Birding Vancouver Island (and mainland) July (1 Viewer)

Hello, I realise that there is an earlier post roughly about the same area, but I need more specific information about Vancouver Island, and the greater Vancouver area. I have already been there twice, but not on specific birding trips.

We should be going (nothing's booked yet as some things have yet to fall into place) at the beginning of July for a couple of weeks - I realise that it's a bit late in the season, but that's when we can go (although there is a tiny window of opportunity one month earlier, but I don't count on it). Anyway having birded mainly in Europe, almost every bird will be a new one, so even resident breeders will be ok. Other terrestrial/marine wildlife obviously a bonus.

We don't have any target species, but the more the merrier! I guess we'll book a whale-watching-cum-birding boat trip and maybe join one of the birding walks held by the Backyard store in Nanaimo in order to get to know some local birds. We were planning 2-3 nights in Vancouver, 1-2 nights in Nanaimo and a full week or more in Tofino. Maybe we'd like to add a couple of nights somewhere mountainous to have a look at a different habitat and different species. We'll have our 10-year old daughter with us so nothing extreme, but we can do moderate hikes.

So my questions are:
- good spots in the greater Vancouver area?
- the same within driving distance of Tofino?
- easily accessible mountain areas in the greater Vancouver area?

Thanks for the help!

Easy answer to number 3: E.C. Manning Provincial Park (if you count a two-hour drive as "in the Greater Vancouver area") Not close, but worth it.

I have found that birding right near Vancouver kind of dead in summer, but Manning was great. Part of the reason, I think, is because there's a road there that allows you to drive right up into the Alpine bio-zone, which allows you to see the birds, mammals (great for Pika!) and flowers without having to do a long hike.

I have been to Pacific Rim, just outside Tofino, three times now (although only once since I started birding). Aside from the ubiquitous Stellar's Jays and Orange-crowned Warblers, I was disappointed by the lack of land birds there. A whale-watching trip might be good for a couple of species of cormorant, though.

Just south of Vancouver, there's a bay and mudflats along Hwy #99 near Surrey (look for "Blackie Spit"). I don't know about timing (July may be too early for southbound birds, but you never know...) but when I was there, it was just full of waders. I don't think we identified a single thing that visit, but we'd didn't have a scope, and the tide was out.

Have a good trip!

Thank you Peter. Surrey is good as that's where our friends live. And Manning sounds great. Now that I think about it, there IS something in the way of target species: our daughter desperately wants to see hummingbirds! Any chance of those you think?

A report of my trip in July/August here: http://www.stevebabbs.com/home/trip-reports/british-columbia-2006
Feel free to ask any questions. This time of year can be incredibly quiet.

3Italianbirders said:

Thank you Peter. Surrey is good as that's where our friends live. And Manning sounds great. Now that I think about it, there IS something in the way of target species: our daughter desperately wants to see hummingbirds! Any chance of those you think?

Click to expand...

Oh, sure, you should be able to find one or several.

Rufous should still be pretty common at that time of year (although I suspect the males will no longer be doing their display flights - too bad you'll miss that!). I know there are supposed to be Anna's on the lower mainland and Vancouver Island, but I've never found one. Calliope is the real prize - smallest bird in Canada - but you're more likely to come across one further east, e.g. Kelowna or Osoyoos.

Visited there in June/July a few years ago. I found Stanley Park to be a nice place to bird in the city. Nice forest with massive trees, and scenic trails by the water with chances to see marine life. Had interesting birds such as Black Oystercatcher, Marbled Murrelet, and Anna's Hummingbirds (even had Barred Owls hooting during broad day light). Also had Rufous Hummingbirds at the Capilano Suspension Bridges (more of a tourist destination though).

Thank you. Steve: your trip report sort of put me off the trip altogether but then I remembered that we aren't familiar with even the commonest birds and then there's all the other wildlife. As I said we just might go earlier, but somehow I don't see it happening. Peter and Caon: thanks for the info, we'll keep our fingers crossed for the hummingbirds!

I have answered another recent thread with links to "where to" type books I believe. That might be one way to prepare. Another way is to use ebird.org: choose explore data, choose the right area, use the bar graphs to see what should be commonly registered in the time you are there. Hint, before the next thing, limit the time of year to the right month. Then for each species click the map link next to the bar graph.

You can also look at the hotspot explorer in ebird, to find the locations that have the longer bird lists.

I were there earlier in the year, so no specific info.

Niels

Thank you Niels, I hadn't thought about ebird, as It's not really used in Italy (we have Ornitho.it). I'll certainly have a look there.
Anyway I am bumping up this thread as our dates have now changed and we are going one month earlier (arriving in Vancouver June 3rd), so things should be a bit better birding-wise. We'll probably do Vancouver Island first (is it worthwhile going up north to Port Hardy?) and then return to the mainland for some mountain species.
Any more info greatly appreciated!

Having spent a month on Vancouver Island in August some years ago, I will add the odd comment.

We went whale watching in Ucluelet (West coast). The place was definitely more notable for its (cultivated) oysters than for its birds. The seals and scenery made it a good whale watching trip.

Birdwise, a whale watching trip from Telegraph Cove was a lot more interesting although most of the birds could not be identified from the boat. If I were to go again I would certainly want to try hiring a canoe to see if that worked better.

Two things to beware of. Firstly we found the weather to be surprisingly poor with few very good days. Maybe it is better earlier in the year.

Secondly, second growth forest, which makes a British Forestry Commission plantation seem positively exciting. Dont go somewhere just because it looks interesting on the map.