Black-headed Gull sightings just in. I ringed 2N05 in Southend-on-Sea on 03 January 2025. It was seen from April to June in a colony at Zwillbrocker Venn in Germany, just a whisker from the Dutch border. It had returned to Southend by August. 🧪🌍 #EssexBirding

Barrow’s Goldeneye and assorted geese from today’s Christmas Bird Count on the Saanich Peninsula #CanadianBirding

North American River Otter munching on a crab in North Saanich this afternoon #mammals

Ringing recovery: a Rufous Hummingbird I ringed in Metchosin, British Columbia, on 22 June was found in Angell, Arizona, on 12 August. The 1773 km between encounters is potentially less than 30% of the distance it should’ve covered, having been killed by a cat. 🧪🌎 #birdringing

Epic recovery report just received! ⚠️ A Turnstone I trapped using a homemade walk-in trap has been recaptured in the 🌍 world’s 🌎 northernmost continuously inhabited settlement. Ringed on 12 February 2024 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex 🇬🇧, it was re-trapped on 08 June 2025 in Alert, Nunavut… 🇨🇦 (🧵 1/2)

Female Varied Thrush ringed today 🇨🇦🪶

Red-breasted Nuthatch today. Or a miniature badger…? 🦡🪶🇨🇦

Male Red-shafted (Northern) Flicker ringed on southern Vancouver Island today. I always appreciate the intricate patterns of their tail coverts. 🇨🇦🪶

It was a record autumn for Spotted Towhee at Rocky Point, with 438 ringed. That’s 17 kg of biomass! Two subspecies were encountered: oregonus (common) and arcticus (rare). A key difference is that arcticus has more extensive white in the scapulars. 🇨🇦🪶🧪🌎

Varied Thrushes are everywhere at the moment! I saw at least 30 on my afternoon forest outing. This male was one of three ringed. #birdingBC

The travels of 2N04 continue. I ringed this Black-headed Gull in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on 03 January. It spent July to September in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, before visiting Datchet, Berkshire, on 26 November. #EssexBirding

Many Northern Saw-whet Owls pass through Vancouver Island on their autumn migration to lower latitudes, but some will remain for the winter. This individual, trapped last night, was ringed here on 01 October. 🇨🇦🦉🧪🌎

Sixty Black Turnstones were feeding on the Whiffin Spit shoreline this evening 🇨🇦🪶

Owl feathers contain porphyrins, which fluoresce pink under ultraviolet light. Recently grown feathers fluoresce, while older feathers don’t, as porphyrins fade with age. First-year (1 flight feather generation) and second-year (2 generations) Northern Saw-whet Owls are pictured. 🇨🇦🧪🌎 #birdringing

It’s always nice to see a Bufflehead. These chaps were feeding in the Haro Straight on Wednesday. 🇨🇦🪶

Tidepooling in Victoria tonight produced a handful of nudibranchs, including this Spotted Leopard Dorid (Diaulula odonoghuei) 🇨🇦🌊🦑

I wrote an article on last month’s Salish Sea boat trip for the latest edition of BCnature magazine 🇨🇦🌊

Harlequin Duck enjoying the view of Mount Baker from southern Vancouver Island this afternoon 🇨🇦🪶

Goosing Canada style! 2K ‘white-cheeked geese’ to sift through at Martindale Flats on Vancouver Island today. Bulk of Ridgway's Cackling and Dusky Canada (22 neck collars read), with a single Snow. #CanadianBirding

A cracking third-year Northern Saw-whet Owl ringed in Metchosin tonight. The key denotes the moult pattern of three flight feather generations, allowing its age to be determined. 🇨🇦🧪🌎 #birdringing

Woodland wander last night. Trees swaying. Wolves howling. Varied Thrushes roosting. 🇨🇦🪶

Odd twitch yesterday. A distant White-tailed Ptarmigan in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. A mountain specialist, favouring elevations of >820 metres, who appeared on lowland farmland. 🇨🇦🪶

Harris’s Sparrow this afternoon at Jordan River on Vancouver Island. Over 1000 miles northwest of where it should be! 🇨🇦🪶

White-crowned Sparrow experienced a record year at Rocky Point, with 537 ringed (2000-2024 mean of 160). This individual, who’d clearly been feasting on berries, was one of our oldest recaptures, having been ringed in 2019. 🇨🇦🪶🧪🌎

It was Rocky Point’s second-best autumn for White-throated Sparrow, with 16 ringed (2000-2024 mean of 7.2) 🇨🇦🪶🧪🌎

Male Varied Thrush in a southern Vancouver Island forest today. I’ve ringed 10 first-years over the last two weeks here, but this was my first adult! 🪶

First- and second-year Northern Saw-whet Owls last weekend in Metchosin. 1CYs are characterised by a single generation of new (juvenile) flight feathers. 2CYs exhibit a block of old (juvenile) flight feathers which are sandwiched between new outer primaries and inner secondaries. 🇨🇦🧪🌎 #birdringing

Adult male Barred Owl ringed in a southern Vancouver Island forest this evening 🇨🇦🦉

This Northern Saw-whet Owl, trapped last night in Metchosin, was ringed <1 km away on 14 Oct 2023. Now in its third year, the clincher for ageing is the presence of three generations of flight feathers which include a juvenile generation (in this case, just the innermost primary). 🇨🇦🧪🌎 #birdringing

Nice night spent ringing Northern Saw-whet Owls on southern Vancouver Island 🦉🇨🇦

It’s always good to see the impacts of avian non-natives documented. A recent paper on Common Myna in Israel (mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/7/828) cited our Seychelles research (sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002196). #ornithology

Every Varied Thrush I see is a delight! A male and a female, ringed in Metchosin this evening, allowed a side-by-side comparison. 🇨🇦🪶

Steller’s Jay ringed in Metchosin just now. The blue lateral crown-stripes are easy to miss in the field! #birdringing

Male Red-breasted Nuthatch ringed in Metchosin today #birdingBC

A day of habitat restoration in the subalpine zone, via chopper. By expanding lines of sight for Vancouver Island Marmots, predation pressure on this Critically Endangered ground squirrel should be reduced. 🇨🇦🌎🐿️

Adult male Golden-crowned Kinglet recaptured at Rocky Point this month; ringed there in August 2024. Males are told by orange feathers in the crown. #birdringing

California Quail at Rocky Point last month. Their plume is comprised of six overlapping feathers. #birdingBC

Barred Owl ringed at Rocky Point Bird Observatory tonight 🦉

Blog post on my last week as 2025’s bander-in-charge at Rocky Point Bird Observatory, now we’ve completed autumn migration monitoring: rpboblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/week... 🇨🇦🪶🧪🌎

Third time lucky with this Rock Wren at McMicking Point in Victoria today! #birdingBC

Siberian Thrush ageing confusion resolved! Papay’s 2022 bird (accepted as an adult) was a first-winter male. Morals of the story: adult males should always have striking head patterns and juvenile wing feathers can be very blue! Thanks to @stervander.com for revisiting the specimen. #birdingScotland

Marsh Wrens are not common in the nets at Rocky Point. It was nice to catch a couple last weekend, including a recapture from last year. #birdringing

A juvenile female Sharp-shinned Hawk rounded off the final day of autumn migration monitoring at Pedder Bay today #birdringing

Perfection in duck form. Adult drake Harlequins in Victoria this week. #birdingBC

American Pipit at Rocky Point today ~ the first ringing record for the observatory, with <1 ringed in British Columbia per year. #birdringing

An unexpected Virginia Rail in the mist nets was a delightful start to this morning at Rocky Point! #birdringing

A new nudibranch for me in this week’s peek beneath the surface: White-lined Dirona 🌊🇨🇦 #MarineLife

I have wanted to see a Varied Thrush for a very, very long time, so I was ecstatic to catch this first year male at Pedder Bay this morning! Our first to be ringed this season. #birdringing

Saturday also wasn’t bad for birds in the Juan de Fuca Straight, including a bunch of Red-necked Phalaropes. A lone bull Orca was a delight too! #birdingBC #mammals

Decent showing of pinnipeds at Race Rocks yesterday. Vocal Steller and California Sea Lions are always entertaining. A Northern Fur Seal constituted a rarity for these waters. #MarineLife #mammals