Young Birders on Blackcomb Mtn in Whistler - Photo: Melissa Hafting
We had a lovely young birder hike with 12 participants on Saturday in Whistler. We took Epic Rides comfy shuttle bus and were in Whistler at 9:30am. We took the gondola up at 10 am to Blackcomb Mountain and had a few Canada Jays on the ride up. At the top we found several Hoary Marmots that the youth loved photographing. There was even an adorable baby there fattening up on grass before they will soon hibernate.
Young Birders photographing the first Hoary Marmot we saw - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Hoary Marmots on Blackcomb Mtn in Whistler - Photo: Heather T.
Hoary Marmots on Whistler - Photos: Melissa Hafting
We waited for the gray gondola (with a glass bottom so we could look out below) and took the peak to peak gondola across to Whistler. We didn't see too many birds over there but did see an unusual for the elevation Brewer's Blackbird. We took the gondola back to Blackcomb and did a hike on the Overlord Trail to Blackcomb Lake. At the lake we watched several people swimming while we ate our lunches. Everyone said how freezing the lake was. A few of us dipped our feet in the lake it was extremely freezing but refreshing! There wasn't many birds by the lake except for some Common Ravens who kept us company. We were surprised we didn't see any Pipits or Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches or raptors like Sharp-shinned Hawks and sadly no Pygmy-Owls this time! The weather was super beautiful and warm at 25 degrees Celsius. There was virtually no snow on the peaks so I figure the Rosy-finches were staying up high where we couldn't get to, especially since the Peak Express chair closed Sept 11th. I have taken other young birders and seen over 450 Rosy-Finches so it was a little disappointing. Bentley was there with his dad and he had seen a Goshawk and some Mountain Chickadees while we were in a different area. We had a few passerines like Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Dark-eyed Juncos but fewer than on past visits. It was no matter as Anica kept us laughing with her funny stories at the lake. She was telling us about her wrist injury and then Cam jumped in about his neck injury and Daniel about his hip injury. I told them they were making me feel young and they were falling apart haha. Harry ever the joker was making us all laugh the entire time. Clay made us all laugh with the funny words he called the marmots. Heather thought the Marmots looked like fat seals but ones that could run haha. Quinn kept us entertained with his Bear adventure stories and everyone present made the trip special. For some like Heather, Raymond, Lukas and Cameron it was their first ever trip to the mountain.
Speaking of Cameron, check out a video with him in it during the 2022 summer Young Birders Workshop at Long Point in ONTbelow:
Harry telling me to Hang Loose at Blackcomb Lake - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Raymond taking in the sights at Blackcomb - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Young Birders at the very cold Blackcomb Lake - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Hiking in the hot sun felt like summer not October! - Photo: Melissa Hafting
On the trail to and from the lake we had many Pikas gathering food and the youth got great photos of the cute little fella. At one point a Pika was sitting on the main path right beside Julia! She got some incredible photos! I told her how lucky she was because Pika usually don't sit on the trail right by your feet!! We also saw several Yellow-pine Chipmunks!
Pika on Blackcomb Mtn - Photos: Heather T.
Yellow-pine Chipmunk in Whistler - Photo: Heather T.
Pika on Whistler gathering food for the winter - Photo: Melissa Hafting
On the Overlord Trail we had several Clark's Nutcrackers. Some of the Nutcrackers appeared to have pink faces but it was actually their skin being stretched and exposed from a mouth full of nuts!
Clark's Nutcrackers on Whistler - Photos: Heather T.
The youth enjoyed feeding Canada Jays. One of the Canada Jays was aberrant and had stress bands on his wings and tail probably due to malnutrition when he was young. None of us had ever seen a Canada Jay that looked like this one! The youth decided to name this one "Stripey." The Canada Jays even landed on several of the youths' heads! The Canada Jays and Nutcrackers were a lifer for some of the youth like Anica.
"Stripey" the aberrant Canada Jay with stress bands on wings and tail in Whistler - Photo: Daniel Graca
Harry and Paul feeding Canada Jays on Whistler - Photos: Melissa Hafting
Heather feeding a Canada Jay on Blackcomb - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Young birders Julia, Cam and Daniel waiting for the jays - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Wide-angle view of the Canada Jay eating out of Harry's hand - Photo: Harry Sedin
Canada Jay on Daniel's head in Whistler - Photo: Heather T.
Canada Jay in Whistler - Photo: Raymond Liu
A video of one of the Canada Jays eating from Daniel's hand is below:
When we took the peak to peak gondola over to Whistler Mountain, we took a group shot in front of the Inukshuk.
Young Birders on Whistler Mtn in front of Inukshuk - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Anica and Daniel hiking on beautiful Blackcomb Mtn - Photo: Heather T.
Clark's Nutcracker looking down at the youth on Blackcomb Mtn - Photo: Raymond Liu
The views on our hike were stunning on Blackcomb Mtn! - Photos: Melissa Hafting
After a lovely day on gorgeous Blackcomb Mountain, we descended back into Whistler, where we watched Crows behaving like American Dippers in the rushing river and then we had a delicious dinner at the Mongolie Grill.
Youth on the Whistler-Van shuttle - Photo: Melissa Hafting
We took the bus home and were back in Vancouver at 9 pm tired but happy! Thanks to all the young birders who came out and for the very fun day! Also a big thank you to the supportive parents and generous donors.
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
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
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
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
By now you have probably heard about the racist Canadian-born White woman who did a racist attack on a Black birder named Christian Cooper in Central Park in NYC. All he asked was for her to leash her dog in a on-leash dog area. If you haven't heard of this story you can watch the video and read about it HERE . It's a vile video of a vile person who knew her White privilege and used it as a weapon against this man. We all know that in America many Black people especially Black men are killed by police for no reason at all but the colour of their skin. A good example is George Floyd who was killed by a police officer (while 3 other cops looked on) for what they said was a possible 20$ forged bill. The White police officer put a knee on his neck on camera for over 8 mins until he died, despite having the victim completely restrained, begging for mercy and not being able to breathe. Only one police officer was charged and not for 1st degree murder but third and manslaught
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Looks like it was a blast, and what a great group of youngsters you've got there! Thanks for doing this!
ReplyDeleteThanks Yousif they had a really fun time. Thanks for all the support!
DeleteWow what a great turnout. It’s amazing work you’ve organized with these youth! Looks like great weather and a great time!
ReplyDeleteThanks it was really a good turnout and a lot of fun was had by all !
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