Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Snow Bunting - Blackie Spit, BC We get a special winter visitor who spends some time on our coast line in the form of this Snow Bunting. They are the only bird that I can think of that turns brown in the winter and white in the summer to match their environment. These little birds head to the snow early to carve out a patch of tundra to protect, mate and raise young on. The winter colors are spectacular even though the are simply black and white. This was photographed on one of our premier birding area called Blackie Spit. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com 2022
Snow Bunting - Blackie Spit, BC
Snow Bunting - Lake Louise, AB You know its cold when the snowflakes sparkle! A trip to Lake Louise found us watching a couple snow buntings make their way from the seed head to seed head in the - 16 Celsius or converted to Fahrenheit that is 3 degrees. Chilly any way you look at it, yet these little birds seemed right at home. These little birds are the most northern land-based breeder in the world and are nicknamed snowflakes. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Snow Bunting - Lake Louise, AB
Snow Bunting - Blackie Spit, BC One of Vancouver's best location for birding is along a stretch of sand at the end of Nicomekl River in the little community of Crescent Beach. This year we have been very lucky to have a wintering group of Snow Buntings staying with us here. During the winter months the brown plumage keeps them safe in sandy and grassy areas where they forage out seeds. In the Summer, they are a striking black and white. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Snow Bunting - Blackie Spit, BC
Snow Bunting - Powell River, BC During a recent stake out of the Red-backed Shrike, a very rare bird to BC, a Snow bunting was found on the claim. In the short dewy grass, this little sparrow-like bird was picking through the gravel for a little breakfast. Snow Buntings are found throughout the northern climates in the summer but make their way south to a band just on either side of the US-Canada border. The brown feathers of this bird are a winter addition with the summer plumage a striking black and white. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Snow Bunting - Powell River, BC
Snow Bunting - Iona Island, BC There are a couple of reliable places to find these little black and white beauties in the Vancouver area in the winter. The Tsawwassen Ferry jetty and here on the Iona jetty. They seem to like both spits of land with almost no trees and close to the water. This little bird was alone picking through the grass seeds midway down the man-made tract of land dodging the odd couple running along the gravel. These birds spend their summers around and north of the arctic circle where some males get to breeding grounds when temperatures can still reach -30. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Snow Bunting - Iona Island, BC
McKay's Bunting - Tsawwassen, BC During a quick drive by on the Ferry Jetty in Tsawwassen, we came across a very pale Snow bunting. Not being familiar with the female McKay's we carried on with the sighting listed as a Snow. Liron Gertzman contacted me a couple days later and suggested the bird as a McKay's so we compared notes and photos and he passed along the info to our resident rare bird expert, Melissa Hafting. Mel contacted a couple of the known experts on the subject and to all of our surprise, we were confirmed with a McKay's. Please see the details of Mel's research here. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
McKay's Bunting - Tsawwassen, BC
Lapland Longspur on the Rocks - Tsawwassen, BC Every year several of these Arctic summer residents make the stop on the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty on their way to southern climates. The transformation of these birds from breeding colors to this mottled tan, black and white is to protect them in their wintering grounds. During the summer they are much more striking. Here is a Male Lapland Longspur in Nome, AK as photographed from a friend on Flicker. Michael W Klotz 2019 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Lapland Longspur on the Rocks - Tsawwassen, BC
Snow Bunting - Burnaby, BC There was a small patch of Rose Garden this bird was frequenting for several days. I stayed for at least an hour and a half and was lucky enough for the bird to come within 3 feet of me while he was feeding. It is not often that you can take pictures with a close up setting on the camera. ​This sometimes winter visitor was found in a very strange location indeed. Snow Buntings are typically found here on gravelly spits along the water where there are some grass seeds left from the fall. This migrant was refilling for the trip north, among the venerable halls of Simon Fraser University. It was quite a busy location with construction on one side and the roaring buses on the other. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Snow Bunting - Burnaby, BC
Snow Bunting - Burnaby, BC This sometimes winter visitor was found in a very strange location indeed. Snow Buntings are typically found here on gravelly spits along the water where there are some grass seeds left from the fall. This migrant was refilling for the trip north, among the venerable halls of Simon Fraser University. It was quite a busy location with construction on one side and the roaring buses on the other. There was a small patch of Rose Garden this bird was frequenting for several days. The summer birds are much more striking with stark black on pure white but still a great bird to see here in the winter. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Snow Bunting - Burnaby, BC
Snow Buntings - Tsawwassen, BC These hardy little birds were grouped up in a flock of 6 on a very cold and windy day in January on the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty. The brownish tones that they sport in the winter turn to black and white for breeding in the high artic. The straight back toenail of the species alludes to their cousin the longspur who also frequent the jetty in the spring and fall during migration. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Snow Buntings - Tsawwassen, BC
Snow Bunting - It was a very dreary day when the phone went off suggesting there was a snow bunting in breeding plumage out on the Iona Jetty. (Thanks Mel) I was with my wife who had just endured a weekend of birding and was now asked to hang out in the truck just another hour........ tops, as I ran down the jetty to see if I could get some shots. Snow buntings that you usually see around here are brown and white and not at striking with the black. There he was, calm as could be picking the seeds from the short grass on the top of the pipe. The bird and I were both soaked to the bone, but I was smiling ear to ear. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Snow Bunting - Richmond
Lapland Longspur - Crescent Beach, BC While sitting on the Jetty waiting for the Willet to show up, I heard, then saw the shape of an incoming sparrow to the line of seaweed on the beach below me. There could only be a couple choices and both were waiting to be put on my year list. I saw the rust colored wings of the longspur that we see in the spring and fall here on the beaches. This bird had presumably come from above the arctic circle where they spend the summer and head as far south as the Mexican border for the winter months. This casual visitor is seen anywhere there is short grass and typically on the coast. Longspurs are named for the extra long nail on the back toe. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Lapland Longspur - Crescent Beach, BC
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Snow Bunting - Tsawwassen, BC
Four of these fall visitors were back on the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty this weekend. The longspurs seem to enjoy the spits along the ocean. When your looking for them, they look more like mice skittering across the open spaces in the grass. It is a very effective camouflage tactic. Picture
Lapland Longspur - Tsawwassen
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Lapland Longspur - Sooke, BC
Another shot of the same bumting on Iona Jetty last fall. They certainly are hardy little birds to last on the open shoreline with that nasty cold wet wind blowing in off Georgia Strait. Picture
Snow Bunting - Iona South Jetty, BC