Well, maybe the birding doldrums have finally set in for the summer. Hopefully they are here only briefly, as there seems to be a lot of shorebird action here and at points south (2 Little Stints in California, for example).
The last couple of weeks have added only two birds to my year list, being Semipalmated Sandpiper last week at Panama Flats (thanks to David Caudwell's sharp eyes), and Lesser Yellowlegs at Panama Flats this morning. There is undoubtedly more to come, and with any luck some of our annual or almost annual shorebirds will show up this year. Buff-breasted and Stilt Sandpiper would not only be great additions to the Big Year, but lifers for me as well. Sharp-tailed is also a possibility.
It is also pelagic season! I will be doing my first Coho Mini Pelagic to Port Angeles on Sunday, in hopes of Tufted Puffin, Shearwaters, Jaegers, or the Brown Pelican that was reported earlier in the week by a whale watching boat. The Coho leaves Victoria at 10:30am, and leaves Port Angeles just after 5pm. There are lots of great lunch stops down there, and it should be a good trip! Stay tuned for results!
Lastly, there is still one spot left on the mini-pelagic that I have set up for August 27, a two hour jaunt from Sooke out to Otter Point, then the US Border, and then back. This is a lightly birded area, so who knows what could be out there!
Good birding always,
I haven't seen a house wren yet this year have you/
ReplyDeleteHi Connie,
ReplyDeleteI have found them in a couple of locations. Observatory Hill is my favourite spot for them every year, but I have also found them this year at Spectacle Lake, and good numbers near the nature house at Francis King Park.