Red-breasted Sapsucker

seemingly common and quite easy to see in mature woodlands and even secondary woodland of VI -- they seem to like drumming on metal roofs presumably for extra amplification

Alpine meadows Mount Washington

it was a chilly bright morning at 4C up in the alpine meadows; not many birds around but a couple of Red-breasted sapsuckers and a few Varied Thrushes; Sedge Darner and Northern Spreadwing were on the wing as it warmed up

onto Quadra Island

I looked at the map and thought Quadra might offer opportunities for seeing seabirds close as I had seen large numbers of Marbler Murrelets and Rhinoceros Auklets off there in June but it was a bit of mistake giving it 3 nights as the habitats were pretty limited and 2 and half days of rain did not help -- on the plus side we had a Humpback Whale offshore on two days; saw it breach twice but missed both with the camera but on the second calm morning heard a massive bang and realised that it had breached again then after that the exhaling noise was clearly audible even though it must have been about 1.5kms away -- en route we stopped off at Miracle Beach PP just as the heavy rain set in for the day but Julia found this Red-breasted Sapsucker doing what they d0 - in fact she found all of the Red-breasted Sapsuckers we saw which is a bit worrying

On the short ferry crossing to Quadra I hoped to get some flying auks so stood outside in the heavy rain but nothing much passed the boat and I ended up with a few specs -- but what would you ID one of these as on a Lincolnshire seawatch?  -upper 4 images Rhinoceros Auklets and the bottom two Cassin's Auklet another new bird for me - pity I didn't see them better! - this non breeding Pacific Diver with a juv Red-necked Grebe was the closest bird I saw there and again in heavy rain --

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsuckers; the birds on the sap hole were a real challenge as they were on the bank of a fast flowing river with the only view point on  a rock demanding good balancing skills!

a few birds from Stanley Park

on the north side of Vancouver city Stanley park is noted as an urban oasis and no doubt is good during passage periods but by early July on nice days it is very busy with people -- a dull morning produced a few nice birds but none were close; Hooded Merganser and Wood Ducks on the lake, Red-breasted Sapsucker with fledged young, Cedar Waxwing here, several Song Sparrows, a Great Blue heronry and the only Red-winged Blackbirds of the trip