This is Wayne Weber with Nature Vancouver's Rare Bird Alert for Tuesday,
July 10th, 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 several BROWN PELICANS, the most recent being one on
July 7th at Iona Island, and a HUDSONIAN GODWIT at Boundary Bay on June
30th.



OUT-OF-TOWN RARE BIRD ALERT for two families of BLACK-NECKED STILTS which
have nested successfully at Maber Flats in Central Saanich on Vancouver
Island.





PLEASE NOTE: The Iona Island sewage ponds in Richmond will be temporarily
closed to birders from July 15th to July 22nd for removal of sludge from one
of the ponds.





Sightings for Monday, July 9th



The LONG-BILLED CURLEW, presumably returning to spend another fall and
winter, was seen at Blackie Spit Park in Surrey.



Two AMERICAN REDSTARTS (a female and an immature male) were seen along the
Grant Narrows nature dyke, as was a VIRGINIA RAIL with 2 small chicks.



A LEAST FLYCATCHER was reported from Colony Farm Regional Park in Port
Coquitlam, where one has been seen regularly since late June.





Sightings for Sunday, July 8th



The summering CACKLING GOOSE at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta was seen
again by several observers.





Sightings for Saturday, July 7th



Another BROWN PELICAN was reported, this time right off the tip of the south
jetty at Iona Island in Richmond.





Sightings for Thursday, July 5th



Shorebirds seen near the foot of 96th Street on Boundary Bay in Delta
included another WILLET, 300 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 3 DUNLIN, a BAIRD'S
SANDPIPER, and a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. At Iona Island in Richmond. 30
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and 10 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were seen along with
hundreds of WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS.



A LEAST FLYCATCHER was reported from Jerry Sulina Park on the Alouette River
in Maple Ridge.



A GRAY CATBIRD at Campbell Valley Park in Langley and a LAZULI BUNTING at
the dog park north of the Boundary Bay Airport in Delta were noteworthy.





Sightings for Wednesday, July 4th



A WILLET, very rare in the area, was seen and photographed on the flats
between the two jetties at Iona Island in Richmond.



A somewhat bedraggled drake LONG-TAILED DUCK was seen in the shallow waters
of Boundary Bay just off Boundary Bay Regional Park in Delta.





Sightings for Tuesday, July 3rd



Another (or the same?) BROWN PELICAN was reported from the vicinity of the
marina at Drayton Harbor in Blaine, WA.





Sightings for Monday, July 2nd



A BROWN PELICAN, unusual at any season, was seen off the Pender Islands in
BC's Gulf Islands.



A LAZULI BUNTING and 4 EASTERN KINGBIRDS were reported from Colony Farm
Regional Park in Port Coquitlam.





Sightings for Sunday, July 1st



A summering CACKLING GOOSE at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta was quite
unusual for this Arctic-breeding species.





Sightings for Saturday, June 30th



A male AMERICAN REDSTART was seen near the west end of Deas Island in Delta,
a very unusual location.



Three WHIMBRELS were seen and photographed near the base of the Iona Island
North Jetty in Richmond.



There were numerous early fall-migrant shorebirds near the foot of 96th
Street on Boundary Bay in Delta, including a HUDSONIAN GODWIT, 2 PACIFIC
GOLDEN-PLOVERS, 150 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 500 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, and 6
DUNLIN (likely summering birds, not returning migrants).



Birds seen along the "nature dyke" at Grant Narrows Park, at the south end
of Pitt Lake, included a male AMERICAN REDSTART, 2 BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, at
least 3 GRAY CATBIRDS, a TURKEY VULTURE, and an adult MUTE SWAN with 7
cygnets.







For a summary of extremely rare bird sightings throughout British Columbia,
check "British Columbia Bird Alert" by Russell Cannings at
<http://bcbirdalert.blogspot.com> http://bcbirdalert.blogspot.com .





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>
http://www.naturevancouver.ca/Birding_Birding_Sites





If you have any questions about birds or birding in the Vancouver area,
please call Larry Cowan at 604-465-1402, or Viveka Ohman at 604-531-3401.



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





Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

<mailto:contopus at telus.net> contopus at telus.net