Category: Iona Island

Cave Swallow

A rare bird for this area was observed and reported at Iona Island a couple of days ago. Spotted flying with three Barn Swallows, was a Cave Swallow. It is late in the year to be seeing Barn Swallows, but a Cave Swallow is rare in deed with this being the first record for this species in British Columbia. Having been teased the other day about not having been out to see it yet, I made my way out there today. The only problem being it was a rather gloomy and overcast day. Not the best conditions to try a get a swallow in flight.

Cave Swallow
Cave Swallow

It was not long after arriving I spotted four swallows with one being the Cave Swallow. This birds normal summer range would be the Texas area, wintering further south. So being this far north at this time of year is quite out of the ordinary.

Cave Swallow
Cave Swallow

As you can see the conditions were less than ideal, but I did manage a few record shots. The Cave Swallow will differ from the similar Cliff Swallow having “pale throat and cheek contrasting with dark cap” (Sibley). The forehead and rump are also buffy in colour. I wish the conditions had been better, but it was still good being able to see and photograph this bird. The Cave Swallow is also a new addition to my life photo list.

Three for three, sort of.

I was able to take a break from work, computer and web stuff this afternoon and get out for a bit of a walk. I headed out to Iona Regional Park with three target birds in mind. Wilson’s Snipe, Northern Shrike and Western Meadowlark.

It did not take long to find a Snipe while walking around the outer ponds. Or should I say before it spotted me and flew off. I managed to flush a Snipe three times (possibly the same bird) while walking around the marsh area. Strike one.

There was still a Northern Shrike in the area. I sat back and watched for awhile to see if it favoured any particular area. I picked a likely spot and waited for it to come to me. While moving around hunting they will return to the same perches. This does not always work, but it is usually better than chasing the bird from tree to tree. In this particular case it did not return to where I was set up. Strike two.

Not far from where I was waiting for the Shrike I located a Meadowlark foraging on the ground. Easy to miss when they are not calling/singing and you don’t get a glimpse of the yellow breast with contrasting black v-shape.

Western Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark

I crawled along on my knees with this bird as it continued to forage in the grass in the hopes of getting a shot of the more colourful front profile. Alas it was not to be as it kept its back to me the whole time prior to flying off.

Three for three in locating my target birds, but zero for three for the photos I was hoping for. When leaving I could see the Shrike in the tree where I had set up earlier. Such is the life of bird photography.