Birds of 2013 - July

July is usually a quiet birding month. The birds that are here are quietly going about their business, and the summer heat reduces activity.

However, in late June there were reports of a Nashville Warbler on the Powerline trail at Grouse Mountain. This trail starts at the East Parking lot and runs parallel to the mountain slope. I had never birded there but set out on Canada Day to have a look. I did not see the Nashville, which I had seen the year before back east, but did see another bird that I had never managed to photograph before.


#164 Western Tanager - Date: July 1. Location: Grouse Mountain Powerline Trail, North Vancouver.
This is a bird that I had seen before, but never had a camera handy. This time I was well armed and it was quite cooperative.

#165 Orange-crowned Warbler - Date: July 1. Location: Grouse Mountain Powerline Trail, North Vancouver.

Another hard to capture bird. It's very difficult to see the Orange crown, but the name Yellow Warbler was already taken. The first photo is from Grouse, the second was taken at Serpentine Fen in Surrey in September.

#166 Common Nighthawk - Date: July 2. Location: Front Yard, North Delta BC.

Every summer we have Nighthawks fly over our house at dusk. They come out of Burns Bog looking for insects to scoop from the air. They have been less frequent in recent years, but I managed to hear and see one on this date. I spent quite a few evenings with my camera poised, but they never showed up for a picture. This photo was taken in Saskatchewan in June 2009

#167 Lewis Woodpecker - Date: July 5. Location: Osoyoos.
I had hoped to see this bird on our April trip, but it may have been too early for them. In early July, we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Osoyoos, located east of the town and high above. The attraction  of the B&B was the observatory where we star-gazed through a computer controlled 18 inch telescope. Another feature of was a good variety of birds, including this one. It was my first sighting of it since the mid 1990's.

#168 Bullock's Oriole - Date: July 5. Location: Haynes Point Provincial Park, Osoyoos.
This is another bird that is fairly common in the Okanagan. There was a period when this species and the Baltimore Oriole were lumped together in a single species call Northern Oriole. This was due to hybridization where they overlapped. This decision was reversed in 1995.
Although I got a photo in Osoyoos, it was poor. The one below was taken at Predator Ridge Golf course in Vernon in 2010.

#169 Gray Catbird - Date: July 5. Location: Haynes Point Provincial Park, Osoyoos.
A bird with an unusual name, it's call can sound like a cat's meow. However, this one was singing enthusiastically, perhaps still looking for a mate.

#170 American Redstart - Date: July 14. Location - Grant Narrows Regional Park, Pitt Meadows.
This is a common warbler back east, but attracts attention when seen in BC. This bird had been reported for about a week. I met up with a young birder named Jim, and between the two of us we found it. All I got was a quick look, no photos. The photo below was taken in Fort Meyers, Fla in April 2011.

#171 Bonaparte's Gull - Date: July 28. Location: South Jetty, Iona Regional Park, Richmond.
This is a small gull that has a black head in breeding season. The rest of the year, the black fades away. I was walking the jetty, hoping to see a rare Wandering Tattler that had been reported. Seeing the Bonaparte's after many years absence was an unexpected bonus. This is probably a juvenile.

#172 Wandering Tattler - Date: July 28. Location: South Jetty, Iona Regional Park, Richmond.
The Iona South Jetty is the base for a very large sewage pipeline. It is a 4 kilometre walk from the base until the end. The jetty  has a road beside the pipe with some tundra like growth. At the end there is a large open area with a small observation deck. I have seen quite a few lifers at various points on the Jetty.
All along the Jetty there are large rocks that help anchor the pipe and jetty in place. These rocks are perfect stopovers for rock loving shorebirds like Surfbirds and Tattlers. This Wandering Tattler had been reported for about a week, and was found around the 3km mark out.
This was lifer #370 for me.

This was the end of the July collection of sightings. Coming up next is August with southbound Shorebird migration starting up.