Hi Tweets

Another trip to Point Grey to feed my jaeger-junkie obsession, this time
early enough to have some relaxed viewing time. Massive influx of thousands
of Surf Scoters.

It's odd that the local wisdom here has always been that the best place to
see jaegers (5 or more in a day is considered good here according to that
same wisdom) and other southbound seabirds in Vancouver BC is Point Roberts
WA, 40 km to the S, since my observations since the mid-Eighties show that
Point Grey in Vancouver BC can be just as productive ("And", as the cynical
old politicians used to say, "It's in the constituency, too!" ;-). Numbers
and species mix seem to match (and where they don't, I'd think it's because
the location's so under-birded, which is *really* odd considering how easy
it is to get there), distances aren't so great, and, best of all for a
car-less person, I can bike there in twenty minutes from home.

The most productive spot seems to be on the shoreline about 500 meters W of
the W end of Spanish Banks. Drive W along NW Marine Drive to the end of
Spanish Banks, and continue along the Drive up the hill for about 300 meters
to a small parking lot. From there, take the broad path about 100 meters
down to the water's edge. Go another 50-100 meters along the beach and find
a comfortable log to lean against or sit on while you scope the birds on or
above the water (and, yes, while you can see quite a bit with bins, you're
better off with a scope).

Warning: It's pretty brisk out there now, but on a sunny day from Spring to
early Fall, you may see some Extreme Sunbathing here: this location is near
the eastern end of a 'clothing optional' beach. The convention is that the
nude beach begins another 300-400 meters W at an old WWII gun tower on the
beach (hence the name 'Tower Beach'. They never fired the guns in anger, so
why the adjacent beach is called 'Wreck Beach' is beyond me) and extends W
onto Wreck Beach. In the eternal war between the nude sunbathers who use the
beach and the Morality Police who want to shut it down, the front line is
somewhat amorphous.

Conditions: Temp: 10-12 degrees C; wind: W 15-20 km/hr; barom: high, steady;
cloud: low sea-fog to 10 AM then clearing; tide: slow ebb, tideflats
exposed; seastate: light ripple.

Red-throated Loon 2 2jv
Pacific Loon 1 alt ad
Common Loon 4 3a jv
Horned Grebe 3 1a worn alt, 1jv
Red-necked Grebe 11 8a 3jv
Western Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 32 21a 11jv
Great Blue Heron 2 2a
Green-winged Teal 5
American Wigeon c150
Greater Scaup 2 1m 1f
Black Scoter 1 1f
Surf Scoter c5,000 80 ad m
White-winged Scoter 3 2 ad m, 1 subad m
Scoter sp. c600
Common Merganser c125
Bald Eagle 1 jv
Long-billed Dowitcher 1 Def Bsc
Pomarine Jaeger 1 ad, light-morph
Parasitic Jaeger 8 light, intermed., jvs
Jaeger sp. 4*
Bonaparte's Gull c250 95% Def Bsc
Mew Gull 2 2a
Ring-billed Gull 30
California Gull 8
Glaucous-winged Gull c50
Common Tern 3
Northern Flicker 2
Steller's Jay 3
Northwestern Crow 35
American Pipit 4
Cedar Waxwing 9
European Starling 20
Savannah Sparrow 15 migrants on shoreline
Song Sparrow 3 " " "
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 migrant " "
White-crowned Sparrow 3 3 Bsc1 " "
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1 migrant " "
Dk-eyed Junco, Oreg.-type 3 migrants " "

*
3 distant, prob PAJA; 1 robust juv. bird, poss. Pom

Michael Price If asked "What is Man?" a biologist might
Vancouver BC Canada answer, "Well, 99% a Chimpanzee..."
mprice at mindlink.net -The Economist