Feather Tours
5905 Fraser Street V8A 4T6 Powell River, BC, Canada

Neil and I birded the Wilwood Bluffs this morning. We never got started before 7.30 and that was definitely too late for the season. There was a burst of activity at the beginning but by 8 15 the birds fell silent again... We concentrated our effort on Flycatcher Lane trying without success to relocate the Redstart couple. The birds have either moved on or they were busy elsewhere. I still hope they are raising a brood and we will find some young birds someday soon... Contrar...y to the Redstart, the Red-eyed Vireos were everywhere singing and moving in the foliage offering great views all through the morning. This year, this small stretch of alders must hold record density for this species in BC! I counted 16 different individuals on a little over 1 km. Also very active and noisy were the numerous Yellow Warblers and Swainson's Thrushes... We then moved on to Brew Bay in hope of catching up with some shorebird migration. Two days ago I had visited the area and not found a single peep so I was not anticipating much. I was happily surprised when we saw birds moving in the distance on the pond below the road. We walked around the bay and observed a group of Least and Western Sandpipers feeding with some Killdeer and a lone Short-billed Dowitcher. Encouraged we carried on to the end of Phillips Road where the beach was full of shorebirds feeding in the various puddles and along the shoreline. Here we had great close views of Least and Western Sandpipers. As in previous two years, we soon located a few Semipalmated Sandpiper as well and we were able to observe them at close range, comparing their head with that of their close relative the Western. The Semipalmated have a small head with the neck well defined like a Least. Their bill is usually quite short (although some Western can have a short bill too). Overall they are more grey without much trace of rufous. Both species have black legs. I quickly counted the Killdeer on the beach. Too fast! Neil called out: Semipalmated Plover! There were 2 small killdeer-like birds I only saw from the back and passed for Killdeer. I love Semipalm. They are so cute with their small bill made to look smaller still by the black tip. Those were the first I had seen in a few years now. It made my day today... Good Birding in sunny but cool Powell River. See more

I had a very good morning birding the Wildwood Bluffs again today. I had not returned there for a couple weeks and I was amazed at how much difference those 13 days had made to the place... Until now, Spring had been slow and shy this year. Maybe due to the lower than average temperatures we've had, the birds had kept pretty quiet and I was feeling sad and disappointed. After a few warm days, there was a sudden change and birds were singing everywhere at last. Looks like summ...er sneaked up on us without me having seen it coming! I walked the usual bluff route, about 5.5 kms. It took me about 5 hrs. The Black-headed Grosbeaks were always present, either singing their beautiful songs or calling the sharp "pik!" that is their signature call. I counted 24 birds all males. I have not seen a female yet. Today I also heard the Swainson's Thrush (36) sing for the first time, officially announcing the opening of summer. Nearly every species seems to have arrived. The latest, Willow Flycatcher (7), Olive-sided Flycatcher ("Quick 3 Beer") and Western Wood-pewee (a long drawn-out Peeveeee) and the first Cedar Waxwings (4). We are still missing Red-eyed Vireo and Common Nighthawk... This year has seen a decrease in Rufous Hummingbirds (5) who came at the usual time but moved away presumably because of the cold and general lack of flowering source. The Anna's Hummingbirds are taking advantage of this and they are more present than ever (3), feeding of the fir blooms along the bluffs. Toward the end of the walk, I heard an unusual warbler song repeating insistently as the bird was moving rapidly from perch to perch in a small area along "Flycatcher Lane". I'd heard this song before but not in Powell River so I needed to confirm the identification with some visual. And here it was, bright orange and black top, white under, spreading its tail to show off the patches of orange at the base of it: a male American Redstart in full breeding plumage! A rare treat... Today I had 9 species of warblers. All the regular plus the Redstart. Super cool! Of note, the Yellow (23) are very vocal and show very well as they are still asserting their territories while the earlier arrival, Orange-crowned (7), Audubon's (3) and Wilson's (6) are now more discrete having nests and nestlings to protect from predators. Another beautiful day in paradise. Good Birding all. Enjoy! Pierre See more