JOURNAL 119 - THE NOVICE BIRDER

(Aug. 29 - Sept. 5, 2005)



AUG. 29/05 (HOLDEN CREEK) - DOWI DAZE

Identifying Dowitchers can be a daunting task even for experienced birders. For the novice birder, it's almost impossible especially when one only gets to see them a couple of times a year. That's the advantage of photography. I can sit back and examine the photos at my leisure, and using "Identification of Dowitchers in the Pacific Northwest" by Greg Gillson at http://thebirdguide.com, I think I can now make some sense out of the dowitcher daze. Please correct me if I have made some mistakes.

Apparently most adult dowitchers migrate south in late June and early July. That means most of the dowitchers we see now are juveniles. Juvenile Short-bills have orangey borders and barring on their tertials while juvenile Long-bills have plain grey tertials with thin buff margins. Can you identify the 3 Short-bills and 1 Long-bill in the above photo?

These are the same 4 dowitchers in the previous photo with the addition of 1 adult Long-bill.

The pale orange breast and belly colour indicates that the bird on the right is an adult Long-bill. The left is a juvenile Short-bill.

The short-billed bird on the right of the adult Long-bill is a Pectoral Sandpiper.

A close-up look at the juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher shows the plain tertials.

Besides shorebirds and American Pipits, Savannah Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers have been commonplace at Holden Creek.


SEPT. 2/05 - NORTHERN EXPOSURE

Comox isn't exactly north for someone who used to live in Inuvik, but these days, anything north of Nanoose is north for me. The best bird I saw on the way to Comox was the Parasitic Jaeger at Deep Bay. It was too far and fast for a photo.

Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow at Fanny Bay.

Willow Flycatcher at Ship's Point.

I stood on the rocky beach at Deep Bay for almost an hour waiting for another Parasitic Jaeger or a Little gull to fly by, but there only a few ducks and cormorants. The Black turnstones said I was crazy, and all I could do was agree with them.


SEPT. 5/05 - GARDEN GOODIES

It was a cool fresh Sept. morning, and the garden was alive with activity. The first 2 Gold-crowned Sparrows of the fall joined 5 Spotted Towhees foraging around the bean plants. 3 American Gold-finches were hanging on the tops of the sunflowers enjoying the fresh sunflower seeds while a Pileated Woodpecker was pecking away on a Farina apple. All was idyllic and therapeutic until a Sharp-shinned hawk cruised by.

It's an annual event to have the American Goldfinches feast on the garden sunflowers. The Steller Jays shouldn't be too far behind.

A family of 4 Pileated Woodpeckers buzzed around our yard this morning. I think they were all eyeing the apple trees.


SEPT. 5/05 - SHOREBIRD CHECK

30 least, 15 Westerns, and 4 Pectorals were the only shorebirds I saw at Holden Creek today. There wasn't anything new to photograph so I settled on a yellow Warbler.



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SAVE-ON FOODS (WOODGROVE)

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CHAPTERS

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COLE'S

PORT ALBERNI - CLOCKTOWER GALLERY

COURTENAY - GRAHAM'S JEWELLERS

SIDNEY - VICTORIAN BIRD HOUSE

COMOX - BLUE HERON BOOKS

BOWSER - LIGHTHOUSE GIFTS

DEEP BAY -

SAANICH - WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED

VICTORIA - BOLEN'S BOOKS

MUNRO'S

CAMPBELL RIVER - CAMPBELL RIVER MUSEUM

DUNCAN - VOLUME 1 BOOKSTORE

CHEMAINUS - LITTLE SHOP OF NOVELS

LADYSMITH - SALAMANDER BOOKS (FRASER & NAYLOR)

NANOOSE - SCHOONER COVE MARINA

SOOKE - SOOKE HARBOUR HOUSE


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