title photo: Black-bellied Plover coming in for a landing on Admiral's Sandbar.

Shorebird Time

Aug. 28/11 - Shorebird time is the favorite time of the year for many birders, myself included. It's always exciting to hear about the various shorebirds stopping by on Vancouver Island beaches, but there's nothing better than seeing and experiencing it for yourself. The east coast of Vancouver Island is not the best location for shorebirds. The beaches and mudflats on the west side of the island are the best if you have the time, but nothing can compare to Boundary Bay on the mainland. Boundary Bay is a major staging area for migrating shorebirds. They are always there by the thousands, and you can bet that there will be a few rarities. In fact, some of the rarities like Red Knots are so regular that they can't be considered rarities any longer. Right now they have been enjoying Bar-tailed and Hudsonian Godwits (and a Northern Wheatear at Iona).

Back to V.I. my closest shorebird venue is Admiral's Lagoon. It's about 20 minutes north of my home. Although there are never large numbers of shorebirds there, over the years it's seen it's share of interesting birds. My best sightings over the years are a Ruff, Red Knot, and Ruddy Turnstones. However, one can't always find rarities, and if that's the only reason for going there, you would be disappointed 99.99% of the time. Rarities are a bonus. I like going just to enjoy the regulars, and my favorite time is the late afternoon or early evening high tide. That's when the migrating peeps are pushed up the beach by the rising tide, and the roosting regular Black Turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers are eventually flooded off the sandbar. I love picking a spot where the peeps will eventually end up at high tide. The peeps usually feed feverishly at the water's edge but as soon as it's high tide, they stop and have a siesta. If I've planned it correctly, they'll be about a meter from my feet. To me it's always a magical time to be in true communion with nature. Despite being preoccupied with my book, I made sure I caught siesta time at least once in the past few weeks, and it was as enjoyable as ever.

It's surprising to already have two confirmed sightings of Ruffs on the island as they have been few and far between in the past decade. I was disappointed to read about the French Creek sighting two weeks after it happened. No matter how busy I was, I would have made an effort to drive 20 minutes to see and photograph the bird. There is another at Witty's Lagoon down Victoria way, but with book sales the slowest I've ever seen, it's difficult to justify driving 2 hours for a Ruff twitch. If I didn't have a great experience with the one at Whiffin last year, I might have been tempted. Anyway, Ruff or no Ruff, I enjoyed my peep-siesta visit as well as the Black turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers. It's still too early for winter Dunlins.

Admiral's usually has a few peeps. There were about 40 flying in and out yesterday - all Least and Westerns. The yellow legs and small bill are the distinctive features of the Least Sandpiper.

As usual, the peeps were feeding at the edge of the water and being pushed up the beach by the rising tide.

It was no surprise to see that half of the sandpipers were Westerns. They have black or blackish legs and larger bills.

All of the peeps seemed to be juveniles. It wasn't surprising as the adults usually migrate earlier.

Juvenile birds have fresh new plumage while the adults usually display ragged, worn plumage.

For beginning birders, peeps all look the same, but they are quite different. The bill size of the Least is always small compared to the Western.

Admiral's is often a good place for Bonaparte's Gulls. They like to feed along the shoreline just like the peeps. A few weeks earlier the bonies still had totally black heads in their breeding plumage. They are now moulting back to their standard plumage.

Here's a juvenile. Notice the pinkish legs and the brown on the wings.

Another regular at admiral's is the Black Oystercatcher.

3-2-1-takeoff! High tide has just covered the sandbar where they were roosting. They seemed to be heading Sister's Lighthouse.

Another favorite activity for me is trying to photograph the Black Turnstones as the fly from the sandbar to the beach.

The Turnstones like feeding at the edge of the beach at high tide.

The seaweed is full of aquatic insects and a favorite spot to forage.

There was one Greater Yellowlegs at Admiral's on Sunday.

I spent about an hour trying to catch it in flight.

It always kept its distance but was the closest when it would fly from one part of the beach to another.

I would have liked to be a little closer, but no complaints as I was lucky to get any pictures at all.

Want to see a Ring-billed Gull? There's often a pair at Admiral's.

If you're patient, they'll get used to your presence and you can get easy close-up photos.

Here's a pic of part of the group on the sandbar just before high tide.

On the way home from Admiral's I spotted a large flock of Common Nighthawks at the south end of Parksville. I tried for 20 minutes and this was the best I could do.

On a previous occasion I did a quick shorebird trip. Here's a Western at San Malo Mudflats.

The mudflats can be productive occasionally, but conditions aren't great for photography. This is a shot from the viewing stand.

At Admiral's the Black-bellied Plovers were lined up at the edge of the sandbar. I focussed on one that still had its black belly breeding plumage.

As usual, the Black Turnstones were also present and gazing out to sea.

A stop at Kaye Road on the way home yielded a few Cedar Waxwings. It's always fun to catch a few juveniles.

Here's a poor pic of an adult. The out-of-focus cones in the background are much too distracting.

Kaye Road is a good area for White-crowned Sparrows. It's also good for a lot of other songbirds like warblers, flycatchers, and wrens.

Two weeks a go we did our annual blueberry expedition to a farm in Cedar. Savannah Sparrows were common on the fence posts.

Back at home, the Pileateds were still hanging around the suet feeder.

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Bird Poster

My poster is on display at: Victoria - Swan Lake Nature House

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