Aug. 22 - Closing in on the Cassin's

The closest I'd ever been to a Cassin's Vireo was about 100 feet. On Aug. 22 I got a little closer - 77 feet.

I was repairing some siding on my house when the distinctive call of the Cassin's Vireo caught my attention. There was a swirl of activity as a flock of small birds flitted back and forth from the forest to a huge arbutus tree in my yard. I grabbed my camera and waited for one to stop long enough for a photo. I managed one picture from 77'- a distant shot, but it's my best so far ...

Aug. 23 - West Coast Visit

What's a summer without a couple of visits to Tofino? Rumbling surf, endless beaches, giant salal, sculptured trees, cinamon buns at the Common Loaf, shorebirds ... (Hard to believe that they have a water shortage with one of the largest lakes on the Island sitting at its back door. My Uncle John built the Meares Island resevoir back in the 70's.).

I searched in vain for Long-billed Curlews, but all I could find were a few Semipalmated Plovers and Calidris sandpipers.

The curse of the west coast is the summer fog which is a double curse for photos. Imagine this Semipalmated Plover if the sun were shining.

A pair of Sanderling were hanging out with the Plovers and sandpipers.

Aug. 24 - Victoria Visit

A book order from Monro's was a good excuse to visit Ogden and Clover Point. The juvenile Black Oystercatcher was one of the few shorebirds around.

Of course, there was an adult close by.

Kelp Fisher - I was wondering what the Great Blue Heron was doing on the kelp near Ogden Point. The water was much too deep for the heron. That didn't bother the heron though, as it knew the fish would be coming up to the surface.

Holden Creek - Depite the major dike construction at Holden Creek, shorebird activity seemed to be fairly normal. I visited several times when the excavators were working and there were always at least a 100 to 200 peeps busily foraging in the shallow ponds and occasionally on the shores of the new canal.

As expected, the Western Sandpiper was one of the most abundant migrating shorebirds at Holden.

The Baird's Sandpiper has been very scarce this summer unlike the past 2 years when it wasn't uncommon to see small flocks of a dozen or so.

Likewise, the Pectoral Sandpiper has been an infrequent visitor. I've only seen 2 so far this year.

On the other hand, there seems to be more Semipalmated Plovers than in past years.

The Semipalmated Plover always looks so dapper with it's dark necktie, white shirt, and brown sports coat.

As if the local Merlin, Peregrine, Cooper's, and Redtail weren't enough to cause chaos with the shorebirds, the Northern Harrier has returned for the winter.

What kind of shorebird is this? Ooooops ... it's not a shorebird. It's an American Pipit wandering in the pond for a little bath and grooming. (There have been flocks of 50+ at Fairwinds in the past few days.)

There's nothing like a bath to freshen up.

It's time to find some lunch.

That was good. It sure beats junk food.

Bonie Time

Bonapartes are still one of my favorite gulls and Qualicum and Deep Bay are great spots to visit them. The pink legs are typical for first winter birds.

It was siesta time at Deep Bay, and the Bonies showed no signs of moving no matter how close I got.

The afternoon sun feels great.

"Hey waiter, bring me a beer - please."

It's easy to neglect the Song Sparrow as it seems to be everywhere all year round, but there's always the quest for the perfect picture. How do you like this shot down at Dolphin Lake?

A juvenile Pied-bill Grebe checked out the Fairwind ponds for a few days, but it wasn't there on Sept. 7. Maybe there were too many close calls with the golf balls.