DARE TO BIRD

At sunset this 3rd winter Golden Eagle flew right over my head! What a stunning bird and lucky moment for me. Flight shots are my weak point so I always try to practice when I can. This is the third winter that this beautiful bird has returned to Boundary Bay. Mike Tabak was the first to find him this winter on Dec 13th. This was a special day as earlier in the day I had seen the 1st winter Black-headed Gull that Ilya Povalyaev found in the same spot. See that post HERE Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Golden Eagle in flight over Delta - Photo: Melissa Hafting

I twitched 2 different Black-headed Gulls (BHGU) in 3 different locations this year. There were 3 different birds in the province this year one in Vancouver, Delta and Sayward. The first one I twitched was an adult found by Edward Nygren at Trout Lake. I successfully found him right at the lake as he sat on the water. I then saw him at the Cardero Sea Wall where it had been relocated by James Palmer on Feb 6th. The Gull was at Cardero Rd and Beach Ave at English Bay in Vancouver, BC. This gull appears to be the same adult gull that was first seen at Trout Lake between Jan 25th-31st, 2016. He is currently in winter plumage. In nearby WA state they have had 2 different BHGU's this February in Monroe! It is an incredibly rare phenomenon in the Pacific Coast! The last Black-headed Gull before this in BC was in 2001 and in WA the last BHGU before this year was I believe 1993. After that I didn't chase it to Spanish Banks or Iona where it was subsequently sighted. I did however ...