CANADIAN BIG DAY RECORD - JUNE 1, 2011

On June 1st Paul Pratt and myself made our third attempt at a big day in Alberta. In 2009 we tallied 207 species and in 2010 we tallied 213. After the success of these days we firmly believed it was possible that a new Canadian big day record might be achievable in Alberta. Since 1987, the province of Manitoba has held the national big day record. For most of that time it was 205 species until Paul and I tallied 212 species in Manitoba five years ago. That record was best by a team from Manitoba that reached 214 species three years later.

We are happy to report that on June 1st we tallied 218 species wholly within the province of Alberta to establish a new Canadian big day record. Our route took us from the boreal forest in the Cold Lake area to Waterton National Park in the southwest. Full details of the big day will appear in the 2011 ABA list and big day report.

The day was so intense that I had virtually no chance to take any photos. Here are two that document some memorable moments (sunrise over English bay picnic site on the west side of Cold Lake and a White-rumped Sandpiper).

ALBERTA BIG DAY - A BELATED POST

Preface: If you have no sense of humour and think birding is not supposed to be fun... and you like to evaluate and judge all of us by our carbon credits... dont bother reading any further!

Well a lot has happened since my last post... but for now lets stick to one really cool event. Paul and I decided to do an Alberta big day in early June while on a two week adventure in Sask and Alberta. It turned out to be a huge success. Here is the story.

We scouted the southern half of the province briefly and then slapped together a route based mostly in Cold Lake. We had set the provincial record with Tom Plath in 2001 (I think?) with 178 species, but the weather was horrible that year and we really felt that we only scratched the potential.

Paul and I spent three full days in late May scouting around Cold Lake and we even got a chance to help out a bit with the Cold Lake spring bird count. I think during those three days we recorded around 175 species which gives you an idea of how diverse this area is in late May. The scouting highlight was undoubtedly three small groups of Sabine's Gulls totaling 12 birds on the waterfront of Cold Lake proper.

We decided to make our attempt on June 2nd, and the day began around 11 pm the night before with what else but Tim Hortons coffee (reheated as the Tims was closed!) and a high protein fix of sausages and eggs.


On our last attempt in 2001 the night birding... well, it sucked! On this night however, we came up trumps at almost every site. We recorded Long-eared, Barred and Northern Saw-whet Owls, Yellow, Virginia and Sora Rails, Sedge and Marsh Wrens, Connecticut Warbler, Pied-billed Grebe, Sandhill Crane, American Bittern and a dizzying array of nocturnal ticks by 4 am. Most surprising was a widespread passage of Lapland Longspurs at almost every stop for the first five hours of the day. I didnt even realize this bird was a nocturnal migrant! By the time this photo of Paul was taken around 4 am at Cold Lake waterfront, we had just recorded our 52nd species which was Common Nighthawk.


As it began to get lighter, we worked a series of stops around Cold Lake Provincial Park, Ethel Lake road and English Bay. Everything fell in to place though our schedule was being stretched a little by the cold morning and reluctance of birds to chime off with their usual vigour. Next we headed south to Jessie Lake happily ticking a fly by Northern Goshawk en route. There was a decent selection of shorebirds and we left knowing the chances of setting a new record were very good. Next stop at Kehewin lake filled in some necessitities like Great Crested Flycatcher, Philly vireo and Veery and by 9:55 am we were on our way south towards Wainright with a massive morning haul of 159 species.

Now rather than let the full story out of the bag, I'm going to skip all the rest of the route details. That keeps everyone guessing a bit which is probably a good thing! Suffice it to say that we had a great afternoon and ended up in the south of the province around Pakowki Lake. This Burrowing Owl along the roadside there was a complete fluke, as we had not seen this bird anywhere during scouting and had no sites for it. It was our 205th species for the day. Yes you read that right!


The day ended at Pakowki lake where White-faced Ibis and Black-crowned Night Heron pushed our total to an incredible 207 species for the day! We were stunned by our success and we cant wait to go back to see if this total can go even higher... watch out Manitoba!!!

Calgary to Cypress Hills Saskatchewan

After a great evening with Cathy and Roger Watson (thanks guys!), Paul and I began our two week adventure in Alberta and Saskatchewan by heading east from Calgary towards the Cypress Hills. We pulled into the Tims at around 2:40 am (seriously) and were soon heading out of the city rolling towards the hills. Shortly after 3 am the first light started to appear in the sky, though the sun wouldnt rise for over two more hours.

We spent most of the day in the Cypress Hills in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, ending up south of Maple Creek where will spend two nights. There were tons of highlights today but the biggest flurry was early on in the day when we had an adult Goshawk stoop low across the road in pursuit of a songbird (sorry, it didnt garner much attention), soon followed by a provincially rare Red-headed Woodpecker looking very lost on a fence line in the middle of the prairies! I took a record photo of the latter just for documentation. The actual location of the bird was at the corner of Hwy 41 and the Cypress park turnoff a few km south of Elkwater.




Soon after this, a pair of uppies (Upland Sandpipers) landed at the roadside and provided stunning views. This provided my best photo opp of the day.



In early afternoon we had lunch at Cypress Lake resort in Sask. The feeders there are great fun with Red Crossbills regular attendees (pics to follow in the next post). A showy pair of Western Tanagers provided some nice colour while we enjoyed a well deserved lunch break. Here is the male.

ECUADOR - QUITO TO BUENAVENTURA

DAY 1 - This morning our Ecuadorian adventure began. We left the Quito Sheraton early and met Galo at the airport, flying on to Guayaquil. Once there we met Luis, our driver and headed directly towards wetlands and rice fields south of the city. Among our many great birds the highlight was a spectacular close view of a Horned Screamer!



We continued on to Puerto Bolivar on the coast where we enjoyed a good seafood lunch at the Caribe Line restaurant, while frigatebirds, gray-hooded gulls and pelicans cruised the shore.



We left the lowlands after lunch and entered the foothills ascending to around 500 meters elevation near Pinas. Our destination was the Buenaventura reserve and Umbrellabird lodge. The hummingbird feeders here have to be seen to be believed!


DAY 2 - BUENAVENTURA LODGE

Our number one target here was the namesake bird for the lodge, the very rare and tricky to see Long-watted Umbrellabird. On our first full day we had great weather and we had spectacular views of both female and male umbrellabirds. The muddy slick hike to the birds made for a fun adventure, but it was a big payback.



The fruit and nectar feeders at the lodge pavilion/restaurant made a great place to study the hummers, and other colourful species. This male Green Honeycreeper was a common and beautiful attendant of the feeders.


This cheeky Brown Coati was one of a small band of these trouble makers that took advantage of the bounty of nectar and fruit.


One of the most common hummingbirds was the dainty bee like Green Thorntail. This female hovers near a feeder before getting her nectar reward.


This region boasts many restricted range species. The Pale-mandibled Aracari was one of these specialties. Here he is trying to crunch up a huge beetle for a snack.

There are so many hummers at the feeders here that they regularly perch making great photo opps in the small trees around the pavilion. This aptly name male White-necked Jacobin is one of the common show stoppers here.

Hermits are one of those hummingbirds that look rather ho hum on the colour plates but their behaviour and structure make them a hit. This White-whiskered Hermit, along with Barons Hermit, was a regular at the feeders.