Hi tweets,

the delicate plant of a 'birdwalking lunch group' seems to survive at UBC.
An idea originally spotted by Jeremy Gordon on an US campus, it was
started at UBC last February. Since then (with a break over the summer) we
have slowly grown to a group of regularly more than 10 people (students,
teachers, staff, retirees, visitors from abroad).
So today 14 of us went for a special visit to an Arbutus tree full with
ripe berries (beside the museum of Anthropology). We saw several Varied
Thrushes, Northern Flicker, some Starlings, and an American Robin feeding
on the berries. Golden-crowned Kinglets were, for once, searching the
visible side of the Red Cedar branches, so that many of us got good views
of the bright yellow stripe on the head of this bird, often elusive to
beginning birders. Many Dark-eyed Juncos, a Bald Eagle high up (rare this
fall so far), Black-capped Chickadees, Song Sparrow and NW Crows were also
seen from the same spot.
Not everybody can leave office, class, lab, ... every Thursday lunch, but
for many it has become a routine, so let's hope it will survive even when
some of the regulars might leave UBC in the end...

The List - 29/10/98, 12.30-1.30pm
Horned Grebe 1
Am. Wigeon
Bufflehead
Bald Eagle 1
Ring-billed Gull 1 (the usual one in front of Koerner library - it's soon
time to name it)
Glaucous-winged Gull 4
Rock Dove 1
Band-tailed Pigeon 1
Northern Flicker 5
Steller's Jay 3
NW Crow 5
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Bushtit 2 flocks = 24
Winter Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Am.Robin 10
Varied Thrush 5
Eur. Starling 5
Spotted Towhee 4
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco 20
House Finch 1

1 Rat + several Grey Squirrels

Reto Riesen
Dept. Chem., UBC
Vancouver, B.C.
riesenr at chem.ubc.ca