Hi there,

I live on Vancouver Island but am hoping to get over to Reifel in the next week or so. Can anyone tell me what birds you are seeing right now? I have a general idea, but don't want to spend the money on the ferry unless it will be a worthwhile trip.

Happy Birding

Christina

I was there last weekend - things are starting to get interesting again for the winter, with more shorebirds (dowitchers, phalaropes, kildeer, loads of both yellowlegs, etc - I think the Hudsonian Godwit has flown the coop), and some of the winter ducks returning (pintails, wigeons, shovellers, and teals are all around, though not yet in breeding plumage). Haven't seen any snow geese yet, though they should be forthcoming.

Had a few good GHO sightings in the past few weeks, some warblers are still around, plus the usual fall sparrows coming back. I seem to see alot more of the red breasted nuthatches and brown creepers than last year - not sure why. Someone apparently saw a Pileated woodpecker last weekend - which is unusual.

And, as usual this time of year, the mallards are still pretty scruffy looking, and fighting continually. Though it helps that there's less of them now than at other times.

Good luck!

There are sandhill cranes there right now. I was there today and saw 23!!! Apparantly that's an unusually high number for that area.