Hi Birders
This week we were blessed with exceptional weather, six birders packed into senior Derrick’s truck and off we went. There was a little trouble with seat belts with much groping taking place in the rear of the truck.
Many geese were seen in and around Somenos and the Cedar Waxwings were once again in the trees beside the dog park. 540 Geese were tallied in the Somenos area along with a large group of Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal. The local Red-tailed Hawk was spotted in one of the hawthorns. The swans had vacated the Lake but a couple of Pied-billed Grebes and Common Mergansers were seen.
At the Quist farm we had a few swans and also 4 more along Westholme Road.
We hit paydirt along Richards Trail as when we got to the Pastula farm there were almost 200 swans with 43 being immatures which was nice.
We continued on our way adding a few birds as we went. As those of you that have joined us on our count will know that it’s not all about birds and many different discussions take place, this week we had crossword puzzles explained and I also pointed out a big bull with certain criteria pointed out for those who don’t know the difference. It was this topic that brought out a major revelation, “not sure why”, it was brought to our attention that there was a nudist colony at or near one of the vineyards in the valley, well I must admit that i shriveled in my seat on this cold day, I can’t imagine who would want to take their clothes of in this weather. If you feel inclined to learn more please contact Dorothy who knows the location and the good spotting locations for this rare winter species.
Anyway back to swans and geese after our rest stop it was on to Sahilton Road where we were treated to our first of the season adult Tundra Swan which showed nicely beside some of its larger cousin, also here were 9 Greater White-fronted Geese which played hide and seek in a small gully out in the field.
We got skunked for most of the southern route of our count with a group of Canadas which I saw this week at Dougans Flats being the major high-lite until we got to Willmot Road where a immature Northern Shrike put on a nice display for us.
We finished our count on the Dock Road, Cowichan Bay with some Mute and Trumpeter Swans on the north side. Large numbers of diving ducks could be seen out on the water including a small group of Greater Scaup.
On the river at the bridge by the longhouse on Tzouhalem Road were a small group of Barrow’s Goldeneye
Good numbers of Raptors were had this week with a total of 67 Bald Eagles, 2 Northern Harriers and 5 Red-tailed Hawks.
The swan numbers were up this week with just over 250 Trumpeters which sadly is far lower than the corresponding date last year. in fact it’s less than half of last years total.
Early days yet and maybe the swans are up island enjoying the great weather and food that Vancouver Island has to offer.
Until next week
Good Birding
Derrick