Victoria Rare Bird Alert for Monday, August 3rd at 10 p.m.

Feature Birds
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INDIGO BUNTING
SWAINSON'S HAWK
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER

Monday, August 3
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A male INDIGO BUNTING, just the third record of this southern and eastern
species for this checklist area, was again present in the Martindale Road
area of Central Saanich. The bird is being seen most frequently along
Lochside Drive just north of Martindale Road. Listen for its very
distinctive and loud song. Search the hedgerows along Lochside Drive and
the cornfields on the west side of Lochside and the cornfields on either
side of Martindale Road east of Lochside Drive.

A light morphed SWAINSON'S HAWK, a vagrant species to this area in August,
was over the Oldfield Road area of Saanich at about 2:15 p.m.

2 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS were feeding along the inner shore of Coburg Peninsula
at Esquimalt Lagoon, and were in loose association with Least and Western
Sandpipers and a single Short-billed Dowitcher. Also there was a Merlin.

A GREAT HORNED OWL was being mobbed by crows and other birds for much of
the day on the northeast slope of Summit Park area of Smith Hill reservoir,
that's off Summit Avenue in Saanich.

7 PURPLE MARTINS were over Transfer Park in the Ladysmith area.


Sunday, August 2
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Semipalmated Sandpipers were on Sidney Spit on Sidney Island and on the
Cordova Spit area near Saanichton.

14 PURPLE MARTINS and a Vaux's Swift were over Cordova Bay.

END -- Compiled by Bryan Gates. Transcript by Virginia Jessop.

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To report sightings of Interest, call the Victoria RBA Hotline at (250)
592-3381 and leave you NAME & TELEPHONE NUMBER plus a brief message
discribing the birds you saw. Or you may email: boom at islandnet.com and
submit your report.

Latest Victoria RBA reports are available on the web at:
Birding in British Columbia:

http://www.islandnet.com/~boom/birding/bc-home.htm

Good Birding!