This is the Vancouver Bird Alert for Tuesday, December 22, Wednesday 8:00
am update.

The rare bird alert continues for the Brambling. Other featured birds
include Snowy Owl and White-throated Sparrow.

If you have a report, please leave your name, telephone number and date of
your sighting.
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Sightings for Tuesday, December 22:

The adult, male Brambling in basic plumage was seen again for the 16th
consecutive day at Blackie Spit. It is associating with sparrows in
shoreline shrubs and trees at the north end of the low pilings that span
the mouth of Farm Slew. Birders should be prepared for a long wait. To
encourage the bird to stay in the area birders should scatter bird seed
like millet on the ground, especially under the snow berry shrubs. An
immature Northern Shrike is also in the area, making the bird even more
skittish.

The first reports of Snowy Owls this winter included one at the northwest
corner of 66th and Heather, on the rooftop of a pink house and one at 15516
94th Avenue in Surrey.

A tan morph White-throated Sparrow was in Cecil Green Park at UBC in the
brambles of the gravel parking lot.

The Harris' Sparrow was at its usual location of 2564 West 12th in
Vancouver. Birders are welcome to watch from the carport, which is accessed
from the back lane.

A Hermit Thrush was at Ambelside in West Vancouver.

The Willet was at its usual spot at the base of the Ferry Jetty on the
eastside, along with 15 Black Turnstones. 75 Black-bellied Plovers were on
the north side of the Ferry causeway, probably the only stretch of beach
not frozen and one of the better places in the area to look for shorebirds.

A Peregrine Falcon was at Splashdown Park off Highway 17.


Monday, December 21:

The Brambling was at Blackie Spit.

4 Trumpeter Swans were near the Government Dock at Crescent Beach.

A Slate-colored Junco was at a feeder at Lucas and No. 3 Road in Richmond.

A Merlin and a Red-breasted Sapsucker were at the 3800 block of Cambridge
Street in Burnaby.


Sunday, December 20:

The Brambling was at Blackie Spit.

A correction for the sighting of the Slate-colored Junco, the bird was
actually a Slate-colored Fox Sparrow, which has a grayer head and mantle
than a regular Fox Sparrow and a brown, tinged rufous tail. The bird was
seen at the 15300 block of 21st Avenue in South Surrey for 2 hours.