[Smithers]

169A8083-Sage Thrasher by Patrick Covello, on Flickr

A Sage Thrasher in West Vancouver.

Pat

[GMcD]

The weather turned reasonable after noon, and so with a few hours to go before the Canucks game at 4:30PM, I headed out to Terra Nova park in Richmond for a quick walk-around. Quite a few warblers around - some of the willow trees were alive with Kinglets, Orange Crowned Warblers, and Yellow Rumped Warblers. I did spot a Myrtle variety Yellow Rumped Warbler so I'll post it here to account for both types of the Yellow Rumped Warblers for the list:

Yellow Rumped Warbler Myrtle by GMcD2008, on Flickr

[GMcD]

The nice bonus for the afternoon was as I was walking back along the path to the parking lot to head home, I noticed movement in a cedar tree next to the path. Hey, cool, a Townsend's Warbler - we don't see many of those around Richmond very often. So add the Townsend's Warbler to the list:

Townsend's Warbler by GMcD2008, on Flickr

Townsend's Warbler by GMcD2008, on Flickr

[NewWestBirder]

Captured this image on a dark, very rainy day at Maplewood Flats. I struggled to ID this bird, with Merlin suggesting either Hammond's or Dusky Flycatcher. After studying Sibley, think this a Hammond's due to a thicker tail at the base, a flater (not rounded) head (seen better in some other images), and longer primaries. However, not 100% sure so if you have an opinion would love to hear it.

Hammond Flycatcher by R Varga, on Flickr

[NewWestBirder]

Captured this image off the pier at Blackie Spit.

Red-necked Grebe by R Varga, on Flickr

[NewWestBirder]

Another wet weather overcast image from Maplewood Flats.

Wilson's Warbler by R Varga, on Flickr

[GMcD]

Hi Randy, that looks good for a Hammond's Flycatcher - note the subtle ruddy leading edge wing primary feathers, which matches many Hammond's flycatcher images.

Good for you going out in the rain for some of those shots, I'm a fair weather birder and not too keen on testing Canon and Tamron's "weather resistance" capabilities!

Hopefully the weather improves this coming week and one can get out for more dawn patrols at Iona and then an afternoon warbler hunt.

[NewWestBirder]

Another Blackie Spit-sourced contribution.

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) by Randy, on Flickr

[GMcD]

In spite of the weather app indicating a cloudy till noon forecast when I woke up this morning, the sun broke through with clear skies by 6:45AM....Time to make a quick visit to the West Dyke in Richmond to check things out. I was looking for Common Yellowthroats, in an area where they've been commonly seen in past years, and sure enough, I spotted a few flitting around the bullrushes. We can add the Common Yellowthroat male and female to the list here:

Common Yellowthroat by GMcD2008, on Flickr

Common Yellowthroat female by GMcD2008, on Flickr

[stumblingpiper]

Wow. I turn my head for a month, and you guys fill up the pictures! Lol. Great work, everyone. That Oriental Turtle-dove! Cool. Love the adds. I tried to get a few birds, but the ones I got y'all had already added. haha. I'm glad. Here are a couple so I don't feel too bad ... this is a nice fuzzy picture of a Pygmy Nuthatch. I'll try to get a better one!


I know we had the male Rufous ... here's the female! I tried to get them both in the same shot, but this is the best I got ... 2 photos.



We have the Calliope Hummingbird battling them at the feeder ... hopefully I get that shot in the next couple of days!
Enjoy!
James

[stumblingpiper]

The link to the current list is below. We are at 142 birds. Wow. This is a great start to the year ...a few rare birds, great regular additions, and wonderful pictures all the way around. Let's see if we can keep it up ... Maybe we can go for the record this year. haha.
Happy Picture Taking!
James
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[jewill]

A new birding location for me - Passive Park in Langley - I went for the Solitary Sandpiper. There were actually 2 of them but there was also alot of road construction near where they were and I was lucky to get even a few shots before they got spooked. I will definitely go back there once the construction has settled down.

Solitary Sandpiper by Jewill on Flickr

[GMcD]

Along the Sandpipers theme, I had a couple hours to kill before the Canucks game yesterday afternoon so decided to check out the action down at London's Landing pier. Lowish tide, lots of exposed mud flats that were crawling with shorebirds, fun!

Among the flocks of Least Sandpipers and Dunlins were a few Western Sandpipers that were hard to find in the masses of peeps. But they were there, lighter coloured, black legs, yup, Western Sandpipers alright.

Western Sandpiper by GMcD2008, on Flickr

[GMcD]

This morning was kind of bright overcast, and low tide was due around 10:30AM, oh what the heck, let's head down to the pier to see if any shorebirds might come around for the exposed mud flats access. A couple small flocks of mixed Dunlins, Least and Western Sandpipers and the usual loud Yellowlegs. I checked out a trio of Yellowlegs beside the pier, and hey, what do I see - a Lesser Yellowlegs trying to blend in. Seen side by side with the other Greater Yellowlegs, this one was obvious - slightly smaller and shorter bill. Yup, a Lesser Yellowlegs, to be added to the list.

Lesser Yellowlegs by GMcD2008, on Flickr

[NewWestBirder]

Wow. Some great additions. That's a gorgeous shot of the Sage Thrasher Patrick.
GMcD: I was testing out a new "bridge" camera, one that I could hide under my jacket, on that rainy day. That made it slightly less risky. Nice shot of the Lesser. I can't count the number of times I saw a Lesser, only because I wanted so bad to see one, but it was really a Greater YL. It does really become obvious side by side.
Judy: you posted the Lincoln Sparrow some time ago. Have been wanting to comment, saying what a great shot, and how much I love that coffee-cream color on its front. One of my favorite birds.
Love all those shots of the Peeps. There are a lot around these days.