Large numbers of Trumpeter Swans winter in the Pacific Northwest Photo: Steve Mlodinow
Late winter in the Pacific Northwest may be cool and gray, but it’s also jammed with birds. We’ll encircle Puget Sound, taking in the fields and impoundments around the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Fraser River Delta, one of western North America’s most important wintering areas for waterfowl, raptors, and shorebirds. We’ll also investigate the southern tip of Vancouver Island and the Coastal Range Mountains around Manning Provincial Park. We’ll spend the majority of our time in southwestern British Columbia, based out of the picturesque and culturally diverse cities of Vancouver and Victoria.
For birders from much of North America, the diversity and sheer bird abundance will seem staggering: vast numbers of waterfowl in the Skagit Valley and on salt water, thousands of gulls and waders in the delta and along the shoreline of Boundary Bay, throngs of loons, grebes, cormorants and alcids easily seen from shore and from our ferry rides, an impressive array of raptors also enjoying the wintering birds, and even some of the few remaining Eurasian Skylarks, which should be in glorious song. Winter on Puget Sound is also often a time for vagrants, with recent records for such species as Arctic Loon, Emperor Goose, Whooper Swan, Baikal Teal, Eurasian Kestrel, and Redwing.
Finally, we should also mention the endless photogenic vistas, superb rocky coastlines, deep and diverse woods, snowy mountain backdrops, and myriad charming coves, inlets, and bays. Birding is wonderful anywhere, but birding in the midst of great natural beauty is sublime.
Traveling to the Pacific Northwest in winter inevitably means a number of gray days and some rain, but February is typically the least rainy period of the winter. In Victoria, for example, half or more of February’s days have no measurable rain, and temperatures can be in the high 50s.
Day 1: The trip begins at 6 p.m. in Vancouver. Night in Vancouver.
Day 2: We’ll depart for the north, spending much of the day exploring the fallow agricultural fields around the Fraser River Valley. We’ll be on the lookout for wintering Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Shrike, any of the five species of falcon—including Gyrfalcon—regularly found in the region, large flocks of Trumpeter Swans that often feed unconcerned just a few yards away, and numerous species of ducks, including Eurasian Wigeon. In the afternoon we’ll east up the valley into the mountains to our hotel in Hope, the gateway to Manning Provincial Park. Night in Hope.
Day 3: Manning Provincial Park will be beautifully and deeply snow-covered, but open roads will permit us to search for Spruce Grouse, American Three-Toed Woodpecker, Gray Jay (hide your snacks…), Clark’s Nutcracker, Black-billed Magpie, Mountain and Boreal Chickadees, and Pine Grosbeak. In some years the roads around the park can be fantastic for wintering finches, with up to 9 species possible, including such gems as Evening Grosbeak, White-winged and Red Crossbills, Cassin’s Finch, and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. In the late afternoon we’ll descend and cross the border into the United States. We should have ample time to visit the Samish Flats in the late afternoon. This rich agricultural area near Padilla Bay is an incredibly important wintering area for raptors and waterfowl, and we’ll make a special effort to locate some of the rare species present among the throngs. Night in Burlington.
Day 4: Today we’ll continue birding on the Samish and Skagit Flats and then head slowly north to Vancouver, where we’ll visit the Tsawwassen Jetty, teeming with wintering saltwater ducks and rocky coast shorebirds; the jetty also regularly hosts wintering rarities such as Lapland Longspur and Snow Bunting. There are myriad excellent birding locations between Burlington and Vancouver, and we’ll also have time to divert for any staked-out rarities along the way. The fields and shoreline around Vancouver hold literally thousands of wintering gulls. Among the hordes of Glaucous-winged, Thayer’s, Mew, and Herring Gulls are small numbers of Ring-billed, Glaucous, and Western—and most years a true rarity such as Slaty-backed, Iceland, or Lesser Black-backed. Once sated on the gull extravaganza, we’ll head to our hotel in nearby Vancouver. Night in Vancouver.
Day 5: On our last morning around Vancouver we’ll visit the justifiably famous George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which hosts multitudes of dabbling ducks and Snow Geese and is often an excellent area for wintering songbirds and owls. We’ll make a special effort to find roosting Northern Saw-whet Owls, which can be quite approachable along some of the main trails. Later we’ll board the ferry to Victoria for an hour-and-a-half ride through narrow island passes and along cedar-clad hillsides and rocky headlands. Bald Eagles are almost abundant here, perched high on snags overlooking the shoreline, and we may spot Surfbird, Black Turnstone, and Black Oystercatcher along the shore and Brandt’s Cormorant feeding in rip currents between islands. We’ll look especially for several alcid species: Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Marbled Murrelet, and Rhinoceros Auklet are all possible. Once we reach Vancouver Island we’ll spend the balance of the day on the Saanich Peninsula, looking at (and listening to) its small population of Eurasian Skylarks, before venturing slightly north to the coastal rainforest of Goldstream Provincial Park. This park is famous for its fall salmon run and often attracts Bald Eagles by the dozens through much of the winter. Here too we’ll hope to encounter Barrow’s Goldeneye and American Dipper. Those who have not visited forests in the coastal strip of the Pacific Northwest will be dumbfounded by the size and majesty of the great trees. Night in Victoria.
Day 6: After an early morning exploring the waterfront, where we’ll have close studies of Ancient Murrelet, Black Turnstone, Black Oystercatcher, and the exquisite Harlequin Duck,we’ll have an optional outing to explore the western coast of Vancouver Island, taking in some gorgeous shoreline views, fantastic tidal areas, and some forest patches as we look for Ruffed and Sooty Grouse, Band-tailed Pigeon, Merlin, and possibly Rock Sandpiper and Black-legged Kittiwake. Those who wish to opt out of this birding excursion can remain behind and enjoy any of Victoria’s world class museums and galleries, or venture out to the world-famous Butchart Gardens. Night in Victoria.
Day 7: We’ll spend our final full day taking the ferry back to Vancouver and searching for any species that we might have missed. Night in Vancouver.
Day 8: The tour concludes this morning in Vancouver.
Updated: 14 February 2008
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Notes
Maximum group size seven with one leader.