Moorecroft Regional Park has been astoundingly dull for birds of late. Essentially, all of the breeding neo-tropicals have moved on, and very few migrants are being seen. This afternoon, I did see a spark of hope though. There were four Hammond's Flycatchers chasing each other around in the cedars near the beaver pond. In the cattails surrounding the pond, were three Common Yellowthroats. These are the first warblers and flycatchers that I have seen in the park in several weeks. Things should pick up nicely as we move into September.
I was out in my row boat before sunrise, and did not get back to Morecroft Regional Park until well after sunset yesterday. Although I spent most of that time fishing, I was of course, also paying attention to birds. Not that there were many to pay attention too. The numbers were quite low, but that is not unusual in mid-August.
Species recorded in the vicinity of Gerald Island/Moorecroft Regional Park, Salish Sea, 17 August 2012:
Mallard: 1
Surf Scoter: 18
Common Merganser: 3
Pelagic Cormorant: 2
Great Blue Heron: 1
Turkey Vulture: 2
Northern Harrier: 1 (flew from Vancouver Island, to the Sunshine Coast)
Bald Eagle: 7
Spotted Sandpiper: 2
Red-necked Phalarope: 19
California Gull: 11
Glaucous-winged Gull: 4
Rhinoceros Auklet: 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove: 1 (Gerald Island. Wow! Now they really have spread EVERYWHERE!)
Great Horned Owl: 1 (Calling at Moorecroft as I was launching the boat in the morning)
Belted Kingfisher: 1
Northwestern Crow: 10
Red Crossbill: 32 (flying between Gerald Island and Moorecroft)
Earlier this week there was a "probable Whimbrel" reported from the Englishman River Estuary, near Parksville, BC. Because the bird was reported to have been "buffy with dark wrist patches, I thought I should go have a look. As I suspected, it was actually a Long-billed Curlew, and a fairly brightly colored one, at that. This is the fourth Long-billed Curlew I have seen in this area, although all of the other ones were Spring sightings.
