Tweeters,

In view of the Orchard Oriole currently being seen at Hoquiam, it will
interest many of you to know that one was recently photographed (October 3,
2009) at Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The bird was photographed by Rich Mooney while he was visiting Tofino to see
a Prairie Warbler which had been found by Adrian Dorst. Rich noticed the
oriole and photographed it, but assumed that it was a Bullock's Oriole until
a few days ago when he had another look at the photos. The photos can be
seen at Rich's Flickr page at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonebirding .

There was also an unconfirmed report of an Orchard Oriole in Vancouver in
the fall of 2008. It may well be that this species occurs in the Pacific
Northwest more often than we realize!

Good luck and good birding,

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