VANCOUVER RARE BIRD ALERT sponsored by the Vancouver Natural History
Society.

Area: VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA (abbrev-VCR)
Period: MON APR 09/95 to SUN APRIL 16/95, updated weekly
Call: 604-737-9910 (hot line updated daily, or as necessary)
To report: Same
Compiler: Michael Price
Transcriber: Same
Contact: michael_price at mindlink.bc.ca
(604) 731-4715 For sick or injured birds please call:
Wildlife Rescue at 526-7275
Monika's Wildlife Shelter at 882-0908
Owl Rehabilitation Center at 946-3171


SPECIES MENTIONED:

VESPER SPARROW (arr.)
Northern Goshawk
Golden Eagle
Long-billed Curlew
Sandhill Crane
Osprey
Whimbrel (arr.)
American Pipit (arr.)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (arr.)
White-throated Sparrow
Sora
American Kestrel
Mink
Yellowlegs sp.
Killer Whales
Ring-necked Ducks
Harris' Sparrow
Marbled Godwit
Mountain Bluebird
Varied Thrush
Glaucous-winged Gull
Lincoln's sparrow (arr.)
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH (arr.)
Pacific-Slope Flycatcher (arr.)
Turkey Vulture
N. Pygmy-Owl
Green Heron
Tundra Swan
Cinnamon Teal
Eurasian Wigeon
Mute Swan
Dunlin
Loon sp.
Pacific Loon
Gr. White-fronted Goose
Hammond's Flycatcher (arr.)
Short-billed Dowitcher (arr.)
Townsend's Solitaire
Eurasian Green-winged Teal
Eurasian Wigeon
Eurasian X American Wigeon Hybrid
Trumpeter Swan
Dark-eyed Junco
Mandarin Duck
Townsend's Warbler



SUN APR 16 EASTER SUNDAY

Boy, Pitt Meadows was the hot zone today. A VESPER SPARROW, normally a bird
of the Dry Interior except for a tiny breeding population on Vancouver
Island in the Nanaimo area, was in the vicinity of the large gravel parking
lot at Grant Narrows at the N end of Rennie Rd., and was last seen in the
field on the E side of Rennie opposite the lot. An adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK
was on prey just N of the farm on the W side of Neaves Rd. about .25 km S
of the bridge over the N Alouette R., while an adult GOLDEN EAGLE was
perched not far away on the E side of Neaves; further S on Neaves Rd., a
LONG-BILLED CURLEW was in a field on the W side of the road about 1 km N of
the bridge over the S Alouette R., and at least 3 SANDHILL CRANES were
along Neaves Rd. also. Along the Pitt L Dike, the pair of OSPREYS are
refurbishing their nest on a piling directly opposite the observation
tower.


The number of WHIMBREL at the field on the S side of 8th Ave, 3 blocks E of
176th St. has increased to 38; the exact address is 17948 8th Ave. in SRY.

A flock of 23 AMERICAN PIPITS in the old field at the W end of Deer L.in
BBY. The male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, first seen at Violet's Barn at the
entrance to the Reifel Refuge on Friday April 13, has moved almost 300
meters along the entrance road toward the main Refuge parking lot; the
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, though, was in its customary place along the S side
of the entrance road just past the main gate to the Refuge. A SORA was in
the Refuge itself.

An AMERICAN KESTREL was seen along Hwy. 99 where it crosses the Serpentine
R. in Surrey, and a MINK was observed hunting YELLOWLEGS nearby.

A pod of 12 KILLER WHALES was off the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal Jetty in S
Delta and may stay in the vicinity.

Finally, for Sunday, anyone still wishing to get close-up views of
RING-NECKED DUCKS may see them on the display pond at Ambleside Pk. in W
VCR where 3 males and 1 female have not yet joined the migration.


SAT APR 15 EASTER SATURDAY

A single LONG-BILLED CURLEW was in the fields to the W of Neaves Rd. .25 km
S of the bridge over the N Alouette R. in Pitt Meadows.

At the Reifel Refuge, the male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD joined the HARRIS'
& WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS along the entrance road just inside the main
gate.

Up to 5 AMERICAN PIPITS were at Blackie Spit today; also here was the
MARBLED GODWIT and WHIMBREL, but the third member of the THREE AMIGOS, the
LONG-BILLED CURLEW hasn't been seen for several days and may have already
left for its migration north.

Two males MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were still at Colony Farms in the NE field
this morning. If you're seeing more VARIED THRUSHES than usual, it's
because comparatively large numbers of them are moving through the Greater
VCR Checklist Area at the present time.

Finally for today, there's an interesting sighting of a slightly
out-of-range GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, which is a gull of the Pacific coastal
strip and is a rarity even as little as 150 km inland; this bird was seen
on January 31 of this year at a rivermouth in a place called, if I can
pronounce this name properly, Essaourira. Essaourira is more than a little
out of this species' range: it's in Morocco, on the coast of N. Africa.


FRI APR 14 GOOD FRIDAY

The first report of AMERICAN PIPITS this spring comes from the S end on
72nd St. where it terminates against the Boundary Bay Dike in S Delta,
where there was a flock of 25 (see Apr 12); the first LINCOLN'S SPARROW
report of the spring migration was of a single bird at the same location.

A flock of 8 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES was reported from the high knoll in
Minnekhada Pk in Coquitlam. The first PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER of the
spring migration was seen today in Jericho Pk. on W 4th Ave. in VCR.

The feeding flock of WHIMBREL in Surrey is beginning to build up; today
there were 28 birds in the traditional field on the S side of 8th Ave, 3
blocks E of 176th St. Another 5 WHIMBREL were at another traditional
staging area on the foreshore of Gilbert Beach about 100 m to the W of the
S end of Gilbert Rd. in the Steveston area of Richmond, another 3 in the
Alouette Polder.

Also at this location were 4 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, 3 TURKEY VULTURES, 1 N.
PYGMY-OWL, at least 11 SANDHILL CRANES pairing up preparatory to nesting, 3
GREEN HERONS, and what might be a migratory family group of 2 adult and 2
immature TUNDRA SWANS. As well in the Pitt & Alouette Polders, were 8
CINNAMON TEAL & 4 male and 2 female EURASIAN WIGEON. A pair of OSPREYS were
seen at Pitt L., and a single feral MUTE SWAN is still at Katzie Marsh just
S of the lake.

The first YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD of the spring migration was located at
Violet's Barn, the barn at the entrance gates to the Reifel Refuge and the
Alaksen WMA. A flock of shorebirds, mainly DUNLIN, on the foreshore at the
Reifel Refuge was estimated to contain at least 100,000 birds, and a flock
of up to 3,000 LOONS, mainly PACIFIC LOONS has congregated as every spring
off the mouth of the Fraser R. at Reifel. Finally, for this day, a flock of
12 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were over the Refuge.


THU APR 13

The first HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER and the first SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS of
the spring were at the Reifel Refuge.

The male MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD was present again in the vicinity of the
flagged section of the telephone wires along Westham Is. Rd. in Ladner; the
bird is frequenting an area about 3/4 km W of the Westham Is. Bridge off
River Rd. Two more MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were still at Colony Farms in the NE
field on the Port Coquitlam side to the N of the large power poles, and
these birds are the remnant of a migrant flock of 6 birds which first
appeared there Saturday Mar 26.

A migrant flock of 25 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were observed heading N
over Mud Bay at the E end of Boundary Bay. A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE continues
to visit a yard in the 238-hundred block of the Lougheed Hwy. in Maple
Ridge as it has since Tuesday April 11.

The EURASIAN RACE GREEN-WINGED TEAL is still present in the slough
immediately to the N of the E end of the Westham Is. Bridge in Ladner.


WED APR 12

A male MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD was on the telephone wires along River Rd. in
Ladner near the flags at roadside about 3/4 km E of the Westham Is. Bridge.

A pair of CINNAMON TEAL was on the grassy spit on the S side of the E Pond
at Jericho Pk. on W 4th Ave. in VCR; on the W Pond and in the marsh to the
W, there was the usual drake EURASIAN WIGEON and drake EURASIAN X AMERICAN
WIGEON HYBRID.

A pair of TRUMPETER SWANS were reported from the Fraser R. in the vicinity
of the old railway Bridge at Annacis Is.

A large DARK-EYED JUNCO MIGRATION was noted in the Fraser Canyon near
Yale, with flocks of about 500 birds each being noted both on this date and
the day before, Tuesday April 11. (Late report: American Pipit at Everett
Crowley Pk; actual arrival sighting)


TUE APR 11

Another TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE turned up today, the second in three days as
that species' rather sparse migration begins to trickle through the GVCA;
this bird was in a yard in the 238-hundred block of the Lougheed Highway in
Maple Ridge.

A single TURKEY VULTURE was over Broadway at Cypress St in VCR's Kitsilano
district.

The drake EURASIAN WIGEON was in the E Pond at Jericho Pk. on W 4th Ave.
in VCR.

The Vancouver Alert doesn't usually report on the comings and goings of
escaped domestic or aviary birds, but for the 3rd consecutive spring, a
feral male MANDARIN DUCK has appeared at Brydon Lagoon in Langley's Bryden
Pk.from its as-yet unknown wintering area.


MON APR 10

The first TOWNSEND'S WARBLER of the spring migration was located in
Ambleside Pk. in W VCR yesterday. The HARRIS' SPARROW was near the shared
entrances to the Reifel Refuge and the Alaksen WMA, just inside the Alaksen
gate.

If you have a report or a query about bird identification or Vancouver
birding please call:


Michael Price at (604)731-4715
Mark and Eleni Wynja at (604)438-6529
(Other contact names omitted on request)


Thanks for calling the Vancouver Bird Alert and Good Birding!