Two separate bird-sightings in Greater Victoria said to be a first on Vancouver Island

Great-tailed grackles seen at Esquimalt Lagoon, wood sandpiper at Panama Flats - BCLocalNews.com - Jul. 6, 2021 12:00 a.m.

Two bird species extremely rare to B.C. have been spotted in Greater Victoria in the last two days.

A few female great-tailed grackles were seen foraging along the Esquimalt Lagoon on Sunday, while a wood sandpiper was observed in Panama Flats early Monday morning.

The first-ever sighting of a wood sandpiper on Vancouver Island, in Panama Flats on June 5? (Photo by Geoffrey Newell)

The great-tailed grackle is usually found in the southern U.S. and Mexico and has only been sighted in B.C. six times before, according to B.C. Rare Bird Alert. Ann Nightingale of Rocky Point Bird Observatory said she believes this is the first time the bird has ever been sighted on Vancouver Island.

Normally, she said, the birds travel in flocks of hundreds to thousands, so to see a few by themselves is odd. Nightingale doesn’t know why they would be so far off track, but said people in the birding community are wondering...[READ MORE]