Despite the almost total absence of birdsong in late August, September is an exciting time of the year for birders. During August and the first half of September many bird species are on the move, migrating from their summer breeding haunts to their wintering homes. Birders particularly search for members of the shorebird family that mainly breed in high latitudes and winter from California and south. Also, because many birds, numbering in the billions, are on the move often over long distances, there is an increased chance of vagrancy to our area which can produce rare species or even a new species that has never been previously recorded on the Sunshine Coast.
So, birders were out in force on the weekend of Aug. 23, and their work was rewarded with many interesting species.
The rarest bird reported was a clay-coloured sparrow, only the second ever record for the Sunshine Coast. This species occurs in the Okanagan and north, but rarely strays to coastal B.C. The bird is one of the many confusing species of sparrows, only likely to be detected by an expert, and Arnold Skei is to be congratulated for finding the bird at the Wilson Creek estuary. He also found a northern waterthrush in the Mission Point area, only the third record for the Sunshine Coast.
The Sunshine Coast Natural History Society held their monthly bird walk on Aug. 24 and 15 birders spent the morning identifying more than 50 species of birds.
Destinations were the Wilson Creek estuary, Mission Point, the Sechelt Marsh and the head of Porpoise Bay, searching mainly for shorebirds, as mentioned above.
About 10 species were found including greater and lesser yellowlegs, spotted sandpiper, and a variety of “peep” sandpipers including the uncommon Baird’s sandpiper and the first pectoral sandpiper of the fall. Before the group met, Marcia Mason located a single red-necked phalarope in the head of Porpoise Bay. On the same day John Dafoe spotted 16 of these birds in Jervis Inlet.
Aug. 24 also produced a single Franklin’s gull in Porpoise Bay and the day was also notable for a pod of orcas which patrolled past Davis Bay in the late morning (to great acclaim) and humpback whales were reported in Halfmoon Bay.
To report your sightings or questions contact me via email at [email protected] or give me a call at 604-885-5539.
