Hi Tweets,

When I got there at 5:30 PM, the Iona Settling Ponds were vacant of just
about any birds, let alone shorebirds. Great, I thought: cycle for an hour
in rush hour traffic on a stunningly hot (for Vancouver BC) day and whaddaya
get for all that work? Four empty, heat-radiating, sun-blasted ponds reeking
their grey, industrial pong. Where were the thousands of Calidris shorebirds
that were here last night? Where was the party? Don't tell me that three
thousand shorebirds were here last night just to get Dick Veit on the their
lifelist. Well, the tide wasn't quite finished covering up the flats W of
the causeway, with official high tide at about 8:45 PM. I've learned that
they tend to come in en masse. As Donovan sang: first, there isn't, then
there is.

The fly-in began suddenly at 5:50 PM and after seeing a couple of flocks
numbering several thousand skimming the perimeter chainlink, the main
movement ended about twenty-five minutes later, at 6:15 PM, by which time
about 6,000 Western (WESA), 30+ Semipalmated (SESA) and ~100 Least
Sandpipers (SESA) flew into the NE pond. Small flocks (20-50) continued to
join the main flock for another half an hour, until there could have been
somewhere up to 7,000 birds there, nearly all bright juveniles but with a
few ratty Alternate 1 birds, one or two still cakewalkin' Def Alt adults,
some adults in Pre-Basic Molt with the first grey pushing through the faded
fox-orange scaps, a couple worn-Alt WESA had such concentrated heavy
streaking that their underparts looked nearly completely black from chin to
belly, with only their lower bellies, vents and undertail coverts showing
any white at all.

Highlights: the coolest thing when you have a single flock of thousands of
Calidris sandpipers is seeing them all up at the same time above the surface
of the settling pond, because often they all fly at the same height above
the surface: it looks like a knee- or waist-high sheet of birds, as though
the surface of the water is suddenly and restlessly suspended several feet
above the ground (reminiscent of the Dali painting); the first juv Greater
Yellowlegs (3) I've seen this year; a family group of a bird I've never seen
before at Iona, a parent and two importuning juvenile Common Ravens on the
opposite river bank; a juvenile Cooper's Hawk issuing from the same
cottonwood stand just E of the treatment plant from which the male usually
emerges; an odd swallow with a grating triplet call 'crip-crip-crip'
repeatedly given (anybody have any ideas? I'm leaning to variant or juv
Cliff Swallow call); a female Northern Harrier (a probable migrant, as they
seem to have been extirpated this year as a breeding species on Sea
Island--there used to be at least three or four nesting pairs in fields
along Grauer and Ferguson Roads for as many years as I've been going to
Iona--since 1978--but I haven't seen one all summer this year in their
traditional nesting sites. RIP, old friends).

Conditions: ditto yesterday, but hotter.

(*with Ken Klimko)


Mallard 6 3f 1m
Cinnamon Teal 1 f
Northern Shoveler 10
Gadwall 7
Cooper's Hawk 1 jv
Ring-necked Pheasant 1 m
Virginia Rail 1* Iona Causeway
Semipalmated Plover 1 fly-over
Killdeer 2 2a
Greater Yellowlegs 3* 3jv
Semipalmated Sandpiper 32 31jv 1a Pre-Basic molt
Western Sandpiper ~6-7000 26 worn Alt, a couple Pre-Basic
Least Sandpipers ~100 pure fly-over flocks, didn't stop
Baird's Sandpiper 3 3jv
Long-billed Dowitcher 12 all Def Alt, no juvs
N Rough-winged Swallow 5*
Cliff Swallow 6
Barn Swallow ~150* mostly juv
swallow sp ~350* big evening flight over Outer Pond
Northwestern Crow 6 including juvs
Common Raven 3 1a feeding 2 begging jv at river-edge
Marsh Wren 1 m
American Robin 1 m, carrying food (3rd brood?)
European Starling ~150
Savannah Sparrow 5 2a 3jv?, family group? SW pond, SE corner
Red-winged Blackbird 5 2f 3jv f
Brown-headed Cowbird 1* jv, fed by f Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch 7
American Goldfinch 5 2m 3f

Cheers

Michael Price The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters
Vancouver BC Canada -Goya
mprice at mindlink.net