In the last week of the month, I travelled to San Francisco to attend the Oracle Open World convention. I was able to add a couple of days to my stay, and spent them birding in the area south of the city. The birds on that trip are detailed in a separate September posting.
#189 Semipalmated Plover - Date: Sept 1. Location: Boundary Bay, Delta.
The first question one might ask is "What does Semipalmated mean?". There are two birds on this month's list with this description. If a bird has a webbing between its toes, it is semipalmated. This is almost completely useless in the field, as one rarely see's the feet of shorebirds because they are usually buried in the mud. This was a good sighting, my last one was in New Jersey in 2003. Another poor photo.
#190 Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Date: Sept 1. Location: Boundary Bay, Delta.
I have a birding buddy named Floyd that I see occasionally. He only carries binoculars, and keeps track of birds he has seen by ticking them off in a field guide at home. One of the birds that he had a real passion to see was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. There are usually one or two seen each year. On this day, I met him just as he was leaving for a dinner appointment. Myself and a few other birders hung around. Suddenly, there was excitement about 50 metres away and there it was. This was life list addition #372. Thankfully, Floyd did see the bird a couple of days later. One of the most striking birds I saw this year.
#191 Short-billed Dowitcher - Date: Sept 2. Location: Serpentine Fen.
As mentioned with the Long-billed Dowitcher in a previous post, it is very difficult to distinguish between the two species. I checked my sightings out with the bird forum to confirm this was Short-billed. It is the bird in the middle.
#192 Pectoral Sandpiper - Date: Sept 3. Location: Boundary Bay, Delta.
This is a mid-sized sandpiper that is very common in Fall migration. When seeing a flock of them, the experienced birders examine each one hoping to see the rarer Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. I struck out on that species this year, hopefully I'll get it for my 2014 list (as well as my Life list).
#193 American Golden Plover - Date: Sept 4. Location: Boundary Bay, Delta.
I was hanging out with Floyd again on this evening, still trying for him to see the Buff-breasted. One of the region's top birders (Mike Tabak) came along and said he had seen an American Golden Plover in with a large flock of Black-bellied Plovers and other shorebirds. He was gracious enough to show us the bird through his scope, and I was able to get off a couple of shots. it was lifer #373. The photo below is heavily cropped. It is the mid-size bird immediately to the right of the Gull in the centre.
#194 Semipalmated Sandpiper - Date: Sept 1. Location: Boundary Bay, Delta.
Mike also pointed out this bird in the flock to Floyd and I. They are a common small sandpiper, and I had probably seen them before. The photo below is not detailed enough to point them out, but they are in there somewhere. This is a bit of a cheap lifer, but it is #374. I promise a better photo in 2014.
#195 Townsend's Solitaire - Date: Sept 8. Location: Iona Regional Park, Richmond.
I have seen this bird once before in Arizona in 2008. I could not get a photo, and was relying on other birders for ID. It has been on my most-wanted list since then. It is a member of the Thrush family, and does show up during spring and fall migration. This morning, there was a report about 30 minutes old of one on the Iona Sewage Ponds. I saw many migrating Yellow Warblers there, but gave up on the Solitaire. I had intended to check out the South Jetty and was heading there when I saw a bird sitting on a tree out in the open. This is one of my best photos of the year. The second photo is after it moved about 20 ft away to some wild blueberries.
#196 Sanderling - Date: Sept 8. Location: Iona Regional Park, Richmond.
After my good fortune, I decided I might as well walk the entire 4 Km length of the South Jetty. There might be a migrating Surfbird on the rocks. At the very end there is a small observation deck where you can look down on the surf and the rocks. Voila, there were two shorebirds on the rocks with perfect lighting conditions. One of the birds was a Western Sandpiper, and it is featured in an earlier post. The other was a Sanderling, a small white Sandpiper usually seen running around at the edge of sandy beaches.
#197 American Pipit - Date: Sept 8. Location: Iona Regional Park, Richmond.
After returning to the parking lot, I decided to have one more quick look for the Townsend's Solitaire. I did not see it again, but did discover this bird in the bushes. Pipits are ground-dwelling birds that are commonly seen here along the Boundary Bay dykes. The second photo below was taken there later in the month.
That's it for the local September sightings. Birds of 2013 - September Part 2 details the birds seen in the San Francisco area later in the month.
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