Tasli Shaw took her whale-watching zodiac on a wild ride July 23 when a lone Nazca booby, a bird native to Latin America only recorded twice before in B.C., graced the waters off Victoria right before her eyes.

Shaw, who captains a 24-foot boat for Ocean EcoVentures in Cowichan Bay, had already enjoyed a full day at sea with two wildlife-watching highlights: a mother humpback whale playing with its calf and a harbour seal giving birth.

乌鸦传媒淭he seas were rough and I decided it was time to get back to calmer waters.乌鸦传媒�

Starting to head for home port around 5 p.m., she caught sight of a big white bird off the Trial Islands with a flight pattern unlike any gull she乌鸦传媒檇 ever observed. Shaw couldn乌鸦传媒檛 tell the exact species, but knew from her inner birder and the way it flapped and circled about that it was some kind of booby 乌鸦传媒� all of which are rare in Greater Victoria 乌鸦传媒� and she needed to record it.

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She described the subsequent challenge of trying to simultaneously track and film the bird, navigate the boat and keep her passengers as dry as possible, saying it was a pretty high-stakes moment for herself and those along for the ride.

乌鸦传媒淚 think they were initially kind of confused why I was basically doing a doughnut trying to follow this bird.乌鸦传媒�

They came to appreciate her efforts once she explained they may have just joined the lucky few in the province to witness this species. She later went to BC Rare Bird Alert to notify the larger birder network of this unidentified sighting.

乌鸦传媒淚t would probably be the highlight of my career, if I imagine,乌鸦传媒� she said, adding that 乌鸦传媒渢he booby still took the cake乌鸦传媒� against the playful humpbacks and birthing seal. This 乌鸦传媒渢ruly organic experience乌鸦传媒� also topped her previous sighting of a brown booby, which she explained was merely spoon-fed to her by others who乌鸦传媒檇 already seen it.

Local biologist Jacques Sirois said it乌鸦传媒檚 the first recorded sighting of the Nazca booby, which breeds as far south as Peru and the Galapagos Islands, in the Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Of the three sightings of this species so far in B.C., it乌鸦传媒檚 only the second to be seen alive.

According to birder Geoffrey Newell, that same booby passed through Puget Sound near Seattle days earlier and made further appearances at the Race Rocks and Trial Islands ecological reserves for subsequent whale watchers to enjoy. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 irritating because no birders got to see it,乌鸦传媒� he said.

If he乌鸦传媒檇 had the chance to set his binoculars on it, Newell added, his heart would乌鸦传媒檝e begun to beat extremely fast and he乌鸦传媒檇 be jumping up to touch the clouds. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a super rare bird anywhere in Canada.乌鸦传媒�

The Nazca booby typically breeds no further north than southern California or Mexico, he said. 乌鸦传媒淚t probably turned up because of that streak of hot weather we had.乌鸦传媒�

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Rare enough as this sighting already is, climate change means we likely won乌鸦传媒檛 see a Nazca booby again in Greater Victoria. During this one乌鸦传媒檚 multi-day visit, Newell noted it didn乌鸦传媒檛 even land onshore in areas where no other birds were nesting.

The term 乌鸦传媒榖ooby乌鸦传媒� comes from the Spanish slang term 乌鸦传媒榖obo,乌鸦传媒� meaning stupid, which references how these seabirds fearlessly landed on ships in the 18th century and made themselves easy targets for sailors. Implicit stupidity aside, Newell called the Nazca booby a highly comical bird due to the combination of its mostly white colour, size of a cormorant and similar bill shape to a pelican. Perhaps its most unique feature is what he called its 乌鸦传媒渟ponge dive.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淥nce it乌鸦传媒檚 got its sights locked on something, it乌鸦传媒檒l tuck its wings in and dive in the water, hardly making a sound.乌鸦传媒�

He said it also carries itself with a 乌鸦传媒渧ery obvious乌鸦传媒� flight pattern one can distinguish even from a distance, as was the case for Shaw. She acknowledged Greater Victoria is an unusual and likely challenging area for a Nazca booby to live in.

乌鸦传媒淚 hope it乌鸦传媒檚 able to either go back (south) or somehow manage to thrive (here).乌鸦传媒�

Do you have a story tip? Email: evert.lindquist@blackpress.ca.

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