Hi tweets,

yesterday was the monthly Squamish Estuary Bird Count, and it was a very
good day; overcast, not too cold in the morning, never really warm
afterwards, no wind, and all this after the wet weather from the days
before. The number of species was consequently really good; we got between
our 2 groups 63 species which must be the highest October count since
record-keeping started.
A lifer for me, and a first for the checklist was a Palm Warbler,
according to Vancouver checklist casual, maybe rare in fall. Well, maybe
we saw 2, but we turned the first one into an Orange-crowned Warbler,
despite bright (outstanding) yellow undertail coverts and tail bobbing.
Fortunately, Rex kept wondering about these 2 features until we saw the
second one, and we could compare well with the bird as depicted in the
Nat'l Geogr Guide.
Another interesting point is that the 3 (4?) fall birds recorded in
Vancouver Birds in 1995 appeared bewteen September 30 and November 1, that
is they come with the later wave of warblers, like Yellow-rumped's.

The other highlights of the count were many raptors (3-4 each of Turkey
Vultures, Cooper's Hawk, Merlin, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, plus
one Peregrine); an American Dipper; a White-throated Sparrow; first fall
records for Bewick's and Marsh Wren; and the relative absence of Rock Dove
and Starling (25).

BTW, we used reverse psychology on Murphy's law, and it worked: left
camera at home, got great looks of a Palm Warbler; left Paulson's
"Shorebirds" at home, had to sort out Dowitchers.

And proved again that Long-billed (?) Dowitchers can look very similar to
Green-winged Teals. Oh well.

Reto