Vaux Swifts

Following a number of visits to the west coast of Canada I was aware that there were a few species that I should have seen but inexplicably had not and one of them was Vaux Swift Chaetura vauxi which according to the distribution maps should have been around Vancouver and V Island - so why had I not seen one at all? Time to check the local internet, not exactly Birdguides but maybe there would be a reference to where I could look for the species. On first trawl I came across a newspaper article form the previous week describing the gatherings of birdwatchers and local people who had been attracted to a roost of Vaux Swifts in the chimney of the Courtney Museum. https://www.cheknews.ca/vaux-swifts-take-courtenay-chimney-316206/ . Local birders were saying there had never been a gathering like this for over 50 years but would they still be there? On the evening of the 17th we duly drove the 20 miles down to Courtney and located the Museum car park and waited for the show to begin. Arriving at about 20:25 the first ones were feeding over the town nearby and a few went into the Museum Chimney at about 20:45 but a large flock then assembled overhead but an attack by a Merlin seemed to spook them and they never came into the chimney before we left as it was nearly dark. So we missed the 1000’s that had been reported the previous week but it was a nice spectacle and a few very noisy images were obtained.

Mount Washington

Mount Washington Ski resort at 5000 feet above sea level is easily accessed by road and in summer and autumn offers easy access to a lot of sub-alpine habitats but in May 2017 it was still locked in snow with only the car parks and associated roads being walkable with deep drifts off the road sides. By walking the road sides and car parks areas though we did OK; This is my account from the 14th:

As we got out of the car at the Paradise Meadows car park you could hear a low repeated booming sound emanating from the forest. Julia immediately said what’s that, it sounds like a grouse! No idea where that inspiration came from but I meekly agreed had a quick scan of the trees and went off to photograph an Oregon Junco. Julia, equipped with Swaros though, stood there and scanned and scanned then proudly announced she had got a male grouse singing from a pine tree – she had and amazingly it was a good 600m away against a dull sky and nothing like easy to see. A reference to the Sibley app and display songs and the range maps brought up Sooty Grouse, a new bird if pretty poor views. Back to the juncos and crossbills. After a walk down the road enjoying good views of a variety of nice birds including Horned Lark 1 flew around the car park calling but did not land, White winged Crossbill male with Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins taking grit / salt from the road and then singing briefly, Red Crossbill 6+ adults with juvs still begging for food, Pine Siskins, Stellers’ Jay, Gray Jay 30+

Varied thrush male and female, male in song but typically elusive and jumpy even though the female appeared to be prospecting a potential nest site in some dogwood on the roadside

Dark eyed Juncos nest building and in song, Sooty Fox Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Golden-crowned Kinglet 2, Bald Eagle, Violet green Swallows

We headed back to the car park; the male Sooty Grouse was still in his tree but by the car park there sounded to be a louder one; Julia walked around the closed café and there on a small area of snow free grass was a male Sooty Grouse displaying and booming right out in the open! We watched it at close range and I took a load of photos in brilliant light. We then headed up to Ted’s café at the ski centre for a well-deserved coffee and lunch. From the café windows there were several Gray Jays and six Band tailed Pigeon feeding on a pile of hay. After lunch we drove back down to the Strathcona Car park for a bit more birding. Amazingly two female Sooty Grouse were on the small area of grass but they were nothing like as approachable as the male.

The Pacific Rim

Campbell River Oyster Bay views and birds