LITTLE EGRET !!

Posted on May 18, 2013 by birdtherock

When two “Snowy Egrets” were reported in Fair Haven (NE Placentia Bay) yesterday, my mind briefly ran through the possibility that they might in fact be Little Egrets – a similar but much rarer visitor from Europe. However, busy evenings in my house don’t often allow for time to ponder such things, and I soon moved on to more pressing issues (like getting our two young girls in bed after a raucous play date with their cousins!). No worries – Snowy Egrets are a somewhat expected straggler to Newfoundland in spring, anyways.

So when I found a text message on my phone this morning from Bruce Mactavish (who is currently away birding in the SE corner of the province) saying “Let us know if there is more on the possible LIEG”, my reaction was in three very quick but distinct stages:

Right … I wondered that myself …
Wait … what does he mean “possible Little Egret”?!?!?!
Crap … I gotta go to Fair Haven. NOW!

The all grey lores and two long head plumes help distinguish this Little Egret from its North American cousin, the Snowy Egret.
– Photo: Jared Clarke (Fair Haven; May 18, 2013)

I checked my email to find a message from my friend Paul Linegar saying he had seen photos of the two egrets and felt that they “might” be Little Egrets. I looked at the photo he had sent and, despite being distant and slightly out of focus, it sure looked intriguing. I sheepishly informed my (very understanding!) wife that I would have to postpone our plans for the day and hit the highway … with assurance it was only a little over an hour away and I’d be back right after lunch. In a poor attempt at penance, I hastily cooked breakfast for her and the girls before putting the rubber to the road.

I picked up my old birding buddy Chris Ryan at a turn-off about 20 minutes out the highway and we gunned it through the rolling fog and drizzly rain all the way to Fair Haven, where we lucked into clear visibility under overcast skies. It took only two minutes to find the egret, and just a couple more to confirm it was in fact a LITTLE EGRET!! This is a species that has managed to elude me during my dozen years of birding in Newfoundland, and one I’ve been waiting for. Bingo, baby!

This Little Egret marks the 9th record for Newfoundland.
– Photo: Jared Clarke (Fair Haven; May 18, 2013)

We stayed in the area for a couple hours, watching and photographing the Little Egret and occasionally making forays around the harbour to look for its missing partner. A local gentleman told us there were still two egrets “this morning”, although I later heard that Paul Linegar had also only seen one at 8:00am. Apparently the birds have been seen flying up a small river and foraging in a small steady just upstream, so maybe it was simply hanging out up there. The man also told us that the other bird was often seen drooping its wing when standing, although it seemed to fly well. We can only assume at this point that both birds are Little Egrets, although there is always the possibility that the missing one was a Snowy. Who knows!?!?

– Photo: Jared Clarke (Fair Haven; May 18, 2013)

So … another nemesis bird off (on?) the list … and a beauty, at that! Sweet. According to my records, this Little Egret marks the ninth record for Newfoundland.

A Wild Goose Chase; Surprise Plover

Posted on April 17, 2013 by birdtherock

When I got news yesterday afternoon that a Greater White-fronted Goose had been found in Biscay Bay, the gears immediately started turning – How was I going to organize an otherwise busy morning to get down there and look for it?!?!?

Greater White-fronted Geese are rare in Newfoundland, and while they do show up in both spring and autumn most “birders” have only encountered them in their more drab immature plumage as they often appear here in fall. Added to that, the individuals that have been recorded here are invariably from the Greenland race (flavirosostris) that normally winters in Europe, making them somewhat of a continental rarity.

I’ve never seen Greater White-fronted Goose in Newfoundland, and just missed an opportunity to see two that showed up in Twillingate ~April 3 (I had been in nearby Lewisporte visiting family, but returned to St. John’s just hours before the news got out!). The sting of that recent miss motivated me to get things organized – and that, I did. After pawning off some family responsibilities to gullible in-laws, I arranged to join Bruce Mactavish and Ken Knowles on an early morning trip to Biscay Bay.

The overall dark upperparts, plain back (due to relatively thin white fringes on the mantle feathers) and orange-yellow bill indicate that this goose of the flavirostris race that breeds in Greenland. - Photo: Jared Clarke (April 17, 2013)

The overall dark upperparts, plain back (due to relatively thin white fringes on the mantle feathers and coverts) and orange-yellow bill indicate that this goose is of the flavirostris race that breeds in Greenland.
– Photo: Jared Clarke (April 17, 2013)

Despite nagging doubts, we arrived and immediately found the goose grazing on fields about 75m off the road. It was very wary when the car slowed to a stop and flew to the furthest end of the field, staying ~100m from the road at all times and becoming alert every time a vehicle passed. Nevertheless, the rain held off and we got great views and decent (in my case only mediocre) record photos. At no point did we even venture to get out of the car for fear of scaring it back to the arctic!

Photo: Jared Clarke (April 17, 2013)

This American Golden Plover marked just the third spring record for Newfoundland – a great but unexpected bonus for the day.
– Photo: Jared Clarke (April 17, 2013)

As an added bonus, we discovered a very dull American Golden Plover in a roadside pool at Portugal Cove South. While European Golden Plover would have been the more expected and generally rarer species, this was just the third spring record for American Golden Plover in Newfoundland (which does migrate through the province in numbers during fall). There is one additional spring record from Labrador. Careful scrutiny of several other shorebird locations on the way home did not help us find much else on the day.

The dull plumage of this American Golden Plover is in stark contrast to the bright breeding plumage that the more expected European Golden Plovers are wearing when they show up here in spring.
– Photo: Jared Clarke (April 17, 2013)

Dreaming about Icelandic rarities!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by birdtherock

The iconic Bob Dylan was tapping into one of my dreams when he sang “The Anser, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind”.

Apologies to those of you who might not have “gotten” my [poor?] attempt at humour there, but I do dream about geese more often than I like to admit. And maybe, just maybe, I could smell a few in the wind this morning.

A quick look at some surface pressure maps for today show that a big low pressure system is sitting in the middle of the north Atlantic right now, and the resulting winds are lined up nicely between Iceland and Newfoundland. These are the kind of winds that birders here on “the rock” dream about in spring … the kind of winds that bring European rarities to this side of the ocean. Granted, it is a tad on the early side and I might be more excited if I saw these same maps in mid-late April when Icelandic migration is at its peak — but a guy can dream, can’t he?

The weather map for today (March 20) shows a wide low pressure system advancing up the mid-Atlantic. The tight isobars north of that system indicate moderate-strong winds blowing directly from Iceland to Newfoundland & Labrador. Maybe I should be embarrassed to say it, but those curves are the stuff my dreams are made of!!

The pattern holds strong for tomorrow (March 21), when the winds produce a perfect trans-Atlantic highway from western Europe – Iceland – Newfoundland. Oystercatcher, anyone??

With a low pressure system continuing to churn off the west coast of Europe, favourable winds will continue ot blow from Iceland for the remainder of this week - as shown by this map for Saturday, March 23.

With a low pressure system continuing to churn off the west coast of Europe, favourable winds will continue to blow from Iceland for the remainder of this week – as shown by this map for Saturday, March 23.

For a more detailed discussion of Icelandic/European vagrants that have been recorded here in spring, check out this earlier post.

A number of species begin to arrive in Iceland in March, including Whooper Swan, Common Shellduck, Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden Plover, and (yes!!) Graylag Goose. It’s time to turn our attention east once again, and keep our eyes peeled for wayward visitors along our shores. I could do with one of those dreams coming true right about now.

You??

COMMON CHAFFINCH in western Newfoundland

Posted on March 18, 2013 by birdtherock

The unique location of Newfoundland, combined with the fact that Common Chaffinch is a very regular visitor to nearby Iceland, suggests that it could/should be expected as a vagrant to Newfoundland on rare occasions.

I was surprised lunchtime Saturday when I checked the local bird news – a COMMON CHAFFINCH (ABA Code 4, 4th record for Newfoundland) was reported coming to a feeder in Corner Brook. I immediately went looking for details, and was soon rewarded when Jeff Siddal (a west coast birder/naturalist) sent me a grainy but very identifiable photograph taken by the homeowners, Hearder and Louise Butler. The Butlers have been actively watching their feeders for many years and are long-time FeederWatch participants – needless to say, they were very excited to be adding this to their list of backyard visitors!

Common Chaffinch is considered one of the most abundant songbirds of Europe, breeding widely across the continent. Northern populations are highly migratory, making it a good candidate for vagrancy outside its normal range. However, the provenance of Common Chaffinch in North America is always questionable since they are commonly kept as cagebirds, and the vast majority of records in Canada and the United States are easily passed off as probable escapees. That being said, the unique location of Newfoundland combined with the fact that Common Chaffinch is a very regular visitor to nearby Iceland (where it does not breed, but occurs often enough that is has become hardly notable) suggests that it could/should be expected as a vagrant to Newfoundland on rare occasions. Our three previous records (two of which have also been in late winter) have generally been considered as wild, and the recent discoveries of a Gray Heron and Fieldfare (the latter having been just 50km away from the current Chaffinch location!) add to the feeling that this may also be a bona fide European vagrant.

The next day (Sunday, March 17) Darroch Whitaker stopped by to visit the Butlers and was able to watch the Common Chaffinch for several minutes. He managed to capture a few excellent photographs, and described the bird as being “extremely skittish … [it] never paused under the feeder, rather would drop in, grab a seed, and dart back to the trees.” The photos seem to show a bird resembling the “coelebs” race typical of western Europe, which of course would be most expected as a natural vagrant to Newfoundland.

This male Common Chaffinch was first reported in Corner Brook on March 16, but has apparently been visiting the backyard for several weeks. This marks a fourth record for Newfoundland!
– Photo: Darroch Whitaker (March 17, 2013)

An exciting find!! And one that should entertain some of the birding community on the west coast of Newfoundland for the next little while, and torment those of us here on the Avalon Peninsula who just can’t justify the drive. Fortunately, many of us enjoyed the previous Common Chaffinch near Placentia in February 2011, or else there might have been a minor stampede across the highway.

Stay tuned to the Rarity Round Up for regular updates, or feel free to drop me a line.

Photo: Darroch Whitaker (March 17, 2013)

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Tag Archives: European vagrants

LITTLE EGRET !!

A Wild Goose Chase; Surprise Plover

Dreaming about Icelandic rarities!

COMMON CHAFFINCH in western Newfoundland