rising@utzoo.uucp (Jim Rising) (03/23/89)
I don't know much about B.C. birding, but inasmuch as no one else has posted anything, here are a few comments. I found Clover Point, 1 mi. south of Beacon Hill Park, to be an excellent place tosee shorebirds (oystercatchers, surf birds, tattlers, in season) as well as gulls, alcids, and sea ducks. This is in Victoria. GOldstream Park, on Vanc. Island, not far from Victoria, is a good place for dippers, and nice (albeit small) patch of coastal woods. Vic. Int'l. Airport is a good spot for skylarks, and the several public beaches west of Victoria along the Strait of Juan de Fuca are good for some shorbirds (e.g. western sandpipers). I particularly liked Sombrio Beach, if you can find it. Good inverts. there, too. I took the Ferry over to Port Angeles, Wash, and back, and got some nice pelagics in August (phalarope, jaegers, ancient murrelet). I also got Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel from the Vanc.- Victoria Ferry--but I think that that is unusual. On the mainland, Stanley Park in Vancouver is very good for birds (Pigeon Guillemots nest in cliffs); there's a new guide to the natural history of the park edited by Val Schaefer. Also, get to Iona Island (Ione on some maps)--sewage disposal plant, etc.--excellent for shorbirds. It's near the Vancouver Airport. I found lots of nice birds in the hills above Pentitcton--but can recall no specific place. For Victoria Island, try to get ahold of Keith Taylor's "A Birders Guide to Vancouver Island." --Jim Rising -- Name: Jim Rising Mail: Dept. Zoology, Univ. Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1 UUCP: uunet!attcan!utzoo!rising BITNET: rising@utzoo.utoronto.bitnet