British Columbia

F arch had a cool first half and a •,t/ milder second, with minimal pre-.. cipitation except over the Northeast and along parts of the coast.April was unsettled and showery over the first half of the period, with a drier ending.May started cool and unsettled but soon turned summery.This lasted until the final week, when the ridge of high pressure crashed.The southeastern corner got the worst of it during this time, as rapid mountain snowmelt combined with heavy rain leading to widespread lowland flooding.The last few days of the period saw a cold front descend from the Yukon, bringing a return to winter for the northern fringe of British Columbia, much to the peril of early nesters.LOONS THROUGH SHOREBIRDS A Ross• Goose, seen on both sides of the British Columbia/Alaska border, al Hyder, was with 106 Snow Geese 12-13 May (ph.LD), as it kept to the periphery of the flock.A Bewick's Swan remained in Delta through 25 Mar (ph.CC1, WA).A King Eider was seen from the tip of the Iona South Jetty among a flock of scotßrs 14 Apr (GP).Rare in spring in the interior, an imm.Yellow-billed Loon and a molting Pacific Loon were on Kalamalka L. 17 Mar (CS), holdovers from the winter.A late Yellow-billed was near Robson Bight (famous for its attraction to Killer Whales) 8 May (GLM).A single ad.Clark's Grebe was a surprise find in Kelowna at the mouth of Mission Creek 8 May (CC).The best concentration of migrating American White Pelicans was from Skaha L Penticton 21 Apr, when 85 touched down (BH).A Brown Pelican was discovered in the Alert Bay municipal dock 26 May (,JT) and was behaving as though sick or injured; a flock of 22 off Lennard I. near Torino was the largest reported 26 May (IC).Double-crested Cormorants were found in very small numbers in the s.interior, with a peak of 3 flying away from the Grant I. gull colony 19 May (DGC, EN).As usual, a few solo Great Egrets were located in s. sites: at Oliver 14 May (BL) and at Cowichan Bay 6 May (DM).The only report of White-faced Ibis involved a sizeable flock of l0 at Elizabeth L 23 May (DN).An astounding 500 Bald Eagles were found at a site that produces garden mulch using fish entrails near Beaver Cove, n.Vancouver I. (GLM, DMo); on 7 May, the same observers returned to this location and found more than 700 eagles.They watched one alder tree snap as 20 Bald Eagles tried to perch in it, and another 30 eagles were dispersed from its base as the tree snapped.Swainsonk Hawks away from their s.interior haunts included one over Mount Douglas, Victoria 3 May (RTo); one at Contact Creek 20 May (RD, BF) was extremely far n.and w. in the province.Very rare in spring migration in the interior, a Black-bellied Plover was at Stuart L. 27-28 May (GL, RR).The trend of early arriving northbound shorebirds on the outer coast singles in Mud Bay, Kelowna 4 Mar (RyT, CC) and at Little River, e. coast of Vancouver I. 7 Apr (m.ob.).Vernon's Lesser Black-backed Gull was again relocated at the mouth of Vernon Cr. 4 Mar (BP), a holdover from winter.Adding to the winter influx of coastal Slatybacked Gulls, a subad.was at Kye Bay, Comox 12 Mar (ph.J J), then later found at Qualicum Beach 17-20 Mar (m.ob.); another ad.was at Willow Pt., Campbell R. 17 Mar (JJ); and a third-winter bird was at Little Qualicum Estuary 22 Mar-2 Apr (ph.GLM et al.).Very rare in the province away from the Creston Valley, a single Forster's Tern was at Swan L., Vernon 27 May (RyT, TF).Eurasian Collared-Doves are resident in Cawston, but in recent years they have been observed from as far away as Kelowna and Whisder; it is not known whether these are from the Cawston population or from farther south.One was in West Sechelt (m.ob.), another in Comox with a flock of Band-tailed Pigeons 16 May (ph, MJ), and another was in Kelowna 26 Apr and 7 May (MB, JA).Karoloops birders were surprised by a late lingering Snowy Owl 9-29 Apr (fide RH), which furnished a first Apr record for the Kamloops area; other singles were in the Highland Valley near Kamloops 22 May (fide RH) and in the Lac du Bois area n. of Kamloops 29 May (KW).At least • 3 Snowy Owls also • ß remained late along " " ,. -.•w the Boundary Bay This second-year Painted Bunting visited a Victoria, British Columbia feeder 21 (here 24) March dike through l 0 through 4 April 2006.Photo9raph by TedArdley.Apr (CP), an d a continued this spring: a Pacific Golden-Plover was at the Long Beach G.C. 27 Apr (AD), while at Torino, 4 Greater Yellowlegs were seen 31 Mar (RC), 3 Marbled Godwits 4 Apr (AD), and 15 Short-billed Dowitchers 5 Apr (GB).The only spring report of Bar-tailed Godwit came from the n. of Vancouver I., with a single at the Quatse Estuary in Port Hardy 24 Apr (GLM).Rare in spring in the interior, a Sanderling was at the mouth of Mission Cr., Kelowna 6-7 May (RyT).GULLS THROUGH FINCHES A visit to the Grant I. gull colony (host to four species of nesting gulls) furnished a recordearly egg-laying date of 13 Apr for California Gull and 14 Apr for Ring-billed Gull (DGC, EN).While Iceland Gulls can be found anytime from Nov through Apr, there is often an increase in sightings during their northward movement in Mar/Apr, as evidenced by the single remained at Sea I. through 11 May (MMN).Black Swifts can be found in large migrating flocks in late May just ahead of stormy weather.On just such an occasion, a record-breaking 1100 were tallied while feeding over Swan L, Vernon 22 May (DGC, DB).A Calliope Hummingbird, very rare along the coast, furnished a 6th Victoria area record 23 May (RTo) at Mount Newton.A Black Phoebe was discovered 28 Apr at a pond on the campus of Trinity Western University, Langley (?SO, ph.MW et al.), furnishing a 6th provincial record, and an Eastern Phoebe was at the Rocky Point B.O. in Metchosin 7 May (GD), a first record for the Victoria area.Say's Phoebes are annual spring visitors to the s.coast in late Apr-early May, and at least 3 were found, induding an early one at Chesterman Beach 20 Mar (AD), furnishing the 2nd record for the w.coast of Vancouver I.An Ash-throated Flycatcher 424 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS British

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