Subject: [Tweeters] Vancouver, BC RBA for December 9, 2005
Date: Dec 10 11:32:15 2005
From: Wayne C. Weber - contopus at telus.net


This is Wayne Weber with the Vancouver Natural History Society's
Rare Bird Alert for Friday, December 9, 2005, sponsored in part by
the Wild Birds Unlimited stores in Vancouver and North Vancouver.
This message was updated at 10 AM on December 10th.
The RBA phone number is 604-737-3074.

RARE BIRD ALERT for a KING EIDER. This bird was last reported
on December 3, but is probably still in the area.


Sightings for Friday, December 9

At Brunswick Point, at the west end of River Road in Delta, up to 6
SNOWY OWLS and 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS were seen.

At the nearby Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, 6 SANDHILL CRANES
were seen in a field at the refuge entrance near Westham Island Road
and Robertson Road.


Sightings for Thursday, December 8

At Iona Island in Richmond, a SWAMP SPARROW was seen at
the SW corner of the NW sewage pond. An AMERICAN BITTERN
was noted in the north outer pond at Iona, as was a SHORT-EARED OWL
on the airport fence along Ferguson Road on Sea Island.

Two more SNOWY OWLS were reported from oddball places, one
at 4611 Viking Way in Richmond, and one at Cypress and
Matthews in Vancouver.


Sightings for Wednesday, December 7

One SNOWY OWL was seen on the south side of Sea Island in Richmond
west of the Coast Guard station, and 22 RING-NECKED DUCKS were in
ponds on Iona Island. Another SNOWY OWL was present all day in
the 14800 block of 25A Avenue in South Surrey.

In Vancouver's Stanley Park, an AMERICAN DIPPER was seen along the
outflow stream from Beaver Lake.

Sightings for Tuesday, December 6

An AMERICAN KESTREL was seen on Thompson Road in Pitt Meadows.


Sightings for Monday, December 5

At the foot of 72nd Street on Boundary Bay in Delta, 6 SNOWY OWLS,
4 SHORT-EARED OWLS, and an immature GLAUCOUS GULL were
reported. A GYRFALCON, a BARN OWL, and 3 PEREGRINE FALCONS
were seen nearby in fields north of Boundary Bay.

At Brunswick Point in Delta, up to 8 SNOWY OWLS were seen, as was a
NORTHERN SHRIKE. At the nearby Reifel Bird Sanctuary, a NORTHERN
SAW-WHET OWL, a VIRGINIA RAIL, and 4 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-
HERONS were seen.


Sightings for Sunday, December 4

At the foot of 72nd Street on Boundary Bay in Delta, birds seen included
3 SNOWY OWLS, a first or second-year GLAUCOUS GULL, a
WESTERN MEADOWLARK, and 4 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS.

A male REDHEAD was seen in a pond just east of the Maritime Museum
in Vancouver.

At White Rock, about 20 LONG-TAILED DUCKS and hundreds of RUDDY
DUCKS were seen offshore near the pier.


Sightings for Saturday, December 3

The immature male KING EIDER was relocated about 3 PM off Ferguson
Point on the west side of Vancouver's Stanley Park. If you cannot find
the bird here, check SURF SCOTER flocks elsewhere along the English
Bay shoreline at such places as Kitsilano Beach or Spanish Banks in
Vancouver, or the foot of 25th Street in West Vancouver.


Sightings for Friday, December 2

Not far outside the Vancouver area, a FLAMMULATED OWL died after
hitting a window in Sardis, in the Chilliwack area. This is believed to
be the first coastal record of this species in BC, and the latest fall
record or, if you prefer, the first winter record.

In the vicinity of the town pier in White Rock, 6 EARED GREBES, 22
LONG-TAILED DUCKS, an adult WESTERN GULL, and a WILLET
were seen. Not far away, a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was reported
from near the intersection of Martin Road and Prospect in White Rock.

At the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, up to 4 SNOWY OWLS are being
seen, with one or more of them occasionally being seen across the
Fraser River at Garry Point in Richmond. Four BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-
HERONS, 2 adults and 2 immatures, are also being seen
daily, as are two NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS.


Sightings for Thursday, December 1, 2005

The second-year male KING EIDER was seen about noon today off West
Spanish Banks in Vancouver, for the first sighting in almost 2 weeks. It
was seen from the last parking lot before the road goes up the hill toward
The University of BC. .

At the foot of 72nd Street on the Boundary Bay shoreline in Delta, 3
SNOWY OWLS, a SHORT-EARED OWL, 4 YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLERS, and a NORTHERN SHRIKE were seen.

At the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, a HUTTON'S VIREO and a late
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER were seen.


For further information about birding in the Vancouver area, log onto
the Vancouver Natural History Society's website at
http://www.naturalhistory.bc.ca/VNHS/


Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net