Birding in BC Community

Hello,
Beautiful pics!
Sorry if this post is in the wrong area... I'm new to this forum and learning how it works. Does anyone know what the lovely Rhinoceros Auklet might be eating? ( The pic posted by zwest).

Regards,

The Rhinoceros Auklet has caught a Pacific Sand Lance which is the main food for nestlings!

Pacific Sand Lance is a forage fish that can bury itself under the sandy bottom on the ocean!
They keep close to shore so not that deep!

If you want to read further about Rhinoceros Auklet and Pacific Sand Lance, click here!
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ecruitment

Great info Rob! I need to learn my fish.

Thanks for that!

Went down a rabbit hole there... that fish is an important creature for the Rhinocerous Auklet!

" At colonies throughout BC, the amount of sandlance in nestling diets has been positively correlated with nestling growth and survival (Bertram and Kaiser 1993;Bertram et al. 2002;Borstad et al. 2011).
Thanks for the link.

And also, you may have solved the mystery of what the herons have been fishing out of the shallow waters in the estuary. I've been so curious and now, I think it might be the Pacific Sand Lance.

Those are nice additions, Bruce! Zach ... thanks for continuing with the great pics, too. I haven't had much luck seeing new birds but plenty of the regular ones! haha. I'll update our count/list today and post here. I think we are over 200 now.
James

Zach,
Thanks for keeping my count in line! We are up to 220 for 2020 ... nice work, everyone! Love all the contributions ... Here's the link to the bird list:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=16511&p=89723#p89723
Keep 'em coming!
James

Keep you eye on what Pelagic Cormorants are eating as well as Pacific Great Blue Heron, they may have caught a Gunnel!
Rock Gunnel, Penpoint Gunnel, Saddleback Gunnel are all local in our waters!

Pelagic Cormorant juvenile Saddleback Gunnel down the hatch by Rob -Alexander, on Flickr

Nice catch!

Here is a Red-necked Phalarope from yesterday at Reifel:

I was surprised to see we didn't have a Merlin yet on the list. This one was at Burnaby Lake yesterday...



And a Franklin's Gull (in the haze) at Port Moody...

zwest wrote: ↑Aug 14 5:09 pm I was surprised to see we didn't have a Merlin yet on the list. This one was at Burnaby Lake yesterday...

Beautiful shot of the Merlin, Zach. Very nice.

stumblingpiper wrote: ↑Aug 16 3:13 pm

zwest wrote: ↑Aug 14 5:09 pm I was surprised to see we didn't have a Merlin yet on the list. This one was at Burnaby Lake yesterday...

Beautiful shot of the Merlin, Zach. Very nice.

Thanks James - I love falcons!

At Boundary Bay yesterday, there was a pair of Marbled Godwits:



and also a small group of Baird's Sandpipers (you may need to squint to see them ):

Found a closer Baird's last night in Richmond and updated the picture above.

I also came across a pair of Pacific Golden-plovers at the same place (iPhone shot through scope):




And, at the Tsawwasswen ferry jetty, Brandt's Cormorants are returning:



(700 meter distance, also phone scoped )

Continued excellent work, Zach!

Continuing the phone scope project...

Here is a Wandering Tattler from today in West Vancouver.



Also, last weekend down at Boundary Bay I saw a Northern Waterthrush:



and a Black Phoebe:




Hope to get some more shorebirds over the next few weeks.