Where my peeps at?

The answer is Esquimalt Lagoon!  I made a run out to Esquimalt Lagoon after work today in hopes of catching up with the Franklin's Gull that was seen off and on last week.  It hadn't been reported for a couple days and a similar-looking bird turned up at Clover Point yesterday, so I wasn't too hopeful.

As I rolled along, I saw a birder set up with a scope and thought I would hop out and see if they had found anything of interest.  The birder introduced herself as Monica and I said I was Jeremy.  Just using my first name puts birders that haven't met me in a tricky position if they follow the birding groups.  Am I Jeremy Kimm, Jeremy Tatum, Jeremiah Kennedy, or Jeremy Gatten?  She guessed Gatten and I guessed Nugent and we were both right.  Monica was over to look for a few species that are a little trickier to find over on the Lower Mainland, including Black Turnstones, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Heermann's Gull.  She had knocked off her targets and was just exploring some of the local hot spots.  When I asked if she had anything interesting at the lagoon, she said she had a group of sandpipers.  I scanned out with my binoculars and could see a handful of Leasts and a Western.  Looking further along the shoreline, I could see a couple other peeps.  One appeared to be a Western Sandpiper resting and the other appeared to be larger and quite uniform in colour on the back.  I had an inkling it was a juvenile Baird's Sandpiper and a look through Monica's scope confirmed my suspicion.

I walked along the beach to get a closer look and to try to snap off a few shots of the Baird's.  I didn't want to flush it, but I wanted to get right at the water's edge to get the light as close to being at my back as possible.  The peeps were all relatively close together and I gave them a decent amount of room, so my shots actually provide a nice comparison of the three species.  If I was better at capturing a broad depth of field, it would have been a really good comparison.  Instead, the shots have the Baird's as the primary focus and Leasts and Westerns are slightly out-of-focus.

These are always the most instructive situations - multiple species side-by-side for a perfect comparison!

In the above photo, the leftmost bird appears to be the largest and this is the juvenile Baird's Sandpiper.  Baird's are slightly bulkier than both Least and Western Sandpipers, averaging an inch longer and weighing  approximately one-third more.  In addition to their size, juvenile Baird's can be distinguished by their brown-buff upperparts, scalloped appearance to the back created by pale-edged feathers, long primary projection and ever-so-slightly decurved bill that tapers to a fine point.  It is also worth noting that the bill and legs of Baird's Sandpipers are black.  The front bird and one behind it are Western Sandpipers.  The overall impression of a Westerns is a greyish-backed bird with rufous upper scapulars, a relatively long, drooping black bill, and black legs.  Westerns average around half an inch longer and one-fifth heavier than Least Sandpipers and one of the first steps most take to separate them is to look at their legs and bill.  In addition to the front two, the first and last bird of the rightmost group of four at the back are also Westerns.  Least Sandpipers have yellow legs and a shorter, slightly more strongly decurved, finer-tipped bill.  Adult Leasts are drab brown on their upperparts, while juveniles have dark-centred back feathers that are rufous-edged.  The bird that has the Baird's Sandpiper's bill crossing it, also partially obscured by a Western, is a Least.  Even harder to tell is the centre two birds in the righmostt group of four at the back, which are also Leasts.  Nothing beats experience in the field with multiple species in close proximity.  The photo does not do the best job of showing the differences but you hopefully get the idea.

This is same scene but a little shuffled to give better perspective on the Least Sandpiper just right of the Baird's Sandpiper

I added one more shot to show the Least Sandpiper a little better.  Based on my description above, you can see the Least is a juvenile.  Typically the majority of the adults move through first and then juveniles, so most of the birds in the late summer are juveniles.  The other feature this shot shows off nicely is the long primary projection of the juvenile Baird's - note how the primary tips project past the tail.  That's one of the classic field marks for the species.

Now is a good time to get out for peep diversity, with Least, Western, Pectoral, and Baird's as the likely species to be encountered.  Get out and see what you can find at your local shorebird hot spot!

Summer Shorebirds

My output lately has been abysmal and I don't even have a great excuse.  I have been working a fair bit up in Fort McMurray and I can't exactly be toting my personal camera around during my work, so that is a bit of a limiting factor.  I have, however, been doing small outings while I'm back in town and haven't been writing anything about those trips.

To get back in the swing of things, I'll share some shots from the shorebird migration that is the main focus of birding at the moment.  You never know what you might find, but unfortunately I have just been spying the expected species.  That doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed keeping my identification skills sharpened with tricky IDs like dowitchers and Semipalmated Sandpipers.  Be sure to get out and enjoy shorebirds while they're around - the best weeks of shorebirding are just starting up.

Back in mid-July, I stopped in at Albert's Head Lagoon with Jeremy K. and we were surprised to find a decent number of peeps despite the bustling beach activity and lack of shorebirds at Witty's Lagoon.  We hopped out with our bins and were pleased to see two Semipalmated Sandpipers in the mix of Least and Westerns.  They stood out due to the usual characteristics - plainer grey overall and shorter bill that is straighter with a slightly bulbous tip.

Adult Semipalmated Sandpiper (front and center) compared to an adult Western Sandpiper (rightmost)

Adult Semipalmated Sandpiper showing off its features nicely - note the lack of rufous tones in the cap, ear coverts, and scaps

Least Sandpipers are a touch smaller than Westerns and Semipalms, show a more down-curved beak, have yellow legs, and are browner overall.

In late July, I popped in to Saanichton Spit to see if any shorebirds were in the small lagoon or along the shoreline.  It was completely dead.  I was about to leave when I noticed a yellowlegs had dropped in to the small brackish pond that is now largely concealed by a wall of blackberries by the small bridge.  I found a small trail through the blackberries and walked out to the pond and was pleased to see two Greater Yellowlegs, three Long-billed Dowitchers, and twenty peeps.

The two Greater Yellowlegs are alert while the three Long-billed Dowitchers were quite intent on carrying out their normal activities

Three Long-billed Dowitchers demonstrating a new event in the Olympics this year: synchronized probing

Another shot of the Long-billed Dowitchers.  The lighting doesn't really do their colour justice, but their underparts were uniformly tawny-orange.  This is not a diagnostic feature, but is more indicative of Long-billed.

Here's one last shot of the Long-billed Dowitchers with one showing off the namesake long bill

I also took a zip out to Whiffin Spit at the end of July with Jeremy K. and the hightlight there was a lone Sanderling transitioning out of breeding plumage.  Because we're so used to seeing Sanderlings in the winter, seeing them in breeding and transitional plumages always causes a momentary lapse.  This one was quite cooperative and allowed a few photos before I left it to wander along the rocky shoreline.

The washed out tan, streaky head and dark mantle feathers are the holdouts from the breeding plumage on this adult Sanderling, while the silver feathers filling in on the back are the start of the more familiar non-breeding plumage.

I also had three Black Oystercatchers on the inside of the spit.  They may be common but they are probably one of the most charismatic resident species in our region.  I enjoyed watching this one call as if to say it wasn't a fan of my presence.

Am I the only one that gets a little weirded out by their skin-coloured legs?

A quick pop in to Albert Head Lagoon, also at the end of the July, resulted in a sighting of my first southbound Short-billed Dowitcher of the year.  After seeing several Long-billed Dowitchers in the previous two weeks, this one stood out due to its paler underparts and I feel the bill even looks short on this one.

In addition to being less bright overall, this Short-billed Dowitcher shows off another nice feature.  Apparently, adult Short-billeds retain more spotting and barring on the belly and chest later into the summer.  If you compare back to the three Long-billeds, you will see they all have less markings on their underparts.

That's all I have to offer at this time.  I know it was rather lackluster, but it's all I have!  Well, that's not true.  I will add a couple other photos that I picked out from the last while.  First, I have a photo of a juvenile Rufous Hummingbird that was visiting thistles in the Jordan River area.

One day I'll be good enough to have the wings showing rather than just a blur!

My final offering is a rather accommodating adult Mew Gull from Saanichton Spit.  They look sharp when they return, even if they do show signs of molting.

This adult Mew Gull is easily recognizable by its diminutive stature and combination of pure yellow legs and bill

Hopefully I'll get my act together and increase my output when I get back.  If not, bear with me as I go through this minimal motivation patch.  Now stop reading and get out and enjoy those shorebirds!