Subject: White Rock, B.C. & Westham Island
Date: Oct 26 10:36:33 2003
From: Carol Riddell - cariddell at mac.com


Good morning Tweeters,

Joanne Powell and I made a trip to the Lower Mainland yesterday. We zipped
right through the Blaine border crossing around 8:30 a.m. so we stopped at
White Rock to glass Semiahmoo Bay. There was a mixed flock of SURF and
WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, COMMON LOONS, HORNED and WESTERN GREBES, AMERICAN
WIGEONS, RING-BILLED and GLAUCUS-WINGED GULLS, GREAT BLUE HERONS, STARLINGS,
NORTHWESTERN CROWS, and CANADA GEESE.

Along Hwy 99 heading west to Ladner we saw two BALD EAGLES, a RED-TAILED
HAWK, and AMERICAN CROWS. Along River Road, heading out to Westham Island
we saw two more BALD EAGLES. All four eagles were perched in trees.

Driving across Westham Island toward the Reifel Sanctuary we encountered a
flock of several hundred SNOW GEESE feeding in a field along the road. That
is where I observed the banded goose. Joanne had never seen Snow Geese
before (the Inland Empire has the Coulee Corridor but we've got the Snow
Geese!) so this was a great opportunity for her to observe adults and
juveniles up close. A B.C. birder pulled up alongside us and asked if we
saw a dark adult in the flock. He called it a Blue Face and explained that
he had seen one the day before when he was without his camera and had
returned to try to photograph it. He said there had only been two other
reportings of a dark adult in B.C., once in the late '60s and once in the
early '70s. We did not observe a dark adult in the fields either in the
morning or the afternoon. There appear to be thousands of geese in the
Delta now so he may be looking for his proverbial needle in a haystack. But
I guess if there is a dark adult around, it gives us all something
interesting to look for, be it in the Fraser Delta or the Skagit Flats.

The weather was sunny and mild all day at Reifel. It was a little eerie
seeing SANDHILL CRANES in migration and hearing so many RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRDS singing up a raucous. I think it's late October, but sights and
sounds indicated otherwise. We identified 13 cranes that were in migration.
We did not count Reifel's several permanent residents. There were a number
of juvenile Red-Winged Blackbirds among the many that we saw. Upon entry we
could not find the BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON in its usual spot. Joanne had
not seen one since the early '80s so I assured her we would come back and
check its roost throughout the day. By early afternoon we found it and got
some great observations through the scope. Below is our Reifel list in
taxonomic order.

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Common Golden-eye
Ruddy Duck
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Bald Eagle
American Coot
Lesser Sandhill Crane
Long-billed Dowitcher
Glaucus-winged Gull
Rock Dove
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Sooty Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Oregon Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
House Sparrow

Joanne said she saw a DOWNY WOODPECKER but I missed it. She also said she
saw a Black-billed Magpie on our drive north from Snohomish County. She
didn't mention it at the time because she is so accustomed to seeing them
everywhere in Eastern Washington. My first response was to ask her what was
in her tea anyway. But in looking at the distribution maps I guess it is
possible to see them on the wet side of the mountains on rare occasion.
I'll have to watch with wider eyes.

Good Birding,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds, WA