While it’s a rare sighting in these parts, a glaucous gull recorded in a recent city bird count wasn’t spotted in the most pristine of locations.
The large gull with the unremarkable appearance was seen at the Mission Flats landfill — one among hundreds or even thousands of starlings, ravens, crows and other gull species at the dump enumerated by volunteers during the annual Christmas bird count.
It’s the first time a glaucous gull has been spotted in Kamloops in 14 years.
“They’re normally an Arctic-residing species that don’t come down south very often,” said Rick Howie, who helped oversee the count.
About 50 volunteers from the Kamloops Naturalist Club joined thousands of others across North America for the Dec. 21 count under the auspices of the National Audubon Society.
The count of birds in Kamloops is divided in a grid, centred on Mount Dufferin and expanding out in a 12-kilometre radius.
Together they counted nearly 9,000 birds — more than a quarter of them European starlings at the landfill — divided into 70 species.
Howie said it’s the number of species, rather than the number of birds, that is important.
The variety in Kamloops sometimes reaches the low 80s. While the 70 number is considered below average, Howie said it is not disappointing.
While lack of snow cover helped the count, some environmental conditions limited species or ability to view them.
“All of the sewage lagoons were frozen, so there were fewer ducks,” Howie said.
“The river is 40 centimetres higher than normal.”
Those factors mean dabbling ducks can’t utilize those frozen ponds and, therefore, weren’t seen in typical numbers.
Swans, for example, aren’t able to reach vegetation in the river due to high water.
The count found 13 trumpeter swans — a species that has otherwise made a remarkable comeback across North American and is found in Kamloops in larger numbers in other years.
A handful of birds were tallied upon sighting of a single representative: One each of the glaucous gull, Western grebe, gyrfalcon, ruffed grouse, American dipper, white-throated sparrow and white-crowned sparrow were counted.
On the other hand are species so common they rate high in the nuisance factor, including ravens, starlings, pigeons and Canada geese.
Two listed species of concern due to low numbers in B.C. were seen in Kamloops — two each of great blue heron and burrowing owl.
Local bird enthusiast Tom Dickinson, Thompson Rivers University’s dean of science, was in Ottawa during this year’s count — where he volunteered to count birds.
He estimates he has helped count in 15 of the last 25 or so years in Kamloops.
Dickinson’s usual route is to move up Rose Hill and beyond, starting at the valley bottom.
His hot spots during the annual count include the river itself, as well as at neighbouring houses, where he knocks on doors and asks to see what’s dining at the feeders.
“Birders tend to have favourite stomping grounds,” he said.
Dickinson also noted the city is home to an area beside the Thompson River at Tranquille designated by the Canadian Wildlife Services as an important bird area in North America.
A large number of varieties tend to stop over during migration routes.
Even sightings of relatively common birds in the count can show important changes.
This year, volunteers counted 30 American robins, a species that numbers in the thousands in spring when it is widely known as a harbinger of the season.
Howie said some of those birds, if they survive the winter, may become “genetic pilot animals that are pushing the limits.”
Those birds should normally reside in the southern United States or Central America in the winter.
“If they can remain behind without migration, they’re here early and get a jump on migrants.
“In a sense, they’re explorers.”
Those surviving birds pass on those hardy genes to offspring, which, in theory, can continue the pattern of outcompeting, Howie said.
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