Hi Tweets,

Off to Iona Island after a run to the 112th Street Spit on the Boundary Bay
foreshore with Ken Klimko, where Ken, Rob Worona and I found a small number
of WESTERN SANDPIPERS Calidris mauri, six GREATER YELLOWLEGS Tringa
melanoleuca (possibly arrival migrants), and one SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
Charadrius semipalmatus. A large, silent hummingbird at the E end of the
woodlot behind the spit was likely an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD Calypte anna. On
arrival, we watched for about five minutes an adult BALD EAGLE Haliaeetus
leucocephalus up high doing its level best to catch and kill a male NORTHERN
HARRIER Circus cyaneus which eventually escaped. Interesting tactic used by
the harrier was to keep to the opposite side of the circle from the eagle's
tightest turning diameter.

At Iona, ran into Mike Force, who in the late 1970's and through the 1980's,
until he ran away to sea on the NOAA survey ships to do seabird surveys, did
most to introduce me to Vancouver BC's birding places and birds. Since he's
rarely in town anymore, this was like old times, except that we were
--typically, for these days-- the only ones there instead of the ten or
fifteen birders one would usually find there on a summer's eve in those
long-ago times, and talked about how so many things had changed in
Vancouver's birding scene.

We found no sign of the recent Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis, but did
find that a big wave of SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS Calidris pusilla had showed
up at Iona tonight, almost 150 of them, about half in less-than-Definitive
Alternate plumage, some almost Basic-looking, as well as three BAIRD'S
SANDPIPERS C. bairdii. WESTERN SANDPIPERS C. mauri numbered about 500 while
there were about 200 LEAST SANDPIPERS C. minutilla. Everyone was in various
types of Alternate plumage from Definitive to nearly-Basic with just a few
Alternate scapulars showing. Mike also found a leucistic European Starling
Calidris vul-- sorry, they're all over the NE pond-- Sturnus vulgaris that
will raise your eyebrows as well as a female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus picking up food from the sawdust and carrying
away to the begging fledged juvs around the Outer Pond. The Baird's were in
the NE pond.

Cheerio.

Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery, and change;
mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)