#11 Birds of October and November

The disadvantage of this blog format is that the bird photos dwindle as the year gets older. It becomes increasingly difficult to see new species as the year moves on.

In October, I was fortunate to travel to San Francisco for the Oracle Open World convention and take a couple of extra days down there for birding. This resulted in some new species for October, including one last lifer.

After that, I only got out once in November and then for a few days after Christmas in December (to no avail). So this is the last post for 2015.

#234 Red-throated Loon Date - October 4.  Location: White Rock Pier, White Rock BC. Status: Abundant
This is a good time of year to visit the White rock pier if the weather cooperates. There are a good variety of loons, grebes and ducks. Also, the crowds are sparser than other times. The target bird this day was a rare (for here) Clark's Grebe. No luck with that species, but I was happy to see a couple of Red Throated loons off the far end of the Pier. This was a life bird for me last year and only the second time I'd seen one. The red in the neck is often obscured, but you get a peek of it in this photo.

#235 Red-necked Grebe Date - October 4.  Location: White Rock Pier, White Rock BC. Status: Abundant
I usually see this bird in the Okanagan at one of the golf courses but no luck this year. At first I thought that this bird was a Loon, but then realized it was a young Red-necked Grebe.


#236 Western Gull Date - October 25.  Location: Pier 6, San Francisco Ca. Status: Abundant
On our first night in San Francisco we walked from our Hotel down to the Ferry Building, and then along the Embarcadero. We decided to have dinner at a nice seafood restaurant that overlooked the Bay. The Western gull is the predominant Gull species in this area. it is similar in size to a Herring or Glaucous-winged Gull, but has a darker body.


#xxx Red-masked Parakeet Date - October 25.  Location: Near the Coit Tower, San Francisco Ca. Status: Feral
These birds don't have a number as they are not countable per American Birding Association rules. There is a feral population of these birds in the city, most of them being escapees or releases from captivity. However, the population is growing and they may achieve listing status sometime in the future.





#237 Western Scrub Jay Date - October 29.  Location: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco Ca. Status: Abundant
On the last day of the convention, I was done at noon. Since Edith was an expert in using the Bay area Transit system, we hopped on a bus and headed for Golden Gate Park. I went for a birding walk while she toured the Legion of Honour museum. I saw a few birds but nothing new. After we met up, we headed for the park's Botanical Gardens where we saw some interesting butterflies and this common California Jay. The photo was taken on the following day further south in Atherton.


#238 California Towhee Date - October 30.  Location: Holbrook Palmer Park, Atherton Ca. Status: Abundant
After the convention, Edith flew home and I moved further south to spend two days birding in the San Mateo area. I visited this suburban park two years ago and had two lifers. My visit this time was not not quite as productive, I noticed the park looked much drier than it did two years ago. However, I was happy to see this Towhee skulking in the under-brush. It was the second time I'd ever seen one.


#239 Ladder-backed Woodpecker Date - October 30.  Location: Holbrook Palmer Park, Atherton Ca. Status: Abundant
I saw this bird for about 3 seconds and I assumed it was a strange looking Hairy Woodpecker. However, when I studied my photos later in the evening, it just did not look right. I had a field guide with me and when I saw the Ladder-back I knew I had lifer #417, the last one for 2015. The photo is very poor as the bird was gone in seconds, but it is conclusive.


#240 Snowy Egret Date - October 30.  Location: Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park Ca. Status: Abundant
I also visited this park in 2013, it's well worth risking one's life (or at least sanity) to visit it during rush hour. It's located on the East Bay and features shorebirds on the flats and songbirds in the arid hills. The hills were alive with Western Meadowlarks. This area was much drier than two years ago, but there were still good numbers of shorebirds including Snowy Egrets. This photo was taken the next day at Redwood Shores at Oracle headquarters.


#xxx Crested Duck Date - October 30.  Location: Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park Ca. Status: Abundant
Two more uncountable birds as these  are likely domestic escapees. When I first saw them I just could not figure out what I was seeing. I concluded they had to be domestic ducks, and some Google research that night proved me right.


#241 Black Phoebe Date - October 30.  Location: Holbrook Palmer Park, Atherton Ca. Status: Abundant
I returned to Holbrook-Palmer on my way back to my Hotel and added one more bird for the day. This is one of my favourite California birds as it is quite tame and is always willing to pose for photos. The first shot is from this day, the second was taken at Redwood Shores on the next day.




#242 Green Heron Date - October 31.  Location: Redwood Shores Ca. Status: Abundant
Redwood Shores is the headquarters for Oracle, the reason I was in San Francisco. This is not your typical business district, it is a mix of corporate buildings, sloughs, and walking trails. The photo below shows the Oracle complex, with the America's Cup Catamaran in front of the farthest building.


I took some nice Snowy Egret photos here including the one seen in #240. Just across the street was another slough and there I saw this Green Heron.

#243 Willet Date - October 31.  Location: Redwood Shores Ca. Status: Abundant
Although I saw quite a few birds in this area, the only other new species for the year was this Willet. It is a larger shore-bird that we see occasionally in the Lower Mainland.

This ended the California trip and the month of October.

#244 Black Oystercatcher - November 11.  Location: Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty, Delta BC. Status: Abundant
I was trying to pad out my year list to reach 250, but I fell a bit short. I knew that this bird was a certainty at this location, so I spent part of Remembrance Day here. I hoped to add Snow Bunting or Horned Lark, but no luck with those species.


#245 Trumpeter Swan Date - November 15.  Location: 112 St. Delta BC. Status: Abundant
Another species that is pretty much guaranteed in Fall/Winter in Delta. The swans were a bit too far away to get a good shot.

I had few opportunities to get out birding in December and was unable to add any more species. The 245 birds I saw in 2015 were a personal record although I've only been counting year birds since 2012. I added 21 birds to my life list, my best year since 2013 when I had 29.

Here's a few birds that I'm kicking myself for missing this year:

Blue-winged Teal

Long-tailed Duck

Pacific Loon

Sora

Virginia Rail

Spotted Sandpiper

Sabine's Gull (Two flew over our boat on the Pelagic but I could not see them)

Horned Lark

Brown Creeper (seen Jan 1, 2016)

Northern Mockingbird (seen Jan 1, 2016)

Snow Bunting

Fox Sparrow

#10 Birds of August and September

The new species count dwindled rapidly in August and then picked up in late September when we travelled to Ucluelet BC for a pelagic birding cruise. I saw a number of lifers in September, but some of them lacked a good photographic record. When you're on a boat with 95 birders, you miss some photo-ops if you're slow or on the wrong side of the boat.

I also had some lifers at Boundary Bay where I got a decent spotting scope view, but only managed one or two IPhone photos through the scope. They provide a poor record of the bird seen.

#213 California Gull Date - August 11.  Location: Boundary Bay west of 104 St, Delta BC. Status: Abundant
I was at Boundary Bay looking for some rarity with another birder to no avail. However, we did spot this California Gull in with some Ring-billed Gulls. The California in the middle is larger and has a red spot on the beak whereas the Ring-bills have a black circle on the beak


#214 Long-billed Dowitcher Date - August 30.  Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC. Status: Abundant
There are two species of Dowitchers seen in North America, the Long-billed and the Short-billed. They are almost impossible to identify unless you are a birding genius and see them in breeding plumage. One rule of thumb is that Long-billed prefer fresh water and Short-billed prefer salt water.
Since I saw this bird at Reifel in fresh water, and since they have been recorded as Long-billed in the log book there, I call this a Long-billed Dowitcher.


#215 Vaux's Swift Date - September 5.  Location: Swan-e-Set Golf Course, Pitt Meadows BC. Status: Abundant
An early morning round of golf close to Pitt Lake was interrupted by a flock of swifts flying overhead. I tried to take an IPhone photo but it did not turn out. I verified the ID after the round as Vaux's Swift. The only other time I have seen them was in 1998 while house-boating on Shuswap Lake.  Here's a scanned photo from 18 years ago.

#216 Least Sandpiper Date - September 6.  Location: Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC. Status: Abundant
I believe I was here looking for Horned Larks that had been reported on the Jetty, but had no luck. I headed to the sewage ponds to see if there were any sandpipers. I met up with another birder and we spotted a few species that I had not seen yet in the year. The first was the Least Sandpiper, identified by its small size and yellow legs. This is a cropped IPhone digiscoped photo.

#217 Pectoral Sandpiper Date - September 6.  Location: Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC. Status: Abundant
Mixed in with the Least's was a single Pectoral Sandpiper, Unfortunately, it did not turn around so I only caught its backside. It is quite larger than the Least Sandpiper.


#218 Baird's Sandpiper Date - September 6.  Location: Iona Regional Park, Richmond BC. Status: Abundant
We got good looks at this mid-size sandpiper. The best field mark is the long wing projection that completely covers the tail.


#219 Hudsonian Godwit Date - September 7.  Location: 96 St. Boundary Bay Delta BC. Status: Abundant
This is an uncommon bird on the west coast. We do see many of the Marbled Godwit here. Although this bird was visible for about two months, I did not see it again after this night. My only photos are this very poor IPhone digiscope effort. The bird is in the foreground facing away from the camera. This was lifer #410, another one with an unsatisfactory photo record.

#220 Merlin Date - September 7.  Location: 104 St. Boundary Bay Delta BC. Status: Abundant
At Boundary Bay, the Delta Air Park on 104 St is the only legal place to park. It's about a 1.5 km walk to 96 St which was where all the shorebird activity was happening. After seeing the Hudsonian Godwit, I made the trek back. There were a couple of birders looking up at one of the trees in the parking lot at a Merlin. This bird is like a miniature version of a Peregrine Falcon, slightly larger than its cousin the American Kestrel. It was very cooperative and I was able to get some good photos.

The next series of photos were taken on September 20th on a Pelagic birding cruise in the Pacific off Ucluelet. The tour started at 7:00 AM and returned to port around 2:00 PM. I managed to stave off seasickness and see a good collection of life and year list birds. A couple of the lifers have no photo as they were on the wrong side of the boat or I was too slow to react.

#221 Cassin's Auklet Date - September 20.  Location: Ucluelet Harbour, Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
We had a 5:30 wake-up to get ready, make a coffee and be at the Main St. Harbour by 7:00 AM. When all 93 birders were on board the MV Frances Barkley as we set out for a full day of birding. While we were still in the Harbour, someone called out Cassin's Auklet. I got a look with binoculars, but was unable to get a photo. Auklets are small members of the Alcid family, which are oceanic birds that only come to land for nesting purposes.

This was another lifer (#411), the photo is courtesy of Wikipedia.


#222 Pink Footed Shearwater Date - September 20.  Location: Pacific Ocean near Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
Shearwaters, Albatrosses, Fulmars and Petrels are medium to large long winged sea-birds. They spend their entire lives on open ocean, only coming to land to breed. They have large tubular nostrils and are collectively known as tubenoses These large nostrils help them smell prey in the ocean. I had seen Sooty Shearwater near the Queen Charlottes in 2004, but this was my first Pink-footed. They were probably the most numerous bird we saw on the pelagic cruise this day. it was also #412 for the life list.
The first photo is an in flight capture the shows the tubenose.


The second photo shows a Shearwater attempting to steal food from the birds in the water. The crew is discharging chum and fish oil from the bow of the boat. Most pelagic cruises use this method to attract sea-birds.


#223 Northern Fulmar Date - September 20.  Location: Pacific Ocean near Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
This is another tubenose that we saw in good numbers. There are two colour morphs of this seabird, a light coloured bird which is most common in the Atlantic. The darker morph (first photo) is more common on the West Coast. We saw mostly dark birds, but there were a few lighter ones (second photo) as well. This was another lifer, #413.




As a bonus, here's an action shot of Fulmars fighting over fish offal.


#224 Pomarine Jaeger Date - September 20.  Location: Pacific Ocean near Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
Jaegers are related to Skua's and Gulls. They spend most of their time on the ocean, coming to land to nest. They are also thieves that steal food from smaller sea-birds, especially gulls. Jaegers are larger and faster than those birds and harass them in the air until they drop the food they have caught. The other distinguishing feature is their long pointy tails.
When this bird was called out, I managed to locate it and get two decent shots away. This was yet another lifer, #414.
 


#225 Cackling Goose Date - September 20.  Location: Pacific Ocean near Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
Somewhere  during the day someone spotted a flock of geese flying overhead. We were able to identify them as Cackling Goose. This is a species that resembles the Canada Goose, except they are much smaller, closer to a Mallard in size. The first photo shows the geese overhead, the second shows some Cackling Geese seen at Reifel Bird Sanctuary a week later.




#226 Black-footed Albatross September 20.  Location: Pacific Ocean near Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
This was a latecomer to the party, but one we hoped to see. The Black-footed Albatross is the most common Albatross seen in the North Pacific. When it showed up, it was a scene stealer. This was lifer #415.


#227 Pelagic Cormorant Date - September 20.  Location: Ucluelet Harbour, Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
This is a fairly common cormorant that can be seen in False Creek and at Point Roberts. The photo is from the latter location taken in October.

#228 Rhinoceros Auklet  Date - September 20.  Location: Uluelet Harbour, Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
This is another Auklet that was seen in the harbour but not photographed. It was lifer #416, the last of the day. Here's another Wikipedia photo that shows the bird. It is sometimes considered to be the fourth Puffin species in North America.


#229 Heermann's Gull  Date - September 20.  Location: Uluelet Harbour, Ucluelet BC. Status: Abundant
Another species seen but not photographed on this day. However, these gulls are common in San Francisco and I took the photo below in October near Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran.


#230 Marbled Godwit Date - September 25.  Location: 96 St. Boundary Bay Delta BC. Status: Abundant
This is the most common Godwit seen on the West Coast. I saw it from long distance on this day, but got some better photos in Redwood Shores California in October.


#231 American Golden Plover Date - September 25.  Location: 96 St. Boundary Bay Delta BC. Status: Abundant
While scoping for a rare Ruff on Boundary Bay, I did see this American Golden Plover. It is the dark bird facing away in with all the Black-bellied Plovers.


#232 Ruff Date - September 25.  Location: 96 St. Boundary Bay Delta BC. Status: Rare
We seem to get one Ruff per year on the West coast. It is a common European shorebird. Last year I got a female (called a Reeve in Europe) at Reifel, and this year managed to get this immature bird at Boundary Bay. The status of this bird in North America is Rare.


#233 Lesser Yellowlegs Date - September 27.  Location: Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC. Status: Abundant
It's amazing that it took me this late in the year to see this common shorebird. I finally caught up with one at Reifel, but did not get a very good photo.

That wraps up September, next up is the last post of the year covering October in California and November/December at home.

#9 Birds of July

July 2015 continues in Newfoundland as we spent the first 20 days of the month in that province. After that, we flew to Calgary (after an overnight stay in the Halifax airport) for a visit with family and some birding. Upon returning home, I had one spectacular outing at Boundary Bay near the end of the month.

#185 American Black Duck Date - July 1.  Location: Signal Hill, St. John's NL. Status: Abundant
I had hoped to see this duck species on our trip and was not disappointed. After seeing it on Canada Day in St. John's, I also saw it in a couple of other locations in the province. The Black Duck is closely related to the familiar Mallard, although the males look completely different. The females in the two species are very similar. In fact, the two species will interbreed where their ranges overlap. The photo  below was take in Clarenville NL later in the month.
This was lifer #405.


#186 Lincoln's Sparrow Date - July 1.  Location: Gander NL. Status: Abundant
After travelling west halfway across the province, we stayed in Gander, famous for its airport that hosted travellers during the 9/11 crisis. There's not much else to see in this land-locked town, but I did find a nice marshy patch across the highway from our hotel. I saw a few different species there including this sparrow.  The first photo is from that outing.


I also saw this sparrow in Gros Morne National Park and then again in September at Reifel Bird Sanctuary back home. Since it is such a striking sparrow, here is the Reifel photo.


#187 Common Eider Date - July 3.  Location: St. Barbe, NL. Status: Abundant
This was another duck species I had hoped to see in Newfoundland. My only other sighting was a single duck at the end of the Iona Jetty in 1998. This was the only occasion (so far) where I was injured bird watching, as I slipped on the rocks at the end of the Jetty and cut my knee.

This occasion was injury free, but I did not identify the ducks until I saw the photos on my computer. I had thought they were American Black Ducks when I took the photos. We saw another large group of Common Eiders a bit later that week.


#188 Common Redpoll Date - July 4.  Location: L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site, NL. Status: Abundant
This is the site where the Vikings landed in North America around 1000 AD. We spent the afternoon touring and while waiting for Edith to do her souvenir shopping, I returned to the parking lot. I heard some bird sounds and soon found a Yellow Warbler. I continued looking and saw a finch-like bird with some red on it. I took some photos and upon review realized it was a Common Redpoll. These northern birds are common in the East in winter, I had seen them in 1996 in Ottawa. This photo from that day turned out quite well.


We do see Redpolls in the winter on the west coast every few years, and 2015 was one of those. This photo was taken at Reifel Bird Sanctuary on December 31, there was a group of 30 to 40 Redpolls there.

#189 Magnolia Warbler Date - July 6.  Location: Western Brook Pond Trail, Gros Morne National Park, NL.  Status: Abundant
One of the attractions of Gros Morne is a boat tour on an inland fjord. To get to the launch point, visitors must make a two kilometre hike through a marshy forested area, some of it on board walks. After our boat tour that we took the longer more isolated trail back and it was one of those birdy days that happen on occasion. Almost immediately we were surrounded by calling songbirds. There had been no songbird concentrations like this elsewhere on our trip.
The first new bird seen was a Magnolia Warbler. I had seen this beautiful Eastern warbler in Florida a couple of years ago.


#190 Blackpoll Warbler Date - July 6.  Location: Western Brook Pond Trail, Gros Morne National Park, NL.  Status: Abundant
Almost immediately we saw other warblers. At first I thought this one was a Black and White Warbler, but it was not quite right. It had the look of a Chickadee, but was definitely a Warbler. I used my IPhone birding application to identify it as a Blackpoll, a fairly common Eastern warbler. This was lifer #406.


#191 Black-and-White Warbler Date - July 6.  Location: Western Brook Pond Trail, Gros Morne National Park, NL.  Status: Abundant
After my mistake on the Blackpoll, who shows up but a Black-and-White Warbler? I had seen this bird in Florida and at Point Pelee in Ontario. The first photo is from that day, the second is the next day on another trail in Gros Morne. Both are a bit over-exposed (intentionally).




#192 Blue Jay Date - July 10.  Location: Angel's Cove, NL.  Status: Abundant
We were driving south on Highway 100 heading for an exciting day at St. Mary's Ecological Reserve. It's unusual for me to be the first to spot anything, but I saw a flash of blue on the right side of the road. I stopped and grabbed the camera. It was a Blue Jay, a bird I expected to see somewhere on our trip. This was the only one.


#193 Thick-billed Murre Date - July 10.  Location: Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve, NL.  Status: Abundant
Most of the birds seen at this reserve are featured in the June 2015 blog post. This reserve is unique in that you walk from a visitor's centre out to the cliff tops where thousands of sea birds nest. The primary species are Northern Gannet, Common Murre and Black-legged Kittiwake (approx 20,000 each).  There are about 2,000 Thick-billed Murres which nest in a different location from the others. However, the birds are much further away here than where the other species are located.

After seeing the other birds, I was determined to try for a Thick-billed Murre as it would be a lifer. I used my scope to scan the cliffs for Murres with a broad white stripe along the beak. The first photo shows me scanning the cliffs and shows how difficult the search was.


The next photo is a capture from an IPhone video taken through my scope and shows lifer #407, a Thick-billed Murre.

#194 American Pipit Date - July 10.  Location: Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve, NL.  Status: Abundant
Our final reward was a very cooperative Pipit which would stay ahead of us and pose for photos. I normally see this bird in the Fall on Boundary Bay, but this was the only one of the year.


#195 Northern Waterthrush Date - July 10.  Location: Salmonier Nature Park, Holyrood NL.  Status: Abundant
I thought this nature park was a glorified zoo, but further research showed that it was a good place to potentially see wild birds as well. It is primarily an animal/bird rehabilitation centre, so we did see some injured owls and falcons, along with some injured mammals.
The only new species I saw there was this warbler, the first of this species I have seen since 1990. It was sitting in the Great Horned Owl cage, but was small enough to go in and out and be considered a wild bird. I need help from the staff at the centre to identify the species.


#196 Black Guillemot Date - July 13.  Location: Middle Cove, St. John's NL.  Status: Abundant
Our last few days were spent back in the St. John's area. Edith was hopeful to see a Capelin run, and Middle Cove was the most accessible place to see this natural phenomenon. The Capelin are small sardine-like fish that are a vital part of the Atlantic ecosystem. They are consumed by birds, whales and humans. in the summer they come ashore in huge numbers to lay eggs. We did not get to see a Capelin run, but I did capture this Guillemot species. There are only two species in North America, the Pigeon Guillemot that I see in North Vancouver each year, and the Black Guillemot of the east coast.

That concluded our Newfoundland adventure. Our next stop on the way home was a 3 day layover in Calgary to visit family and hit some of my favourite birding spots.

#197 Franklin's Gull Date - July 18.  Location: Weaselhead Flats, Calgary AB.  Status: Abundant

After an interesting travel adventure from St. John's to Halifax with an overnight stay in the Halifax Airport, we made it to Calgary one day later than expected. The Glenmore Weaselhead is a protected area around the Elbow River in south-west Calgary. It is close to my cousin's place and I always make time for a visit. On this morning, the first birds I saw were a flock of Franklin's Gulls overhead. These dark-headed Gulls are common in Calgary in the summer.

#198 Clay-colored Sparrow Date - July 18.  Location: Weaselhead Flats, Calgary AB.  Status: Abundant

This is another reliable bird at this location. Unfortunately, it was early and the birds that I saw were directly into the sun. This is the best of a bad lot of photos.

#199 Cliff Swallow Date - July 18.  Location: Weaselhead Flats, Calgary AB.  Status: Abundant

These birds are the main reason I come here each year. The bridge over the Elbow River houses hundreds of Cliff Swallow nests. It's always hard to get a good photo as the birds come and go at high speed. I was lucky to get this shot which captures the beauty of these swallows.

#200 Eared Grebe Date - July 18.  Location: Frank Lake, High River AB.  Status: Abundant

Frank Lake is my other go-to location. It is about 60 KM south of Calgary near the town of High River. There is a board walk that leads up to a blind on the lake. From the blind one can usually see Coots and Eared Grebes with chicks. Here is a photo of an Eared Grebe with two chicks on her back.

#201 American White Pelican Date - July 18.  Location: Frank Lake, High River AB.  Status: Abundant

This site is always good for these huge Pelicans. I did see them here, but my best photo was taken in October at Redwood Shores California, south of San Francisco. This photo highlights the size of the pelicans in comparison to the Black-necked Stilt (in the foreground) which is 14" tall with a 29" wingspan.

#202 White-faced Ibis Date - July 18.  Location: Frank Lake, High River AB.  Status: Abundant

This is another bird that can be seen at this location most years. This is the very northern tip of their breeding range. Earlier in the year, there were some seen on a lake north of Merritt BC.

#203 Western Grebe Date - July 18.  Location: Frank Lake, High River AB.  Status: Abundant

These grebes tend to be farther out from the blind than the other birds. They can be seen in White Rock off the pier at certain times of the year was well. The grebe on the left is an immature bird, problably with its parent.

#204 Wilson's Phalarope Date - July 18.  Location: Frank Lake, High River AB.  Status: Abundant

This shorebird can also be seen on the coast in early spring, but I always seem to miss it. I did not get a good photo this year compared to previous years.

#205 Forster's Tern Date - July 18.  Location: Frank Lake, High River AB.  Status: Abundant

I was reluctant to identify this Tern as a Forster's because the photo was poor. However, I met a fellow later in the year that does tours of Frank Lake and he assured me that this was by far the most likely white Tern to show up at Frank Lake. This was my fifth tern of the year, the only one I missed for Canada was the Black Tern.

#206 Black-necked Stilt Date - July 18.  Location: Frank Lake, High River AB.  Status: Abundant

I trekked across to the far side of the lake and scared up this very vocal shorebird. I saw them in numbers in October in California.

#207 Swainson's Hawk Date - July 18.  Location: Springbank Road, Calgary AB.  Status: Abundant

This is the predominant hawk in Southern Alberta, much like the Red-tailed is here on the coast. This road runs parallel to Highway 1 and passes the Springbank Airport. I have seen a hawk here for three years in a row, it could be the same one shown in last year's blog.

#208 Semipalmated Plover Date - July 28.  Location: Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC.  Status: Abundant

I celebrated my daughter Sarah's 30th birthday with an outing at Bounday Bay. To be fair, we had celebrated her birthday on the weekend and she was was unavailable on this day. For me, it was the best day at Boundary Bay for the year.
These plovers are similar to Killdeer but smaller with only one black neck ring instead of two. They also travel in flocks whereas Killdeer are usually in small numbers.

#209 Red Knot Date - July 28.  Location: Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC.  Status: Abundant

I was going to head home but noticed that a large group of birders were east of the 104th St parking lot. I joined them and discovered a number of good species were on hand. The first was the Red Knot, an eastern shorebird that turns up in small numbers as the young return from the breeding grounds in the North. This was life list addition #408 for me.
The first photo is from my camera, the Knot is in the lower right side of the island, the bird with the reddish tint on the breast.


This IPhone digiscope photo shows it better.It is the centre bird with the reddish tint.

#210 Ruddy Turnstone Date - July 28.  Location: Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC.  Status: Abundant

I've seen this bird quite a few times, but it is a rarity on the West Coast. This is another long distance photo. It is the bird in the centre facing away with the Ruddy back.

#211 Bar-tailed Godwit Date - July 28.  Location: Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC.  Status: Abundant

I saw this bird but did not get a photo. I hate lifers with no photo proof, but this is lifer #409. The photo below was lifted from Wikipedia and shows the winter plumage, which is what we saw.

#212 Pacific Golden-Plover Date - July 28.  Location: Boundary Bay, 104 St. Delta BC.  Status: Abundant

This was the fourth rare bird in the flock, there were many birders by this time. I saw this bird for the first time in 2014. This was another IPhone digiscope shot

This ended July, another good month. Next up is August/September.