Phoetos: Shots of Victoria's First Eastern Phoebe

After a great morning of birding, I stopped in at the abandoned Aquattro development lot to see if the Eastern Phoebe was still around.  The phoebe, to my knowledge, had not been reported since March 12 but I figured the effort dropped off the chart after most people saw the bird.  After spending 15 minutes looking at the usual suspects, I heard the phoebe's distinctive "chip" call coming from the edge of the main pond.  My eyes traced the edge of the pond, looking in the low vegetation for the source of the call.  It took just a few seconds to spy a plain-chested bird sitting low in an alder over the water.

Unlike my last encounter with the Eastern Phoebe, I was able to watch this bird at leisure for around half an hour as it moved around the pond, then traveled along the stream to the west before moving on to the western ponds.  Getting photos was a challenge, but I managed some shots that are pretty good.  I am glad Victoria's first documented Eastern Phoebe appears to be in good health and is actively hawking insects more than three weeks after news first broke about this bird.

Eastern Phoebe on March 22, 2014 at the abandoned Aquattro lot near Esquimalt Lagoon

Eastern Phoebe on March 22, 2014 at the abandoned Aquattro lot near Esquimalt Lagoon

Eastern Phoebe on March 22, 2014 at the abandoned Aquattro lot near Esquimalt Lagoon

Eastern Phoebe on March 22, 2014 at the abandoned Aquattro lot near Esquimalt Lagoon

Eastern Phoebe on March 22, 2014 at the abandoned Aquattro lot near Esquimalt Lagoon

November Big Day

While I was drifting around at sea, the idea of a November big day was floated by Russ Cannings.  The proposed date made me wilt because I was almost certainly going to be on the boat still, but I put on bitter-yet-brave face and said Jeremy Kimm, Ian Cruickshank, and Russ should go on without me.  As luck would have it, the date did not work and it was pushed back.  I selfishly suggested waiting until I got back and the suckers took the bait!

On Saturday, November 16th, I was picked up by Russ and Ian at the totally reasonable hour of 2 a.m. Next, we picked up Jeremy K. at his local Tim Horton's, obtained our birding fuel, and headed up to Duncan.  From Cowichan Station to Duncan, we put in a few hours of owling and ended up hearing a handful of Great Horned Owls and a couple Barn Owls before first light.

Our first daylight stop was Quamichan Lake and we got the ball rolling quickly.  Waterfowl and common bush birds were tallied rapidly.  We held out hopes we might be able to pull out Redheads or Canvasbacks, but we settled for our only Ruddy Ducks and Barrow's Goldeneyes of the day and our sought after Ring-billed Gulls.

From Quamichan, we traveled our way toward Cowichan Bay and stopped along the way when Ian and I noticed a sapsucker fly across Tzouhalem Rd.  We hopped out and found not one, but three Red-breasted Sapsuckers in the area!  We realized the shrubs were hopping with activity and decided we should pish and sift through the birds a little before heading on.  This turned out to be an extremely good decision as Russ soon exclaimed "There's a warbler... it's a Wilson's!"  Wilson's Warbler is a very rare bird in late fall and winter, and this turned out to be the most unexpected species of the day.

At Cowichan Bay, we walked the dock road and picked up our hoped for Northern Shrike, Northern Harrier, Swamp Sparrow, and Eurasian Wigeon.  At Dinsdale Farm, the Sandhill Crane that has been mixed in with the swans and geese cooperated nicely.  At this point, we decided to cut our ties with sites north of the Malahat and head back towards Victoria.

Ian had suggested we take a quick run up Stebbings Rd. off Shawnigan Lake Rd. and we debated long and hard about the merits of this potentially time-consuming endeavor.  We opted to pull off on Shawnigan Lake Rd. and give a quick listen and perhaps head a little further down if it seemed warranted.  The stop did net us our only Red Crossbills of the day, which have been very scarce in lower areas around Victoria.  We happened to be birding right at someone's driveway and the lady of the house decided to come out after being called by her husband who had just left, and she proceeded to take pictures of us and Russ' car.  At that point, we were all rather underwhelmed by hill folk and decided to continue on to Goldstream.

We had only one target at Goldstream Provincial Park: American Dipper.  Luckily the spawn is fully on right now and dippers are definitely going to be around.  It still took five minutes or so to catch up with one, but we picked up our target.

My record shot of the American Dipper just happened to capture its white eyelid - I love that feature!

From Goldstream, we knocked down a series of waterfront stops, including Esquimalt Lagoon, Ogden Point, Clover Point, McMicking Point, Queen's Park, and Cattle Point.  The wind was up a bit and the seabirding was actually quite difficult.  We managed most of the birds you'd expect along the waterfront, but shorebirds were a little hard to come by.  Clover Point had Black Turnstones and a lone Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatchers were seen on rocks off Kitty Islet, and we managed to find a mixed group with Surfbirds, Black-bellied Plovers, Black Turnstones, and Dunlin on Trial Island viewed from McMicking Point.  Queen's Park had the usual combination of Killdeer and Greater Yellowlegs, but the Long-billed Dowitcher and Spotted Sandpiper that have been around the Oak Bay area were nowhere to be found.

As we rolled through the Uplands, we had our windows down in hopes of picking up American Goldfinch.  Instead, we had Ian's bionic ears pick out a weak White-throated Sparrow song.  We backed up and found there was a feeder and when I got out, I located the nice white-striped male on the neighboring yard's driveway.  We figured we would need to get one at Swan Lake, so it was a convenient species to pick up on the fly.

We stopped briefly at Panama Flats before realizing it was going to be a time sink if we didn't get out quickly.  We opted to head over to Viaduct Flats instead and we finally managed to catch up with Canvasbacks.  We were starting to near crunch time and needed to stay on the move and limit our stops to places with specific targets.  We decided we better make our way over to Martindale Flats as there were numerous species we could get there with a little luck.

We headed to Martindale via Dooley Rd. where we hoped to find Mourning Doves.  Unfortunately, the yard that has great feeders also had the homeowner out working in the yard.  There were many birds around still, but none we were hoping to find!  We rolled on through the flats and made a couple quick stops, picking up Savannah Sparrow, American Pipit, and Cooper's Hawk.  When we got to McIntyre Rd., we headed down the path and worked our way out to the western edge of Garcia Nursery to look for the Palm Warblers that have been around for over a week.  As we passed by the marshy patch by the end of the lane, we finally got to tally Wilson's Snipe.  Russ had one at Cowichan Bay, but he was the only one to record it.  That was a sigh of relief, and catching up with the Palm Warblers a couple minutes later was also a welcome sight.

Next, we crossed the highway and drove down Shady Creek Dr. in hopes that it would have Mourning Doves.  They were not there either.  This species was proving to be a much harder task than anticipated.  We then headed over to the Vantreight bulb fields and I had hoped we would get Western Meadowlark and Peregrine Falcon there.  Instead, we got a couple Sky Larks and an American Kestrel.  That was actually not a bad trade as it eliminated the need to head to the airport.

From my standpoint, this is where the big day got interesting.  We were deep in crunch time.  It was after 4:00 p.m. and we had to make some tough decisions.  We were sitting at 112 species and we had a number of species within our grasp, but we had to pick where to invest our efforts.  We started by heading to Saanich Bay because we were missing Greater Scaup and Long-tailed Duck still.  We set up on the James Bay wharf and I heard the good news over my shoulder that there Greater Scaup at approximately the same time I found a large group of Long-tailed Ducks.  113 and 114.  Perfect execution... now what?

This exact moment tormented me because I had a moment where I thought it might be a good idea to walk Saanichton Spit.  We could definitely get Western Meadowlarks there, but the Horned Larks that were reported several days earlier could easily be gone.  Would Sanderlings be on the shoreline?  Maybe we could luck into a Short-eared Owl, Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting, or who knows what else?  It was too late to gamble like that, though, so we decided to retrace our path back to Martindale, including checking a yard along East Saanich Rd. that had a good number of blackbirds and Eurasian Collared-Doves.  Mourning Doves eluded us yet again, but there were multiple Brown-headed Cowbirds mixed in with the blackbirds.  115.  We continued back east across the highway, then went south along Lochside Dr. Our timing was amazing - a flock of Western Meadowlarks flew over the car and landed in a field on the west side of the road.  116.  We went to the pig farm and couldn't add anything.  We then headed back to Martindale Rd. and were going to make our way to Dooley again, but were stopped short when two Mourning Doves flew over the car.  There was a tense moment when only two of us had seen the doves, but then a straggler zipped by and everyone saw it.  Phew!  117.  We had tied the old November big day record at this point and we still had enough light to pick up a couple more if we played it smart.

We had done poorly with geese at this point.  We had seen plenty of Cackling Geese, but we'd missed Greater White-fronted and Snow Geese and we knew they were around somewhere.  I suggested we check Mount Newton Valley because it can be good for geese and then if that fails we could continue on to Tod Creek Flats.  Well, Mount Newton Valley was barren in the goose department and we added a quick pass by Maber Flats, too, with the same assessment.  Tod Creek Flats turned out to be our promised land.  When we stepped out to view the flats, it was not long before we had both of our hoped-for geese in our sights.  118 and 119.

We did not have much light left, so we figured we had only one option: Swan Lake for Barred Owl, Virginia Rail, and, if extremely lucky, American Bittern.  None of those wanted to cooperate.  We tried Hyacinth Park for Barred Owl and struck out there, too.  We had been up for a long time and were content with our effort, so we decided to give my place a shot for Barred Owl and call it a day.  Russ gave his last effort Barred Owl - a rather impressive rendition as anyone that has gone owling with Russ can surely attest - and we all stood around reminiscing for a few minutes.  In the distance, a rather ugly hissing screech of a Barred Owl made us all smile.  That capped our day off at 120 species.

I wouldn't want to claim this record is going to hold up for years to come.  We really went in to this with no scouting and we had plenty of misses.  I think with a little preparation and luck, a total of 130 would be a solid-yet-attainable total.

Thanks to Ian, Jeremy K., and Russ for a great day out and I hope we can get together again soon to try to knock down more records!

Canada's First Orange-flanked Bush-Robin

That was my attempt to confuse and delight your senses... did it work?  Orange-flanked Bush-Robin is another name for a wee Asian flycatcher many British Columbia birders are now familiar with: the Red-Flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus).

On January 13, 2013, a birder by the name of Colin McKenzie visited Queens Park in New Westminster and saw a bird that had him drawing a blank.  He studied the bird and jotted down some detailed notes and passed the information on to George Clulow and Mike Toochin.  I am not sure what exactly the notes said, but I envision it being something along these lines: "Small brown-backed bird with red flanks and a blue tail." Regardless of what his notes actually said, it was enough to convince George and Mike that the bird in question was almost certainly a Red-flanked Bluetail.  I follow sightings in North America close enough to know this species has turned up on islands off California, including one just over a year ago on San Clemente Island.  Every time something of that magnitude turns up in California, I wonder if it had to pass by British Columbia or whether they sneak by hundreds of kilometres offshore.  Either way, I always hoped an Asian flycatcher would be turned up in British Columbia some day.  Well... it happened!

My first chance to try for the mega rarity was January 19, but the Brothers Kimm - Jeremy and Jason - put the invite out to head out on the 20th instead.  I accepted and contacted my good friend, Tom Plath, to see if he would be up for picking up three wishful birders at the ferry terminal.  Tom was more than happy to oblige, which was great because I have very poor navigational skills on the Lower Mainland.  Our plan was set then - Jason would head down from Duncan, pick us up, and we'd walk on the ferry and meet Tom on the other side.  A minor hitch the morning of the twitch day came in the form of Jeremy K.'s car rolling up to my place and no sign of Jason.  Apparently Jason forgot to set his alarm and woke up around the time he was supposed to be at his brother's place.  Jeremy K. wasn't about to let the day go to waste, especially when we had a ride waiting for us on the other side, so he took matters into his own hands.  We booked it to the ferry terminal and Jason decided he would still try to make it in time.  I am not sure how he did it, but he managed to be the second-to-last walk-on passenger on the ferry.  Crisis and guilt averted!

Tom was waiting for at the Tsawwassen terminal and he was in good form.  He got us down to Queens Park in good time and it was one of those anticlimactic twitches where there is minimal work required to find the target.  The paparazzi was on the scene as expected, but it didn't seem like anyone was intently staring at the bird when we arrived.  Within a couple minutes of assessing the area, I saw a bird fly in and land at the top of a low perch.  I saw a few Red-flanked Bluetails on my trip to Thailand and this bird brought in a flood of memories.  The bird was sporting a warm brown back, orange-red flanks, a blue tail that varied in vibrancy depending on the light, a prominent white eyering, and a dingy brown wash the upper chest that was contrasted by its white throat.

The morning light and slight fog created a rather ethereal setting for the Red-flanked Bluetail.

After our entire group had great looks at the bird, we relaxed and spent the next couple hours casually watching the bird, chatting with fellow birders, taking some photos, and shaking our heads at the shuffling, bumbling photo mob.  Publicity for birds is a bit of a double-edged sword and the Red-flanked Bluetail was a great example.  One one hand, many people learned about this rare bird and were interested in catching a glimpse.  This brings about a greater awareness and appreciation for wildlife.  The flip side of the coin is the inexperienced masses coming out to catch a glimpse of this Asian vagrant and maybe even get a photo.  The end result is a bird that has to work a little harder to stay alive because it is continually flushed by people getting a little too close.  Luckily this bird seemid quite adept at foraging and the coldest snap of the winter is likely behind us.

I know the whole twitching thing is not for everyone, but it's pretty cool to go see a bird that you'll almost certainly never see on Canadian soil again in your lifetime!  I'll wrap this up with a big thanks again to Tom for being the commander-in-chief and Jason and Jeremy K. for being two good twitching buddies.  The perfect recipe for a good twitch is seeing the target bird and having good company!  A few more pictures of this beauty should be a nice way to finish off this post.

The Red-flanked Bluetail stayed in the shadows for the most part, which made getting nice photos very tricky.  Although not the crispest photo, this shows off the namesake blue tail perfectly.

Ooooh... look at that red flank!

This photo shows off that contrasting white throat nicely - great bird!

Citrine Wagtail Twitch!

Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola) had only knowingly graced North American soil once before November 14th, 2012.  The first record was a mind-boggling two-day affair from Starkville, Mississippi just over 20 years ago.  On the 14th, Dave and Adele Routledge decided to check the birds down a seemingly random farm road in the Comox Valley.  The whole Comox Valley looks great for birding, with the Courtenay River Estuary being one of the most obvious features.  Why Dave and Adele chose to head to the other side of Comox Rd. that day and head down that dirt lane is a mystery, but they were amply rewarded for thinking outside the box!  Having experienced Yellow Wagtail some 50 years ago back in England, Dave knew he was looking at a wagtail when he found an unusual grey-and-white bird bobbing its tail.  He made several keen observations and presumed it was a Yellow Wagtail.  The description left no doubt that he had observed a wagtail, but no diagnostic features that separated it from other wagtails were mentioned.  I felt obliged to inquire why he thought it was a Yellow - an Eastern Yellow Wagtail (M. tschutschensis) to be precise with modern taxonomy - and not one of other potential options.  I mentioned Grey Wagtail (M. cinerea) and White Wagtail (M. alba) as other likely candidates to show up, but didn't even think of adding Citrine to the mix as it had never been recorded in Alaska.

Dave decided he had better go back out and go over the identification in greater detail.  Amazingly, he returned to the wagtail's original location two days later and managed to relocate it.  After longer looks in better light, the identification shifted towards the White Wagtail camp based on the more plain-faced appearance, grey back, two broad white wing bars, and white forehead.  The feature that didn't add up for White, though, was the lack of any kind of black markings on the chest.  At this point, no photos had been taken but the shifted identification and up-to-date sighting put a handful of birders into action the next day.  Mike Bentley was one of the few that made the journey and he came prepared with his camera and finally the bird was documented!  Once the photos were posted to BCVIBIRDS, the real excitement began.  Word soon spread that this looked like a classic 1st-winter Citrine Wagtail.  I grabbed my Birds of East Asia field guide, thumbed through to the wagtails, and could immediately tell why I couldn't come to grips with the bird being one of three more expected wagtail species.  CITRINE... expletive deleted... WAGTAIL!

Luckily I had already made travel arrangements to go up and see the wagtail.  Jeremy Kimm and I had just attempted a big day on Saturday and decided rest was for the weak.  He was a real trooper and picked me up at 5 a.m. even though I was the wrong direction.  We picked up his brother, Jason, in Duncan on the way up to the Comox Valley and the three of us were on location just after 8:30 a.m.  I rarely make my way up to the Comox Valley, so I was able to put some unfamiliar faces to familiar names as Dave Robinson, Art Martell, and Terry Thormin were there scouring the area for the wagtail.  Additionally, one familiar-yet-enigmatic face was in attendance as Keith Taylor had made the drive up the night before to be there for first light, and Mike Yip was sporting the long lens in hopes of getting some primo documentation.  They informed us they had not yet located the wagtail.  That all changed five minutes later when Art scanned around edge of the southwest corner of the field.  I was right alongside Art when he exclaimed "There it is!"  He notified the others and soon we were all taking in full frame views of the bird in our scopes!

The field marks were all there for a 1st-winter Citrine Wagtail: white completely framing its grizzled auriculars, a clean grey back with no hints of olive or brown, white supercilia connected by white over the bill, immaculate white undertail coverts, and two bold, white wing bars.

The next task was to get some photos to document the bird.  After all, we were dealing with a first Canadian and second confirmed North American record.  The bird was quite cooperative and everyone was very respectful of the bird's space, knowing that birders from the Lower Mainland were on their way.  Eventually I managed to get some decent shots when the Citrine Wagtail was at its closest.  I even took some poor footage of the bird to document its call.  Later we were joined by a half-dozen or more Lower Mainland birders that made the ferry trip over and, needless to say, they were happy twitchers!  I don't think I need any more commentary on this amazing bird, but I will close this out with a big congratulations to Dave and Adele Routledge for their amazing find!

Giant crowd... from a British Columbia perspective!

My recording was sent to Brent Beach and Ian Cruickshank to try to enhance its quality.  Ian kindly put the recording up on xeno-canto and I managed to figure out how to embed it here:


The above recording has a bland X-ray style sonogram, but you can enjoy Ian's Amazing Technicolor Dream Sonogram below: