This is Wayne Weber with Nature Vancouver's Rare Bird Alert for Monday,
February 21st, 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 phone the main number again
at (604) 737-3074, press "2" for the rare bird reporting line, and follow
the instructions given there.





RARE BIRD ALERT for a NORTHERN HAWK OWL on Westham Island in Delta, present
daily since December 2nd; a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY at Strathcona Park in
Vancouver, present for 4 months, plus another one in Maple Ridge on Cliff
Avenue, present for 19 months; and 4 or 5 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES at the
gravelled boat launch parking lot in Harrison Hot Springs, at the east end
of town, where they have been seen intermittently for several weeks.



The ACORN WOODPECKER on Fore Road in Matsqui was last reported on February
5th, and the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD on River Road east of Ladner on February
2nd, but both of them could easily still be present at those localities.





Sightings for Monday, February 21st



An adult GYRFALCON was seen well and photographed in Pitt Meadows, on
Connecting Road (between Sharpe and McKechnie Roads).





Sightings for Sunday, February 20th



The SNOW BUNTING and 5 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES were seen in the usual
places along the lakeshore in Harrison Hot Springs.



A EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE was seen near the intersection of 30th Avenue and
Fraser Street in Vancouver, away from the usual concentrations in Delta.



The immature HARRIS'S SPARROW was noted again in the 5400 block of 96th
Street in Delta, north of Highway 10. Also in Delta, 6 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED
GEESE were seen with 350 TRUMPETER SWANS in fields in the 5500 block of 44th
Avenue, just south of Ladner.



Noteworthy birds at Iona Island in Richmond included two wintering (MYRTLE)
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, 2 NORTHERN SHRIKES, and 3 RING-NECKED DUCKS.





Sightings for Saturday, February 19th



Three MARBLED GODWITS were still present at Blackie Spit in Surrey.



At Harrison Hot Springs, a SNOW BUNTING was seen along the sandy dyke that
separates the beach lagoon from Harrison Lake, and 5 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY
FINCHES were seen and photographed nearby by several observers.





Sightings for Thursday, February 17th



Four GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES were still being seen at the boat launch
parking lot in Harrison Hot Springs; late morning seems to be the best time
for them. Not far away, a RUFFED GROUSE, rare in the Lower Fraser Valley,
was seen in the Deer Lake campground at Sasquatch Provincial Park.



In Vancouver, a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY was still present at the allotment gardens
on the west side of Strathcona Park (on Hawks Street), where one or two have
been seen regularly since last October.





Sightings for Tuesday, February 15th



The NORTHERN HAWK-OWL was still being seen along Westham Island Road in
Delta, and 2 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS were at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary.





Sightings for Sunday, February 13th



Three GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES were noted at the main boat launch parking
lot in Harrison Hot Springs, at the east end of town, where they have been
seen periodically for several weeks.



An immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen and photographed at the Maplewood
Conservation Area in North Vancouver.



In Delta, noteworthy sightings included an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW on the
Boundary Bay dyke west of 64th Street, and a EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL and
at least 58 EURASIAN WIGEON nearby in the Beach Grove area.





Sightings for Saturday, February 12th



A first-cycle GLAUCOUS GULL and 2 adult WESTERN GULLS were seen in a large
gull flock in the 48300 block of Prairie Central Road, east of Chilliwack.





Sightings for Friday, February 11th



A GYRFALCON was seen briefly at Boundary Bay Regional Park in Delta.



Eight EARED GREBES along the waterfront in White Rock was a higher number
than usual for this rare species.





Sightings for Thursday, February 10th



The long-staying NORTHERN HAWK OWL was still easily seen and photographed
near the right-angle turn on Westham Island Road, on the way to the Reifel
Bird Sanctuary in Delta. Birds noted at the Reifel Sanctuary included 2
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, 2 adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, 8 SANDHILL
CRANES, and a NORTHERN GOSHAWK, and 3 MUTE SWANS were close to the Westham
Island swing bridge.



Fifty COMMON MURRES and a MARBLED MURRELET (now rare in the local area) were
seen off Lighthouse Marine Park at Point Roberts, Washington.





Sightings for Tuesday, February 8th



A WESTERN SCRUB-JAY was well seen at the community gardens just west of
Strathcona Park in Vancouver, where one or two have been seen since October.
Also here was a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER.



The elusive GYRFALCON was rediscovered, this time on a fence post on the
turf farm just west of 72nd Street in Delta.



Two MARBLED MURRELETS and 60 COMMON MURRES were seen from Lighthouse Marine
Park in Point Roberts, WA.





Sightings for Saturday, February 5th



The ACORN WOODPECKER was seen again by two observers at the filbert orchard
on Fore Road in Matsqui, just west of Highway 11.



Four BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were noted again at the Maplewood Conservation Area
in North Vancouver.



In Surrey, a surprising flock of 25 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, along with one
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, were seen at a manure pile along 140th Street just
north of 40th Avenue.



A "big bike day" in Delta produced 101 species, including a BARN SWALLOW
along 96th Street; the immature HARRIS'S SPARROW in the 5200 block of 96th
Street; two GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE at Beach Grove; 4 BAND-TAILED
PIGEONS along Enderby Avenue in the Beach Grove area; 3 EARED GREBES and a
SNOW BUNTING along the Tsawwassen Jetty; the NORTHERN HAWK-OWL on Westham
Island; 2 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS and 2 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS at the
Reifel Bird Sanctuary, and an immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK at the Alaksen
National Wildlife Area.





Sightings for Friday, February 4th



Six GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and 7 EURASIAN WIGEON were seen with almost
600 TRUMPETER SANS and other geese and ducks from John Oliver Park in Delta.
Nearby, 6 MUTE SWANS were near the Westham Island bridge.



Along Sylvester Road NE of Mission in the Fraser Valley were a surprisingly
large flock of 750 CACKLING GEESE, along with one SNOW GOOSE and one GREATER
WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. A GYRFALCON was also seen chasing the geese.





Sightings for Thursday, February 3rd



The immature HARRIS'S SPARROW, present since December, was seen again in the
5200 block of 96th Street in Delta, and 5 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were
with the swan and goose flock just west of John Oliver Park on Highway 10 in
Delta.



A HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK was seen at Marion and Campbell Roads in
Abbotsford, and another in the Greendale area of Chilliwack.





Sightings for Wednesday, February 2nd



The WESTERN SCRUB-JAY at Cliff Avenue and Cliff Place in Maple Ridge,
present since June of 2009, was reported again.



The NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was still present at 5744 River Road in Delta, just
east of Ladner, Nearby, 15 MOURNING DOVES were at Ladner Harbour Park. Also
in Delta, a EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL and a BARN SWALLOW were at Beach
Grove on the west side of Boundary Bay.



In North Vancouver, 5 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and 9 GREATER YELLOWLEGS were
observed at the Maplewood Conservation Area.



The TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was still present at the lawn bowling pitch in
Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver.





Sightings for Tuesday, February 1st



The NORTHERN HAWK-OWL was still being seen along Westham Island Road in
Delta.



Six BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were seen in the West End of Vancouver, near the
intersection of Bute and Barclay Streets.



A NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL was found in West Vancouver at about the 1 km mark on
the Eagle Lake Road, which can be accessed by walking in from the Cypress
Bowl Road.



Along the shoreline in White Rock, 200 PACIFIC LOONS and at least 12 EARED
GREBES were seen.



The wintering LONG-BILLED CURLEW and 3 MARBLED GODWITS were noted again at
Blackie Spit in Surrey. Also there was a bird which was either a EURASIAN
GREEN-WINGED TEAL or an intergrade between this form and an AMERICAN
GREEN-WINGED TEAL.







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, Larry at 604-465-1402, or Viveka at
604-531-3401.



Thank you for calling the Vancouver Rare Bird Alert, and good birding.





Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net