You could almost believe the Glaucous-winged Gull pictured below was announcing the imminent departure of the MV Coho from Victoria harbour bound  for Port Angeles on Saturday.

On board were the thirteen participants in this year’s final Two-Day Field  Trip for members dressed for all kinds of weather, and ready for the birds. And we were not disappointed, getting into the birds right away as we sailed out of the harbour bound for Port Angeles, Wash. across the Juan de Fuca Strait.

With some participants on their first-ever pelagic trip, steep learning curves were the order of the day as rapid-fire sightings of birds were accompanied by equally rapid- fire explanations: the differences between Ancient and Marbled Murrelets, on the water and in flight, and key identification points for Rhinoceros Auckets and Common Murres, the latter in a variety of plumages.

The Strait was virtually windless, which probably accounted for the absence of shearwaters, but we did see three Northern Fulmars and truly spectacular numbers of Bonaparte’s Gulls, and alcids. Although we probably needed nastier weather for the birds, nary a drop of rain fell the whole two days. Mike McGrenere was thanked profusely for ordering up such excellent conditions.

Day 2 was spent around Victoria’s hotspots and they did not disappoint. The variety of gulls was tremendous, rocky shoreline shorebirds and sea ducks gave good close views, and we even had treats like this Lapland Longspur at Cattle Point.

A full report of the trip with species and numbers, and more pictures will be featured in an upcoming newsletter. Look out for it.

Out to lunch? Not at all. The Board of Directors met yesterday at Jude Grass’s for its annual, fall planning meeting. Here we are taking a short lunch break, enjoying food, yard birds, and some conversation.

From left to right: Mike Fung, Mary Tait, Wayne Weber, Art Martell, George Clulow, June Ryder, Larry Cowan, and Jude Grass.

We enjoyed a very productive day-long meeting, covering topics ranging from next year’s AGM location, though suggestions for the 2013 2-day field trips, to future directions,  and how to continue building BCFO membership. Minutes of  the meeting will be published here in the BCFO Members area by month’s end.

Shorebirds and quite a few more in fact! How about 103 species for the weekend for the lucky (very smart) participants who signed up for Ted Hillary’s 2-Day Field Trip out of Salmon Arm on September 1st & 2nd?

With the fantastic support of Geoff Styles, Ted and the group of BCFO members not only got to see the American Golden Plover (very rare for Salmon Arm) pictured above, and the anticipated Hudsonian Godwit pictured below , but also scored close-up views of an Upland Sandpiper, a real highlight for everyone. Look out for the full report on the Salmon Arm 2-Day Trip in the next issue of BC Birding.

Pictures by Leona Breckenridge

There are only two opportunities remaining for 2012. Join Ted Hillary in Salmon Arm for fall migration in the Interior, September 1st and 2nd, and Mike McGrenere out of Victoria for the Coho Ferry trip across the Juan de Fuca Strait, November 3rd and 4th. Click here for full details.

The 5th North American Ornithological Conference will take place at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, August 14th to 18th. While most BCFO members will not register for the full conference, there are some excellent, lower-cost ways for members to enjoy aspects of the Conference.

The first is a pre-conference, FREE PUBLIC LECTURE by famous Canadian ornithologist and author of Silence of the Songbirds, Bridget Stutchbury.

The second, hosted by Partners in Flight,  is a series of pre-conference meetings:

Sunday, 12 August
0900 – 1700 – PIF International Science Committee Meeting : The Science of Saving Our Shared Birds

Location: Ruth Blair C in Gage Towers Commons Block
# participants at 20 – 30

Monday, 13 August
Early morning bird trip to coastal Iona Beach Regional Park and fabled sewage lagoons!
1000 – 1200 – PIF International Meeting: Conserving Continental Connectivity
Location: Gage Multimedia Room in Gage Towers Commons Block
1300-1700 – PIF Student Symposium : Careers in Bird Conservation – What does it take to get started?
Location: Gage Multimedia Room in Gage Towers Commons Block with Social to follow
1700-1845 – PIF Student Social
Location: Mahony & Sons Public House

Tuesday, 14 August
The Western Working Group (WWG) of Partners in Flight (PIF) will be holding a one-day meeting in conjunction with the North American Ornithological Congress (NAOC) in Vancouver BC.  The meeting will be held on Tuesday August 14th, immediately preceding NAOC.  The first half of the day will focus on tri-national collaborations, building on momentum from the meeting held in Mexico last fall, including grassland conservation, Chiapas Appalachian Pacific Alliance, Alianza Sierra Madre Occidental, and other conservation efforts crossing national borders.  The latter half of the day will include topics emphasizing conservation opportunities for Northwestern forest birds, including bird conservation in Ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer habitats, informing priority species lists and federal planning processes, and full-life cycle stewardship.  Additional agenda items include updates on WWG projects, including follow-up from our spring sagebrush workshop. We are hoping for broad attendance from participants spanning the tri-national area.  Please contact Jaime Stephens, <mailto:jlh@klamathbird.org>, if you will be attending so we can arrange appropriate space and snacks. Cost to attend this session is $25.00 to cover the coffee breaks. Session starts at 9:00 am.

Full agenda  here.

Post WWG meeting social
SOCCER FOR BIRDNERDS?  The Partners in Flight Western Working Group has started a tradition of having a friendly & fun soccer match to unwind after a day of meetings.  Join us for a casual soccer game after the meeting, from ~5pm until ~630pm on Tuesday, August 14th @ Mac Innes Field directly beside the SUB on the UBC campus. ALL SKILL LEVELS welcome, just bring cleats/sneakers & be ready to have fun!

For additional information contact:

Tanya Luszcz, M.Sc., R.P.Bio.
Partners in Flight BC/Yukon Great Basin Program Manager |
Gestionnaire de programme pour le Grand Bassin –
Partenaires d’Envol C.-B./Yukon
Canadian Wildlife Service | Service canadien de la faune
Environment Canada | Environnement Canada
102 Industrial Place
Penticton, BC, V2A 7C8
<mailto:Tanya.Luszcz@ec.gc.ca>
Telephone | Téléphone 250-490-8286
Mobile | Cellulaire 250-488-5745
Facsimile | Télécopieur 250-490-2231
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
Website | Site Web www.ec.gc.ca <http://www.ec.gc.ca/>

This past weekend (June 1 – 3) at our Annual General Meeting, sixty delegates enjoyed two days of early-morning birding, Saturday afternoon presentations, and an evening banquet with Alan Burger providing the keynote.

Hosted by the Vermillion Forks Naturalists, BCFO members delighted in the warm, small- town hospitality of Princeton. Our hosts, speakers, and field trip leaders created a memorable weekend for all, which of course was capped off by some great birding to locations typical of the dry-interior grasslands and forests.

Highlights for the weekend included Dusky Grouse, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Great Grey Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, five species of Empid,  and a great variety of waterbirds and songbirds.

Les Gyug led the pre-conference, two-day field trip to the Merritt area during which the group recorded 102 species including: Swainson’s Hawk, Red-naped and Williamson’s sapsuckers, Eared Grebe, and Clay-coloured Sparrow.

Full reports and species seen will be featured in an upcoming BC Birding.

Photo: Mark Habdas

A couple more of Mark’s AGM pictures are on the Images page.