Post by Gord on Aug 19, 2009 21:07:50 GMT -8
This afternoon I had a few spare minutes (it's been tough to come by that lately! 
) and drove the dyke from the Keith Wilson Bridge downstream to MacGillvray's Slough. The best stop was where the Sumas River and Vedder Canal join just down from the pumphouse. Here, I was delighted to find a juvenile Tennessee Warbler!! When I first saw it I thought Orange-crowned Warbler but it didnt seem right so I watched to see it again. Being a juvenile, it was fairly yellow but the undertail coverts were a dingy white. The tail had the short look and the facial pattern was spot on. There were several Orange-crowned Warblers around and having some comparisons was interesting to see. The call notes were notably different too. As this was an unexpected find (both the warbler and the 'few spare moments') I had my spare binoculars under the seat of the car and no camera. 
Other sightings of note were good numbers of Vaux's Swift flying over in flocks, several Yellow Warblers, a cute young Common Yellowthroat male growing his mask, Purple Finches, a couple Spotted Sandpipers and a Swainson's Thrush. Driving through Abbotsford near the border at Sumas Way I saw an American Kestrel and just north near Vye Rd was a Peregrine Falcon.
) and drove the dyke from the Keith Wilson Bridge downstream to MacGillvray's Slough. The best stop was where the Sumas River and Vedder Canal join just down from the pumphouse. Here, I was delighted to find a juvenile Tennessee Warbler!! When I first saw it I thought Orange-crowned Warbler but it didnt seem right so I watched to see it again. Being a juvenile, it was fairly yellow but the undertail coverts were a dingy white. The tail had the short look and the facial pattern was spot on. There were several Orange-crowned Warblers around and having some comparisons was interesting to see. The call notes were notably different too. As this was an unexpected find (both the warbler and the 'few spare moments') I had my spare binoculars under the seat of the car and no camera. 
Other sightings of note were good numbers of Vaux's Swift flying over in flocks, several Yellow Warblers, a cute young Common Yellowthroat male growing his mask, Purple Finches, a couple Spotted Sandpipers and a Swainson's Thrush. Driving through Abbotsford near the border at Sumas Way I saw an American Kestrel and just north near Vye Rd was a Peregrine Falcon.
