Western Grebe BC

Western Grebe	Aechmophorus occidentalis (Lawrence)
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Here is our British Columbia database for Western Grebe. It includes a selection of noteworthy observations. If you have additional records that would be important to include, please let us know.

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Noteworthy observations of Western Grebe in British Columbia
Status: Breeding: Local breeder east of the Coast/Cascade Mountains. Non-breeding: Winters locally in south coastal BC. Sometimes abundant. Boundary Bay is an important moult site. Several thousand Western Grebes use the area each fall. Population Numbers: A rough guess at total BC breeding population is about 200-500 pairs. Perhaps 3,000-10,000 individuals winter in BC. During migration, as many as 50,000 may pass through the province. Population Trends: Breeding population fluctuates greatly. Susceptible to water level changes and disturbance from watercraft.
Date	Sources	Location	Number	Notes
April 30 to May 9, 2002	Rawluk 2002a, Rawluk 2002b	Fort St. James	see notes	Randy Rawluk tallied unusually high counts on Stuart Lake during this period. 300+ were present April 30, with numbers peaking at 1000+ May 6-7.
April 29, 2002	Charlesworth 2002	Kelowna	4000-5000	Okanagan Lake off Maude Roxby Sanctuary (Chris Charlesworth).
November 16, 2001	Sandra Kinsey	Tabor Lake	see notes	Several on Eaglet Lake and 5 on Tabor Lake. Last reports of 2001 for north-central BC (Sandra Kinsey, Laird Law).
November 3-11, 2001	Stanley 2001	McBride	1	Downed during a stormy night November 3 (fide Elsie Stanley). The finders released it into the Fraser River. The next day, perhaps the same bird was on nearby Horseshoe Lake, and still present November 11 (Elsie Stanley).
October 31, 2001	Mark Phinney	Swan Lake, Tupper	1	(Mark Phinney)
Late September 2001	BCVANBIRDS newsgroup	Boundary Bay	3000	(Kyle Elliott)
June 16, 1999	Richard Cannings on bcintbirds (newsgroup)	Salmon Arm	see notes	A census of the colony at Salmon Arm tallied 216 adult Western Grebes and a total of 49+ nests (Frank Kime). The nests were later destroyed or abandoned. Failure was attributed mainly to high water levels and predation.
May 10, 1999	bcintbirds (newsgroup)	Okanagan Lake	2,700	This substantial count was made near Kelowna on May 10 (Martin Gebauer) was noteworthy. Such concentrations rarely been recorded in recent years.
September 1998	Tweeters (newsgroup)	Boundary Bay	3,000	Using the bay as a moult site most of the month (Bonnie Stout).
March 24, 1989	Campbell et al. 1990	Georgia Strait	11,000	Between Denman Island and French Creek (P.W. Martin).
September 14, 1988	Campbell et al. 1990	Delta	4	Pair of adults with 2 less than half grown young in a marsh near Reifel Island. What is believed to have been the same family group was present there October 2. Extralimital breeding record.
May 5, 1981	Campbell et al. 1990	Nakusp	5,000	-
March 23, 1980	Campbell et al. 1990	Saanich	4,000	-
October 13, 1976	Campbell et al. 1990	Oyster Bay	8,000+	-
March 17, 1976	Campbell et al. 1990	Queen Charlotte City	500	-
March 14, 1976	Dawe 1980	Qualicum Beach	4,000	-
March 5, 1976	Campbell et al. 1990	Broken Group	2,000	-
October 20, 1975	Campbell et al. 1990	Campbell River	9,045	-
October 12, 1974	Campbell et al. 1990	Nicola Lake	2,000	-
October 5, 1972	Campbell et al. 1990	Hesquiat Harbour	1,705	-
December 21, 1969	Monroe 1973	Vancouver CBC	15,450	All-time North American high count.
March 22, 1938	Campbell et al. 1990	Departure Bay	3,000	-
March 10, 1931	Munro 1941	Nanoose Bay	3,500	-

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