Phalarope Without A Hope

I stopped in at Harling Point - known also as the Chinese Cemetary - and scanned out to sea for a while this evening.  In the last couple weeks, it has been quite easy to spot Red-necked Phalaropes bobbing along the tide rips.  This evening was no exception.  In fact, one group was close enough that I was alerted to them by hearing a couple call notes as they lifted off the water and flew off to the east.

One straggler phalarope met with a very unfortunate end in what was one of the most amazing sightings I've had in a while.  I always think that you will witness some incredible events if you set yourself up in an area with lots of activity and just observe.  When I took a break from scanning through the scope, I noticed a very fast-flying dark bird over the water and realized it was a Peregrine Falcon in full hunting mode.  The object of his interest was the lone Red-necked Phalarope.  The initial attempt was easily dodged by the phalarope as it made a quick turn as the falcon rapidly approached.  The falcon was undeterred and doubled back, gained some height, and then dove to gain speed again.  The falcon broke into some powerful wing beats and was quickly back on the trail of the phalarope.  This time the phalarope was forced to hit the water to avoid getting wrapped up in the Peregrine's talons.  The falcon then tightened the turnarounds, which forced the phalarope to have to continually dive under the water to avoid being plucked off the surface.

The Peregrine Falcon is turning back for another pass at the Red-necked Phalarope on the water's surface

The falcon would drop its talons down on the water's surface right where the phalarope had just dove

Every pass the falcon made, the phalarope would dive under the water with a split second to spare.  Several times the Peregrine even momentarily stuttered its pace in hopes that the phalarope would pop up.  The repeated aggressive attempts to catch the phalarope eventually drew the attention of a juvenile Glaucous-winged Gull.  The Peregrine continued to pursue the phalarope while minimizing harassment from the young gull.

Peregrine Falcons are apparently good multi-taskers - this one avoided the gull and still attempted to get the phalarope

The young Glaucous-winged eventually dropped the chase and an adult California Gull entered the scene with some raucous calling as it chased the Peregrine.  Even in the midst of being chased by the adult gull, the Peregrine finally managed to time its attempt perfectly and it snapped the phalarope off the water.

Peregrine Falcon with phalarope in talons pursued by California Gull

The Peregrine was unable to hang on to the phalarope as the California Gull mobbed it.  The gull quickly descended on to the area where the phalarope was dropped in the water, but the Peregrine was not about to give up the meal it had worked so hard to catch.

Injured Red-necked Phalarope hitting the water after being dropped by Peregrine Falcon

I'm sure the gull probably had no idea what to do with the phalarope because it was immediately on top of the poor bird.  The Peregrine quickly circled back and reacquired its hard-earned meal.

The Peregrine Falcon takes back what it rightfully earned

The Peregrine proceeded to fly towards me with the phalarope now tightly secured in its talons.  I was watching the from the east-facing side of Harling Point and the bird flew out of view up the tiny bay just to the north.

Unfortunately falcons are fast, so I couldn't manage a better shot of the fly-by

Unfortunately, I didn't realize the Peregrine seemingly decided to land on the rocks just around the corner to north of me.  I am not entirely sure where it landed, but a few minutes after it initially passed by, I saw it flying back out to over the water with the phalarope.  Presumably, the falcon was headed to Trial Island to eat its well-deserved meal without disturbance.

Rainy Morning Fallout

The weather looked very promising for birding this morning.  When I woke up it was alternating between drizzle and downpour.  I was intending to go to Uplands Park, but as I meandered my way along I instead turned up to Mount Tolmie on a whim.  I hadn't been to the Mount Tolmie Reservoir in a while, so I started there.  As I walked along the perimeter, I pushed up a few Savannah Sparrows.  That was my first sign that it was quite "birdy" up there.  I continued to walk the perimeter and wracked up the species one after another: Orange-crowned Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Yellow Warbler, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Townsend's Warbler, and Chestnut-backed Chickadee.  The best bird I heard here was an Evening Grosbeak giving its clear, whistled call note as it flew over.  I followed this up with my only Western Tanager of the morning.  I had seen quite a few species, but I wouldn't exactly call this a fallout.

I drove up over the top and parked in the lot just below.  From there, I walked around on the north-facing slope and this is where the real action was going on.  I surveyed the scene from a rock outcrop by the parking lot and could see Orange-crowned Warblers actively flitting through the assortment of shrubs and stunted Garry Oaks below.  The odd Yellow-rumped Warbler could be heard giving their distinctive call note while hawking insects.  I decided to move down the slope to put myself in the centre of the action.  It was amazing!  The bulk of the bustle was occurring in the Oceanspray shrubs.  I get the impression the dead, drooping flower clusters are loaded with insects and arachnids.  I figure there must have been over a hundred Orange-crowned Warblers on the hill this morning.  At one point, I stood by a small Oceanspray patch with my camera at the ready for Orange-crowned Warblers to work their way into the open and hopefully cooperate for a photo or two.  I was managing the odd photo here and there and then I heard the high-pitched "tick" note of a Townsend's Warbler right in front of me!  Somehow a Townsend's had snuck in without detection.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee hanging from an Oceanspray inflorescence

One of the many Orange-crowned Warblers voraciously feeding this morning on Mount Tolmie

This lone Townsend's Warbler was seen feeding eye-level in an Oceanspray shrub

I worked the flocks of Orange-crowned Warblers over and over, but I couldn't find anything unusual.  The area east of the upper parking lot had another wave of activity that consisted primarily of Yellow-rumped Warblers, but I also had a Hammond's Flycatcher and Warbling Vireo in the mix.

One of several Yellow-rumped Warblers feeding low in the Garry Oaks on Mount Tolmie

I decided to move on from Mount Tolmie and ended up putting in a very unfocused effort for the Franklin's Gull at Esquimalt Lagoon.  This bird was first found by Mike Ashbee on September 2 and many birders have been able to enjoy this local rarity.  I had not put in an effort and I decided I would give it a half-hearted effort on my way through to Albert Head Lagoon and Tower Point.  I pulled in to the parking area just after the bridge and was impressed by the number of gulls.  I apparently wasn't impressed enough to get my scope out and scan through, but I did give it a cursory scan.  No signs of the Franklin's there.  I went to the "hump" at the halfway point of the lagoon next as this is where the Franklin's Gull has been putting in appearances.  The usual assortment of California, Heermann's, and Glaucous-winged Gulls was there, but there was no signs of the money bird.  I was pleased, however, to find four Bonaparte's Gulls paddling their way along the water's edge.

One of the four Bonaparte's Gulls seen at Esquimalt Lagoon this afternoon

Adult California Gull resting on the shore at Esquimalt Lagoon

Adult Heermann's Gull showing off just how different it is from the other gulls

Albert Head Lagoon was quiet for shorebirds and the horde of gulls offshore was made up of the usual assortment.  The only highlight from this location was a juvenile Ring-billed Gull hanging in the southwest corner of the lagoon.

This juvenile Ring-billed Gull was a treat after seeing an adult at Albert Head last week

I finished the day off at Tower Point with a bit of a seawatch and just enjoying the nice weather.  I bumped in to Ian Cruickshank here and he had already picked over the area enough to tell me not to expect anything wild and crazy.  He did mention Horned Larks were everywhere, but I don't seem to recall him saying there was a group at the point.  When I got out to the rock outcrops at the point, however, there was a group of eight Horned Larks scurrying over the rocks and grass.  Aside from these birds, the only other bird worth mentioning from Tower Point was a lone Horned Grebe which was also my first southbound individual for the late summer.  It was another great day outside and hopefully tomorrow will be equally eventful!

One of the eight Horned Larks on the rock outcrops at Tower Point

Gull-lover's Travels

Migration is pretty much at its peak right now and I've been reading about some extremely tantalizing rarities from the Lower Mainland and Washington.  Many of the recent vagrants have been shorebirds - Washington has had Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadrius mongolus), Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica), and Wilson's Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) along with Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis), Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata), while the Lower Mainland has hosted Sharp-tailed, Buff-breasted and Stilt Sandpipers and a Ruff, as well.  The Wilson's Plover is just mind-blowing and something that is unlikely to be repeated any time soon, but wayward Asian shorebirds are never out of the question.  Heck, we just had our own Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at McIntyre Reservoir less than a week ago!  With that in mind, Jeremy K. and I decided to focus our efforts out west with a trip to Port Renfrew with stops at Whiffin Spit and Jordan River along the way.

I could try to reinvent wheel and write a full report of this outing, but Jeremy K. already rolled up his sleeves and did the dirty work.  I often dropped my birding intensity to snap off some shots of gulls and anything else that would oblige, so that will be the focus of this post.

Starting at Jordan River, I walked out to the big flock of gulls at the point near the river's outflow into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  The lighting wasn't conducive to getting photos of the two adult American Herring Gulls (Larus smithsonianus), so I opted to sneak in on a second-cycle Heermann's Gull (L. heermanni), an adult Glaucous-winged Gull (L. glaucescens), California Gulls (L. californicus) of three different ages.

I have tentatively aged this Heermann's Gull as a second-cyle, but I am finding it hard to pin down for sure. I would think a third-cycle bird would have obvious grey to white tips on the retrices and the head would be grizzled with white. Does anyone have more experience in aging Heermann's or would someone be willing to give a better assessment by looking at the state of molt?

Glaucous-winged Gulls are the standard Pacific Northwest gull.  You can almost always find other gull species right through the summer, but this is the only species that breeds locally.  This adult shows primaries that more or less match the shade of the mantle, which is a classic Glaucous-winged feature.

This first-cycle California Gull is not always easy to identify at first, but the strongly bicoloured pink-and-black bill with parallel edges and long, black primaries are good indicators.

First-cycle California Gulls are known to be quite variable.  This individual still shows all the same diagnostics as the previous one, but still manages to look different due to the dark mottling on the head.  This species is quite common for over half the year, so it is important to become familiar with all ages.

This second-cycle California Gull has several features that are different from the above examples of first-cycle birds.  Most notably, the mantle has the odd pure grey feather filling in, the bill is pale pink and black with a pale tip, and the legs are a pale bluish-flesh colour.

This is a classic adult California Gull.  The legs are yellow, the bill has a red spot with a touch of black, the eyes are dark brown, and when in the company of other gulls it is medium in size.

Here's another shot of an adult California Gull displaying its red gape nicely during a yawn.

In Port Renfew, the rather slow birding caused me to seek out more shots.  I started with a more worn juvenile California Gull.

This California Gull appears to be an extremely worn juvenile compared to the two I photographed at Jordan River.  This is another great example of how variable this species can be at this age.

Even if the birding is slow, you can at least appreciate the scenery when you go to Port Renfew.  The San Juan River estuary is truly a grand scene.  I image crisp mornings with a slight fog or late afternoons with low sun from west create amazing photography conditions.

I think the government should just install old pilings all along the coastline for tourism.  I am pretty sure they always add a certain charm to the scenery.

While enjoying the estuary's majesty, a Merlin (Falco columbarius) darted in to a patch of alders and was amazing cooperative.  This dark little falcon belongs to the coastal subspecies suckleyi, which are sometimes referred to as Black Merlins or Coastal Forest Merlins.

The inset (top right) shows the "tooth" that falcons have on their bill to dislocate the neck of their prey.

In the Port Renfrew townsite, I managed to get a less-than-amazing shot of a Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) and documented one of the many Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) that have established there.

If you get a good look at a male Wilson's Warbler, there's no mistaking it!  The male's solid, small black cap separates it from all other warblers.

If you haven't seen any Eurasian Collared-Doves in your neighborhood, give it a year or two.  In the last few years, they have managed to establish themselves quite firmly in many areas of southern British Columbia and reports have come from all over the province. 

The last shot of this entry comes from a quick stop we made one our leisurely route back to Langford.  We quickly popped in to a pond at the Metchosin Golf Course to see if any shorebirds were working the edge.  Instead, we were treated to a lone Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors).

The dark eyeline, white eye arcs, and bill shape point to this being a Blue-winged Teal as opposed to a Cinnamon.