Golden-crowned Sparrow: October 3, 2022

We didn't recognize our first Golden-crowned Sparrows.  I hadn't done enough research and didn't realize that they were a species we would see often on Vancouver Island.

On our walk along Rithet's trail we saw many, but, I reluctantly admit, did not recognize them.  I took a lot of photos, but they were all far away and mostly in the shadows.  It was only after getting to know them later

that I went back to the first photos and discovered the birds I had glanced at and thought maybe female House Sparrow were

the same bird we had searched for and didn't find in the small town of Morse, Saskatchewan, in March 2016.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee: October 4, 2022

It's not easy to get a photo of an acrobatic bird like this chickadee.

He is all over the place and moving quickly. 

But we saw many and often

So what I don't have in quality I definitely make up in quantity.

Anna's Hummingbird: October 3, 2022

 There are several hummingbird possibilities in British Columbia, but only one is likely in October.

The Anna's, a beautiful little bird with a pink throat.  Or at least the male has a pink throat.

We met our first hummingbird shortly after arriving in Victoria.  We put a few things in the house we were borrowing for a few days, grabbed our binoculars and camera, and walked out the front door.  To find this little guy next door.

We saw a lot of Anna's in the four or five days we spent in Victoria, and none anywhere else we went.

The best photo of the pink throat came while we were waiting for the ferry to take us back to the mainland on October 14.

Surf Scoter: October 3, 2022

 I had great hopes of viewing new birds from the ferry between Vancouver and Victoria.  

There weren't as many species as I had hoped, but we did see our first Surf Scoters.

Fortunately they were not the only Surf Scoters of our trip.  Nine days later we saw a few along Cortes Island.

California Quail: September 29, 2022

There are Maple Streets without maples, Harbour Landing without water, Elk Point with neither an elk nor a point, therefore one isn't sure what to expect when driving into a place called Quail Ridge.

But in this case there was no false advertising.  We saw more than thirty California Quails on a walk through the neighbourhood.

They had favourite spots on both sides of the street so gave us good views as they ran back and forth.

After admiring the curling feathers on their heads in our bird guides, I was very pleased to find them in the (semi) wild of this Kelowna suburb.  They reminded me a bit of the Grey Partridges in Saskatchewan, another introduced bird.

Mountain Chickadee: September 28, 2022

The first life bird of our autumn vacation was found in the parking lot of an A&W in Canmore, Alberta. We were on our way to a scenic walk along a creek, but naturally stopped when we noted birds in the bushes along a busy street.

Despite spending most of the next three weeks in view of at least one mountain, Canmore was the only place we had confirmed sightings of Mountain Chickadees.

Grasshopper Sparrow, September 4/22

 Just hanging out in our pasture.

Not the prettiest background, and we needed help identifying this fairly plain little sparrow, but the final result of the consultation was Grasshopper Sparrow and a lifer.  Number 3 for the year.