49.113377,
-125.890608
Once again we spent the morning birding the beaches between
Ucluelet and Tofino. Since the rain and gloom of the previous day had now
cleared we decided to go back to Chestermans Beach to try and see the Black
Turnstones again. This time we headed straight to the north end of the beach,
but sadly we were unable to find the turnstones again.
Highlights
Wandering Tattler
- Although we couldn’t find any Turnstones this morning, we did have a bumper
crop of Wandering Tattlers, with five all together on the rocks where the
Turnstones had been. The fact that the Turnstones had moved on and the Tattlers
had arrived clearly demonstrates how the waders were moving through the area.
-Wandering Tattler
-Western Sandpiper
Species List:
Chestermans Beach: Surf
Scoter, Semipalmated Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Wandering Tattler, Western
Sandpiper, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Glaucous-winged Gull,
Northwestern Crow, American Robin, Savannah Sparrow,
Long Beach -
North End
49.071232,
-125.781722
We had an inshore pelagic booked for the afternoon, but we
still had some time left over during the morning. A report of a Slaty-backed
Gull at the north end of Long Beach presented an intriguing prospect, so we
headed down to investigate. The north end of Long Beach was very similar to the
south end, in that it was a sandy beach dotted with rocky outcrops, with tall
conifer trees on all sides. As before, there were mixed sized flocks of waders
trotting around the beach which we were able to look at, as well as a number of
large gulls on the beach. We did find the ‘Slaty-backed Gull’ but after
discussion with a number of local birders it seems more likely that it is
actually an aberrant American Herring Gull.
Highlights
Semipalmated
Sandpiper - The last wader that we could have expected to see, but had not
yet connected with was Semipalmated Sandpiper. Today we finally spotted a group
of about 10 birds within the mixed flocks of waders that were dotted around the
beach. As a species that we should expect to see in Western Europe, it was good
to be able to compare them with the Sanderlings that were also on the beach
there.
-Black Oystercatcher
-Western Sandpiper
-Semipalmated Sandpiper
Species List:
Long Beach - North
End: Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Surf Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Northern Diver,
Brandt’s Cormorant, Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, American Herring Gull,
Western Gull, Black Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover,
Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin,
Steller’s Jay, Varied Thrush, Violet-green Swallow, Orange-crowned Warbler,
Savannah Sparrow,
Jamie’s Whaling
Station - Inshore Pelagic
49.150909,
-125.898614
We had tried, desperately, to organise an offshore pelagic
to try and see Albatrosses, but sadly due to the short notice of the trip we
had been unable to find anywhere that wasn’t already booked up. We took the
best option, so it seemed, which was an inshore pelagic, where we ended up
doing almost the exact same route as the previous day except without stopping
for any marine mammals. The sole aim of the cruise was to try and find birds.
The vessel was more substantial than the previous day, and
the boat was full of people. We made our way round the islands in much the same
way that we had done yesterday, but there seemed to be a fewer birds around.
Perhaps the clearer conditions had sent birds out to sea, because the number of
auks was way down. Perhaps in hindsight it would have been better to have done
a Bear Watching cruise instead, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. It’s
obviously worth saying that we still saw a lot of cool birds, and had an
enjoyable time.
Highlights
Tufted Puffin - The
reason most people were on this tour seemed to be to see Tufted Puffin.
Although we had seen them yesterday it was nice to be able to share their
excitement again when we saw them again flying around the boat. The boat was
higher off the water so we were able to get better, if not more distant views,
than we had got yesterday.
Gray-bellied Brant
Goose - Although we had seen distant Brants throughout the trip, today we
saw numerous birds migrating close to the boat. We also had a single bird
perched up on one of the islands.
Species List:
Jamie’s Whaling
Station - Inshore Pelagic: Gray-bellied Brant Goose, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, Pacific Diver, Great Northern Diver,
Red-necked Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant,
Double-crested Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone,
Wandering Tattler, Arctic Tern, Glaucous-winged Gull, Western Gull, Mew Gull,
Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Tufted Puffin, Belted
Kingfisher, Northwestern Crow, Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Sea Otter, Steller’s Sea-Lion, Harbour Seal,
Ucluelet - Amphrite
Point
48.922435,
-125.540562
Our last stop before we began our journey back to Nanaimo,
and off the island, was at Amphrite Point at Ucluelet. If there were any
lingering Surfbirds, we were told, this would be as good a place as any to
look. The rocky shoreline was pretty expansive and there was plenty of habitat
for potential rocky coastline waders. We spent some time scanning the rocks,
but to no avail. Behind the beaches were the tall conifer forests that we had
become accustomed to seeing, with warblers and other passerines singing from
within the shrubbery. Because we were a little pushed for time, to ensure that
we were back for our ferry we were not able to stay too long here, but it was a
nice place to spend our last hours birding on the island.
Highlights
Black Turnstone - We
had encountered these cracking birds three times before we bumped into a flock
of seven here. These were by far the best though, showing very nicely in clear
sunshine, they were brilliant. So much for our chances of finding one in the
spring being slim, as we were told on many occasions…
Swainson’s Thrush - In
the bushes behind the footpath we could hear a strange call. When we eventually
tracked down its source we were surprised to find a pair of Swainsons Thrushes.
These are not common in this area, so we were pretty thrilled. Fortunately we
were able to get good views of them, ruling out Hermit Thrush.
-Black Turnstone
Species List:
Amphrite Point: Pacific
Diver, Pelagic Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Bald
Eagle, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Wandering Tattler, Glaucous-winged
Gull, Northwestern Crow, American Robin, Swainson’s Thrush, Golden-crowned
Kinglet, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler,
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