Personal Observations of Canada's First Taiga Flycatcher

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:39:17 -0700

A Christmas Miracle

It was Christmas Day, and I was itching to get outside. After spending the morning with family, I checked my weather app. A clearing in the rain gave me enough time to get out for a quick bird outing. On a whim, I decided to walk the seawall along Sunset Beach Park, which is only a short stroll from home. During the winter months, and when the tide is high enough to deter people and dogs from clambering around the exposed seaside, wintering Short-billed Gulls loiter on a patch of rocks near the Inukshuk Monument, a smorgasbord of white and grey and coffee-with-cream-brown. One time, a Bonaparte’s Gull joined the congregation, a species that I am used to seeing either bobbing up and down in the bay, or slicing through the air with ivory-edged wings.
Slowly, I made my way out of False Creek, my senses perhaps heightened by a world subdued. Traffic seemed quieter than normal, and heavy skies blanketed the landscape in a dull light.
I had tempered my expectations for what I might find. A Long-tailed Duck or Surf Scoter diving near the seawall. Some Ring-billed Gulls scouring the grass for any potential morsel. Perhaps an overwintering warbler’s song emanating from one of the few trees planted around the park.
By the time I reached the aforementioned Short-billed Gull grouping at the farthest end of the park, I was already content with what I had seen: Bonaparte’s Gulls flying circuits in and out of False Creek, occasionally diving down for fish; a battalion of Barrow’s Goldeneyes making their way from underneath Burrard Bridge; and watermelon-shaped Cackling Geese grazing below the hornbeams.

TaigaFlycatcher on Ethan Moon

Personal Observations of Canada's First Taiga Flycatcher

A Christmas Miracle