When I saw Jeremy Gatten's name on my call display this morning, I knew he had something good, but I didn't know how good until he told me "Northern Mockingbird near Hastings Flats!".
There has been one other in the Victoria area this year (in fact, this may be the same bird), but that one was not chaseable. Given that as of Jeremy's call I would be stuck in a work commitment for 2 or 3 more hours, I wasn't sure if this one would be either.
After posting a plea for updates on BCVIBIRDS, Ed Pellizon called me an hour or so later, letting me know that he had refound the bird, and that he would keep tabs on it until I could get there. Right around this point, the skies opened up in Colwood, with rain and thick hail coming down. The hail actually started to accumulate on the ground, which left me doubtful about my prospects for relocating this gem.
Finally, two and a half hours after Jeremy's call, I made it to the area around 4040 Holland Ave, which provided the best view of the bird. Jeremy Gatten had returned, and he and Ed had kept tabs on the bird until 20 minutes previously, when it had disappeared. 40 minutes or so of scouring the fences turned up nothing, so we moved down to Hastings for a better view of the area. A male Eurasian Wigeon provided a distraction, but still no Mockingbird. One last chance was to scan from Granville. We walked over that way, looking again at every fence without luck. Just after 2pm, Mike and Barb McGrenere pulled up, and after a couple of minutes, Barb picked the bird out in a field.
Having been discovered, the bird provided stunning views from the top of the fence, and as it flew from post to post. It is always a treat to find one of these so far from home.
I don't think I could have picked a better bird for number 150 (and 151 came on the way home as JG and I had nice views of an Orange-crowned Warbler at Viaduct Flats).
Huge thanks to Jeremy and Ed for keeping track of the bird!
Good rarity hunting,
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