Week 26 We Head to the Coast
Monday was our last day in Grand Forks and we had Swifts on our mind. There are numerous reports of both species we still needed, Black and Vaux, but they are not always consistent and are most often seen in the early morning or evening. We had checked around Grand Forks at both those times hoping to see some but not had any luck. I decided we had to “chase” them and not leave it to chance. There had been a report of them at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park 2 hours away, and we had never been there, so we started our day there. We spoke with the park people at the visitor centre (they are always knowledgeable) and headed to the trail they suggested. Within 5 minutes of getting there we had a couple of Black Swifts heading down the canyon over the water! We stayed around on the trail and ended up seeing 13 over the time we were there. Jerry attempted pictures and they are not good. The swifts are very high and fast.
We walked a few more trails and then headed to our next destination for Vaux’s Swifts. It entailed taking one of the “road ferries” that are free and connect a highway over a waterway. It was a short 20 minute wait and a 35 minute ferry ride across Lake Kootenay. We stopped at a few overlooks along the way hoping to see Swifts over the lake and on our third stop we saw 2 smaller swifts and knew they would be the Vaux’s. Two birds chased, two birds added – 375! We went on to Duck Lake in Creston because we had run out of time to visit there in 2022 and it is known as an IBA (Important Birding Area). We spent a few hours driving around the lake, getting out and scoping and driving some more just enjoying the waterfowl and meadow birds. We have seen almost all of our targets for this area and the few we have missed we will get another chance at after our trip to the coast.
Tuesday, after a wonderful two week visit while birding, we sadly said goodbye to Darryl, Cathy and Tyler and headed back to Manning Park for another chance at missed species and to see if we could find White-winged Crossbills that had been reported. We can get them in Ontario and Quebec but might as well try for them since we were going past. We hiked a bit but didn’t want to spend too much time on a bird that can be found elsewhere. With still lots of time to make it to the coast we opted to take the alpine meadows road up to Cascade Lookout. It is an easy paved drive with spectacular views from the top.
Clarks’ Nutcrackers hang out at the lookout waiting for handouts from people and many are happy to oblige. It allows for great photos.
On the way back down a truck was stopped in front of us on the road watching something on the mountainside and moved on as we approached. I was driving and took a quick look out the window and saw a gray bird! I braked hard, told Jerry to grab his camera and grabbed my phone to take a picture thinking the bird might flush but it stayed still. A Sooty Grouse happily munched the grass and allowed us multiple pictures and videos for many minutes. We have only heard them so it was exciting for us to see one so close. I hoped it might be a Dusky Grouse, a lifer but it was not to be.
Our next stop was in Hope, the lagoons and airport are good birding spots and over the years have had a variety of rarities, so it is always worth a stop. We didn’t add anything although Merlin picked up the song of a Black-throated Gray Warbler. Both of us did not hear it and it did not repeat while we were there so it was not added to the list. We should get this warbler at Stanley Park. We arrived at our budget hotel at dinner time and made some food before heading back out for another evening of owling – this time for a Barn Owl. We missed this species in February despite spending a few nights out in the cold hoping to see them hunting at a spot near Boundary Bay. Back then it got dark at 6pm, now it is light until 10. It makes for a very long day. We waited, watched, had our scope on what we assume was a Great Horned Owl, but no Barn Owl appeared before we left. Tomorrow we will try another spot that has been suggested.
Wednesday we headed to Stanley Park and had a wonderful day walking the trails and immersing ourselves in the glory that is Stanley Park. Old growth trees that tower overhead, Lush plants, ferns, mosses underneath making it feel like you are in a primeval world. Everyone needs to experience Stanley Park at least once.
We made sure to visit one of the “secret” parts of Stanley Park to see the Two-spirit statue tucked in a clearing off the main paths. No one knows who did this carving but it is a treasured part of visiting Stanley Park.
We heard Black-throated Gray Warblers several times and for minutes of repeating songs but we did not see one. The trees are so tall and the bird loves to be up at the top eating insects so it makes it very difficult to even see let alone get a picture. We hope to get a better chance at some parks on the Island but for now it gets added as bird 376.
Slugs are on lots of the forest paths we walk on. One more thing to watch out for…
We saw 5 Pileated Woodpeckers with two being frozen on a tree right beside us on the path. We had lovely views of Bushtits, Wilson’s Warbler, Great Blue Herons, and many Vaux’s Swifts flying high overhead.
The Crows at Stanley Park gather all along the seawall when the tide is out to collect mollusks in the shells for food. I had one fly over my head and hurl its shell to the pavement in front of me where it proceeded to finish the task of opening the shell to get the yummy food inside.
We ended up with a list of 45 species seen over the 15.3km we walked in 7 hours. It was an awesome day despite some on and off again rain and it is always a highlight of every trip out here.
After 7 hrs of walking we were tired but we also wanted to try another spot for Barn Owls so we headed back to the motel for one of our frozen dinners and then went back out at 9pm to try again for the Barn Owl. It was a short walk from our car to the field where they are known to hunt. We had brought a flashlight to help us as they often do not hunt until it is very dark out. We waited, and searched, and waited. Merlin recorded a Barn Owl but we had heard nothing. Still it gave us some hope. We waited until after 11 and then headed home. We checked the Merlin recording and there was nothing that sounded like a Barn Owl. I was discouraged. The conversation in the car went like this:
Me: whiny/sad voice – Owls are so hard, we just are not getting ANY this year, sigh, its soooo frustrating…
Jerry: Well, not sure that is true, how many have we seen already?
Me: Great Horned, Eastern Screech, Saw-whet, Short-eared, Barred
Jerry: Long-eared, Snowy
Me: Great Gray was awesome, oh yeah we got the Northern Hawk Owl here, Flammulated, Burrowing
Both of us start laughing: guess we have seen quite a few
Out of the 16 owls in Canada we have seen 11. The Spotted Owl is so rare we will not see it, leaving us 4 species. Boreal Owl we hope to still see in Ontario or Quebec so 3 species here in BC still missing off the list. It is not over yet. Still more time. But we have done a pretty good job at seeing most of the owls in Canada.
Thursday we had planned to bird around Boundary Bay but I knew there were few water birds to find at this time of year so we opted to go to Burnaby Lake to give us a chance to find Band-tailed Pigeons, Hutton’s Vireo and get pictures of the Red-breasted Sapsucker and Black-throated Gray Warbler. Within minutes of getting out of the car while we were still in the parking lot we had our Pigeons!
Ten minutes later I saw a small bird fly across the path into a shrub and got my bins on it. It looked like a Kinglet but not quite and I got Jerry on it as our possible Hutton’s Vireo. It was difficult to see the whole bird with the leaves and its constant motion. But what I did see I started to put together like a puzzle: wing bars, olive back , pale yellow/gray breast, slight eye ring, gray undertail. All pointed to Hutton’s Vireo and the fact that there are no Ruby-crowned Kinglets in that area gave further credence to my thoughts. Jerry was on the bird as well and thought it was as well. He attempted a few pictures but the leaves and the fast movement made it impossible. I am not happy when our sightings are quick and leave room for me to overthink after the fact. I’m confident that it was Hutton’s but I wish we had those stellar long moments with the bird to remove any doubt, a picture is even better LOL. We discussed in detail if we both felt confident enough to add it and looking at Jerry’s one very blurry picture we both agreed we are confident. Hutton’s Vireo is added to the list. We should get another chance to see and hear this species on the island.
The lake was a loop of 12kms and part way around we ran into a local birder, Istvan, who shared some information with us about finding our targets. We chatted about birds for a bit and he willingly shared his contact info if we need to still get some birds when we return from the Island. We love these interactions with locals so that we can hear first hand experiences and gain more knowledge about the local birds. He was traveling in the opposite direction so we ended up meeting again on the other side of the lake and he showed us all kinds of berries growing in the park and possible locations for the Sapsuckers which we had not yet seen as well as personal birding stories. We felt like we were on a birding tour and it was lovely of him to share his time. On the way out of the park I saw an animal on the path at a distance and noted no human with it, Jerry saw it as it disappeared into the brush beside the path. We discussed what it could have been and a woman with a dog coming the other way stopped to say it was a cougar and it had moved into the brush but to be aware and talk loud as we went by.
It started raining by the time we got back to our motel and continued throughout the evening. We opted to cancel our last night out for the Barn Owl watch knowing it means we will not be adding Barn Owl to our list. It made more sense to relax, catch up and pack up as we head over on the ferry to Victoria Friday morning. When I checked the reports for the day I saw an Acorn Woodpecker, a rarity from waaay south had been found only 20 minutes from the ferry in Victoria. That would be a great addition to our list.
We were on the ferry at 8am Friday and arrived at the spot where the Acorn Woodpecker was at 10:15. No cars or people surprised us a bit as we knew that there were many people yesterday and it was a “big deal”. We watched the feeder, scanned trees and nothing. We widened the search. Eventually another birder came along and let us know that people had been there from 8-10 and not seen it. It had been at the feeders for a week before it was “found” by a birder and now it seemed to have disappeared as soon as it was found. We were really disappointed, it would have been an awesome bird to add to our list this year. Not a lifer for us, as we have seen them in Arizona, but still would have been a great addition to our Canada List.
Our next target was the Victoria Airport, the only reliable spot in Canada to hear and possibly see one of the very few Eurasian Skylarks left. We have not got this bird on past trips so I was gearing myself up for more disappointment. We got out of the car, I walked to the fence and turned on Merlin and Jerry went to chat with some guys out on strike. Savannah Sparrow sang and then a long trilling song, Eurasian Skylark! I yelled to Jerry and hoped that it would repeat. It did! We had our Skylark in minutes of arriving. We hung around a bit but both us us thought we should leave as the prospects of a picture were very low. As we were leaving I saw a bird flying very low with the quick fluttering of wings that is typical of Skylarks, much faster and erratic than a sparrow flies. There was no time for pictures but we had our bird and perhaps some time to come back again.
We then headed to a spot where a Black Phoebe had been seen for a week or so. You may recall our February visit to BC and our travel through a foot or so of snow looking for another Black Phoebe. We did not get that one and we did not get this one either. We did have a pleasant walk though and then continued to our hotel – The Helm’s Inn right beside Beacon Hill Park and minutes from downtown Victoria. We highly recommend it!
After checking in we took a walk downtown to check for a Black-legged Kittiwake, a type of Gull that we do see in Ontario and out East but if we can take it off the list now, all the better. It was not at its usual spot so after a few minutes wait we opted to walk back and around the bay enjoying the ambience of downtown Victoria and the Fisherman’s Wharf. Jerry spotted a gull flying back towards the Kittiwake spot and we both got bins on it. It looked good for a juvenile Kittiwake. We walked back again to the spot it liked to sit at and there it was on one of the pilons.
I was happy with two more birds added in our first few hours on the island. We headed back to the hotel for one of our frozen meals and some time sorting out blogs and some tax stuff from home.
Saturday we were up and at Clover Point just after 7 to check for seabirds. We met some local birders, Geoffery and his Dad, who were more than gracious to share their expertise and knowledge with us. We spent a lovely hour with them and while we did not see the Heermann’s Gull I was hoping for they gave us all kinds of tips and suggestions for what we want to see. This kind of knowledge is so important and one of the best parts of travelling like this. We always learn so much from the people that live there.
We moved on to a few more sea watches and then switched to the forests to try for pictures of Red-breasted Sapsucker and Hutton’s Vireo. We thought we got a picture of the Sapsucker at Goldstream Provincial Park but reviewing them later it might be a Red-naped. We are waiting on confirmation from BC birders.
Sunday morning we had planned to drive up the west coast to Port Renfrew but when I woke up I saw that a Bar-tailed Godwit and a Pacific Golden-plover had been seen the night before at Boundary Bay on the mainland. A discussion ensued. Should we go back for the day to try for them and what did we stand to gain on our drive we had planned, did it make sense to spend the money? The cost of going back would be $220 for the two ferries. But the Bar-tailed would be a lifer. The tides were not in our favour either and we knew that Boundary Bay meant poor scope views. But, you don’t get 100% of the birds you do not go for. We booked the ferry for 10 am and the last one back at 10pm giving ourselves as much time as we could.
We arrived at Boundary Bay around 11 and the tide was going out. There were vast areas of sand and no birds in view except Killdeers. The heat shimmer back at the water edge made it impossible to make any identifications. We met a local birder and we spent a hot hour or so scoping and hoping that something would fly in closer. Around 12:30 we decided to take a break, have a bit of lunch on a bench and then headed to a small park where we found some shade to park the car and have a nap for an hour. Well Jerry napped, he can sleep anywhere, and I rested at least.
At 4 we headed back to Boundary Bay and sat on the same bench for two more hours watching the water inch closer as the tide came back in. We scoped for much of that time and started to see birds way in the distance as the heat shimmer disappeared. Around 6 we started slowly walking back towards our car and scoped along the way. At one point I finally saw what I could identify as Plovers. The Godwit and Pacific Plover had been in the company of about 90 Black-bellied Plovers the day before so we were hopeful they would come closer. As I scoped they did indeed take flight and I managed to follow them with the scope as they moved across the Bay and landed almost where our car was parked. We hurried further down the trail and then scoped again and this time we could identify a Godwit! It was unlikely that a Marbled Godwit had replaced the Bar-tailed Godwit overnight with the same group of Plovers but we were still worried that we could not prove it to be Bar-tailed with the distance. Luckily, more BC birders were arriving as it was 7pm (they knew the tides better than us) and with many eyes on the birds the Bar-tailed Godwit was confirmed! We had our LIFER! The views were good through the scope but not great for pictures sadly. More Plovers arrived but the Pacific Golden-Plover was not confirmed while we were there. We were very happy to get a lifer and to meet some of the BC birders who came out. It is always nice to share a moment like that with others.
It was 8:30 and we had to leave to grab some food and get the ferry back to Victoria. We would not arrive back at our hotel until midnight but I could work on the blog on the way back at least and still make my Sunday deadline. We met birder Laurie from Tofino in the line for the ferry and she shared lots of information about the island and potential places to visit on future trips. We shared information about Pelee with her and our contact information. A lovely ending to a beautiful day and well worth that extra $220!
No more trips back to the mainland next week as we head to Ucluelet and Tofino.
Week 26 8 species added 381 species E&J