A Brit abroad

Surreal pelagic (revised)

Yesterday Marcel Holyoak and I joined a Debi Shearwater pelagic in Monterey Bay. Being my first Pacific pelagic, I had high hopes for seeing multiple life birds. However, I don't think anyone could have predicted the bizarre mix of birds we were to see. As I write this the room is still spinning from spending 8 hours on a boat, and the combination of a 4am start and sleep-inducing seasickness pills makes me wonder whether it was all a dream...

Good birding started close inshore, with many Elegant Terns, Brown Pelicans, Heerman's Gulls, Common Murres and Pigeon Guillemots being seen (in addition to Sea Otters and Sealions).

Further offshore, we saw the first of many Sooty Shearwaters...

... and a fine adult Pomarine Jaeger (or Skua if you're a Brit).

Chumming from the back of the boat soon attracted a large flock of gulls, as well as three smart life birds: Pink-footed Shearwaters, a few Buller's Shearwaters (surely the most attractive of the shearwaters), and a majestic Black-footed Albatross.

A few hours into the pelagic we hit a lull in seabird activity. However, we were all entertained by the arrival of the first bizarre trip bird, this confiding male Townsend's Warbler. This bird thwarted one of my attempts to photograph it by landing on my hand!

You don't often get Townsend's Warbler and Sooty Shearwater in the same photo!

'Anyone seen the Townsend's?'

The next oddity was a Least Sandpiper, which circled the boat many times looking for a safe spot to land. Shortly afterwards, another small shorebird also circled the boat. It too had a wingbar, but was paler on the back than Least, and too brownish toned to be a Phalarope. What could it be? Several birders armed with video cameras and camcorders got footage of the bird, and after some deliberation the bird's identity was announced as a Lesser Sand (aka Mongolian) Plover! This is a mega-rarity in the US, and many of us eagerly awaited publication of the photos online. Well, it turns out that the identification was a little hasty: Mongolian Plover never shows the extent of white visible on the nape of this bird, and it was ultimately re-identified as a Snowy Plover. Oops! Fortunately, I hadn't got round to updating my bird lists since the pelagic, so I didn't have to un-tick it!

The next couple of hours produced a steady stream of birds including a juv Brown-headed Cowbird, Artic Tern, Parasitic Jaeger, Red-necked Phalaropes, Sabine's Gulls, Fulmar, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklet. We then stumbled across a flock of thousands of storm petrels. My first instinct was to panic - pretty much every bird in this flock was going to be a lifer, but there were swarms of them, the sea was choppy, and to my inexperienced eye they all looked the same. Help! I eventually calmed down and decided just to work on the closer birds. I was able to pick out the larger Black Storm-Petrel from the more numerous Ashy, and the single Wilson's Storm Petrel (quite unusual for here) was easy as it was the only white-rumped bird! A small number of Least Storm Petrels were also present, but unfortunately I just didn't get good enough views to identify one. Will be more prepared for them next time!

In addition to seabirds, we saw a variety of other animals, including some huge Mola Molas (Ocean Sunfish), Dall's Porpoises racing the boat, and my first Northern Fur Seal. Surprisingly we didn't run into any Blue Whales, but we did see two Fin Whales (much more unusual).

We also saw Humpback Whales, one of which showed us its fluke as it submerged.

All in all a spectacular, if somewhat exhausting, day. Looking forward to my next pelagic (departing from Bodega) in two weeks' time!

Wot no waders?

I birded Davis North Pond on Friday and found hugely reduced numbers of shorebirds. The reason for this soon became apparent - this large female Cooper's Hawk swept through scaring off pretty much everything left on the pond!

Sludge, glorious sludge

The week's birding continues to spring surprises. I dipped Semipalmated Sandpiper for the umpteenth time at the City of Davis Wetlands, but did run into a Willet, the Western Gull, 2 Marbled Godwits and a Long-billed Curlew.

Joan and I then checked out the sludge pond behind the wastewater treatment plant. This small pond is very attractive to shorebirds, the best of which was this Solitary Sandpiper, my second of the fall!

On Wednesday morning I was joined by Sami LaRocca on my morning rounds at Putah picnic ground and Willowbank Ditch. We saw a fair selection of migrants including Lazuli Bunting, several Black-throated Gray Warblers, a singing Wilson's Warbler, Pacific-slope Flycatcher and Western Tanager. Scott Morrical picked up a MacGillivray's Warbler at Willowbank. Sami and I failed to relocate this but did run into a Western Wood-Pewee (my first of the fall).

Today Joan and I battled against strong winds at the Wetlands, and managed to pull a single Baird's Sandpiper out of Tract 6. On returning to the sludge pond, we picked up a variety of shorebirds on the levee, including this Marbled Godwit...

... and a fine juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher (note barred tertials).

This bird was obligingly keeping company with Stilts and Yellowlegs (of both species), rather than hiding in the Dowitcher flocks!

Migration hotting up...

The last few days have brought many new birds to the Davis area. Perhaps most noticeable is a huge upsurge in the number of Black-throated Gray Warblers: along with Orange-crowned Warbler, they were the commonest warbler species at Putah Creek Picnic Ground on Sunday, and I've heard many just riding my bike through town. Today Roger Adamson and I were treated a rare sight at Willowbank Ditch: the low shrubs had been watered by sprinklers and a flock of warblers was using the saturated leaves to take a bath! We had excellent views of Warbling Vireos, Pacific-slope and Willow Flycatchers, Wilson's and Black-throated Gray Warblers without having to crane our necks!

My joy at spotting a young Great Horned Owl roosting near Putah Creek Picnic Ground quickly turned to dismay when I realised the poor bird had a serious-looking eye injury. I contacted Ryan Phillips of the nearby California Raptor Center, who is attempting to capture this bird today. Will report back if he has any success...

North Pond continues to attract crippled waders: this Lesser Yellowlegs is missing a few toes, but seems to be getting around just fine.

Rufous Hummingbird is a daily sight here currently.

The City of Davis Wetlands has continued to produce a stream of interesting birds, including a large female Peregrine, Sanderling, Willet and this Western Gull.

This brings my county list to 220!

Dragonfly-watchers, anyone know what this tiny Forktail sp. is?

Another two tick day

While places like Willowbank Ditch in Davis get their fair share of migrants, this pales into insignificance compared with the number of birds migrating along the Sacramento River corridor. Yesterday Joan, Maureen and I birded at the Wood Duck Ponds and Babel Slough in eastern Yolo County. As well as excellent numbers of common migrants, these sites produced two new county birds for me - Willow Flycatcher (217) and Nashville Warbler (218)! In fact, the former was probably more abundant than Pacific-slopes today. My first Cedar Waxwings of the fall also flew over here. Inspired by the abundance of migrants, I birded the shaded canopy of College Park en route to work. Again, migrants were everywhere including Western Tanager, Pac-slope, BG Gnatcatcher, Warbling Vireo, Wilson's and Yellow Warblers.

On a grimmer note, I also spotted my first suspected case of West Nile - a dead American Crow on the sidewalk, showing no signs of having been hit by a car or predated. This virus has killed millions of birds on the east coast and unfortunately looks set to do the same here - bad news indeed for our internationally important numbers of Yellow-billed Magpies and Swainson's Hawks.

This morning I returned to do the rounds at Willowbank Ditch - not much in the way of migrants, but did manage to add Willow Flycatcher to the bike list (153).

Rufous Hummingbirds were much in evidence...

... and amazingly this MacGillivray's Warbler stayed put for long enough for me to grab a record shot.

North Pond creepy crawlies

As well as having interesting birdlife, North Pond is a great location for observing dragonflies, such as Widow Skimmer...

... and Variegated Meadowhawk.

I caught these two Variegateds in flagrante - judging by his facial expression, the male seems to be enjoying himself!

If you thought Garden Spiders were big in the UK, check out these monsters...

More North Pond wanderers (revised)

I added two shorebirds to my bike list at North Pond today: this smart juvenile Wilson's Phalarope was hanging out with the Long-billed Dowitchers...

... and this Lesser Yellowlegs spent most of its time next to a one-legged Greater.

This Muskrat was loafing in the neighbouring duckpond.

A return visit in the evening provided much better light for viewing the birds, and a surprise juvenile Spotted Sandpiper (my second of the fall here).

This Long-billed Dowitcher is probably a female judging by the length of its bill.

Small numbers of Least Sandpipers were still dotted around the pond. The difference between the worn adults and the fresh juveniles is pretty striking.

Let's hope the shorebird influx continues at this site - I'm holding out for a Stilt Sandpiper!

Davis North Pond

As the City of Davis Wetlands continue to shrink, water is becoming a precious commodity in Yolo County. At present, many shorebirds are utilising North Pond in Davis, which looks in danger of drying out itself. The last remaining deep areas of water hold large densities of herons and egrets (I regularly see 5 species per visit).

An unusual visitor to North Pond, this female Green-winged Teal proved an identification challenge, as its face pattern is somewhat reminiscent of the much rarer Garganey!

However, I think its bill is a little on the small side for the latter species, and when it flapped its wings, it had a diagnostic buffy stripe above the speculum.

The smaller reeded pond still seems to be full of water, to the relief of these Pied-billed Grebes.

Here's a photo of a Wandering Glider, known as Globe Skimmer in the UK, where it's a mega-rarity!

Two ticks!

This morning the usual early morning rounds at Willowbank Ditch turned up a fine MacGillivray's Warbler - Yolo tick no. 215 and the 150th addition to my bike list! A Lazuli Bunting there was also my first of the fall. The luck continued later in the day when I joined Joan Humphrey and Maureen Geiger at the City of Davis Wetlands. We turned up at Tract 4 hoping to relocate yesterday's Semipalmated Sandpiper, but failed to locate any shorebirds as it had completely dried up! However, on Tract 6 we spotted a solitary sandpiper which turned out to be a Solitary Sandpiper (Yolo tick no. 216)!

This bird was soon joined by Least and Western Sandpipers, allowing a nice size comparison.

There appears to have been a turnaround of birds at this site since my last visit - we recorded 100+ Red-necked Phalaropes and relatively few Wilson's. Stormwater pond held my first of fall Lesser Yellowlegs and a Marbled Godwit. A moulting adult Forster's Tern and at least a dozen Caspian Terns accompanied the loafing gull flock. My first two tick day in Yolo in quite a while!

More Willowbank birding

The last few days at Willowbank Ditch have seen plenty of migrant and resident birds taking advantage of the elderberry crop, including many House Finches...

... and this smart Black-headed Grosbeak.

Saturday morning brought a good selection of migrants in addition to the usual suspects, including a very early Swainson's Thrush, and my first of fall Cassin's Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Wilson's Warbler. This Western Tanager was a little camera shy!

However, I finally found a Pacific-slope Flycatcher which sat still for long enough to be photographed.

Stars of the show today were the hummingbirds, which seemed to be all over the place. I saw my first Davis Rufous Hummingbirds...

... along with the locally breeding Black-chinned Hummingbirds...

... and this belligerent immature male Anna's, which seemed to spend more time chasing off other hummers than feeding!

Potentially most interesting of all, I had a large female-type Selasphorus hummer, with an all-green back and rump. It looked very similar to Sibley's depiction of female Broad-tailed Hummingbird, an extreme rarity in the Central Valley (only one previous record in Yolo County). However, on talking with knowledgable locals, it seems more likely that this was just a very greenish immature Rufous/Allen's type. Hopefully a nice male Broad-tailed will show up one day and make our lives a whole lot easier!

In addition to the birds, Willowbank is a great spot for entomologists. Today it was teeming with Flame Skimmers.

I also saw these two butterfly spp. I haven't got round to buying a butterfly guide yet, so if anyone knows what they are, feel free to post a comment!

Amorphophallus titanum

This mighty plant, also known as the corpse flower, has recently bloomed in the UCDavis greenhouses, attracting much media attention for its alien appearance and disgusting smell. Worth a look if you're in the area!

Baird's Sand!

Last night (and again this morning) I finally caught up with the 2 Baird's Sandpipers found by Jon King at the City of Davis Wetlands (ABA no. 417, year bird no. 376, Yolo County no. 214). The birds were relatively easy to pick out from the Leasts and Westerns by their larger size, long primary projection and silvery scapulars.

Other shorebirds seen include Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, Marbled Godwit and Black-bellied Plovers. Reasonable numbers of Caspian Terns and White Pelicans were loafing, and a pair of Blue Grosbeaks were the first I've seen in a while. Two Coyotes were up on the levee last night, and one was seen this morning with the back end of an unlucky Jackrabbit in its jaws.

Davis in the fall

Having just got back from the Pacific northwest, I'm finding Davis particularly hot at the moment (temperatures have been topping 100F all of this week). In spite of feeling like the middle of summer, fall migration is much in evidence around the town. In the last few days, I've recorded a number of migrants including a Red-breasted Nuthatch in the UCD Arboretum and 2 Acorn Woodpeckers along the old fork of Putah Creek. Willowbank Ditch has turned up the largest diversity of migrants so far, including Wilson's Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Western Tanager, Warbling Vireo, Black-chinned Hummingbird and best of all, my first Yolo Black-throated Gray Warbler (heard only - thank goodness I just bought the CD of western bird sounds). Willowbank Ditch hosts of variety of common California dragonflies, including Flame Skimmer (female pictured here),

Green Darner,

and this Meadowhawk sp (Variegated?)

Turkey Vultures also roost along the Creek. These photos were taken in the early morning, as the birds stretched and preened.

Back near my old lodgings south of Davis, this Swainson's Hawk regularly uses the roadside trees to roost.

It's not just landbirds that are on the move. During my absence, the City of Davis Wetlands has hosted a number of good shorebirds, including a couple of lifers for me (Baird's and Stilt Sandpipers). Since returning I've been checking North Davis pond, which gets neither the number nor diversity of species as the wetlands, but has turned up good birds in the past (e.g. Ruff) and looks good for Solitary Sandpiper. The commonest shorebirds are Stilts, Long-billed Dowitchers and Greater Yellowlegs.

This Dowitcher has particularly long wingtips (extending well past the tail) - is this good enough to make it Short-billed?

Yesterday a Spotted Sandpiper showed up there....

... while Sunday brought 2 White Pelicans, including this immature.

Pied-billed Grebes and Moorhens have both bred successfully here, while a pair of Belted Kingfishers are seen (and heard) on a daily basis.

Toronto, Ann Arbor and Portland

The next couple of weeks of my grand tour were mostly devoted to work (the annual meetings of the Society for Mathematical Biology and the Ecological Society of America), and meeting up with old friends from the UK. Consequently little time for birding, but was nice to see the colourful East Coast specialities such as Blue Jay, Cardinal and Purple Martins. Common Nighthawks and Chimney Swifts hawked together over downtown Ann Arbor, and Fireflies were abundant (this specimen modelled by Dave).

Not much in the way of birding in Toronto, but I did see my first Woodchuck right in the city centre, on the lawn below the CN Tower.
Wildlife highlights in Portland were restricted to a Red-tailed Hawk which frequented the conference centre and lots of House Finches, although I went to some interesting bird-related talks. Some nice modelling work suggested that variability in the migration routes of first-year birds may be an evolutionarily advantageous strategy, while apparently the numerous races of Red Crossbill are readily identifiable in the field by voice and bill size - will have to pay attention to my Crossbill races from now on...

Below is a selection of photos from the rest of my trips, including some nice shots taken out of the plane window en route to Portland.

Dave the BBQ king

Al fresco dining Ann Arbor style

Casa Loma, Toronto

CN Tower viewed from Casa Loma

Looking down through the glass floor of the CN Tower (scary!)

Al fresco dining Toronto style

The Rockies as viewed from a plane

Flying over Seattle. The square marks the downtown, while the Space Needle (circled) is just about visible

Snowcone en route to Portland (no idea which one)

Mount Hood

The remains of Mount St Helens

Canada trip Part 3 - Vancouver Island

After a scary twilight drive seemingly into the middle of nowhere, we found our overnight accommodation in Blaeberry. In the morning, we had just enough time to enjoy breakfast while watching Rufous Hummingbirds and Dark-eyed Juncos before starting the long drive back to Vancouver. Most of the day was spent driving, so little wildlife was seen, although we did manage to add Osprey and Goshawk to the trip list.

Next day we took the ferry across to Vancouver Island to join a whale-watching excursion from Victoria. We went on a 12-person Zodiac, which I'd thoroughly recommend over the larger boats, as the ride is more fun and everyone gets good views without having to fight their way through crowds of people. Just outside of Victoria Harbour (or is that Harbor?), we visited a Brandt's Cormorant colony, and got good views of some eclipse Harlequins, Surf Scoters, Harbo(u)r Seal pups, Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots (this one digibinned from a moving boat).

The highlight of this trip was obtaining incredible views of 2 pods of Orcas near the San Juan Islands. Many surfaced right next to the boat, allowing uso appreciate just how large the males'dorsal fins are.

The people living in these houses must have had good views too!

We celebrated the day's success with a little too much red wine, and spent the following morning recovering in Sooke Bay, just west of Victoria. I practised my digibinning on this Great Blue Heron...

... and White-crowned Sparrow.

Best of all was this incredibly confiding Bald Eagle, which allowed close approach (guess it must be used to all the fishermen and tourists).

We engaged in a little rockpooling, and spotted this Hermit Crab...

... and an unidentified fish sp.

We ended or time in BC watching the sun set over the mountains from a beach in Vancouver - this is definitely a place I could live! Click on the link below for more non-birding holiday snaps.

Ready to board the Zodiac...

Off we go!

Smiles all round after the first Orca sighting.

Victoria Harbour by day...

... and by night.

Celebrating in the tapas bar...

... the wine keeps coming...

... and the quality of the photos deteriorates!

Meeting the local wildlife...

Sooke Bay.

The view back towards Washington.

Approaching the mainland...

Andrew does his best Eminem impression!

Relaxing on the beach at Spanish Banks.

Vancouver sunset

Canada trip Part 2 - the Rockies

Over the following two days we drove from Kamloops to the Icefields Parkway, stopping in Wells Gray Provincial Park to see the splendid Helmcken Falls. The falls held a colony of White-throated Swifts, well out of their range as shown in the Sibley guide. The drive into the Icefields Parkway is breathtaking - by far the most amazing mountain scenery I've experienced. We decided to branch off at Jasper to visit Maligne Canyon. The area was not very birdy (save for a few Common Merganser along the river), but we saw a few Elk (this race is huge - hard to believe it's the same species as the British Red Deer!). American Red Squirrels were plentiful...

... as were Chipmunks (anyone know which species this is?)

Much of the rest of the afternoon was spent at the top of Whistlers Mountain, named after the whistling calls of the Marmots which live at the top. In spite of patiently scanning the scree slopes, I failed to find any White-tailed Ptarmigan here. This was compensated by my first Pika, a close relative of the rabbits and apparently the inspiration for the Pokemon character Pikachu! This photo courtesy of Andrew:

The summit was covered in many beautiful wildflowers. I haven't yet taken on the challenge of plant identification, but feel free to comment if you know the ID of these two specimens.

The drive to our lodgings at Sunwapta Falls that evening produced another long-awaited life bird in the form of a single Black Swift. The last quality bird of the day was a singing male Pine Grosbeak outside our hotel.

Next morning we came dangerously close to missing our whitewater rafting trip, as we had unwittingly crossed a time-line on entering Alberta. Another reason for our tardiness was Andrew spotting a Ruffed Grouse (life bird no. 4) running across the track in front of us! Whitewater rafting was great fun, not least because the river was swelled from yesterday's glacier meltwater and today's torrential rain! Wildlife highlight of this trip was finally seeing a Black Bear from the raft. This brilliant flower was growing by the riverside - again, ID help appreciated.

Our next stop was the Columbia Icefield, where 6-wheel drive snow coaches take hordes of tourists out onto a glacier. If you haven't caught up with it already, Clark's Nutcrackers are numerous and tame around the parking lot.

The aptly-named Waterfowl Lakes held many Common Mergansers and my first Common Loons of the trip. This Emerald Dragonfly sp. was doubtless a lifer, but no idea which species it is!

Our final sightseeing stop was the beautiful Peyto Lake, where Clark's Nutcrackers were feeding young around the parking lot.

Click below to see some great Rocky Mountain scenery!

Birding the Helmcken Falls:

The entrance to the Icefields Parkway:

Maligne Canyon

The view from the top of Whistler's Mountain:

Ready for whitewater rafting!

The Columbia Icefield:

Andrew and the snowcoach:

Waterfowl Lake

Peyto Lake

Andrew shares his singing 'prowess'!

Canada trip Part 1 - Vancouver to Kamloops

I've just got back from a 3 week trip taking in British Columbia and the Rockies (holiday), Ann Arbor, Toronto and Portland (conferences). None of this time was particularly devoted to birding (didn't take my scope!), but did manage great views of some life birds and mammals. In the next few entries I'll try to limit the main body of the text to wildlife, but do click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of this page to see pictures of the great scenery we encountered.

Birders planning a visit to Vancouver should definitely allow time for a visit to nearby Grouse Mountain. As well as offering a great view of the city, it provides easy access to montane pine forest species such as Steller's Jay, Pine Siskin and Cassin's Finch. The big highlight for me was finally catching up with Blue Grouse. This obliging female was digibinned at about 10m range! A few males were also booming from the treetops.

The next couple of hours were spent driving along the scenic Sea to Sky Highway, stopping for a hike to Cheakamus Lake, reached via a bone-jarring dirt track from the highway. I don't recall very much bird activity here, although this probably had much to do with the time of day. American Dipper was on the stream preceding the lake though.

On arrival in Whistler, we decided to take the ski lift to get up to the snow line. Again, birding was quiet on the whole, with the exception of this incredibly tame Gray Jay (my second lifer of the day), which landed at my feet almost too close to focus on!

The loooong drive to our overnight stop on Kamloops yielded another roadside Blue Grouse and a near-miss with some Elk.

The view from The Lookout! in Vancouver:

Downtown Vancouver viewed from Stanley Park:

Looking back at Vancouver from the top of Grouse Mountain:

Our first cable car ride of the day, Grouse Mountain.

View from the Sea to Sky Highway:

Cheakamus Lake:

Cable Car number 2 (Whistler):

The view from the summit:

Andrew with Orca:

Attempting to look regal in the Victorian Hotel!