Thought this might be of interest.

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“ As the number of avian flu cases in B.C. climbs into the summer, the provincial SPCA is advising British Columbians to pause bird feeders and baths. But not everyone agrees.”

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Pamela Zevit RPBio | Biodiversity Conservation Planner

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T 604.590.7254

I am privileged to work on the traditional territories (tém:éxw) of the s?myám? (Semiahmoo), sq??c?iy?a?? (Katzie),

K?ik?????m (Kwikwetlem), q??ɑ:n????n? (Kwantlen), Qiqéyt (Qayqayt), Sc??waθ?n (Tsawwassen) and x?m?θk??y??m (Musqueam).

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For those of you who didn’t know Wayne Weber passed away on June 27^th. For those who knew Wayne, his obituary can be seen here.

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The BC birding community really has lost a stalwart member and he’ll be sadly missed!

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Derek

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Hi Glen,

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At VARC we monitor more than 400 Mountain and Western Bluebird boxes with a team of local volunteers in Merritt. Fortunately we haven’t had a major issue with House Sparrows but one of our volunteers closer to town did and he experimented successfully with the deterrents described in this video – he said the nylon filament was particularly useful, easy and inexpensive to apply and quite effective:

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You’re right, our aerial insectivores have suffered precipitous declines and need all the help they can get!

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Hope this helps.

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Derek

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From south of the border but many familiar species and potentially transferrable objectives.

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“This document has been prepared to stimulate and support an active approach to conservation of landbirds in prairie, oak, and riparian habitats of Western Oregon and Washington. It represents the collective efforts of individuals from multiple agencies and organizations within the Oregon-Washington Chapter of Partners in Flight. Participants included biologists and ecologists from Federal and State agencies, industry, private consulting firms, environmental organizations, and academia in order to ensure a full range of ideas, information flow, and practicalities.”

Pamela Zevit RPBio | Biodiversity Conservation Planner

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T 604.590.7254

I am privileged to work on the traditional, unceded territories (tém:éxw) of the s?myám? (Semiahmoo), sq??c?iy?a?? (Katzie),

K?ik?????m (Kwikwetlem), q??ɑ:n????n? (Kwantlen), Qiqéyt (Qayqayt), Sc??waθ?n (Tsawwassen) and x?m?θk??y??m (Musqueam).

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Hi Anne,

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I’ve been asked to do lots of interviews on crows over the years and have attached a short article I did for a recent publication which hopefully will help you.

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Most crow attacks happen in May, June and July which is the nesting season for crows (like many other songbirds) and they are territorial and particularly protective when young fledge and leave the nest. If they believe any kind of a threat is near – cats, dogs or people they may well attack.

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They’ve invested a lot in to their young – they’ve built nests, spent up to 20 days incubating eggs and another 30 days or more feeding young before they fledge so they have a lot invested in to these fledglings.

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So, to answer your question, it’s about 50 days from the start of incubation until young crows fledge at which time they are still dependant on their parents for another week to 10 days and the parents will still aggressively protect them from any potential threats.

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In the attached article there is a link to a fascinating video called ‘Inside the animal mind’ where a test was set up where EIGHT separate stages had to be completed in a SPECIFIC order for the crow to solve the puzzle and get the food reward – it was a world first and one of the most complex tests of the animal mind ever constructed.

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So, although you may have to wait a while to get back to your garden, please enjoy the crows and appreciate them for the fascinating animals they are – not always easy but worth it! :o)

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Hope this helps!

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Derek

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Northern Spain, Pyrenees & North Norfolk coast England – Trip Report

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We decided to add a two-week birding trip to northern Spain and the Pyrenees to a return trip to London to see family and to bird up on the north Norfolk coast in England with friends from the US. The Pyrenees are stunning and a high recommend with amazing scenery, great hotels and roads and excellent birding.

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There wasn’t a lot that we could see that would be new for us so we decided to focus our attention on some hard-to-get species we hadn’t seen before. Our target list was 16 species of which we managed 13 so we were pretty happy and it was nice to be back with European birds and birdsong with Nightingales singing everywhere. Our life birds were:

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Greater Short-toed Lark

Calandra Lark

Iberian Green Woodpecker

Western Bonelli’s Warbler

Rock Sparrow?

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Citril Finch

Alpine Chough

Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush

Western Subalpine Warbler?

Dupont’s Lark

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Eurasian Eagle Owl

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We had a guide for just 2 days at the end of the trip to try for any of the species we’d missed and which required that super-local knowledge of specific habitat to find them. One of these was Dupont’s Lark which was epic as they are so hard to find – eBird describes them as ‘Fiendishly hard to see’ – they are in thick desert steppe scrub habitat and don’t fly much preferring to run on the ground. We put a lot of time in for this species and were on the point of finally giving up when a bird appeared in the open allowing for fantastic views and even a few photographs before running back in to the scrub.

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The Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush was a special birding moment too – we got it at the end of a 20k hike up in to the high alpine and watched the male doing it’s display flight right in front of us – what a stunning bird!

We really only dipped on three species, Alpine Accentor, which we tried really hard for including scaling a vertical rock face with chains and ladders (thanks Aidan and George!!) and still didn’t see; White-backed Woodpecker and for the woodpecker we were with a guide who had radio-tagged them as part of an ongoing conservation project and knew precise territories but they are silent and pretty much impossible to find at this time of year. The remaining species was White-winged Snowfinch which we knew was a long shot but it’s always nice to have something to go back for another time!

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Our time up on the north Norfolk coast was spent in all the places I grew up birding and although there was nothing new for us, spending time there is always a pleasure and it will always be one of my favourite places to bird in the world. An evening spent at dusk on the heath at Holt Lowes SSSI watching ‘roding’ Eurasian Woodcock and Eurasian Nightjars displaying right above our heads was magical.

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We will post a full trip report on our birding website () shortly with full details of the trip itinerary along with the bird list, guide and accommodation information and, as always, happy to help and provide information for anyone thinking of planning a trip there.

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Derek

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Birders,

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Yesterday, May 22, I spent most of the day out birding in and near Pitt Meadows, Minnekhada Park, and Quarry Road. During the day, I found Western Tanagers at several different locations. It looks like there may be a small “wave” of them passing through.

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During the day, I recorded 6 Western Tanagers at 4 different locations:? one at the parking area for the Golden Eagle Golf Course in Pitt Meadows, 2 at and near the parking area of the nearby Swan-e-set Golf Course, 2 at the Minnekhada Lodge in Minnekhada Park, and one more along Quarry Road north of Minnekhada. I got great photos of a co-operative tanager at Minnekhada Lodge. Not surprisingly, a BLACK BEAR came ambling out of Minnekhada Park on Oliver Road as I was driving into the park. Bears are often seen there.

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Good luck and good birding,

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Wayne Weber

contopus@...

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