This is Wayne Weber with Nature Vancouver's Rare Bird Alert for Saturday,
June 13th, 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 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT at Boundary Bay Regional Park in
Delta on June 13th, and a BROWN THRASHER at Colony Farm Regional Park in
Port Coquitlam on June 6th. The thrasher has not been seen since.


Sightings for Saturday, June 13th

A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, a bird seen less than once a year in the Vancouver
area, was heard singing and was finally seen and photographed at Boundary
Bay Regional Park, south of the Beach Grove Lagoon in Delta.

A GREEN HERON was noted at Hastings Park in Vancouver.


Sightings for Friday, June 12th

Nine BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS and 4 RHINOCEROS AUKLETS, as well as a very
unusual HUMPBACK WHALE, were seen from Lighthouse Marine Park in Point
Roberts, Washington.


Sightings for Thursday, June 11th

At Colony Farm Regional Park, birds of note included 2 EASTERN KINGBIRDS, 2
OSPREYS, a TURKEY VULTURE, 16 BAND-TAILED PIGEONS, and 4 LAZULI BUNTINGS.
All these were on the east side in Port Coquitlam, except for the buntings
which were on the west side in Coquitlam.

A COMMON NIGHTHAWK was seen in the Pemberton Heights area of North
Vancouver.

25 summering BRANT were seen at Point Roberts, Washington.


Sightings for Wednesday, June 10th

Twelve late WHIMBRELS were at Blackie Spit in Surrey, and 9 more along the
Tsawwassen ferry jetty in Delta.


No sightings reported for Tuesday, June 9th


Sightings for Monday, June 8th

At least 15 late WHIMBRELS were seen at Blackie Spit in Surrey.

Eight more WHIMBRELS were seen along the Tsawwassen ferry jetty in Delta,
along with 3 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS. Nearby, 6 BRANT were seen flying off the
Roberts Bank container terminal.

36 BRANT and 10 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS were seen along the beach east of
Lighthouse Marine Park at Point Roberts, WA.


Sightings for Sunday, June 7th

Two EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were seen on Berkley Road in North Vancouver, a
new locality for this species.

A BULLOCK'S ORIOLE and a WESTERN KINGBIRD were seen on the east side of
Colony Farm Regional Park in Port Coquitlam.

Continuing with the flurry of EASTERN KINGBIRD reports, one was seen at
Blackie Spit in Surrey.


Sightings for Saturday, June 6th

A BROWN THRASHER was captured, banded, and photographed in the morning at
the banding station on the east side of Colony Farm Regional Park in Port
Coquitlam. This is only the third documented record for the Vancouver area,
and one of very few for BC. Unfortunately, there have been no more positive
reports of this bird since the morning of the 6th.

A BROWN PELICAN was seen in flight from a ferry about 2 km off the container
terminal at Roberts Bank.

At the Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver were 2 EASTERN
KINGBIRDS and an unseasonable RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET which was actively
singing. Another EASTERN KINGBIRD was seen in Richmond, along Ferguson Road
near Macdonald Road on Sea Island.

A YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD near Rocky Point Park in Port Moody was out of
place.

A pair of GREEN HERONS have a nest at Don Roberts Park on the Fraser River
in Coquitlam, in the same place where they nested last year.

Three WHIMBRELS were noted at Blackie Spit in Surrey.


No sightings reported for Friday, June 5th


Sightings for Thursday, June 4th

A summering TRUMPETER SWAN and a male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE at Iona Island in
Richmond were noteworthy.

Three WILSON'S PHALAROPES in Ioco, in a marsh which is normally off-limits
to birders, were somewhat surprising.

The first COMMON NIGHTHAWK of the year was reported from the Pemberton
Heights area of North Vancouver.


Sightings for Wednesday, June 3rd

A GRAY CATBIRD at Ioco, west of Port Moody, was in an unusual locality.

At Point Roberts, Washington were 10 RHINOCEROS AUKLETS, 6 PIGEON
GUILLEMOTS, 2 COMMON MURRES, 100 late PACIFIC LOONS, 137 equally late BRANT,
and 6 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS.


Sightings for Tuesday, June 2nd

A bird believed to be an ALDER FLYCATCHER was reported singing from Grant
Narrows Park in Pitt Meadows, near the start of the nature dyke.
Confirmation of this report is requested, if at all possible by recording
the song of the bird. Although ALDER and WILLOW FLYCATCHERS have quite
different songs, many birders seem to have trouble distinguishing the two.


Sightings for Monday, June 1st

A RED-EYED VIREO, the first of the year, and a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET
which apparently forgot to migrate and was still singing were at the
Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver.


Sightings for Sunday, May 31st

A CHIPPING SPARROW, rare in the Vancouver area, was seen near King Edward
Avenue and Carnarvon Street in Vancouver.


No sightings reported for Saturday, May 30th


Sightings for Friday, May 29th

Two BULLOCK'S ORIOLES and a WILLOW FLYCATCHER were at the Maplewood
Conservation Area.


Sightings for Thursday, May 28th

Several reports were received of a flock of 6 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS
in Vancouver, in the area between Tatlow Park and East Spanish Banks
along English Bay.

Four late WHIMBRELS were on the north side of the Tsawwassen ferry jetty.

Two WESTERN KINGBIRDS, 3 EASTERN KINGBIRDS, and an AMERICAN BITTERN
were seen on the Port Coquitlam side of Colony Farm Park.


Sightings for Wednesday, May 27th

Two EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were reported from 40th Avenue in Surrey
east of 152nd Street.

At Colony Farm Park, on the Coquitlam side, were at least 7 LAZULI BUNTINGS
and a few BULLOCK'S ORIOLES.


Sightings for Tuesday, May 26th

A HERMIT WARBLER x TOWNSEND'S WARBLER hybrid was found in Belcarra
Park near the "swamp" parking lot, and sang there for several hours. It was
first thought to be a pure HERMIT, but photos indicate that it is a hybrid.

Birds seen at the Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver included
3 WESTERN KINGBIRDS, 30 EVENING GROSBEAKS, at least 20 WESTERN TANAGERS,
many WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES, 2 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, and an OLIVE-SIDED
FLYCATCHER.


Sightings for Monday, May 25th

Noteworthy sightings from the Pitt Meadows area included a LAZULI BUNTING
near the Grant Narrows boat launch, 6 SANDHILL CRANES and 6 TURKEY
VULTURES along Hale Road, and the first GRAY CATBIRD of the spring near the
bend on Rannie Road.


Sightings for Sunday, May 24th

The immature YELLOW-BILLED LOON was reported again off West Beach in White
Rock.

At the Iona Island sewage ponds in Richmond were 5 WILSON'S PHALAROPES,
10 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, and 2 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS.

WHIMBRELS were noted in 3 places: 8 at Tower Beach on Point Grey, Vancouver:
4 at the base of the Roberts Bank coal port jetty in Delta; and perhaps the
same
4 at the nearby Tsawwassen ferry jetty. Also near the ferry jetty were 125
late
BRANT.


Sightings for Saturday, May 23rd

The YELLOW-BILLED LOON was seen again in Semiahmoo Bay off White Rock.

At the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta were 4 WILSON'S PHALAROPES and a
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

In the Boundary Bay area of Delta, a flock of 40 WHIMBRELS were seen along
36th Avenue near 72nd Street, and 2 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were seen along
96th Street south of Highway 99.

Two YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS and an OSPREY at Burnaby Lake in Burnaby were
noteworthy.


Sightings for Friday, May 22nd

The first WILLOW FLYCATCHER of the year was reported in the Pemberton
Heights area of North Vancouver.

Two WESTERN KINGBIRDS were still at Jericho Park in Vancouver.

The immature YELLOW-BILLED LOON was seen again off West Beach in
White Rock.

There were 6 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS and 2 WILSON'S PHALAROPES in the
Iona Island sewage ponds, Richmond. Nearby, along the North Arm jetty
at Iona, 2 PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVERS, 78 CASPIAN TERNS, and 14 SPOTTED
SANDPIPERS were seen.


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