Birders are all a-twitter
following the sighting of a very rare bird in a farmer's field in Courtenay
this month.
The citrine wagtail is a small
songbird that breeds in north central Asia and winters in South and Southeast
Asia. Until now there have been no confirmed sightings of the bird in Canada
and only one other in North America, when it was spotted in Mississippi in
1992.
"We've got lots of people
here and lots of people who are excited," said birder and biologist Bryan
Gates. "Because if you know anything about birders, they're an excitable
bunch."
The rare bird was first spotted
on Nov. 14 by Cumberland's David and Adele Routledge but it wasn't until Nov.
17 that it was positively identified.
"It's quite a rarity. You
don't actually find them, they find you," said David. "It took a few
days to identify but we knew it was rare by the fact that it was moving
differently - walking, not hopping - and it was quite beautiful."
The bird has remained in and
around a large field next to Comox Road on the Comox side of the 17th Street
bridge. The owner of the land has provided permission for the birders to go
onto his property as long as they stay on the gravel roadway and don't venture
into the farmland.
On Monday morning at least 25
birders braved the heavy rain to get a good look at the little citrine wagtail,
so named for its yellow colouring during mating season and its tendency to
constantly "wag" its long tail feather. As news of the wagtail's
presence spread, birders from the south Island, the Mainland and even the
United States have been flocking to the Comox Valley to see it for themselves
and add it to their list of viewed birds. If the little bird sticks around,
those numbers are only expected to climb.
No comments:
Post a Comment