EXTRALIMITAL RECORD

TcrckSandpiper in BritishColumbia, Canada

Margaret E. and J. E. Victor Goodwill do some birding at River Jordan, N50JULY miles 21, west1987, of Victoria,WE DECIDED Vancou- TO ver Island, British Columbia. As we nearedSooke on Highway 14, we turned left onto Goodridge Road and stopped at the GoodridgePeninsula end of the narrow causewayin Sooke Land Dis- trict, British Columbia (48 ø 23'N, 123ø 40%V). At 0845 hours PST, a grayish- brown shorebird teetering on the bar- nacle-encrusted gravel and boulder outer foreshore caused both of us to scrutinize with great care. This looked like a long-dreamed-ofspecies. The long dark upturned bill and the two promi- nent dark lines on the back were diag- nostic of Terek Sandpiper(Xenus cine- rus), a bird that we had hoped to see, but never really expectedto find. While one of us went back across the Photo/Tim Zurowski. VIREO ZO3/6/OO1R. causewayto telephone birders in Vic- toria in order to get the confirmation Thesesupplement Keith Taylor'searlier 1983). Roberson(1980) mentionsun- processunderway, the other studiedthe efforts. These and written descriptions confirmed reports from Dungeness, bird. Keepingit under closeobservation ensurethat the record is properly doc- Clallam County, Washington, on Oc- was not alwayssuccessful, for the bird umented. tober 27, 1972, and from Alberta. The managed to disappear. Before long, Probablythe abundantsupply of tiny A.O.U. Check-list(1983) listsa sightre- Keith Taylorarrived from Victoria and crabs,on which the sandpiperappeared port for Churchill, Manitoba. Godfrey found the bird farther east along the to be feeding voraciously,was the de- (1986) details a singleindividual care- shore. He photographed it with his termining factor that kept the Terek on fully observedthere July 13, 1972, by camera mounted on a telescope.We re- the southshore of Goodridge Peninsula JamesF. Akers. On the strengthof this turned to Victoria, notified the Victoria until at least August 6. It was seen by report, Godfrey placedthe Terek Sand- Rare Bird Alert and contactedas many many observersfrom severalparts of piper on the hypotheticallist for Can- local birders as we could directly. The Canada and the United States.We par- ada. Neither Godfrey (1986) nor Salt effectivenessof telephonenetworking is ticulafiy like the story we heard of four and Salt (1976) mention an Alberta provenby the fact that aboutthree hours young students from North Carolina sighting.Our observationat Goodridge later, we receivedcalls from as far away who learned of the bird, hopped in a Peninsula is, apparently, the first con- as Ontario and Surrey, British Colum- vehicle, took turns driving, drove con- firmed sightingfor North America out- bia. "Terek Sandpiper fever" spread tinuously for about four days, existed side of Alaska. rapidly, but did not appear as such on on "fast food," and were ecstatic when the sick-leaveslips of working birders they arrived and found the bird still LITERATURE CITED who did not wish to risk waiting until there. the weekend. The Terek Sandpiper breeds from AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. Several Victoria birders found their Finland, northern Russia, and northern 1983. Check-list of North American life Terek Sandpiper that evening. Siberia south to central Russia, Lake Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press.Lawrence, Kansas. Among them was Tim Zurowski, who Baikal, and Anadyrland, and winters GODFREY, W. E. 1986. The Birds of Can- cautiouslyapproached the bird in his from the Persian Gulf, southern Red ada, Revisededition. National Museums kayak and took excellent close-uppho- Sea, SoutheastAsia and Hainan south of Canada, Ottawa. tographs,used here with his permission. to South Africa, India, the East Indies, ROBERSON, D. 1980. Rare birds of the Zurowski has placed copiesof his pho- New Guinea, and Australia (A.O.U. West Coast of North America. Woodcock tographson file at the British Columbia 1983). It occurscasually in spring and Publications,Pacific Grove, California. SALT, W. R. and J. R. SALT. 1976.The birds Provincial Museum in Victoria fall migration in the west Aleutians, of Alberta. Hurtig Publishers,Edmonton. (BCPM1160), and in the VIREO col- Pribilof Islands, St. Lawrence Island, lection at the Academy of Natural Sci- Seward Peninsula, and the south coast 501-1204 Fairfield Road, encesin Philadelphia(Z/03/6/001-004). of Alaska (Roberson 1980; A.O.U. Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8V 3B2

Volume 42, Number 2 177