DARE TO BIRD

A Gray-tailed Tattler (GTTA) was found by Joachim Bertrands and Christian Kelly on June 23rd at Minette Bay. This was Canada's first record. A news story on the bird from CBC news can be found here . A CBC Radio interview with my friend Walter Thorne about the GTTA can be found here . You may remember how I missed this rare bird by 20 mins in Nome . A painful memory, as not only did I miss him but also a Ross's and Ivory Gull all in the same area. So it was a lifer I really wanted to get. I got the Ivory Gull recently therefore I am just waiting now for the Ross's Gull.... Anyways I decided to get up there on Friday even though it was a long long way from Vancouver. It is beautiful country up there and I looked forward to get back there.  I arrived and went straight to the spit at Minette Bay and walked out. I met Mark Phinney from Dawson Creek who was there and had been waiting for 8 hours before it showed up. I also met up with local Kitimat birder Walter Thorne.  ...

Well we have lost our beloved Northwestern Crow. Th e  North American Checklist Committee of the American Ornithological Society has lumped that species with American Crow. Also they denied to make the Northern Saw-whet Owl subspecies on Haida Gwaii a full species. However, Mexican Duck was officially and finally split from Mallard. Japanese White-eye was officially split into Warbling and Swinhoe's too. To read all the changes click HERE  Also  to liven up this post I have included a recent painting Charlotte Belland (Professor of Animation at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio) recently did of my Common Yellowthroat photo. I was honoured! Painting by Charlotte Beland of my Common Yellowthroat photo (June, 2020) Original photo by Melissa Hafting of a male Common Yellowthroat in Richmond 

I was interviewed by Alice Sun for The Wild Bird Trust of BC. You can read the interview HERE Thanks to Alice Sun and The Wild Bird Trust for the feature. Here is one of the photos they featured in the article. Seeing Greater Sage-Grouse alone in CO is one of my best birding memories - Photo: Melissa Hafting

A talented artist from California named Casey Girard asked me if they could paint a portrait of me. I was honoured!. Casey drew me with my favourite bird the dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk.  This was done as part of Casey's series in celebration of Black Birders who have made a difference in their communities so I was truly honoured to be part of it. You can check out some of the other Black Birders that Casey has painted HERE at Casey's instagram account. Portrait of Melissa Hafting with dark morph Rough-legged Hawk - by Casey Girard

Young birder Bridget and I  went up to Squamish today to twitch an Ovenbird that Christopher Di Corrado found yesterday in Brackendale.  As soon as we drove up to the spot on Gov't Rd he was singing his heart out so loudly. He was doing his "Teacher, Teacher, Teacher" call. You can hear my recording here . It took quite a while to finally get a visual on him but we did. We also got badly eaten by mosquitoes in the process.  It was a new BC bird for Bridget! Congrats B. My friend Chris Dale told me we were lucky to get photos because he couldn't. Several others could not as well, despite trying for hours :(. Other highlights here were Cassin's Vireo, Chipping Sparrow, Townsend's Warblers and some Evening Grosbeaks. Ovenbird in Squamish - Photos: Bridget Spencer We then headed to the Spawning Channels where we had several Red-eyed Vireos and an American Redstart, MacGillivray's   and Yellow Warblers and a Willow Flycatcher. After this we had a ...

You know I've made several posts about the dangers that rodenticides pose to a variety of animals, especially Owls. Well today the District of North Vancouver's council voted to ban the use of rodenticides and it passed!. The poisons will no longer be used in any of the city's facilities. The motion also petitions the province to ban rodenticides outright and asks citizens to stop using them on their land as well. You can read the full news story HERE Hopefully this will spread to other cities in BC and across Canada! Thank you councillor Megan Curren for bringing this motion forward! Please let us continue to write our cities and the province to ask for the same thing and more -- a full ban! Barred Owl - Photo: Melissa Hafting Northern Pygmy-Owl - Photo: Melissa Hafting Great Horned Owl - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Went to Catbird Slough on the weekend. I got to see some gorgeous birds including Cedar Waxwings. Waxwings are such elegant birds, so I was thrilled when a few perched close to me. Cedar Waxwings in Pitt Meadows This photo even got featured on the eBird homepage ( ebird.org ). It was my first time to be featured which was cool!.  They also tweeted it out on twitter here and on instagram here . Also we saw a male American Redstart, Gray Catbirds, Bullock's Orioles, Swainson's Thrushes, both Black and Vaux's Swifts and 3 Bears. Nearby on Hale Rd we also found 2 stunning Lazuli Buntings. A pair of Gray Catbirds in Pitt Meadows - Photo: Melissa Hafting It was a thrill also to have a Western Wood-Pewee land in close at eye level. They usually sit so high up, so I definitely took advantage of my good luck! Western Wood-Pewee in Pitt Meadows - Photos: Melissa Hafting