Date: 6/26/25 12:10 am From: Michael Price via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Shorebird Southbound Migration Begins
Hi tweets
As a shorebird junkie, June 26 is a personally significant day for me as it
is the *average* arrival date of the first species, Western Sandpiper, in
the southbound shorebird migration in Vancouver BC.
In the Eighties and Nineties I worked out average arrival and departure
dates for most of the shorebirds here, then tested them against observation
at a number of hotspots such as Iona Island (settling ponds and jetties),
Boundary Bay, Reifel Refuge Robert's Bank. In particular I paid attention
to the individuals present during the hiatus between the north– and
southbound migrations so that when the first returning birds appeared,
there'd be no mistaking them for the loitering layabouts.
And one year, I was there at the exact moment of the first return Westerns
at Iona Island. And about eight in the evening, I spotted them in a tight
incoming flock in the northwest, a small flock of twenty birds weaving back
and forth before finally arriving at the pond and eventually setting down.
Ironically, they're the last migrant species to leave, with Nov 01 as their
average departure of the last flock of 10+ birds. The singleton Westerns
which remain to overwinter are almost exclusively First-year males with
short icepick bills.
Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
<loblollyboy...>
