What birding is truly all about

Yesterday, I went shorebirding at Boundary Bay, not an unusual event for me. However, tonight it seemed everyone had come out which was lovely to see. I planned to meet up with Julia and Warren Flesaker from Nakusp. We have been in touch for awhile through the RBA because they keep finding provincial rarities up there and have been chatting ever since her first Indigo Bunting find. It’s always nice to connect with more younger women birders too. Both were lovely and it was fun helping them get 3 lifers. I also planned to meet up with young birder Kalin Ocana and his girlfriend Nat. Boy they are cute (he’d hate me for saying that!). I’ve known Kalin since I first met him at the 2017 Little Gull (LIGU) twitch in Penticton. I still fondly remember him bouncing up to me at 13 eager to tell me about the LIGU and an accommodating Dipper and how he wanted to join my young birder program. I feel old haha but it was great shorebirding with them too. It was so nice they wanted to stop and bird with me before their backpacking trip. I was pleased to watch Kalin try and make sure everyone got on the Stilt Sandpiper (STSA) tonight. By the way last year we did not get a single STSA in Metro Van. This was my 3rd one in 2 days, a very good sign of things to come.

Stilt Sandpiper at Boundary Bay - Photo: Melissa Hafting

3 out of 5 Red-necked Phalaropes at the Bay - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Black Turnstone (1 of 12 at the bay!) - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Also, it was great to see my dear friends Mike Tabak and Kevin Louth after long absences at the bay.  So many other friends were out too tonight (too many to name) and everyone had smiles on their faces.

Kalin and Nat at Boundary Bay - Photo: Melissa Hafting 

It was one of those magical nights where the tide was perfect. Then there was a litany of shorebirds. So much shorebird diversity from 2pm to 6pm. During this time I saw a Pacific Golden-Plover, Stilt Sandpiper (found by Kai), 5 Red-necked Phalaropes, 12! Black Turnstones (rare in these numbers at the bay), 1 Surfbird (found by Kevin and new for me at Boundary Bay), Willet (he’s returned later than usual), 2 Ruddy Turnstones (which I found a few days back), Red Knot and all the regulars!. The Surfbird was my highlight. The light wasn’t great for photos and many of the birds too distant for good pics but there was awesome scope views to be had. The 3 Hudsonian Godwits that Ilya and I found on Aug 8th have never returned since.  
Adult Pacific Golden-Plover in Delta - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Willet showing diagnostic wing pattern at the bay - Photo: Melissa Hafting

It was so nice to be there. Shorebirding is my fave thing to do in Vancouver in the summers and tonight was one of those special nights. Sabine Decamp was so happy when she got her lifers tonight and so was Andrew Boycott when he got his Canada Bird (RUTU) and Chris McDonald told me he hadn’t seen a Willet in ten years!.  People were asking me why Common Gull was showing up on their rare bird alert and I explained it’s eBird’s taxonomic update. If you haven’t heard Mew Gull no longer exists and has been split into Common and Short-billed Gull. Short-billed is the one that occurs in North America. Also finally Northwestern Crow will be lumped with American and we discussed that too. We chatted about the Heermann’s Gull (HEEG) that Kevin found that I saw yesterday. It’s one of my fave gulls. If you think the photos are bad in this report check out my HEEG shots on eBird from yesterday!. However this post is not about beautiful photos but about friendships and birding. The air and salty bay was filled with joy, good birds and stories. People were showing me photos of Peregrines and Coopers Hawks and Common Terns they got tonight that were outstanding. Others were sharing their amazing vacations including a spectacular trip to Yukon by Kevin and Grasslands National Park by Mike. Quite a few  were asking me to help id birds for them in their scope. We talked about the big shorebird days at Boundary Bay with 28-30 species of shorebirds before 2010 that due to declining species don’t happen here anymore. We also chatted about the high Short-tailed Shearwater numbers and in shore sightings of these and of Sooty Shearwaters on the island. The birds are being seen from Nanaimo to Comox and in Tofino and from Campbell River to Port Hardy. We will have to look for these in shore on the way to my pelagic in a few weeks and keep an eye for them in and around Vancouver too. Near Sointula they are getting pure flocks of almost 300 Short-tailed Shearwaters an unheard of event in BC waters!. I talked to my Westport pelagic leader friend Scott Mills and he’s seeing more but not those large numbers yet. Makes me scared to know what’s happening in the Bering Sea!.
My friend Gord Curry is raking in the STSH by his place - Photo: Gord Curry

I felt I was being pulled in different directions and conversations all night but in a good way. I was overwhelmed and happy all at once. The dancing shorebirds lifted everyone up tonight. The state of Afghanistan and what horrific injustices women will soon endure from the Taliban was on my mind tonight too. So was the earthquake and devastation in Haiti. It’s been a very difficult year too for everyone with COVID-19 and tonight I think we all felt we could do with and needed a break. Being out with these birds really eases anxiety. There may not have been any megas around but the people and the birds made it special, and this is what birding is really all about now, isn’t it?!. 

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 18, 2021 at 3:48 PM

    Great Post Mel. You are an inspiration !

    ReplyDelete
  2. jessAugust 18, 2021 at 8:02 PM

    mel thanks for all your help yesterday. I really look up to you as a fellow young female birder. you really made me feel included in all the excitement yesterday. I hope to see you out there again. this was a really uplifting post thanks for it! you have knack for making others feel special despite your high skill level.

    ReplyDelete
  3. EnibasAugust 19, 2021 at 9:57 AM

    It was definitely a lovely evening! Thank you for always helping with birds ID and making sure every one sees all the various species present.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa HaftingAugust 21, 2021 at 10:53 AM

      thanks it was great to see you out that night was really fun and it was my pleasure :)

      Delete
  4. ryanAugust 19, 2021 at 11:07 PM

    Mel you really are a special person and the bc birding community is richer for having you in it. this is one of the nicest things I've read in a while. I'm lucky to call you my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LonelytravellerAugust 20, 2021 at 6:35 AM

    Beautiful uplifting post, it really shows what people can get out of birding!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Melissa HaftingAugust 21, 2021 at 10:52 AM

    thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Dowitcher Identification

Image
Birders notoriously find it difficult to tell Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers apart. I have got a request to do an identification explanation on them so here goes, I hope it will be helpful. Short-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed look so similar. Using their habitat is helpful but not diagnostic. Short-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer Salt water and brackish water and Long-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer fresh water. However, I have OFTEN seen Short-billeds in freshwater and Long-billeds in brackish and salt water. Therefore, DO NOT rely on habitat. Another feature many people will tell you to rely on is spotting on the side of the flanks of Short-billeds and barring on the side of Long-billeds. Usually this is a mark that you can use but it is not always as distinct as you like. I have seen Short-billeds with a barred appearance to the flanks. It is only at the side of the breast where you have to look for this diagnostic feature for the spots on a Short-billed and t...
Read more

Hawk Identification Tips from every angle (Sharpie vs Cooper and Red-tailed Subspecies)

Image
I get several questions about the difference between accipiters. The most common ones are between Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks and between Cooper's Hawks vs Northern Goshawks (to a lesser degree). Next, I get many questions dealing with a certain race of buteos the Western Red-tailed Hawk and Harlan's. So I thought I would do a post on these to help answer those questions. I will deal with Cooper's and Sharpies and not Goshawks because they are much more common here and look much more alike. My friend John Reynolds inspired me to write this up. COOPER'S AND SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS EYE COLOUR - YELLOW OR ORANGE? RED? Normally a juvenile Cooper's hawk has a bright yellow eye and a Juvie Sharpie has a orange eye but some cooper's can have a dull yellow eye that looks a bit orangish. Cooper's Hawks usually only transition to the orange eye colour when they are sub adults, so in good light, it's a very very reliable feature. However you ...
Read more

STINT IDENTIFICATION

Image
As per request, here are some tips that I hope will be helpful in identifying and differentiating Red-necked Stint from Little Stint. I will also do a brief intro on Long-toed and Temminck's Stint... if you build it they will come right?😉 Red-necked and Little Stints look very much alike in worn breeding plumage. The amount of Red on the face, throat and breast in Red-necked Stint is vary variable). They look even more alike in non-breeding plumage, that is why it is essential to learn structural differences to separate the two. They are similar to Semipalmated Sandpipers as well as Sanderlings. Both species are often confused for Red-necked Stints. Little Stints rarely get confused with Sanderling because they have a hind toe which helps differentiate it from this species. Sanderlings in breeding or worn breeding are usually confused with Red-necked Stints but they are much larger than Red-necked Stints. Let's first start with Bills in this complicated ID proces...
Read more

*Updated - The most famous Red-tailed Hawk is eating fish on the ground just like a Bald Eagle!

Image
Update - There are plans in the works to make a documentary film on this young Red-tailed Hawk who thinks he's an Eagle. You can read the latest news about that on CBC HERE . Watch this incredible footage of the little Red-tailed Hawk who grew up in a family of three Eaglets and 2 Bald Eagle Parents. He is imprinted now on Bald Eagles. He looks and acts just like one, as you can see here in the video below. He is standing over a large salmon carcass, just like a Bald Eagle would and he's eating the decaying flesh. Red-tailed Hawks like to eat voles and rabbits etc. not fish! Imprinting is usually irreversible according to raptor expert David Bird. However, I hope it's reversible so that he doesn't attempt to mate with a Bald Eagle, as the Eagle would kill him because it would view him as a Hawk. Eagle expert David Hancock said that the bird will likely starve and get killed by an eagle. He said this possibly can be prevented if someone grabs it and takes it to O...
Read more

1 year since I lost my father

Image
My dad and I whom I miss terribly. One year on since I lost him. Today would have been my mother's bday. Her name was Valerie and it is also the first year anniversary of the death of my beloved father, Arne. There is not a day that goes by where I don't think of them. Now for ever more the day of his death will be connected to her birthday, a very sad day but in a way that connection is beautiful to tie them together. My beautiful family before we lost both parents. I put flowers down at their grave to celebrate them both today. I hate that it is one year since I told him I loved him and hugged him. I miss him so very much. I miss his voice, his love and guidance and support. The ground for me feels shakier without his guidance and safety. I hate I will never see him again or talk to him again. Can't believe how quick time passes. This is why it is so important we treasure every single day to the fullest and tell those we love them. I will never forget the day he passed aw...
Read more