Hi Tweets,

Tide this evening was in all the way to the causeway between Sea & Iona
Islands, just beginning its ebb when I cycled in. As the tide exposed more
shoreline, more shorebirds (all small Calidris) came from the settling ponds
where they'd been waiting out the high tide and also from the logbooms on
the other side of the causeway where several hundred had been roosting.
Juvenile Calidris due any day (see highlights).

Highlights:

--the SPOTTED SANDPIPERS Actitis macularia now include two very fresh juvs
doing their best to look like Solitary Sandpipers Tringa solitaria, an adult
moving into pre-Basic molt, and another adult--still in Definitive
Alternate--with two *tiny* chicks following it around; interesting
interaction: an adult landed beside one of the juvs which immediately went
into rear-back, wings-open threat-posture and intimidated the adult (almost
certainly one of its parents);
--the big SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER Calidris semipalmatus wave (150+) of
southbound adults a week ago has gone through; there were only 4
Alt-plumaged birds on the causeway and 6 in the settling ponds;
--a banded Definitive Alternate-plumaged WESTERN SANDPIPER Calidris mauri
(it turns out the issue of the non-validity of HP molt terminology at the
amateur level isn't quite as clearcut as recent discussion would have it, so
it's back to business) was in a flock of about 2500 Westerns along the
causeway: white or aluminum on each metatarsus (bad glare), red flag over
white band on left tarsus, white band on right tarsus; on the settling
ponds, one Western showed several fresh Basic scapulars, anomalously early:
normally, they don't show this advanced a pre-Basic molt until well into August;
--speaking of the WESTERN SANDPIPERS generally, about 10-15% were
short-billed, presumably breeding males; as they leave just before the
young, the juveniles can be expected any day, and in fact the local average
arrival dates for the juvenile migration for these species is:
SemiSandpiper: July 20 (today), Western Sandpiper's Juv arrival is July 23,
Least Sandpiper C. minutilla, July 25; juv Semi's can be really numerous at
Iona; as I got laid off last Friday, I'm heading down to the ponds to see if
there's gonna be any there;
--a lone Alternate-plumaged DOWITCHER Limnodromus sp. flew in and landed
right in the sun-glare off the wet mud, call-note given on the ground: a
loud, incisive 'whit!'; call given in flight, an equally clear
'wit!wit!wit!wit!'--okay, I've heard tons of both species; I'm stumped; any
ideas?
--of all the 125 RING-BILLED GULLS Larus delawarensis, most were Alt 2, a
few Alt 1, and a handful of Def Alt; as breeding RBGU adults usually return
from the Interior to the Iona roost site on the logbooms seemingly en masse,
it looks as if they're still there.
--the EUROPEAN STARLING numbers on the settling ponds remains high, about
1500, most of which are juv/Basic 1 birds; many are in pre-Basic molt,
showing patches of iridescent black-green starkly spotted white emerging
through the drab grey-brown Juvenile plumage.
--at least 4 juv YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
along with a female hiding out in the beach grass along the causeway;
--BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS Euphagus cyanocephalus seem to have finished fledging
their young and gone: there were none either at their usual gathering-place
along the YVR airport fence at Ferguson & Shannon Roads or the other site
along the SE settling pond at the Iona Plant;
--on Sea Island, it appears that those SAVANNAH SPARROWS Passerculus
sandwichensis which survived the hay-reaping have fledged their young and
left: I didn't hear one where I'm used to hearing many along Grauer and
Ferguson Roads.

Conditions: Temp: ~20 C.; wind: SW 20 kph, dropping; barom: high; cloud
cover: 2/10, scattered cumulus and stratocumulus, increasing to 4/10 as
cirrostratus sheets moved over from NW; tide: high, to causeway; slow short
ebb to a very high low tide; sea state: light SW rippled.

CAUSEWAY

Great Blue Heron 5
Canada Goose 16
Gadwall 5 2f 3y
Northern Shoveler 1 m, pre-Bsc molt
Northern Harrier 1 f
Black-bellied Plover 1 Def Alt, overflight
Killdeer 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 4 Def Alt
Western Sandpiper ~2500 about 10-15% Alt males
Least Sandpiper 3 Def Alt
Long-billed Dowitcher 9 Def Alt
Ring-billed Gull 124 Alts 1-3, breeding adults not back
Glaucous-winged Gull 4 Def Alt, Alt 1
Northwestern Crow 19
Tree Swallow 4
Violet-green Swallow 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Barn Swallow ~20
Cliff Swallow ~150
Bushtit 3
Marsh Wren 2 singing males
American Robin 1 m
European Starling ~1500 most juvs, pre-Basic molt
Cedar Waxwing 1 a
Common Yellowthroat 1 singing male
Spotted Towhee 2 singing male
Song Sparrow 1 singing male
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Yellow-headed Blackbird 5 4jv, 1f
Brewer's Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 jv
American Goldfinch 2


SETTLING PONDS

Great Blue Heron 5
Mallard 21 5f 16y in four broods
Gadwall 17 3f 14y in three broods
Northern Shoveler 14 4f 8y 2m pre-Bsc molt
Red-tailed Hawk 1 ad
Killdeer 34
Semipalmated Sandpiper 6 Def Alt
Western Sandpiper 42 Def Alt, about 10-15% Alt males, 1 accel.
molt
Least Sandpiper 102 Def Alt, 96 on NE 'sawdust' pond
Long-billed Dowitcher 1 Def Alt
Northwestern Crow 15
Tree Swallow 6 2m 4f/jv
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 15
Cliff Swallow 10
Marsh Wren 2 singing m's, family biz in background
American Robin 1 m, NE pond
European Starling ~1500 most juvs, pre-Basic molt
Cedar Waxwing 1 a on TRSW nestbox
Common Yellowthroat 4 2 singing m's
Spotted Towhee 1 singing male
Red-winged Blackbird 11 at least 2 jv males, 3 f
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 1f
Brown-headed Cowbird 2 jv, on NE pond
American Goldfinch 1

Cheers

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)