On Saturday, September 20th we set off on a birding walk around campus, this was the first in a new series of Campus Walks.
Photo by Flickr user Richard Griffin.
Working in partnership with Nature Vancouver, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum was pleased to have Bev Ramey as our leader guiding us through the green spaces and quiet corners of campus sharing her knowledge and passion for birdlife. Bev is a Nature Vancouver Birder and amateur enthusiast. She is familiar with the province and its nature clubs through her term as BC Nature president. She enjoys showing people the natural areas of Point Grey, through Pacific Spirit Park Society and through Birding Surveys on the UBC Farm and the University Golf Course.
Our group checking out some birds around campus.
It was a perfect fall day, the weather was sunny and the red, orange and yellow of the turning leaves were stunning against a brilliant blue sky. Our quest to find and identify local birds took us to some interesting corners of campus; we explored beautiful green spaces near the Chan Center and Sedgwick – Main Library looking for resident birds, and headed out towards the Museum of Anthropology looking for migrating birds returning south.
We saw a number of birds during our walk, as well as some interesting evidence of avian activity, including a few piles of whitish bird feathers on the ground below large second growth conifers near International House. According to our guide, the piles of feathers at the base of these trees, and the way the feathers appeared to be plucked rather than chewed off, suggest a bird of prey may be using this area to consume its catch, and while we did not see a raptor in this location, it was exciting to get a glimpse of the wild side of campus.
Ring-billed Gull by Flickr user Andrew A Reding.
Our final tally for the day showed 22 species observed, either by sight or sound and included the following:
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Ring-billed Gull
- Glaucous-winged Gull
- Belted Kingfisher
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- Red-breasted Sapsucker
- Steller’s Jay
- Northwestern Crow
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Bushtit
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- American Robin
- Spotted Towhee
- Savannah Sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Golden-crowned Sparrow
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
Also worth mentioning was a possible Lincoln’s Sparrow sighting (however it didn’t stay long enough to confirm ID).The long list of species made us realize just how much biodiversity can be found on a campus.
Anna’s Hummingbird in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum’s collection.
Join us for our next Campus Walk, where we will be looking for Native Plants. Walks run rain or shine and are included with museum admission or membership.
Photo credits: [thumbnail] photo by Flickr user Gary Cooper.
[banner] photo by Flickr user Michelle Lamberson.