpiper at Iona; this is a bird I generally bump in to at some point in the year, but was very relieved to get because I don't like the idea of "bumping" during a big year.

#236 Solitary Sandpiper - 6 Aug 2015 - Iona inner ponds.

Although none of these are mega-rarities, it is quite a good start to the shorebird migration for this early in August. There are still many weeks of it ahead and almost endless possibilities.

Count update: 236 + 1 as of August 6.

The Start of the Shorebird Migration

July is a great month to spend at the beach and observe the amazing shorebird migration. In Metro Vancouver, we are lucky to be situated along the Pacific Flyway in an area that offers some of the country's best shorebird viewing opportunities: the Fraser River Estuary. The Fraser River Estuary is designated as a site of Hemispheric Importance in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN). Several million shorebirds pass over the estuary each year in migration and tens of thousands remain for the winter. Shorebirds form enormous concentrations at such key staging areas along their migration route. Each area provides an abundance of food resources that enable birds to quickly replenish their energy reserves and complete the next leg of their journey. These staging areas underpin their entire migration system, but also lend great vulnerability to their users. Such enormous concentrations of birds at relatively few, widely spaced locations break the usual relationship between a species' abundance and its immunity to extinction, while highlighting the conservation value of these special places.

Western Sandpipers lead the shorebird migration throughout much of the fall on the Fraser River Estuary.

Semipalmated Sandpipers move through in small numbers and their migration through our area will largely be over by the end of August. 

Least Sandpipers forage in small flocks in drier and more vegetated areas compared to Westerns, which dominate the open mudflats.

Fall shorebirds can make or break a big year in Metro Vancouver. There are numerous locally uncommon species that require determined and routine circuits of the local shorebird hotspots to see, plus almost endless possibilities for unexpected vagrants.This year, the fall shorebird season started off slowly with a pair of Pacific Golden-Plovers on July 19 being the only notable species I've observed thus far. Naturally, five days after leaving town for work, the first truly rare shorebird of the season showed up on July 24: Bar-tailed Godwit. I'm hoping its a really tired and hungry one and needs at least another 9 days to build up its fat reserves.

#228 - Pacific Golden-Plover - July 19, 2015 - Boundary Bay, BC. 

"koWIT" said one golden-plover to the other. (Translation: "race you across the Pacific".)

Being just a spectator from afar for the remainder of July, it seems 228 will be my month-end total. While finding another 22 species in five months doesn't initially seem like an unreasonable prospect, reviewing my "Target Species" on eBird suggests fairly limited opportunity. Here are the 30 most frequently reported species in Metro Vancouver between now and end of December that I still need for my year list.