Oct. 5 - Twitchin' & Explorin'

My experience with twitchin' is usually double-dippin', so it is gratifying to have the occasional "easy" twitch. Thanks to Jeremy, I had the Painted Bunting in the spring, and now thanks to Ted, I've got the Clay-coloured Sparrow. Once again, I thank Jeremy and Ted for allowing strangers to access their backyards simply to enjoy the pleasure of seeing a new bird.

Ted's backyard was a veritable menagerie of birds busily fluttering back and forth from the feeders to the bushes. It only took 10 minutes before the Clay-coloured made its appearance amongst the hoard of sparrows, jays, and juncos.

As Ted mentioned, it was a hungry little bird that wasn't to be denied its share of millet.

The birds spooked readily. I had to wait for the bird to reappear several times.

Fortunately, like humans, the way to a bird's heart is food. The bird returned several times in the half hour I was there. Depite the shade, I got a few reasonable photos. Thanks for your hospitality and the Clay-coloured Sparrow, Ted.

After an unsuccessful search for the Parula at Swan Lake, we decided to go to China Beach for a picnic and a little exploration. Despite the gray skies and high tide, we were impressed with the the solitude and beauty of another west coast gem. Believe it or not, birds weren't part of my agenda, but we found a few anyways.

The beach wasn't very large by west coast standards, but it was intimate and impressive in its own right. After lunching and snoozing at the south end, we trekked to the north end and were greeted by a solitary American Pipit.

In typical "Pipitian" fashion, the Pipit bobbed its tail towards the cliff at the end of the beach. It then hopped onto a lime-green, algae-covered shelf and posed several times for the camera.

As we were leaving, the Pipit flew onto some driftwood for one last picture.

Savannah Sparrows were also common on the beach as they foraged for bugs and seeds.

We also ran into several flocks of Gold-crowned Kinglets, but most of them stayed hidden in the branches. I was lucky to get one fleeting shot. If only I were 10 feet closer.

Oct. 7 - Deep Bay Day

Now that summer's over, I've reclaimed Deep Bay Spit from the tourists, and it is again one of my favorite venues to visit and take a picture or two. Even when birds are scarce, it's easy to let an hour or two slip by enjoying the solitude and scenery.

You can almost count on finding a few Red-necked Grebes off the spit. It's still too early for the Long-tailed Ducks.

Bigfoot! How many of you have ever seen the feet on a Red-necked Grebe? This was a first for me, and I was genuinely surprised. I wonder if other grebes have a similar triple-paddle configuration?

Oct. 10 - My daughter was home for a little Thanksgiving turkey so I decided it was time for her to do a little "birding with dad." I didn't think she would have approved "gumbooting" it at Holden so we headed for Deep Bay.

Just as we were getting out of the car an early Northern Shrike landed in the bushes by the trail. Last year I didn't see one until Nov. 7.

The first sea bird we saw was a Common Loon. It caught 2 fish while we were there (a sole and a greenling?), but it was too far out for a photo. It did come in fairly close once to show off its feathers.

The only bird I promised her was a Red-necked Grebe. Thank goodness there were a few close in.

After watching the loon down two fish, the grebe got into the act with a baby sole.

On our way home, we stopped at Admiral's Lagoon and were greeted by 3 busy Greater Yellowlegs. They were dashing back and forth in the shallow water as they foraged for food.

"Oops! I almost missed that tasy treat."

Skewered? Don't worry, its just a little acupuncture treatment for a headache! (If it didn't have a headache before, it'll have one now.)

"Can't stop. One hungry stomach to feed."

Gull Lesson - It's that time of year again for those of us who are clueless about gulls. I stopped at Qualicum to see if I could pick out a few Thayer's Gulls, and I've posted them so we can all learn. I'm hoping one of our gull experts will email me as to which are correct and explain the relevent field marks that confirm or reject my choices. I'll post the results in a few days.

Thayer's #1 (10% have pale eyes)

Thayer's #2 (not the best pose for an i.d. photo)

Thayer"s #3

Thayer's #4

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