On October 9th Carol Milo, Wilma Harvey, Dorothy & Eric Marshall and Todd Carnahan covered the south die of Cowichan Bay.
A toral of 141 birds were observed.
2 Unident. grebe
3 Double crested cormorant
56 Canada goose
11 American wigeon
45 Unident. Duck
21 Glaucous winged gull
3 Belted kingfisher
Carol Milo
On October 9, 2016, Kurlene Wenberg and Carol Hartwig spotted 13 species of waterbirds on Khenipsen Road, Cowichan Bay North for the BC Coastal Bird Survey.
A total of 427 birds were observed on a sunny party-cloudy day with calm bay state at high tide.
There were lots of volunteers but not so many birds for the first count of the season. Laurie Vasey, Linda Hill, Kathy Coster, Gail Mitchell, and Carol Milo strolled along the shore on the south side and saw the following birds
At 3 PM on September 11, 2016, Kurlene Wenberg and Carol Hartwig spotted 11 species of waterbirds on Khenipsen Road, Cowichan Bay North for the BC Coastal Bird Survey.
A total of 241 birds were observed on a warm, clear day with calm bay state at high tide.
Bright and sharp at 7 AM on Sunday, May 8, Daryl Johnson, Bob Nation, Christine Gilbertson and Carol Hartwig trained their binoculars and spotting scopes on the northern portion of Cowichan Estuary for the Coastal Bird Survey. A total of 163 birds from 14 species were observed on a very calm Bay with excellent visibility on an overcast day at high tide:
10 Great Blue Heron, 13 Canada Goose,8 Mute Swan, 12 Bufflehead, 2 Common Goldeneye, 44 Common Merganser, 55 Glaucous-winged Gull, 2 Osprey, 2 Black Oystercatcher, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 9 Purple Martin, 1 Bald Eagle, 3 Northwestern Crow, 1 Common Raven
Meanwhile, on the south side of the Cowichan Estuary, Laurie Vasey, John Scull, and Barry Hetchco counted:
20 Surf Scoter, 11 Great Blue Heron, 2 Double-crested Cormorant, 1 Mute Swan, 1 Bald Eagle, 4 gull sp., 4 Northwestern Crow, 11Glaucous-winged Gull, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 6 Osprey, 30 Common Merganser, 4 duck sp.
plus many purple martin, a mink, and a river otter
To all our followers.
This past Wednesday we managed to gather all of the regular participants who partook in the Swan count this past season and headed off up to Nanaimo for a bit of birding and lunch at the Crow and Gate. 11 of us left the dog park and headed up the highway to our first stop at Cassidy Airport with high hopes of getting some scarce vagrant, but it was a bit breezy and most birds were staying low down in the vegetation all except a multitude of Tree and Violet-green Swallows who must have wondered what had happened to that nice warm weather of a few days ago.
We left and headed straight to the Nanaimo Estuary where our first bird on Raines Road was a immature Red-tailed Hawk, it is strange but not many immature birds tend to stay through the winter in our area so it was a nice surprise to see, We added a few other birds along the road before we reached the estuary, here the wind had picked up a bit and some looked a little reluctant to get out of the vehicles, but in good old swan counting form all were out and huddling together. Many dozens of swallows were back and forth along the river and it took a while before Kurlene informed us that a Rough-winged Swallow has passed us by, a few of us got to see it before it eventually headed up and down the river, 4 Greater Yellowlegs were out on the gravel bar and even they were hunkered down from the stiff breeze. Up on the viewing tower we got close together in hopes of not dispersing any heat out into the air. A flock of about 60 Cackling Geese ventured high up heading north-east. It did not take long for all to decide that enough was enough and we climbed down to get out of the wind. A lovely breeding plumage male Savannah Sparrow posed for a few snaps, one of only a handful of passerines brave enough to venture out of the undergrowth.
As we were about to leave Bald Eagles and another Red-tailed Hawk took to the skies and circled overhead while a Belted Kingfisher sat lifeless along the river hoping for some fresh fish.
We slowly headed back along Raines Road and a Red-breasted Sapsucker was pecking around a hydro pole while a hardy Rufous Hummingbird hung onto the hydro line for dear life.
At this point I had already two inquiries about when were we going to eat so we headed slowly for the Crow and Gate where we were greeted with the sound of House Sparrows. It was not long before we were all seated around one massive table and our scrumptious lunch was before us, this year for refreshment I had to settle for water as not to upset the old knogging which has not been behaving itself of late. I thought some compassion would ensue, but the young lady beside me swug down sleeve after sleeve of lovely looking British ale. We had our picture taken by a nice lady who I suspect had not seen a cell phone before, like me she was challenged with the use of modern technology. Sadly she managed to catch me saying cheese or trying to get a bit of pie out of my teeth.
There was one strange occurrence when this young chap started hitting on one of our ladies, he held her hand and said that she reminded him of his first love, this made our friend blush a little, but sadly for her it did not go any further. One other lady at our table quipped “some woman have all the luck”
At this point I thought it best if we vacated the premises, who knows what would have happened if the one swigging all the beer had been closer to the action.
We headed off back down Yellow Point Road checking a few spots as we went and then a wonderful sight caught my eye and I quickly suggested that our driver turn around so that we could view the awesome sight. Thousands of Shooting Stars were blooming on this gentle sloping lot, I have never seen so many gathered together, my biggest flock ever. As the shutterbugs blasted off the cameras I stayed beside the vehicle and it was just by chance that I looked behind me and saw some Easter Lillies blooming Erythronium to the botanists among us. What I thought were more Shooting Stars dotted among the white petals turned out to be Lady Slippers, once again the most I have ever seen in this province there must have been 50 or more, what a delight.
Anyways back to birding we headed to Doole Road in the hopes of seeing a Black Duck, but all we got got were black horses, the whisperers among us managed to get the them over, what a lovely group of horses they were. Meanwhile one avid birder had meandered down the road and was beckoning the group to join her, she had found a nice group of 7 Greater White-fronted Geese a species that we had trouble finding our our counts. A single way off bird siting high up in the fir showed all the jizz of being a Red Crossbill so I made our lister add them to our ever growing list of species.
We moved on while one of the other car loads, you know the one that was always lagging behind during our swan counts stopped to check out some duckies and they added a few more species to the list.
We had decided to give the airport one more try and waited patiently for the others to catch up, but it was all too much for Bob and Helen who had danced the away the night before and were ready for a nice comfy chair and so we said our farewells as Eric and Dorothy took them home.
It was still blowing when we reached the airport and even the swallows had given up, but all was not lost a Killdeer sat put in a trailer park surrounded by bunnies and just as we left a spring plumage Chipping Sparrow worked the fenceline picking up something to eat.
That was it, our wonderful day was over, hugs all round to our wonderful team who have been a joy to be with over the past winter months. We ended up with a little over 30 species on this breezy day.
Big thanks to all for their support.
A few pictures are included for your enjoyment.
South Side of the Bay:
On this beautiful, calm morning, Gail Mitchell, Barry Hetchco, John Scull, and LInda Hill walked through Hecate Park and saw these birds plus 27 Purple Martins.
1 Common Loon, 6 Surf Scoter, 3 Great Blue Heron, 13 Double-crested Cormorant, 2 Mute Swan, 1 Bald Eagle, 7 gull sp., 2 Northwestern Crow, 4 Glaucous-winged Gull, 4 Belted Kingfisher, 2 Osprey, 20 Common Merganser , 46 Bufflehead, 1 Horned Grebe, 10 Common Goldeneye
John Scull
North Side of the Bay:
At 8 AM on Sunday, April 10, Daryl Johnson, Bob Nation, Christine Gilbertson and Carol Hartwig trained their binoculars and spotting scopes on the northern portion of Cowichan Estuary for the Coastal Bird Survey. A total of 300 birds from 15 species were observed on a very calm Bay with excellent visibility on an overcast day at high tide.
1 Common Loon, 6 Horned Grebe, 2 Great Blue Heron, 7 Canada Goose, 8 Mute Swan , 14 American Wigeon, 2 Mallard, 4 Surf Scoter, 145 Bufflehead, 6 Common Merganser, 7 Common Goldeneye, 88 unidentified Gull, 3 Bald Eagle, 2 Northwestern Crow, 5 Common Raven
Carol Hartwig
We gathered at the dog park to set off on our end of the year celebration to the Nanaimo Estuary and then to the Crow and Gate for lunch when we noticed many were missing, especially our intrepid leader Derrick, and then Deb, and Bob and Helen. Derrick and Deb were ill, Bob and Helen had already been booked. So we muddled about and finally Eric and Dorothy decided to attend to other duties after we decided it just wouldn’t be the same without the whole crew. We will just change the date to a time when all can attend! Problem solved! That left 4 of us and we decided to carry on and off we went. Just outside of Chemainus I remembered someone had been seeing a Northern Pygmy Owl on Little Mountain in Parksville and being that no one had to be back early, we decided to try for this bird. We pulled into the parking lot at the top of Little Mountain and rushed off to the see what we could find. It’s a beautiful view spot if anyone hasn’t been there and well worth the journey, especially in the spring when you never know what might fly by. We played the Pygmy call and low and behold, there was a reply!! At this point the sound wasn’t easy to pinpoint and we were all looking in different directions, and wondering if there wasn’t another owl hunter playing a call too. That would be somewhat embarrassing…….and then Barry spotted him, on a tree just off the cliff and the mad dash for a better viewpoint was on. A beautiful little bird, calling and giving us great views and photos. Another photographer, Steve Large from Nanaimo was there and it was his first Pygmy too. We were all thrilled and observing him when a kami kazi group of Pine Siskins came in and attacked! We were amazed at their audacity and after a few skirmishes the owl retreated to the woods below. We waited for a bit to see if he would come back and I noticed a bird sitting on a dead tree just off the cliff again and it turned out to be a Townsend’s Solitaire!!! Another flurry of photos and excitement as this isn’t a particularly common bird here on the island. We also ran into Guy Monty doing a raptor and eagle survey and he called in a Hutton’s Vireo and a Yellow Rumped Warbler. A Peregrin Falcon was screaming around the cliffs too. Beautiful place, beautiful weather and wonderful birds!! At this point we went for lunch, stopped on Plummer Rd where there were Brandt, an Eared Grebe and other waterbirds. We didn’t make it back til suppertime which shows you what happens when Derrick isn’t there to crack the whip!!!!
Here are a few pics I took, the Northern Pygmy Owl on his perch, then two showing the angry Pine Siskin attack, and the Townsend’s Solitaire. I’m sure others will have better shots to share but I wanted to give everyone an idea of what we were up to!!
Kurlene, Christina, Zan and Barry………..the runaways
As we enter the final two weeks of our count the swans are departing and we wish them well on their arduous trip north. Our adult swan numbers dropped by half today down to just 220 and they took a few immature with them although most of the young are still here fattening up before they leave.
7 birders set out today and it was very slow going for the first half of the day, Dorothy was having trouble staying focused without any numbers to crunch and this affected her ability to know left from right, with some wayward instructions to the following car, but as soon as she had some numbers to write all corrected itself.
Raptor numbers were not bad and a good number of Red-tailed hawks were tallied. Immature Eagles really dropped as more and more birds head up island for the fishing.
We did have some nice birds to look at today with many Swallows and our first of the year Yellow-rumped Warblers along Tom Windsor Drive. A few Great Blue Herons were around Somenos from the Hwy. and a pair of Pied-billed Grebes. The Western Grebe continued on Somenos Lake with only a female Common Merganser for company.
The raptor girls found an obliging Rufous-sided Towhee which posed for the camera and the Red-winged Blackbirds were singing at all wetlands.
We did see a few Anna’s Hummingbirds but we have not run into a Rufous yet on our travels.
Our first real group of Trumpeters were down Boys Road, but a young man was digging the ditches and we were blocked from checking properly. Another small group were on Sahilton Road and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks round out that side of town.
I have always wondered what drives our Trumpeters to leave, we have all these nice wetlands to breed in and all these yummy fields full of food, so why go traveling up north for seven months?
Koksilah Road west had just under 50 swans, but this week Bench Road dropped down to just 27 birds. Dougan’s Flats had a monster flock of 650 Canada Geese which were spread out right across the fields. St Catherine’s Road had two flocks of swans one close in and another far out numbering 33 individual. Koksilah Road east came through with 70 Trumpeters as we headed for the home straight.
It was amazing this week to see people getting out of the vehicles, you could tell that my talk with the weatherman had straightened out the sunshine, which in turn had boosted the temperature. I have to admit that when we reached the Dock Road the breeze coming up the estuary was a little nippy which for the middle of March is to be expected.
Dinsdale’s Farm had over 100 Trumpeters and 3 Mute Swans that looked out of place out in the field.
As we ventured down the Dock Road the over wintering Northern Harrier was coursing along the side of the road. We added 6 more Mute Swans out in the bay before we headed home to the dog park.
With just one more count for the season and the weather changing we wonder if any swans will be around for next week, but we will do our duty and check that all is well.
Photo credits
Disturbed Anna’s Hummingbird by Eric Marshall
Great Blue Heron by Zan Stenhouse
Rufous-sided Towhee by Kurlen Wenberg
Red Crossbill by Christina Cutbill
All good things must come to an end and so our swan and goose count played out its last week of the season. The weather was cold and damp, but we shouldn’t complain as this season has been very kind to us. Numbers were down right across the board with just 33 Trumpeter Swans remaining with most of them being immature birds. Our Hawk numbers took a dive, but we did find 3 Turkey Vultures sitting on top of a hydro tower up on Richards Trail, our first of the year, and 2 Peregrine Falcons, one along Lakes and the other on Sahilton Road which sat nicely for his photo to be taken.
8 of the swan and goose counting fraternity left the dog park and oh was it slow going, the raptor car got even slower than normal and was missed for most of the first half and was way behind by the time we hit A&W. We could have done with some sunshine to brighten our day, but we have been hardened over the weeks so laughter came from both vehicles as our count began with a few goosies. Most of the geese appeared to have left with none of those monster flocks which were last encountered last week. Dickie birds were at a premium which did not help the photographers among us. We did have a photogenic Great Blue Heron in Somenos Marsh and a Red-breasted Sapsucker that played hide and seek around a maple on Drinkwater Road. Somenos Lake had a few Canada Geese and about the same number of Double-crested Cormorants, but all other duckies were long gone.
We pushed on and the north end did not give us much to write home about, some say they had Killdeer, but I never saw them. The Richards Valley has started to lose some of it’s water and with that went the ducks and swans, swallows have replaced waterfowl with many flying low over the remaining water trying to catch a bug or two, most of these were Tree Swallows and Violet-greens. American Robins have set up camp next to the roads as they pick up the odd worm and creepy crawlies. It was not long when we found ourselves stopping for lunch all of us praying that the second half would bring forth a few big white birds. But just like our beginning we stumbled out of the blocks and were long gone around Koksilah and Bench with still no Trumpeters. We did pick up a few eagles and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks but that was it. Dougan’s Flats was devoid of any birds except one solitary gull way down in the fields. We nipped across the highway and headed for St.Catherine’s and I urged the others to think positive and it worked, there way down in the fields were our first Trumpeters, a family group of 2 adults and 3 immature spending their last few days stocking up on food for their long journey. A male Anna’s Hummingbird sat up beside the car until he saw the cameras and made a dash for cover much to the annoyance of some. Jim’s Pond had one of the bigger flocks of Canada Geese this week and just a couple of Bufflehead males looking lost without their girlfriends to keep them company. Along to Koksilah Road east and another small group of swans this time 15 birds with 13 of them immature. Down through Cowichan Bay we picked up a Mute Swan and in Dinsdale’s Farm another 13 Trumpeter Swans again most being immature. This our last group of swans were saved in digital format. We were now well ahead on time as we hit the Dock Road and I was surprised to see everyone out of the vehicles as it was not at all pleasant, we did get 5 more Mute Swans and one far off bird, but I was not about to get the scope out and look at this single bird in this weather so it went down as swan species.
Our count was complete and after a good rest I will put together some data about how our numbers fared this season, but numbers are down a little as migrating birds search further south for that sweet sweet grass. Our last good sighting of the day was a pair of Killdeer flying out of Somenos Marsh, it won’t be long before they are nesting.
I want to give a big thanks to all those who have taken part in our count this season and a major round of thanks to Dorothy for keeping our tally up to scratch and those great photographers who have brightened my roundup report each week. To those wonderful drivers who kept us on the straight and narrow even if some times our vehicles decided to go it alone, a major thank you.
Derrick
Photo Credits
Peregrine Falcon by Barry Hetscho
Last of the swans by Zan Stenhouse
Red-winged Blackbird by Zan Stenhouse
The Cob by Christina Cutbill
Great Blue Heron by Zan Stenhouse
It was a dark and stormy morning in Cowichan Bay. It was cold and windy with the waves breaking on the rocks and sending spray onto the path. In spite of the change to Daylight Savings Time, Gail, Christina, Linda, and John managed to get out at 8 am. In the rough seas the buffleheads and goldeneyes swam in tight groups, making them easy to count. The herons left their trees to circling and soar in the strong winds.
We counted:
Turkey Vulture 1, Surf Scoter 2, Great Blue Heron 31, Double-crested Cormorant 4, Bald Eagle 1 gull sp. 8 Northwestern Crow, 2 Glaucous-winged Gull, 4 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Hooded Merganser, 3 Bufflehead 118 Common Goldeneye 38
John
The waterbird survey off Khenipsen Rd. was a bit brief this morning, due to rather inclement weather!! Only six bird species were seen by Christine Gilbertson, Bob Nation, and Daryl Johnson.
Trumpeter Swans 2, Bufflehead 45, Bald Eagle 1, Glaucous-winged Gull 1, unidentified gull species 72, Barrow’s Goldeneye 4,
When one crosses wind with rain you create a hybrid and the 7 counters today had a pair of hybrids. The weather man said expect rain about 2 to 2:30 so I ushered our driver along in the hopes that we would beat the incoming storm, but sadly once again they lied and by 11:30 am it started as we set about lunch at A&W. From then on it went from bad to worse until near the end strong wind joined in and created a hybrid weather system. Trying to get the counters to vacate the vehicles was an impossible task, they just flatly refused to budge. At least one person did his duty and our numbers were very good considering, Trumpeter Swan adults went down a bit which is to be expected as some eager adults like to get up north first. immature birds were right on average with one flock having more younguns than adults.
Our first stop I did manage to get people out at Somenos Lake and we were rewarded with the Western Grebe which we showed to our good friend Peggy who I suspect was waiting for us to turn up, but not much else was seen.
On up the highway we went and a few Swans were had at Quists farm and a Killdeer was heard but not seen.
Eagle numbers took a dive this week as did most raptors.
We went up Westholme Road and were confronted by a large funeral at the first nations cemetery and just along from here in a small pond where we have had Wood Ducks; was this according to Barry a strange pheasant type bird, which amazingly turned out to be a Hybrid Mallard X Northern Pintail, this happens a lot across Canada and I had seen a few of these before. Barry was having a good day for strange waterfowl for as we went down Herd Road I saw some geese which Barry said they are different, we SCREECHed to a halt and run across the road and there they were 15 decoys all standing bolt upright with some strange feather patterns. 15 then became the number of the day, because at our next stop we had 15 real Canada Geese and at another stop we had 15 Trumpeter Swans.
Boy’s and Sahilton added a few more swans and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks and then it was over to the west side, now I know during a storm the west is not the way to go, but for swan counters you have to go where the birds are. Koksilah Road gave us a nice group of swans and there could have been more but with the raindrops beating against the scope of the one and only counter to get out of the vehicle and like one of our vehicles the wiper was knocked flat down in the wind.
Bench Road treated us to our best flock once again and for the most part all the swans were way down the field, all except for a small group at the corner of Wilson and Bench who seemed hell bent on defying the scarecrow who was about as scary as that famous lion from a film long ago.
Dougan’s Flats came and went and St.Catherine’s offered up a few swans, we checked Jim’s Pond, but I think the snipe have gone off to breed just leaving the single goose with the broken wing who has been here for years.
Koksilah Road east had many white blobs, well that what they looked like through the rain drenched window, but as luck would have it we did see a pair of adult Tundra Swans who were different from the bird seen earlier in the week, so there could be a few out there mixed in those far off flocks.
Down through the Bay and a few more eagles and a couple of Mute Swans and we were on the home stretch. the Dock Road was like a monsoon zone and I and anybody else failed to unlock the doors, that was it, enough of this weather, next week I will make sure that the sun shines as the group are starting to look paler than the swans because of their lack of sunlight.
Photo Credits
Pied-billed Grebe by Barry Hetscho
Scarecrow by Zan Stenhouse
Hybrid Duck by Barry Hetscho
Lamb chops by Zan Stenhouse
We dodged a real bullet today weather wise, with rain storms on both side of our first spring count, we had a dry run. 8 birders once again set out from the dog park and things were very slow for count species. Flying out over Somenos Marsh near the Forest Museum were both Tree and Violet-green Swallow and as it turned out they appeared nearly every where we went today with many hundreds seen. We did manage to find the Western Grebe again on Somenos Lake along with a couple of Ruddy Ducks, but other than a few Canada Geese that was it. Oh I nealy forgot as we came down Drinkwater Road along side the forested area I spotted a Pink Peggy who was heading down to see what was on the lake, this species is usually seen along the Dock Road. With most small dickie birds hiding from us today it was hard for the photographers to get many pictures, a lot of our sparrow species have started to move out with both Fox and Golden-crowned Sparrows moving north with just a few feeder birds yet to be enticed away. California Quail are starting to think about increasing the winter deficit and the males are parading around in fresh spring plumage, how could a young lady resist.
At Quist’s farm we did pick up a few Bald Eagles and this week our Red-tailed Hawk numbers bounced back up.
This week we had 2 Peregrine Falcons and 2 Northern Harriers and 1 Coopers Hawk in our raptor total and with 21 Bald Eagles and 10 Red-tailed Hawks. This was a slight decrease from last weeks total.
We slowly worked our way around Westholme and along to Richards Trail, but other than swallows birds were thin on the ground and water. By the time we had finished along Herd Road we had just over 100 Canada Geese and no Trumpeter Swans.
Hwy 18 was our saviour as we saw some Trumpeters as we headed up bedside the golf course, 15 adults and 11 immature was a good ratio, but that was it for some time. After our break it was down onto Boys Road and the raptor car found a few Wood Ducks in a small vegetated wetland, but they did manage to get a couple of pictures between all the branches. Us who were looking for bigger waterfowl found a Northern Harrier and a Peregrine Falcon, go figure?
It was time to move on and with not much to see on the east side we were across the highway and off to Koksilah Road where some big white birds awaited our arrival, Iwas dumped off on the side of the road to count the swans and after adding about 50 I was confronted by the raptor chicks who were taking photos of me as I played with my tripod in the bushes with swans in the background looking on.
We did manage another flock of swans along Koksilah before we headed out onto Bench where once again the big load awaited to be counted and like most weeks they couldn’t have been further away. There was a stiff breeze coming across the fields and it was then that I noticed that muggings was the only one out of the vehicles and with tears streaming down my cheeks from looking through the scope I managed to count 202 adults and 32 immature Trumpeter Swans. Along to Dougan’s Flats we headed and another nice flock of swans but sadly two fancy piggies which have had their pictures taken in previous weeks were not to be found, I can only hope that the bacon that I consumed for brekky were not these porkers.
Another 75 Trumpeters were had over the last few stops and 4 Mute Swans and that was it. A few rain drops started to hit the window screen and we knew that we were lucky on this dull but dry day.
photo credits.
Wood Duck by Kurlene Wenberg
Swan counter, Christina Cutbill
Golden-crowned Sparrow, by Barry Hetschko
California Quali, by Eric Marshall
On this lovely day when I went without a coat for the whole trip myself and 7 fellow counters saw and heard some wonderful sights.
This week we had a new driver, with Kurlene afraid to fill her vehicle up with gas in case the price dropped down, Zan took the wheel and did an admirable job, just a few bumps as she got used to the backroads and potholes, such is the life of a swan counter/driver. Taking orders from their beloved leader is a prerequisite for this position and Zan followed my instructions to the letter, I can see her getting this job again. Our good friend Dixie joined us this week and it was nice to show her some birds that maybe she had never seen before, her smiling face was most welcome on our route.
Numbers of swans were very good with just over 600 counted and even the Goosies went up a bit this week.
Our day started at the dog park where Barry spotted a lump in a tree on Lakes Road, this turned out to be a nice Peregrine Falcon our one and only falcon for the day.
Along the highway at Holmes Creek the shout went up for a Swallow, I missed it our first of the year, the bird disappeared over the willows and was gone. On the DU pond below the Forest Museum we had a pair of Mute Swans, they appear to be setting up for the upcoming breeding season, these birds have bred there for many years.
Out on Somenos Lake there was this strange grebe that kept laying it’s head and neck back on it’s body, at first Ithought it was a Horned Grebe doing some strange mating ritual, but then it sat bolt upright on the water and low and behold it was a Western Grebe a very rare visitor to the lake.
A few Ruddy Ducks continued over the far side of the lake and the Canada Geese were counted, so we headed back up Drinkwater Road where our driver come spotter said, there’s a woodpecker on the tree and there way down low was a nice Red-breasted Sapsucker, this of course drew all the photographers out from both vehicles and many images were taken. With the amount of time taken we could have done with a stop and go girl to help with the traffic.
Anyways we were off to the races as my old dad used to say with two good species seen with high hopes of more to come.
At Quist’s Farm came our first Trumpeter Swans with 9 adults and 1 immature, no more were added until we reached Hwy 18 where 14 more were out in a field opposite the golf course. Eagles were soaring up in the sky above the road along with many Common Ravens who were taking in the favorable thermals on this warm day.
It was about now that one of our party piped up about her husband lifting his night gown and showing her his lump, at this point I had to remind her that this was a family bird count and not like some episode of Dr Phil.
After a quick lunch break at A&W we were on our way again and it was not long until we hit the birds of the day when the radio crackled that the quasi raptor car had spotted a Western Meadowlark along Sahilton Road, after a fast turnaround and a glimpse at a male Eurasian Wigeon we joined the others and watched not one but two Western Meadowlarks and for those with hearing they sung also, for some this was the first time they had heard this wonderful song, a herd of Starlings dislodged them from their perch and so we moved on. I nearly forgot along this road a Killdeer was heard calling, they will be nesting soon.
Over we went to the west side of town and a few Trumpeters were found in a field with a couple of hundred American Wigeon along Koksilah Road west, it wasn’t until we hit Bench did we find a major flock with over 300 swans made up with 274 adults and 48 immature. I detected a sense of urgency amongst the flock as most were feeding, fattening up as the north beckoned them to come, within the next couple of weeks many will leave on this journey to the breeding grounds. As luck would have their journey should be good with conditions up north being very favorable with open water and semi mild conditions. The suspected 01UK was again in the flock but was far to far away to identify with certainty.
Dougan’s Flats had it’s usual group of Canada Geese and St. Catherine’s Road added another 20+ Trumpeter’s.
Koksilah Road east came through with many swans with a good ratio of adult to immature 96-35. We were on the home stretch and it was a surprise to find another good flock of Trumpeters to bolster our numbers on Dinsdale’s Farm with over 100 birds with an even better ratio of 60 adults to 41 immature.
Our last stop was a little colder as the evening breeze pushed up along the Dock Road, we added 7 Mute Swans and 8 Trumpeters and another surprise was our second Eurasian Wigeon who swam out from the river into the estuary. A pair of Gadwall were also at this location.
It was a great count full of good humor and laughter and best of all the birds put on a great show for us on this lovely early spring day.
We head into March with just 4 more counts to do and we wish the swans a safe journey north as they start to leave us.
Photo credits
Western Grebe by Barry Hetscho
Red-breasted Sapsucker by Barry Hetscho
Bob and Dixie by Barry Hetscho
This week saw 8 counters head out in two vehicles expertly driven by Christina and Barry, the worst of the rain held off until the last 15 minutes so we kept ourselves dry.
Adult swan numbers dropped a bit this week but the immatures were spot on with the past few weeks numbers. Bald Eagle numbers went up a bit from last weeks drop with many adult pairs sitting together at nesting sites, it is always great to see these pairs bonding together for the breeding season.
Canada Goose numbers dropped considerable this week with just 432, not sure where they all went, but they weren’t in our count area.
Red-tailed Hawks seem to have retreated back in the woods, but one lovely individual put on a nice show for the shutterbugs.
A 3 Merlin day was nice and a couple of accipiter species, the last one giving us much trouble even with a picture or two, my personal feeling was that it was an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk, but the pictures really didn’t confirm that.
One of the best sightings of the day was seen by me, as I always stop along Lakes Road to count the Geese as I head to the dog park, i climbed up on the dike behind the gas station and down below me were several Green-winged Teal and with them was a nice Eurasian version, known as the Common Teal, each year we seem to get one somewhere around the valley.
A strange sighting was up on Tom Windsor Drive where a bird sitting on a hydro pole gave us much trouble while looking through our bins, Barry suggested a Great Gray Owl but I thought more like Great Blue Heron, Barry said he could see the bill, while I thought it had it’s wings hanging down, well after much deliberation I got the scope out and put it on full power only to discover that it was some contraption on top of the pole with straps coming down onto the wires, it just goes to show, you must always check properly these strange looking birds.
Killdeer were heard calling at Quist’s farm and 2 others were seen on Richards Trail.
As we left Richards trail like we do each week we look for a black and white moggie, that sits in a field looking for anything that moves, this feline has been at this location for several years, but for the last few weeks had been absent, so it was with great pleasure we saw it this week and it posed nicely to have it’s picture taken.
Many nights after the day’s counting my head starts to create dreams of all sorts of strange happenings and last night was no exception, somehow or another I had a nightmare that we missed a whole bunch of swans when we failed to visit one of our better spots, I can remember screaming that we had to turn around and go back, but each time we ended up back at the same spot and why was Paul Fletcher driving? Those raptor girls kept laughing at me. It didn’t matter what I said we failed to count the birds, sadly I had to report that we only got a few Trumpeter Swans and there was outrage that we had failed to do our count properly, we even got a visit from the Trumpeter Swan Society to investigate if we were capable of carrying on. Not sure what happened after that as Ias i woke up rolled over and cuddled the wife. These counts must really get to me at times and all this talk about the upcoming visit from the swan society must have been playing on my mind.
A Pileated Woodpecker was working a dead snag at Duncan Meadows golf club as many Common Ravens frolicked in the sky having left the dump for some R&R.
Bench Road held the mother load of Trumpeter Swans with 332 adults and 80 immature, a wonderful sight indeed.
One very interesting sighting this week was on Wilson Road where a large pen had three big porkers, one brown, one black and one white, this reminded me of the British flag of red, white and blue. Not sure why they should have one of each color, but if they breed they might make an interesting striped pig.
We managed to get 3 Tundra Swans this week, one adult at Bench with an immature and another adult at Koksilah Road east which looked rather large and gave suggestion of maybe a hybrid, the bill suggests Tundra, but the size, who knows? but our photographers got a good picture so have look and see what you think.
While checking the swans out on the bay from the Dock Road the rain started in earnest and so we called it a day and headed back to the dog park.
This week it was our elder counter Eric’s time to get his picture taken along with swans in the background. I am amazed that our friend packs so much volunteering in to one week along with his wife Dorothy, who we have yet to get a snap.
Photo credits:
Eric by Barry Hetschko
Swans by Christina Cutbill
Red-tailed Hawk by Zan Stenhouse
Moggie by Kurlene Wenberg
On Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2016
It was a dark and overcast morning in Cowichan Bay, but there was no rain and the mist around the mountains was beautiful. Hilary Stead (and her Belgian WWOOFer Loic Leconte), Linda Hill, Gail Mitchell, Barry Hetcho, John Scull, Kathy O’Donnell, and Jim O’Donnell counted:
Canada Goose 3
Great Blue Heron 3
Double-crested Cormorant 21
Common Goldeneye 21
Bufflehead 113
Hooded Merganser 4
Glaucous-winged Gull 2
Gull sp. 11
Horned Grebe 4
Rock Pigeon (feral pigeon) 10
and 8 Surf Scoters.
The North side survey was done by Daryl Johnson and Christine Gilbertson. Seen were –
Horned Grebe 2
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Canada Goose 12
Mute Swan 5
Trumpeter Swan 9
Mallard 16
Surf Scoter 7
Bufflehead 12
Common Goldeneye 25
Hooded Merganser 1
Common Merganser 11
Bald Eagle 1 Adult
Gull species 87
Belted Kingfisher 1
The 24th Conference of The Trumpeter Swan Society (TTSS) will be held in Duncan, BC, Canada, on November 16-18, 2016. The conferences of TTSS, that were begun in 1969, provide the only public forum in North America that brings together private citizens, conservation groups, policy makers, swan managers, and researchers to examine the status and needs of Trumpeter Swans in the U.S. and Canada.
The 24th Conference will focus on both the successes and challenges involved with long-term management of trumpeter swans. Special attention will also be given to be the status, management, and conservation of Trumpeter Swans in the Pacific Flyway and potential conflicts between swans and agriculture during winter. Presentations will examine swan conservation accomplishments and lessons learned and discuss the future challenges. In addition, the Conference will include sessions on the biology, habitat concerns, and management of Trumpeter Swan populations throughout North America. Papers and posters on the biology and management of Tundra Swans and Mute Swans or their interactions with Trumpeter Swans are also invited.
We strongly encourage private partners, agency managers, and biologists involved in Trumpeter Swan restoration, management, and research to participate. If you are interested in making a presentation at the 24th Conference, please contact John Cornely at (johncornely@msn.com), Paul Fletcher (paul@fletcherfoto.ca), or Jim Hawkings (hawkings@northwestel.net) for additional information, including presentation guidelines and submission dates.
