This is Wayne Weber with the Vancouver Natural History Society?s Rare
Bird Alert for Friday, January 14, 2005, sponsored in part by the Wild
Birds Unlimited stores in Vancouver and North Vancouver. The RBA phone
number is (604) 737-3074.

The Rare Bird Alert continues for the REDWING in Olympia, Washington,
which has been seen daily through January 14. At the Kent Ponds in
Kent, just SE of Seattle, a drake BAIKAL TEAL has also been seen
through January 14. For updates on these birds, phone the Washington
State RBA at (206) 281-9172 or check the TWEETERS E-mail group.

Locally, the Rare Bird Alert continues for a SKY LARK, last reported
on January 13. The probable female MCKAY?S BUNTING at Iona Island has
not been reported since January 10 but is probably still present.
Anyone looking for the bunting, please report to the RBA whether or
not you found it.


Sightings for Friday, January 14, 2005

The RUSTY BLACKBIRD was seen again with other blackbirds at the
composting facility on 72nd Street, Delta, just south of the BC
Railway crossing. On the Boundary Bay dyke east of 72nd, birds seen
included 6 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, 2 SAVANNAH SPARROWS, 2 LINCOLN?S
SPARROWS, and an AMERICAN BITTERN.

At Blackie Spit in Surrey, a LONG-BILLED CURLEW, 2 MARBLED GODWITS, a
WESTERN SANDPIPER, a EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and a SAVANNAH
SPARROW were seen, and a remarkable count of 76 EURASIAN WIGEON was
made. A LEAST SANDPIPER was reported in Crescent Beach just south of
Blackie Spit.

Along the Serpentine River north dyke east of Mud Bay Park in Surrey,
the SKY LARK could not be found, but 19 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were seen.

A HERMIT THRUSH was observed again at 6905 Bradner Road in Langley.


Sightings for Thursday, January 13, 2005

The SKY LARK was seen again by one observer along the north dyke of
the Serpentine River in Surrey, about 500 metres E of the railroad
trestle at the river mouth. This locality can be accessed from Mud Bay
Park, off Colebrook Road in Surrey. At nearby Blackie Spit, a MARBLED
GODWIT and 4 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were seen.

In Delta, the RUSTY BLACKBIRD was seen again on 72nd Street just south
of the BC Railway crossing, and a ROCK SANDPIPER was found with BLACK
TURNSTONES on the south side of the Tsawwassen ferry jetty.


Sightings for Wednesday, January 12, 2005

On the Serpentine River north dyke in Surrey, the SKY LARK was not
reported, but 3 AMERICAN PIPITS and a SAVANNAH SPARROW were seen in
the same area.

A SPOTTED SANDPIPER, rare in winter, was seen from Alderside Road on
the north side of Burrard Inlet in Port Moody.

Two ANNA?S HUMMINGBIRDS and a YELLOW-SHAFTED form of the NORTHERN
FLICKER were seen in the 3700 block of West 23rd in Vancouver.

Finally, a MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE was still coming to a feeder in the 2000
block of Winston in Abbotsford.


Sightings for Tuesday, January 11, 2005

The SKY LARK was present again for most of the day along the north
dyke of the Serpentine River in Surrey. It was feeding with a group of
up to 4 AMERICAN PIPITS in a triangular peninsula jutting into the
river at the upper end of the estuary. Up to 16 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS
were also present near here, in fields north of the dyke.

On the north side of Boundary Bay in Delta, the GYRFALCON was seen
again near the mansion west of the foot of 96th Street. The adult
GLAUCOUS GULL was seen again along the Boundary Bay foreshore west of
88th Street. Two SNOWY OWLS were seen near the foot of 72nd Street,
and a RUSTY BLACKBIRD was seen in a blackbird flock near the railway
crossing on 72nd Street. A flock of 24 SAVANNAH SPARROWS was seen
along 96th Street, and 12 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were seen along 104th
Street.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was coming to a suet feeder near 34th Avenue
at Pine Crescent in Vancouver. In Langley, the HERMIT THRUSH was seen
again at 6905 Bradner Road. And at Lighthouse Marine Park in Point
Roberts, WA, an adult WESTERN GULL was perched on pilings.


Sightings for Monday, January 10, 2005

A SKY LARK was discovered along the north dyke of the Serpentine River
in Surrey, about 500 metres E of the railroad trestle at the river
mouth. About 12 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were present near here, in fields
north of the dyke.

The probable female MCKAY?S BUNTING was seen again today with 3 SNOW
BUNTINGS on the Iona Island south jetty in Richmond. Photos of the
bunting have been studied by an expert on the species, who believes it
is probably a MCKAY?S, but cannot completely rule out a hybrid. The
male MCKAY?S BUNTING, present here beginning on December 4, has not
been seen since December 29.

On the Boundary Bay foreshore at the foot of 72nd Street in Delta,
birds seen included 4 SNOWY OWLS, 2 SAVANNAH SPARROWS, and 10 AMERICAN
PIPITS. An AMERICAN TREE SPARROW was seen with White-crowns near the
pump station east of 72nd on the dike, and a GYRFALCON was hunting
along the foreshore here.

Another GYRFALCON was seen at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, as were 2
LINCOLN?S SPARROWS. The WILLET was present at the base of the
Tsawwassen ferry jetty on the south side, and 6 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS
were on 88th Street in Delta near the railroad crossing. A single
EARED GREBE was seen from the town pier in White Rock.


Sightings for Sunday, January 9

The probable female MCKAY?S BUNTING was seen again today with 3 SNOW
BUNTINGS on the Iona Island south jetty in Richmond.

In Delta, an adult GLAUCOUS GULL was seen in the morning at the Burns
Bog landfill, a locality normally off-limits to birders, and again
late in the day at the foot of 72nd Street on Boundary Bay. A
first-year GLAUCOUS GULL was also seen earlier in the day off the foot
of 72nd.

Also along the Boundary Bay dyke, 10 SAVANNAH SPARROWS, at least 3
AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, and an immature HARRIS?S SPARROW were seen
east of the foot of 72nd Street. Two SNOWY OWLS, and 6 LAPLAND
LONGSPURS were also reported near the foot of 72nd Street, and a
PRAIRIE FALCON was seen along 36th Avenue west of 72nd. A GYRFALCON
was present near the mansion west of the foot of 96th Street.

At the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, the long-staying immature
GOLDEN EAGLE was observed, as were 2 adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS,
4 SANDHILL CRANES, a HUTTON?S VIREO, and 20 COMMON REDPOLLS. 26
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were in the West Field at the Refuge. At nearby
Brunswick Point, sightings included 2 SNOWY OWLS, an AMERICAN BITTERN,
a SWAMP SPARROW, an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, and a SAVANNAH SPARROW.

At Vancouver?s Stanley Park, near the Aquarium parking lot, was a
flock of 50 RED CROSSBILLS. Noteworthy feeder birds included an
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER in the 2500 block of West 12th in Vancouver,
and a locally-unusual CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE on Ferry Road in
Delta.

In Pitt Meadows, a flock of at least 12 PINE GROSBEAKS was seen along
Rannie Road just north of the Swan-e-set Golf Course. At Blackie Spit
in Surrey, a LEAST SANDPIPER and a WESTERN SANDPIPER were seen. And at
the end of Marine Drive in Blaine, WA, an adult WESTERN GULL was seen
from the crab-fishing pier.


Sightings for Saturday, January 8

An adult SLATY-BACKED GULL, the first one reported this winter, was
seen in a gull flock along Burns Drive east of the Burns Bog landfill
in Delta.

The probable female MCKAY?S BUNTING and 3 SNOW BUNTINGS were seen on
the Iona I. West jetty, Richmond. On nearby Sea Island, 3 WESTERN
MEADOWLARKS, a NORTHERN SHRIKE, and a SHORT-EARED OWL were seen along
Templeton and Ferguson Roads near the Vancouver airport.

At Blackie Spit in Surrey, unusual shorebirds included a LONG-BILLED
CURLEW, a MARBLED GODWIT, and a LEAST SANDPIPER. Three AMERICAN PIPITS
and a WESTERN MEADOWLARK were also here. In Queens Park in New
Westminster, a TOWNSEND?S WARBLER was seen near the waterpark and
petting zoo.



If you have any questions about birding in the Vancouver area, please
call Wayne at (604) 597-7201, Viveka at 531-3401, or Larry at
465-1402. Thank you for calling the Vancouver Rare Bird Alert, and
good birding.

END TRANSCRIPT


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