Subject: [Tweeters] Lapland Longspurs, etc. at Semiahmoo Spit (Whatcom Co.)
Date: Oct 9 11:08:57 2011
From: Wayne Weber - contopus at telus.net


Birders,

Yesterday (Oct. 8) in the early afternoon, I birded Semiahmoo Spit on the west side of Drayton Harbor. The tide was already starting to rise, and I did not find the hoped-for shorebirds during my visit (total shorebird list: one Black Turnstone and one Killdeer!). However, I did find a flock of 5 LAPLAND LONGSPURS feeding in the grassy field just west of the parking area for the marina. The only good views I got of these birds were in flight: though I flushed them several times, they were feeding in tall grass, and always took off before I could spot them on the ground.

Also of interest was a young PEREGRINE FALCON which flew in off Semiahmoo Bay and took up a perch high on the old water tower near the Semiahmoo Resort.

There has been a flurry of Lapland Longspur sightings in the last couple of days, including 10 more yesterday at Iona Island (Vancouver) and several at Clover Point (Victoria). If the ones at Semiahmoo don't stick around, the tip of Sandy Point might be another good spot to look for them.

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



-----Original Message-----
From: do-not-reply at ebird.org [mailto:do-not-reply at ebird.org]
Sent: October-09-11 10:39 AM
To: contopus at telus.net
Subject: eBird Report - Semiahmoo Spit, 8-Oct-2011

Semiahmoo Spit, Whatcom, US-WA
8-Oct-2011 11:45 AM - 2:05 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.2 kilometer(s)
44 species

Canada Goose 30
American Wigeon 2
Mallard 25
Northern Pintail 60
Greater Scaup 250
Harlequin Duck 17
Surf Scoter 400
White-winged Scoter 50
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Ruddy Duck 12
Common Loon 25
Horned Grebe 50
Red-necked Grebe 5
Western Grebe 20
Double-crested Cormorant 300
Pelagic Cormorant 12
Great Blue Heron 8
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Killdeer 1
Black Turnstone 1
Mew Gull 40
Ring-billed Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 150
Rock Pigeon 20
Northern Flicker 2
Northwestern Crow 12
Black-capped Chickadee 1
American Robin 4
European Starling 20
Lapland Longspur 5
Spotted Towhee 1
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 8
White-crowned Sparrow 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 8
Purple Finch 2
House Finch 6
Pine Siskin 1
American Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 9

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)