DARE TO BIRD

There have been more owls showing up dead in the lower mainland this time Great Horned Owls and Northern Saw-whet Owls that are testing positive for rodenticide. This time the deaths publicized are in Coquitlam. They used one of my photos for it. It feels like we keep pounding our heads against a brick wall but eventually things will change. Let's not give up, keep writing your MLA's and MP's. You can read the article HERE On a happy note birds and wildlife should get some reprieve from drone fliers. Starting June 1st they will need federally issued licenses and have to attend a safety training course. Read about that HERE . Let's try to save these Great-Horned Owls from a painful death by rat poison - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Today I went to look for the first record of a Cape May Warbler in SW BC. On Jan 1st my friend Neal Doan emailed me to ask what warbler he had found as he couldn't match any of the locally occurring ones in his field guide. Well when I wrote him back to tell him it was  Cape May with multiple "WOW's" he was thrilled. He found it while simply out for his dog walk. Great job Neal! Even though they breed in the extreme north of our province (Peace Region); this is the closest record of this species occurring near Vancouver. The other distantly close record was a bird Chris Charlesworth found in Jan, 2006 in Nakusp which is in the Kootenays. It was pouring rain... just bucketing. I went out in full rain gear prepared for the downpour. I wasn’t surprised to be the only one there. All the smart people went yesterday in the sun and dry weather. I found him immediately after walking the walkway. It’s too bad it was pouring so much because I would have liked to bird it pr...

My friend Rob gave me a great idea for a post today the best and worst moments from my Metro Van 2018 Big Year. I may have got 270 species but it was fraught with peril but also filled with wonderful memories. My first bird of my big year in 2018 was Bohemian Waxwing... I felt from that day onward... 2018 was off to a great start. Self-found Clark's Grebe in White-Rock before the Pier broke in 2! - Photo: Melissa Hafting Rob knew that my nemesis was a Black-and-White Warbler. I had never seen one in Vancouver before. I kept looking for one and many were reported but I kept dipping. During my 2018 big year there was 6 reported in Vancouver. My friend Rob Lyske actually found 2 of them at Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver and I and my friend Roger Foxall chased both of them. Rob so kindly waited with the bird for us but from White Rock (where Roger lives) and Richmond (where I live) with traffic the bird of course disappeared each time. I also chased one in Jericho, UBC, ...