An Icelandic bird bonanza arrives in N.L., to the delight of birders
In the last column, I made a prediction. The forecasted weather maps showed 48 hours of strong northeast and east winds blowing direct from Ireland and Iceland to southeast Labrador and the entire east coast of Newfoundland. I suggested not one but a half dozen species of European birds that one might look for if these winds actually materialized.
I nailed every species, but there was even more!
This was as farfetched as putting all your money on the team that would win the Stanley Cup even before the first game of the season had been played. It was three parts luck and the rest dreaming. All of us birders are always dreaming about the possibilities.
RARE BIRDS
The winds responsible for the displacement of birds occurred on April 2 and 3. The winds caught birds that were migrating between wintering areas in Ireland to their nesting grounds in Iceland.
The first report of a rare bird was two European golden plovers in Cartwright by Wendy and Jeff Martin late on April 2.
Then, on the next day, there was a gangbuster find of a common shelduck in a roadside pond in Bonavista by Jon Joy.
An hour later, an improbable photograph of a Eurasian oystercatcher in downtown St. John’s feeding in the median at the corner of Water Street and Hamilton Avenue was posted by Christina Child.
BEATING RECORDS
The events on the next day blew everything out of the record books. Colleen Rumbolt reported a whooper swan spotted near St. Lewis, Labrador.
At St. Anthony, a graylag goose was found by John and Ivy Gibbons, and two pinkfooted geese were discovered by Aimee Buckle while out for a walk.
Meanwhile, three barnacle geese were spotted in a field off Cochrane Pond Road in Goulds by Alison Mews.
A few small groups of European golden plovers also began showing up.
SKY'S THE LIMIT
This was obviously a oneof-a-kind event with the sky now the limit.
By the fourth day, we were all but numbed by the incoming reports. Vernon Buckle was sent a photograph of another graylag goose at Forteau, Labrador.
On Facebook, there was a photograph of a whooper swan at Sop’s Arm, White Bay by Nicole Davis, another pink-footed goose at La Scie was posted by Kim Ward, and then two more barnacle geese were photographed at Robert’s Arm by Shelly Winsor.
Over the following couple of days, there was a fabulous flock of four black-tailed godwits in Portugal Cove South on April 7 found by Richard Thomas, and another on a lawn just south of Cape Broyle reported via Chris Ryan.
Unbelievably, the third whooper swan of the event showed up at Bonavista on April 7 and was posted for all the world to see on Newfoundland and Labrador Birdwatching Facebook page by Mark Gray.
MARDI GRAS FOR BIRDERS
Whew! I just detailed more than a year’s worth of major league rarities in the first half of a bird column.
Some of these birds – like the common shelduck, whooper swan, graylag goose and Eurasian oystercatcher – have occurred only a handful of times on this side of the Atlantic, albeit most of the previous records were from this province.
It was Mardi Gras time for the birders.
Some of the vagrant birds were present only for one or two days while others remained for 10 days.
FLYING IN – AND OUT
The biggest crowd pleasers were the common shelduck in Bonavista, the Eurasian oystercatcher in St. John’s, the whooper swans in Sop’s Arm and Bonavista and the four black-tailed godwits in Portugal Cove South.
A few mainland birders flew in to take part in the party.
All of these displaced birds will likely be strong enough to correct their navigational mishap and fly back to their intended summer destination in Iceland after their little side trip to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Almost lost in the avalanche of Icelandic rarities was the famous Steller’s sea eagle, seen by Lisa Murphy in Bonavista while looking for the common shelduck.
The pattern of sightings for this bird is following that of 2023. Expectations are high that it will spend the summer in the Trinity area.
LINGERING VISITORS
Some Icelandic vagrants continue to linger in the province as the winds change to a strong southwesterly flow bringing in vagrants from another direction.
A great egret, photographed by Evelyn Dumka at Little Catalina, was an exotic sight from the south.
Equally exotic, but on a smaller scale, were rosebreasted grosbeaks at a halfdozen backyard feeders in the western half of the province.
More southern vagrants are expected as this article goes to print. There are some pretty interesting winds blowing our way from the southeastern United States in the next couple of days. Dare I make a prediction? Everyone from feeder watchers to hard-core bird watchers would like a painted bunting. Look that one up and, when it shows up at your feeder, please spread the news.
Spring of 2024 has started out with a bang.