Kitsilano Action

The first three weeks of March were quite uneventful, but then a quick succession of hot birds popped up in Kitsilano within the last week and I was lucky to connect with all three. The first was a PALM WARBLER at Jericho Park which showed itself for all of 3 seconds during 4 hours of searching on March 22, and then, with a pump of the tail, flew overhead and out of sight. To lend further credibility to my sighting, I was standing next to two very skilled birders at the time, neither of whom got on the bird despite my calm, precise description of its whereabouts. What can I say, maybe I just wanted it more?

Next were a MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD and a SAY'S PHOEBE at Locarno Beach. Mountain Bluebirds have a fairly reliable, but short, passage window through Metro Vancouver in late March/early April when they turn up at a handful of regular locations. However, expecting to be away in early April, I was fairly eager and glad to get my bluebird. 

phonescoped Mountain Bluebird - 26 March 2015 - Locarno Beach, Vancouver.

The Say's Phoebe was the result of the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect when someone found it while looking for the bluebird. Say's Phoebes also show up in Vancouver annually, usually around late March/early April, but in very small numbers and are notorious for remaining in an area for just one day or less. Luckily, I was notified by several people that it was found and used my powers of persuasion on YOAT to get us from the office to Locarno Beach by whistling some phoebe-like "pidiweews" within his earshot. True to the phoebe trend, it was not seen the following day.

phonescoped Say's Phoebe - 26 March 2015 - Locarno Beach, Vancouver.

I wonder where the phoebe is?

Count update: 172 as of March 26.

Winter Wrap-up

It is now March and winter is over. While the rest of society still has another 21 days of winter to endure, for birders spring officially starts on March 1st. It’s no secret that birding customs are odd, so the fact that birders don’t follow the Gregorian calendar should not come as a surprise. For birders, winter spans the period from December 1^st to February 28^th and equally as fascinating as the birder’s calendar is the ‘winter’ list.

I did not understand winter listing during my initial forays in to the mysterious world of birding. I wondered why spring lists or lists for any other season were not kept? At the time, a mentor offered the explanation that since winter days are short and there isn’t much daily turnover in the bird community, winter listing is more manageable compared to hectic migrations. At the time this seemed like a reasonable explanation, however it took moving to Alberta to discover the real reason behind winter listing. 

Living on the coast we sometimes forget that much of the rest of the country gets blanketed with that gross white stuff, temperatures plunge below subzero and bird life is largely absent during the winter months. At times like these, additional motivation is often necessary to get outside and look for the few birds that are regretting the decision they made in November when instead of migrating they thought, “this isn’t so bad, I think I’ll stay.”

Townsend's Warbler - 31 Jan 15 - Shoreline Park, Port Moody. One of the relatively few TOWAs reported locally this winter. It represents a good 'winter bird' and anybody who went to Port Moody specifically to see it needs help; I was looking for redpolls at the time, so I'm ok. 

But I digress. For me the significance of winter’s end is the relief it represents by marking the end of my mistake of participating in a “big 2/3 winter” list (January 1 to February 28) competition, which up until now had caused me undue stress. But now, with just a flip of the calendar I no longer need to worry about searching for trivial things that will become common at the appropriate season. There will be no more prowling around suburban areas for Mourning Doves or walking along stagnant ditches for Wilson’s Snipe. I can now leave common birds to be common birds and get back to birding, pausing to chase only significant year birds along the way. Naturally, with such an attitude I lost the little competition I was in, and by quite a significant margin too. Final score: ILPO 165 vs. MITO 170. Not a bad haul for two months of winter birding, I suppose. Equally as impressive is that at least three other birders tallied Metro Vancouver lists in excess of 160 for the same last two thirds of winter. For perspective, the two biggest Metro Vancouver winter lists (i.e., three whole months) I was previously aware of were 173 and 162. But then, I never paid much attention to winter listing and probably never will again. Or at least certainly not for another nine months.

White-throated Sparrow - 21 Feb 15 - Windjammer Slough, Ladner. Giving me that same look that I always get from non-birders. 

Count update: 165 as of Feb 28