Vancouver Rare Bird Alert Transcript

This is Wayne Weber with Nature Vancouver's Rare Bird Alert for Tuesday, May
14th. 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 Sage Thrasher, one of fewer than 10 records for
Vancouver, at Iona Island on May 11th. This bird has not been found again
since then.





Sightings for Tuesday, May 14th



A Solitary Sandpiper was seen briefly at the Maplewood Conservation Area in
North Vancouver.



A Chipping Sparrow appeared at Burnaby Mountain Park in Burnaby.



Six late Greater White-fronted Goose were seen near Connecting Road at
Sharpe Road in Pitt Meadows.



Ten Cedar Waxwing at the Trinity Western University campus in Langley were
early arrivals.





Sightings for Monday, May 13th



At least 218 Whimbrel were feeding in a grass field on the NW corner of 8th
Avenue and 176th Street (Highway 15) in Surrey. Similar numbers have been
using this and nearby fields for more than a week.



Migrants reported from the Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver
included an Olive-sided Flycatcher and 4 Western Wood-Pewee.





Sightings for Sunday, May 12th



A fallout of migrants at the Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver
included 6 Western Tanager and 28 Wilson's Warbler.





Sightings for Saturday, May 11th



A Sage Thrasher, one of fewer than 10 records for the Vancouver area, was
seen by 2 observers at Iona Island in Richmond, along the sewage pond fence
near the gated entrance to Iona Island Regional Park.



A Semipalmated Sandpiper, the third sighting this spring, was reported from
the Iona Island sewage ponds.





Sightings for Friday, May 10th



Two Lesser Yellowlegs and a Semipalmated Sandpiper were seen with other
shorebirds in ponds along 176th Street north of the Fraser Highway in
Surrey.



Two Lazuli Bunting at Colony Farm Regional Park in Coquitlam were the FOY
birds.





Sightings for Thursday, May 9th



At Burnaby Mountain Park, a Sooty Grouse was hooting, and 8 Warbling Vireo
were seen among other migrants.



At Blackie Spit in Surrey were 200 Common Tern and 20 Whimbrel.



At Iona Island in Richmond were a Western Kingbird, 2 Wilson's Phalarope in
the sewage ponds, and 200 Common Tern and 2 Parasitic Jaeger near the tip
of the West Jetty.





Sightings for Wednesday, May 8th



Birds noted at Iona Island in Richmond included 6 Blue-winged Teal, a
remarkable 30 Cinnamon Teal, and a Solitary Sandpiper inside the sewage
ponds, and 4 late Greater White-fronted Goose and 10 Purple Martin along
the North Arm of the Fraser River. Out the Iona West Jetty were 400 COMMON
TERNS and the FOY Parasitic Jaeger.



Two female Calliope Hummingbird at Burnaby Mountain Park in Burnaby were
noteworthy.





Sightings for Tuesday, May 7th



The FOY Olive-sided Flycatcher appeared at Camosun Bog in Pacific Spirit
Park, Vancouver.



At Iona Island, 200 Common Tern and 80 Caspian Tern were seen west of the
Sea/Iona causeway on a falling tide, and 2 Blue-winged Teal were in the
sewage ponds.



A sizable fallout of migrants was seen along the Grant Narrows nature dyke
at Pitt Lake, including 2 Nashville Warbler, a MacGillivray's Warbler, and
the FOY Bullock's Oriole.





Sightings for Monday, May 6th



Five American Avocet were seen off the northern part of the Lulu Island
west dyke in Richmond.





Sightings for Sunday, May 5th



The FOY MacGillivray's Warbler was singing near the Grouse Mountain Skyride
parking area in North Vancouver, and 2 Blue-winged Teal were nearby on Lake
Capilano, an odd location for that species.



A Semipalmated Sandpiper at Serpentine Fen in Surrey was a rare spring
migrant.



Flocks of Surf Scoter totalling about 4500 birds were present between
Lighthouse Park and Passage Island in West Vancouver.





Sightings for Saturday, May 4th



Several flocks of Surf Scoter totalling over 3000 birds were seen off
Kloochman Park in West Vancouver. Also here were a late Long-tailed Duck and
8 Black Oystercatcher.





Sightings for Friday, May 3rd



A late Rough-legged Hawk was seen over the 3100 block of West 28th in
Vancouver, and a Western Tanager appeared with other migrants at Cecil Green
Park on the University of BC campus.





Sightings for Thursday, May 2nd



Two Blue-winged Teal and a House Wren, both FOY sightings, were at the
Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta. Meanwhile, 10 Black Turnstone on the
Tsawwassen ferry jetty in Delta were getting close to the late spring
departure date for that species.



The White-throated Sparrow was still being seen in the nursery area at the
Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver.



A Vesper Sparrow, a very rare spring migrant, was reported from the Boundary
Bay dyke near the foot of 72nd Street in Delta.





Sightings for Wednesday, May 1st



A flock of 21 Whimbrel were feeding on the "Hazelmere polo field" on 8th
Avenue just east of 176th Street (Highway 15) in Surrey, which had been
freshly plowed but still seemed attractive to the birds.



Another White-throated Sparrow was seen near the base of the Grant Narrows
"nature dyke" at the south end of Pitt Lake.



The FOY Warbling Vireo was seen in trees in John Hendry Park in Vancouver.











For a summary of extremely rare bird sightings throughout British Columbia,
check "British Columbia Bird Alert" at
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





If you have any questions about birds or birding in the Vancouver area,
please call Wayne Weber at 604-597-7201, 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

contopus@telus.net