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: AbundantWe 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.
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.
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