Birders are aflutter about the presence of a rarely seen bird and are flocking to Queen's Park to take a look.
A report on the B.C. Rare Bird Alert website states that a red-flanked bluetail was found Feb. 13 by Colin McKenzie, and later confirmed by Mike Toochin and George Clulow.
"I think this is the first record for Canada of this bird," wrote Tom McKenzie on the website. "It is related to a European robin, but it is probably closest in appearance among European birds to an Eastern bluebird."
Clulow, a Burnaby resident, wrote about the visitor to Queen's Park on his Burnaby Outdoors - Birds, Nature and Parks blog. His excitement at the discovery of a red-flanked bluetail was evident.
"If you rush down to Queen's Park right now, you can find one of the rarest birds ever to show up in Canada," he wrote on Monday. "In fact, the red-flanked bluetail has never been seen before in Canada until yesterday. A single bird like this usually results in a flock of birders coming to see it. And they were arriving from around the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley in flocks this morning."
The presence of the red-flanked bluetail - the rarest bird seen in Canada this year - drew a crowd to Queen's Park on the weekend.
Clulow said he hopes that the "tiny visitor from Asia hangs around a while longer as word of its visit is spreading and "visitors will no doubt be arriving from across the continent in the days ahead to see this ultra rarity".
"This will have people flooding in from around the continent," Clulow told The Record. "Some people book flights right away."
Clulow called the bird's visit a "mega sighting" for local birders. He wrote that the bird looks extremely healthy and is finding lots to eat.
