Subject: [Tweeters] Vancouver, BC RBA for December 5, 2009
Date: Dec 7 06:57:23 2009
From: Wayne Weber - contopus at telus.net
This is Wayne Weber with Nature Vancouver's Rare Bird Alert for Saturday,
December 5th, sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited, with stores in
Vancouver and North Vancouver. The RBA telephone number is (604) 737-3074.
If you wish to leave a rare bird report, please press the star button at the
end of this message to go back to the menu, press "2" for the rare bird
reporting line, and follow the instructions given there.
RARE BIRD ALERT for a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, probably present since last May, in
the 21900 block of the Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge, and a ROCK WREN on
December 5 at Point Roberts, WA.
Out-of-town RARE BIRD ALERT for an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Robert
Lake near Kelowna from November 4 through at least December 4. For updates
on this bird, check the BCINTBIRD e-mail group.
Sightings for Saturday, December 5th
A ROCK WREN at Lighthouse Marine Park in Point Roberts, Washington was very
unusual and a first record for Point Roberts.
Sightings for Friday, December 4th
A flock of 16 SURFBIRDS and 40 BLACK TURNSTONES was seen on the east side of
Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver, and an AMERICAN DIPPER was in Capilano
Canyon there.
The 5 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were still present along the English Bay
shoreline north of the Burrard Bridge in Vancouver.
No sightings reported for Thursday, December 3rd
Sightings for Wednesday, December 2nd
Bird seen at Mount Seymour Provincial Park in North Vancouver included a
BOHEMIAN WAXWING, 6 PINE GROSBEAKS, 2 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, 50 RED
CROSSBILLS, and an AMERICAN DIPPER (!) in a roadside ditch near the sand
shed.
A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE and 4 RED CROSSBILLS were reported from the Maplewood
Conservation Area in North Vancouver.
Twenty BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS on the beach near the mouth of Cypress Creek in
West Vancouver was a high number.
Sightings for Tuesday, December 1st
Four PINE GROSBEAKS were seen along the Hollyburn trail in Cypress
Provincial Park, West Vancouver.
Also, the PINE GROSBEAK in Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park was seen for the
fourth time in five days.
A LONG-BILLED CURLEW and 9 MARBLED GODWITS were on the east side of Blackie
Spit in Surrey.
The GYRFALCON was again on the tower west of the foot of 96th Street in
Delta, where it has been quite regular since November 1.
Sightings for Monday, November 30th
The female PINE GROSBEAK was seen again next to the lawn bowling pitch at
Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, and a BARRED OWL and 2 ANNA'S
HUMMINGBIRDS were seen nearby.
Three EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were seen along Sharpe Road in Pitt Meadows,
and 20 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were along Connecting Road nearby. In Maple
Ridge, 2 AMERICAN DIPPERS were along Blaney Creek at the east end of 144th
Avenue.
Sightings for Sunday, November 29th
A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, a BARRED OWL and an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD were seen in
Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park, but the PINE GROSBEAK was missed.
An AMERICAN DIPPER was seen near the Aquarium in Stanley Park, Vancouver.
This bird has apparently been in that area for awhile.
Sightings for Saturday, November 28th
The PINE GROSBEAK was reported again in Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver.
Sightings for Friday, November 27th
A GREAT GRAY OWL was seen and photographed by several observers cat the
Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver. However, the bird could not
be found again on later dates.
A female PINE GROSBEAK was seen near the lawn bowling pitch in Queen
Elizabeth Park, Vancouver.
No sightings reported for Thursday, November 26th
Sightings for Wednesday, November 25th
Five GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were seen along the English Bay shoreline
in Vancouver just north of the Burrard Street bridge.
Sightings for Tuesday, November 24th
The CATTLE EGRET was seen by one observer along Highway 10 east of 96th
Street by one observer, but could not be found by others. Nearby, the
GYRFALCON was seen again on the communications tower west of the foot of
96th Street, and 5 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were seen along 88th Street.
The WESTERN SCRUB-JAY was seen again in the 21900 block of the Lougheed
Highway in Maple Ridge, although it is being seen less often now.
At the mouth of Wilson Creek near Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, 7 ROCK
SANDPIPERS, 7 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, and 2 SURFBIRDS were seen with a flock
of 60 BLACK TURNSTONES.
Sightings for Monday, November 23rd
A CATTLE EGRET was seen along Highway 10 in Delta just east of 96th Street.
Nearby, two GYRFALCONS were seen at once along 88th Street near Boundary Bay
and about 1000 BRANT, a high number, were seen on the Boundary Bay shoreline
near 88th.
A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, 300 SNOW GEESE (unusual location) and about
100 CACKLING GEESE, including 4 of the Aleutian subspecies, were seen along
40th Avenue west of Highway 99 in Surrey.
Sightings for Sunday, November 22nd
A total of 26 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were seen at 3 locations in Pitt
Meadows: 15 in the 13800 block of McKechnie Road, 5 in the 13400 block of
Sharpe Road, and 6 on 203rd Street near Dewdney Trunk Road.
Sightings at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta included 2 BLACK-CROWNED
NIGHT-HERONS, 6 SANDHILL CRANES, a SWAMP SPARROW, an AMERICAN BITTERN, and 2
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS.
No sightings reported for Saturday, November 21st
Sightings for Friday, November 20th
Two EARED GREBES and a WESTERN GULL were seen at White Rock near the pier.
There were no sightings of interest reported from November 16th through
19th, perhaps because of the stormy weather all week which made birding
difficult.
Sightings for Sunday, November 15th
A large flock of 17 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS was seen at Ferguson Point on the
west side of Stanley Park in Vancouver.
Sightings for Saturday, November 14th
A male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, perhaps a wintering bird, was reported from the
2100 block of Bowser in North Vancouver.
A brief account of 31 of the best birding locations in the Vancouver area
can be found on the Nature Vancouver website at
http://www.naturevancouver.ca/Birding_Birding_Sites
If you have any questions about birds or birding in the Vancouver area,
please call Wayne at 604-597-7201, Viveka at 604-531-3401, or Larry at
604-465-1402.
Thank you for calling the Vancouver Rare Bird Alert, and good birding.
Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net