Chilcotin Birding

June 23-30 

2024 Meadow Lake Ranch

South Chilcotin Range

Meadow Lake sits deep in cowboy country. A few kilometers north of Clinton a gravel road heads north-west toward Beaver Dam Lake, it's then a short drive to Meadow Lake Ranch. It would be home for a week. Beginning in 2009, our esteemed leader Gareth Pugh has chosen a different birding location for an ad hoc group of friends. There were nine on this trip. We always have a great time and the company always congenial. Some of the group are all-round naturalists, which is a great benefit to those bird centric members of the group. We ride share to reduce our carbon imprint and most importantly we tolerate each other's foibles. During the entire week we heard only one plane, one train and encountered few vehicles. I for one didn't miss the hum of the city. 

The Marble Mountains.

Remnants of times long past still remain in the Chilcotins, abandoned settlers homes, smalls towns with facades that give hints of gold rush mania. Bill Minor, the infamous and legendary train robber is reputed to have stayed in nearby Clinton while on the lam from the authorities both in BC and the United States. From the veranda the picturesque Marble Mountain range dominate the skyline, enticing, begging one to explore. Alkaline Lakes outnumber freshwater bodies. The latter offer superb fishing for those so inclined to cast a line. Each lake holds a surprise or two, some are devoid of birds, others teeming. When the birding slowed down in the heat of the day there were plenty of butterflies mudding on the wetter spots. I take my hat off to those who can photograph butterflies as the creatures have amazing eyesight and never seem to sit still. Below is a rare example.

Common Alpine/iPhone 8

 Our trip also included a Common Nighthawk watch, something we do on every trip. An e-bird trip list of the entire week will be included at the end of the blog. One of our group, Wim Vesseur who we call the "Nighthawk Whisperer," found not only one but four common nighthawks on the trip. One perched on a branch and later three accidentally flushed, both were happy enough to pose for photographs in broad daylight.

Common Nighthawk.

We watched three Common Nighthawks vocalizing and feeding during a lakeside lunch break. 

Common Raven harasses an owl.

One evening the group gathered outside on the veranda and listened spellbound as the caretaker Shea recounted stories of Timber Wolves (a subspecies of the Grey Wolf) that roamed the ranch and were killing horses, goats and decimating the local elk, deer and moose population. Trained hunters were hired to cull some of the pack. Another pack of smaller Grey Wolves were only slightly less voracious. Controversial as it sounds Shea explained how if the whole pack were taken out then the Grizzlies and Cougars would have come in and replaced them. The balance of nature is not a simple choice for ranchers trying to eke out an existence on a land that is changing and becoming less and less productive due to reasons not fully understood. 

Our most luxurious digs yet. Note the bat boxes.

Some of the group search for life/iPhone 8

Wim covered in tiny white mayflies while scoping Meadow Lake,

Unfortunately we heard that white nose syndrome has reached the region. Stories of bats waking up from hibernation and falling to the ground unable to fly, other species so numerous that homes have had to be abandoned as the bats carry a mite that infiltrates the attics and homes they roost in. Some bats winter in the Chilcotin, others migrate spreading the disease on their return

However, we were at the ranch to bird and explore. We didn't have far to go. A hundred plus Cliff Swallows were nesting on the property. 

Cliff Swallow

The view from the veranda was spectacular with the sound of sandhill cranes and the winnowing of the Wilson's Snipe. The buzz of the nesting Savannah, Vesper and Clay-coloured sparrows was a joy to hear. Here are some of the sightings.

Fledgling American Avocets.

Avocet chases away a bald eagle.

'' Past ponds, lakes and trembling aspen, Western Meadowlarks whistle and warble from fence posts. Three species of teal loaf on a roadside slough and a sandhill crane struts across the pasture. A Coyote bounds across the landscape sending every feathered creature into the air, a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs fly in circles acting a decoys. We stop the car looking for woodpeckers. A House Wren chatters and a pair of Mountain Chickadees chide us for being too close to their nest. Above us three Common Nighthawks circle us in the midday sun''

Solitary Sandpiper found by a roadside pond.

Cinnamon Teal. 

Northern Checkerspot.

Clay-coloured Sparrows nest on the ground and prefer small bushes close-by to escape danger.

Clustered Broomrape/iPhone 8.

 A plant without chlorophyll, it is an obligate parasite, completely dependent on a host plant for its moisture and carbohydrates to grow and reproduce, apparently preferring Artemisia species as hosts

 

Mountain Bluebird.

Northern Waterthrush.

Red-naped Sapsucker.

Say's Phoebe close-up.

Say's Phoebe shot through the gap in a fence.

Flushed by the car a Spruce Grouse flew over our heads.

Turkey Vulture flying over road kill.  

A few more for the road....

At dusk what appeared to be flowering plants were thousands of caterpillars changing to chrysalis stage.

Moth species unknown.

A phished Lincoln's Sparrow looks surprised.

Least Flycatcher

Dusky Flycatcher

Seven days just flew by. The weather and birds co-operated, the accommodation and hosts exceptional. Friendships were renewed and everyone went home with a broad smile on their face.

What could be better than that; another trip perhaps?

Our group/photo supplied by Anne Gosse

Trip list

https://ebird.org/tripreport/257198

"It's never too late to start blogging again"

John Gordon

Langley/

Cloverdale 

BC

Snow Goose/Blue Goose

Sumas Prairie

Tuesday Feb 16 2021

A large flock of Snow Geese have spent the winter on Abbotsford's Sumas Prairie. A rare occurrence local birders tell me. The winter rye planted by farmers and other left over crops are a good food source for swans, geese and ducks. There are also plenty of fallow fields for the birds to turn over, if the pickings are that good why haven't the Geese been regular visitors in the past? A mystery indeed, if they return next year there may be factors at work that are not yet fully understood. Normally Snow Geese spend their winters in the Skagit Valley and places further south to California. Lesser but increasing numbers winter on the coast around Boundary Bay. 

*Since I published this blog 30 minutes ago it has been brought to my attention by someone who knows more about the subject that there have been a few Snow Geese on the prairie since around 2000 but not in the large numbers seen this year. I stand corrected.

On Tuesday I came across a large flock of perhaps 800-1000 birds. At first they were out of reach for photographs so I just stayed in my car and used my bins to see if there was anything interesting in the flock. The first series of images all turned out as if they had been shot through a mirage. Later I read that it was due due to the heat emanating from the car itself, something I didn't realize until I began editing. Fortunately pictures taken twenty minutes later were sharper as the car had had time to cool down. 

 Eventually as the flock munched their way toward me (a car is the perfect blind) the flock suddenly lifted off the ground and came even closer, close enough to take a few pictures. Had I got out of the car I'm sure I would have flushed the whole flock.

They soon landed back on the same field. 

They were now close enough to study and soon two darker birds stood out, One very dark overall and one an intermediate morph. What a treat to see those birds, it made my day.

 

 "Blue Goose" 

I believe this an intermediate dark morph. I might be proven wrong..let me know.

Dark morph "Blue Goose" #2

It's hard to believe that a century ago only three thousand Snow Geese were left in North American. They almost followed the Passenger Pigeon on the path to extinction. Like the Trumpeter Swan Snow Geese have made a remarkable comeback. The Passenger Pigeon weren't so fortunate. see the link for the whole sordid story.

More on the Passenger Pigeon

These days, so great are Snow Goose numbers that their breeding grounds in the arctic have become threatened, not only from climate change but from the birds themselves. At least they are tolerated on Sumas Prairie, unlike parts of the US and Canada where hunting up to forty-thousand birds a year is permitted. Meanwhile, enjoy the spectacle, soon they embark on their migratory journey up north.

"It's never too late to morph into something better"
John Gordon
Langley/Cloverdale 
BC Canada

Finding A Good Bird

 Sept 22 2020

A few months ago, fellow birder Colin Classen and I were chatting about finding rarities, the ones that turn up once or twice a year or in extreme cases once in a decade. As it turned out a few weeks later, Colin found and photographed an Ash-throated Flycatcher (ATFL) while on one of his regular walks at Colony Farm. He couldn't have been happier to share his find with others in the birding community. I and others tried for Colin's bird but we all dipped. I wouldn't be the first bird I would miss but that's just one of the many aspects that makes birding so fascinating.

In birding parlance the ATFL was a "really, really good bird" occurring in the Lower Mainland perhaps once or twice every couple of years. Over the last ten years I have only seen two myself including one a few nights ago at Brunswick Point. That bird was found by Grant Edwards who shared his find via the BC Rare Bird Alert allowing numerous other birders to get on the bird. For many, the Brunswick Point ATFL was a lifer. It's still there as I write a week later.

Most often when a rare species is found word spreads quickly. That's what happened to me a few weeks ago during a visit to Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Delta. Due to Covid19 I and others had to book  visits beforehand. Prior to mid-March one could just turn up at the sanctuary and bird away. Fortunately  I just happened to be booked in Tuesday September 8. I chose that date as the migration of shorebirds would be in full swing and the tides high enough to force the flocks off the foreshore into Reifel's ponds. That's the theory anyway.

I found myself at the West Field where many of the smaller sandpipers find suitable habitat in the shallows. Other sandpipers present included Long-billed Dowitchers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, a few Pectoral and the flock of Western Sandpipers. The longer-legged birds can feed in deeper water. The diminutive westerns however prefers the shallows where they are continuously on the move, probing for food, re-fuelling for the next leg of an epic southern migration.

 It was time to scan the flock again. Flushed earlier by a Merlin the small flock of westerns were agitated and rarely stayed in one spot. Eventually they settled down to feed. Birders are always hoping for something different, scanning the flock over and over in the hope of finding the proverbial diamond in the rough. Perhaps there would be an early Sharp-tailed or even a Stilt Sandpiper. The westerns were on the move again, now barely visible even with a scope. Once again they flew closer which gave excellent views. Scanning through the flock of 30 or so was one bird which looked quite different in size, somewhat larger and with a long decurved bill. What I needed was a picture to help identify the bird. If it flew off what proof would there be, believe me I been stung before with an odd looking hummingbird a few years back, no picture, no proof, no kudos. This time I shot off a few frames with my Nikon P1000 but the distance and reeds blocking the view made it difficult to get a clear image. Finally I managed  three frames but being nervous and shot at 3000mm handheld, the results were far from perfect, in fact they were terrible, but proof nevertheless. Looking at the images I came to the conclusion that it was a Curlew Sandpiper, a bird I had photographed in the UK but never in Canada. I needed back-up confirmation but no-one close-by could help. I sent a picture via text to Mel who does an invaluable job running the BC Rare Bird Alert, the fuzzy picture impressed her enough have her immediately make her way to Reifel to confirm the sighting. Once she had put the word out other birders began to converge on Reifel.

The Curlew Sandpiper was much larger than the Western Sandpipers it was associating with.
Nikon P1000

The buzz of finding a rare bird is something only a birder can fully appreciate. It's not that a common experience but when it happens it's gratifying. Being Johnny on the spot means waiting for others to arrive to get them on the bird but better still there is no need to battle traffic, drive like a bat out of hell or slip away from work for a fictitious doctor's appointment. 

The large decurved bill was a giveaway toward identification.
Nikon P1000

Thirty minutes later an out of breath Mel arrived but the curlew had taken off. Every birder knows that sinking feeling, it's not nice. Mel decided to stay put in case the birds flew back and l went to scout the other end of the pond. Five minutes later I was on the bird again by which time other twitchers were arriving. I texted Mel who joined us, there were smiles all around. For many the bird was lifer. 

The Curlew Sandpiper is a rare visitor from Eurasia.

More birders arrived and there was much back slapping and high fives which reminded me of my conversation with Colin a few weeks earlier.

 

                        

"It's never too late to find a 

good bird"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale 

BC Canada

Coming Up Trumps

 Nov 8-10 2016 

Various Lower Mainland Locations

Rain, rain and then finally some sunshine.

White Rock Pier

Black turnstone White Rock pier.
White Rock pier was the place to be this week especially on the flood tide. Large congregations of smelt hung in and around the pier where hundreds of western grebe and one Clarke's grebe joined the hundreds of Bonaparte gulls in a veritable feeding frenzy. Red-necked loons, American coots, horned grebe, surf and white winged scoters and a female kingfisher also joined in the feast.

White-winged scoter.
Not the best photograph or the best way to photograph a bird. Normally the  eye usually goes to the brightest part the photo which in this case is the distracting sheen on the water. There's way too much going on to make this anymore than an ID shot but it being a year bird I thought it worth including.

A Bonaparte gull creates an interesting reflection. There's much to explore here on future visits.

Bonaparte gull.
Thank goodness for auto-focus of the Nikon D500. 

As many as fifty harbour seals herded shoals of smelt and probably a few herring into balls setting off a feeding frenzy that has been continuing all week.

Blackie Spit

A sanderling walks along riprap at the end of White Rock pier.

Lapland Longspur

I then went down to nearby Blackie Spit where five snow buntings had been reported. My first bird was this lone Lapland longspur.

Male Snow Bunting.
There were two groups of snow buntings at different locations. They were quite tolerant of photographers and passersby.

Female Snow Bunting

 The morning had started off with a heavy dew but by midday temperatures had hit a record 18c, T-shirt weather in November, even a stiff breeze coming off the ocean didn't cool things down.

Apparently the Pineapple_Express had arrived in BC and is still here as I write a week later. Although the warmth might be good of humans, the warming ocean in the Pacific is causing havoc with fish stocks displaced and many species, especially alcids are suffering from depleted food resources.

Boundary Bay

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

The fascination with owls is understandable. They conjure up memories from childhood, to some they have a cultural significance. Some associate them with wisdom and to others the owl is a companion in the afterlife. 

Long-eared Owl.

No wonder owl draw crowds. The long-eared is especially stunning. Once the word got out where this ever so co-operative owl was the internet lit up. Soon car loads of photographers began arriving on scene. What made things a little more circus-like was the arrival of a birding group from Bellingham. Soon thirty people were watching the bird. A group of us stood hundred metres away and hopes everyone behaved, they did. A few days later I was told the bird was gone from its almost perfect perch, here's hoping it had had enough and found a quieter location.

Note: I have always been of the understanding not to post the exact location of owls and I have waited to post this picture for the very reason outlined above. I was lucky to have taken this shot, one of 15 frames before the crowds came but I have to wonder why one photographer had to take hundred and hundreds of pictures of a bird that ever barely moved.

 

                     

Parting Shot

Brown creeper

I hope you have enjoyed these images as I continue to enjoy the local birding experience. It never ceases to amaze me the generosity of other birders who share their finds and impart their knowledge so freely, it wouldn't be so much fun without you all. Thanks everyone and see you in the field.

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

BC Canada