Hi folks, this past weekend I went over to the west coast of Vancouver
Island and I was impressed to see that a few shorebird species are on the move.

On Saturday April 5, 28 Greater Yellowlegs were observed by a local birder.
On Sunday April 6, I saw the first migrant flock of Dowitchers, there were
six in total, and appeared to be Short-billed. Only two of them were in
near alternate plumage, the other four were primarily in basic plumage. A
large flock of Dunlin was seen in the same area (350) and only four were in
alternate plumage. There were not this many Dunlin overwintering for one
thing, and at least the alternate plumaged birds would be migrants.
Black-bellied Plovers, on the other hand, pose more of a problem, some do
overwinter, so the 28 seen may not have been migrants, of them, none had
attained full alternate plumage and were in various stages of moult.

cheers,

Don Cecile
dcecile at cln.etc.bc.ca