Nature Cowichan

A total of 8 species of waterbirds (111 birds) were observed on the North Side of Cowichan Bay at high tide at 6 PM
on September 13, 2015, a partly cloudy day by Daryl Johnson, Christine Gilbertson and Carol Hartwig.

Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 8
Mute Swan 12
Mallard 3
Common Merganser 3
Osprey 3
Unidentified Gull 80
Belted Kingfisher 1

Total birds 111

On South Side:
by Bob Nation, Christina Cutbill, Carol Milo & Eric Marshall

Great Blue Heron – 2
Canada Geese – 80
Common Merganser 30
Unidentified duck – 1
Mew Gull – 11
Glaucous Winged gull – 14
Unidentified gull – 1
Northern Crow – 20
Osprey – 2

161 birds – 9 species

This morning the bay was very slow with not much to cheer about. A  few Purple Martins flew over Hecate Park and low over the water in reduced numbers were Barn Swallows which eeked out a living. Just a couple of Ring-billed Gulls were out on the mud and were closely watched by about a dozen Great Blue Herons. 4 Turkey Vultures were sat in some trees along Cowichan Bay Road and a large group of Band-tailed Pigeons flew over the road near senior Derrick’s place of abode. The Eurasian Collared Doves have took up residence right in downtown and I’m sure will be seen in a ever increasing numbers in years to come.
At the Cow Bay pub a sleeping reveler was propped up against a hydro pole with a Lucky can beside him, Irene was tempted to snatch the can as we passed, but I warned her to let sleeping drunks lie.

The highlight of this mornings birding was an adult Osprey who was down on one of the channels that was flowing out between the mud taking a bath, it was going under the water and then a big shake would take place to get rid of the excess water, this took place many times. As you know we are under water restrictions and are asked to bath with a friend or take a short shower, well this Osprey had no friend close by and took all of 15 minutes bathing while my other half collected some blackberries for afters. Where is Lori when you need to report an infraction of the by-laws.

I have been observing this little family of Chickadee’s as they visit my yard and I have noticed a strange occurrence. All day they will feed on sunflower seeds, crushed peanuts or the suet block, but first thing in the morning they will avoid all these tempting delicacies and concentrate on working their way around the trees and shrubs looking for bugs of some sort. I know that first thing in the morning small bugs and caterpillars would be cold and sluggish, but why do they avoid all those lovely treats that I put out for them, just maybe they need some good wholesome wild food first thing in the morning to build up their appetite?

The rain was nice while it lasted, but most of the Greater Puddles were gone this morning, with just a few immature left behind, hopefully we will see a second clutch before the end of the year.

Take care and have fun
Derrick

Not having been birding much of late I ventured down to the Dock Road in hopes that this lovely weather had brought down some shorebirds. Not many were seen but a few Least and a couple of Westerns and three Semi Plovers. There were some stars to be had though and topping the bill so to speak was a male Lesser Scuap possibly the first ever summer record for the bay, it was swimming with a scarce for the time of year female Common Goldeneye, these two were also accompanied by a female Hooded Merganser and a breeding plumage Horned Grebe, what a quartet they made as they swam across right in front of me.
I then got the old heart racing when through the bins I saw a very dark medium sized gull, I thought this was the year that I would get my first ever Heermanns Gull for the bay, sadly when the scope was raised it was a very dark 1st year California Gull, this is not the first time one of these blighters has conned me from a long distance. 1 Mew Gull looked out of place with nearly 50 Ring-billed Gulls and some nice adult California’s fresh in from afar.
Barn Swallows were in good attendance, but sadly most were adults and a single adult Cliff Swallow was amongst them.
Osprey are doing well with three visible nests with young, the adults fly over the house most days with trout from Quamichan Lake, so the young are eating well. 4 adult Bald Eagles kept watch while one was down chewing on a waterfowl species in the grass.
Dickie birds were almost non existent.

Another very rare sight this morning were Greater and Lesser Puddles, it has been many months since i have seen so many and a very welcome relieve it is to, things were getting scary here.

Derrick

Pale Swallowtail

Earth Day brought glorious sunshine to Cowichan Bay and the Cowichan Bay Dock Road, 22 species of humanoids turned out for this wonderful Wednesday. When all was said and done there were 38 species of birds seen and heard by the group. A bit slower than what I was expecting, that’s nature for you.
First of the year Brown-headed Cowbird was one of the first species seen and a group of Turkey Vultures drifted by, we slowly made our way along the dirt old railway bed where male Rufous Hummingbirds watched our every move, one even did a diving dance just to let us know that this was his turf and we were intruding. Orange-crowned Warbler gave out a song and a pair of Rufous-sided Towhees tried to out sing each other. A first of the year for most was a Pale Swallowtail butterfly that drifting between the crowd.
One of our members cruised the road in her vehicle after doing her earth day duties of picking up discarded food wrappers and goodness knows what else and spotted a Great Yellowlegs and Killdeer, but a marauding Bald Eagle came flying across just before we got there and scared all and sundry off out of sight.
A brief glimpse of a female Northern Pintail and a few Green-winged Teal were all that was left for us to admire. A group of local Mute Swans did a flyby and a resident Trumpeter Swan sat out on the mud. The last of the winters Buffleheads worked the river slowly drifting out into the estuary, they will soon be gone along with the only female Common Goldeneye seen. Both Gadwall and American Wigeon dabbled out in the wet mud.
One of the local Great Blue Herons came gliding along with a big branch in it’s bill, we can only guess that some nest rebuilding was going to take place at the local rookery.
A pair of Osprey put on a nice show, one flew out across the river while one paddled out on the mud and then sat up on a dwarf fir for us to admire. While we were watching the Osprey a couple of River Otters worked one of the tidal tributaries, but they did not stay up long for all to see. A single male Purple Martin drifted over and a few others were seen at the nest boxes out in the bay. Tree Swallows, not in big numbers flew back and forth.
We worked our way out to the new bridge and photos and chatter were had during our short rest.
The group finally worked it’s way back with a single Savannah Sparrow seen down in the grasses and a Marsh Wren that dived for cover before we could get a good look. A female Red-winged Blackbird worked it’s way along the edge of the mud and disappeared into a hole in the vegetation only to come out about two feet further around the corner.

Our day was done and what a splendid one it was, we were most fortunate to be on earth this day.

A full list of birds is below.

Derrick

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Great Yellowlegs
Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Marsh Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird

The contents of this report contains mature subject matter viewer discretion is advised.

12 eager April fools turned up for our annual Swan and Goose counters annual days holiday up to the Nanaimo Estuary, three cars were loaded up and Zan who had been out on the tiles all night was picked up in Ladysmith.
Our first stop was the south end of Cassidy airport where we looked in vain for any Bluebirds, the best we could muster was a few White-crowned Sparrows and a long distance Savannah Sparrow. From here we went up past the terminal to an area which Vesper Sparrow once roamed, but again we failed miserably. A big consolation prize was a very flighty Western Meadowlark that played hide and seek along a devastated ditch that was once home to some wonderful row of trees, it appears airports will no longer allow trees to brighten up the surrounding green-space. A Killdeer played out on the manicured grass. A few swallows were on the hydro lines and a couple of Turkey Vultures drifted over the west side of the highway. Daryl had a Yellow-rumped Warbler sing and some Evening Grosbeaks flew over, well I think it was here, the old mind is playing tricks again. Next stop was long Haslam Road which is on the north end of the airport and it was here that our past Swan counting proficiency came into play as in the field was a adult and two immature Trumpeter Swans, what a treat for our holiday.
Several times the girls tried a April fools joke on me, but I was ready for their shenanigans, they have to be much faster than that to catch this limey.
Nanaimo Estuary was next and here I must say the weather was rather pleasant so I threw off the coat and headed out to the viewing platform. A few Common Merganser flew over and out at the mouth of the river a Belted Kingfisher sat up on a dead snag. White and Golden-crowned Sparrows sat in the trees and brambles and a Greater Yellowlegs called from the river, we sent Daryl off in search of this early migrant shorebird, but she couldn’t find it. Another Belted Kingfisher sat still for about 2 seconds before it took off up river and way out in the marsh we had our second Western Meadowlark, it was way off and the heat haze made it hard to see any colors on the bird. Swallows flew back and forth but only two species Tree and Violet-green were seen. A very dark first year Bald Eagle flew up river and another adult stirred up the Gulls out on the gravel bars.
The only birds that I could see out across the fields was a single Great Blue Heron and a multitude of Common Ravens.
As we departed the viewing platform one of the ladies held back and I thought I should check on her, to make sure all was well, well she wanted to have a pee and so did I, so I said I would go one side of the platform and she could go the other. This worked out well as I was on the side where the photographers that were in attendance could not get their big zooms on what I was up to.
As is the norm the group heads to the Crow and Gate pub for lunch, so a lazy ride back along the road had us there just in time to beat the mid-day rush, there were no Black Swans to look at, but one sleeping duck showed good colors for Black Duck, but one has to be very careful as many hybrids have been seen here, so this one was left to enjoy the company of its Muscovy buddy.
We all had a wonderful meal and some of us partook in a fizzy or two, who would have thought that one of the ladies could out drink me on a pint.
After luncheon we slowly headed back along Yellow-point Road letting our meals slowly settle and a couple of more stops were made looking for ducks; Northern Shoveller, Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal were added to the days total. The dark clouds were starting to move in and the first few drops of rain started to fall as we hit the south end of the airport for one last look. It was here that my bladder was getting the better of me, must have been that second pint that Eric treated me to and so I asked Barry to drop me off so that I could nip up behind trailer, but the girls full of giggles and laughter had other ideas and they wanted to hold my hand, I informed them that I

was just going to speak to the local bunny population about what they were going to do at Easter.
That was it the rain started in earnest and our wonderful day was over, we finished the day with about 52 species which i have listed below, thanks to Daryl’s wonderful list keeping.

Canada Geese
Trumpeter Swans (3)
Mute Swans
Mallards
Northern Shovelers
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagles
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeons
Eurasian Collared Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Steller’s Jay
Northwestern Crow
Northern Raven
Tree Swallows
Violet-green Swallows
Chestnut-backed Chickadees
Bushtits
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pacific Wren
Marsh Wren
Bewick’s Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrows
White-crowned Sparrows
Golden-crowned Sparrows
Dark-eyed Juncos
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer’s Blackbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Evening Grosbeaks
House Sparrow

Happy Easter and keep on looking.
Derrick

Just like life all things have to come to an end and so endeth the 6th season of the swan and goose count. Like Downton Abbey, will we be back next season? Only time will tell. The lord of the manor is not getting any younger and as for the dowager duchess, she seems to just keep on going even though she is entering her senior years. We need the young blood to take over the estate and look after the herds of birds.
This years crew has done an amazing job with wonderful photos, good humour and a knack for spotting things that I seem to have missed. The driving duties have been wonderful with great competence under sometimes adverse conditions by those that took the wheel. Special mention to Christina, Kurlene and Eric, you done us proud. Then there is the lady behind the numbers Dorothy who week after week made sense of all the numbers shouted at her, without her we would not be able to remember all the totals.
Let’s not forget the birds and animals that have treated us week after week, some wonderful views and sights has made this season one to remember. The swans appear to have rebounded from the slight lows of the past two seasons and what a wonderful sight to see so many immatures this year. What a treat it was to see the Sandhill Crane that appears to have followed us around the valley, the Short-eared Owl that waited to going home time before putting in an appearance. Who could forget nearly 200 Bald Eagles in and around the field on Boy’s Road. The many other little feathered things that brought us joy this season we thank you. Those lovely Elk that showed us what a great place we have here in the valley, where birds and animals come to rest through the winter before heading back off to the breeding grounds. We must keep fighting to protect what we have here.

The weather person finally caught up with us today and got revenge for all those lovely Wednesdays we had this season; I was hoping that he/she could be wrong just one last time but it weren’t to be. See how politically correct I’m getting, this comes with spending too much time with the ladies on the count. Is their such a thing as a male weather person anymore. Yes, that little fellow on Chek 6, I just remembered.
Today’s count went as expected with a major reduction in numbers as most Swans and Geese have left the area, just under 70 Trumpeter Swans, funnily enough there are not many times we have more immature than adults and 160 Canada Geese were tallied. It seemed like we were never going to see many birds until we hit Quist’s Farm where a nice group of 27 swans were had. On Boy’s Road a single swan was way down the fields and possibly could be injured as it has been there a few days now, will have to keep a watch on this fellow. Also at this location was a breeding plumage Dunlin who looked so small next to a Killdeer which did create a problem for some who could not find the Killdeer.
The Red-tailed Hawks have most certainly got the spring fever as a pair which at first we thought were fighting ended up copulating, such is love in the world today. Down Sahilton Road I saw a pair of Greater Yellowlegs dive down into the field, but they must have gone down some burrows as they completely disappeared, also a American Pipit flew up from the side of the road, but it was gone in a flash and I was left to protect my bird identification skills to those that missed the birds.
A few more swans at both Dougan’s Flats and St. Catherine’s Road added to our total and along the Dock Road 1 Trumpeter and 9 Mute Swans, that was it for our count birds.
This weeks count did not go without a bit of excitement as when we reached Jim’s Pond a bird was seen fluttering on the far bank and then totally disappeared. I could just make out where the bird was but most of the crew were having a hard time, so I brought out the scope in hopes of showing what was now identified as a Wilson’s Snipe. My scope which is not the best at any time had been waterlogged since our trip up to Parksville, so was not performing to it’s best potential but after many agonizing minutes all but one of us had seen the bird as it hunkered down about a hundred yards away, then suddenly it started to move and preen and the last of our group finally got the bird. Everybody was happy.

That is it for this seasons count, thanks to all those who came out at different times and to all you who thought about it, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Derrick

This week saw 8 counters head out in 2 vehicles and we put all the girls in together and Barry who needed some tender care after a couple of weeks with the girls came in with myself and the Marshalls.
It had to happen sooner or later and a dramatic change occurred as more than 2/3rds of the swans must have departed over the last couple of days and our numbers dropped to just 288 with of these there were 108 immature birds who are now becoming harder to tell as their winter coats slowly turn white. Goose numbers continued at the normal average with just under 600 birds scattered around the valley, we did see many pairs setting up shop for the upcoming breeding season. Just 2 Mute Swans were had this week out on Somenos Lake, they too have started to mate up for the spring festivities.
Somenos Lake still had a few Ruddy Ducks, but the highlight was seeing a fresh Yellow-rumped Warbler of the Audubon’s race low down in the trees beside the boardwalk on Drinkwater Road (picture attached).
There are two races of this species that come through our area the other being mrtyle which tend to come about two to three weeks later, one has to watch out for hybrids as they can be a little confusing.
Our raptor count took a bit of a drop with adult eagles dropping down to just 11 birds and the immature down to 5. This is to be expected as there are lots of birds moving north and west for fishing and breeding.
The Harbor Seal was spotted again in Somenos Lake (photo attached) which came very close to the viewing area, not sure if it was counting us or not, but it seems to have made a home of the lake, sure hope it takes off back down the creek soon or the poor fisherman will have a hard time this coming spring of catching a trout or two.
The Sandhill Crane was again spotted, this time on Dougan’s Flats, this is the fifth location that we have encountered it this season. It appears he is running out of buddies and will have to make a decision soon on what he is going to do. I have called it a he as I think it is time to call him Simon, but it could well be a Susan.
Dougan’s Flats held the largest groups of birds this week with Somenos Lake second and St.Catherine’s Drive third.
We failed to have any of the swans close enough to check for bands or food balls in their throats, but most birds looked a little plump, so they will leave the valley well fed and we hope that they tell all their buddies what wonderful hospitality there is to be had in the Cowichan Valley and that there was only a couple of times that the nastier inhabitants chased them off.
The girls who once again lagged way behind had a nice find when they found a pair of Great Yellowlegs on Sahilton Road, these early migrants are to be expected in the middle of March before the real push starts. The girls did let us get way out in front before relaying their message over a very crackly walkie-talkie, we forgive them for this as they took a nice picture (atached) for confirmation. I do require this from them as they tend to make up things just to upset me.
Our day was done and with just one more count remaining we can only hope that we have something to put on the sheet next week.

Keep on looking.

Derrick

It nearly got us, but the rain moved around the 5+5 birders that took part in the count this week, I say 5+5 because only 5 left the dog park, 4 were found at A&W and one hitched a ride at the farmers market south of town, what a crew I have too work with. Yes it was nice to have you out with us Genevieve, but alas, late comers get stuck in the middle of the back seat.
This week we had almost an identical number of swans as last week and the gooseys went up 100 or so.
We encountered 4 Turkey Vultures this week, new migrants, some more Anna’s Hummingbirds, a Horned Grebe on Somenos Lake was a good find. Tree Swallows tending a nest hole at the foot of Drinkwater Road, a Pileated Woodpecker (see attachment) on a dead snag on Koksilah Road and a lovely Red-breast Sapsucker on Tom Windsor Drive. We had the Sandhill Crane on Sahilton Road and one of the counters had the American Kestrel at the Exhibition Grounds, you see we are not all about counting. 4 Mute Swans were back on Somenos Lake and I guess it wont be long before they start their annual breeding somewhere around the lake.
We had great looks at two Tundra Swans this week and a strange encounter with a couple of Trumpeters with pouches under their bills (see attachment), I can honestly say I have never seen this before and we had two the same. Any thoughts on this strange lump would be welcomed.
Another oddity is the number of immature Bald Eagles for the fourth straight week we had 6 and for the seventh straight week an average of 6, I think they look out for us and then leap up in the trees to be counted.
In the vehicle that I was in we had three photographers in the back and the number of times I had a zoom stuffed in the back of my neck, I also thought they were going to come to blows as one after another they jostled their lens out of the window, Wendy seemed intent of stopping Barry getting his big zoom out the window, poor fellow stuck in between the ladies, I was even accused of having my big head in the way, well excuse me, but I was the one counting and this week doing the tally as the part-timers got out of the job.
At the end of the day we had all had good looks at some wonderful birds and our numbers were very respectable.
The majority of the swans were in the south end of the count circle, but it was nice to see a group back on Quist’s farm, not that the farmer would be pleased.
We are now on the home stretch with just two more counts to go, it will be sad to see the swans go as they all move north, yet there will be many new species of birds to take their place as spring migration is just around the corner, or has it started already, I have a male Rufous Hummingbird regularly visiting my feeder and Yellow-rumped Warblers are resplendent in the bright spring plumage in the local birding spots.

We were reminded by a member of the local first nations band about the disturbance of swans in the Boys-Sahilton Road areas as a few swans had flown up and hit the hydro wires, I would encourage anybody taking pictures or watching the birds to stay in your vehicle as this serves as a great bird blind and will not frighten the birds and their safety has to come first..

With all this wonderful weather we are getting you would think that this would be a precursor for our swans to leave early, well it is obvious with the numbers that we are getting that it’s not the weather that excites these big white birds to head north. Could it be that they have to reach a certain weight before they can leave or maybe that the immature birds are strong and healthy to live on their own when they get north. I guess we will never know what triggers them to leave and which one of the 800 or so swans here in the valley makes that decision, is it a team effort?

Big thanks to Barry and Kurlene for their excellent photos

Happy counting.
Derrick

Hi Birders:
Another incredible day both for birds and weather was had by the counters this week. Our day started with 7 of us leaving the dog park in two cars and it was not long before we found another stray standing on the side of the road, Bob, so we took him along as we didn’t want him loose on the hwy.
For the most part Somenos was all about Canada Geese and we soon had about 80 on our list. Tree Swallows were flying over the willows at the lake trying their hardest to catch a few bugs.
We then headed up the highway to Quist’s Farm where we picked up just over 60 Trumpeters and just under 100 Canada Geese. I single Killdeer was down in the field and was well spotted by the girls. Westholme Road had about 20 swans, but I could not get a good enough look at them to tell how old they were so they went down as adults. Richards Trail had a few Geese, the fields were now very dry and lacked habitat for waterfowl. A single Anna’s Hummingbird was seen on Tom Windsor Drive and I think this is possibly the first Anna’s we have ever had while doing the count, Barry has allowed a wonderful picture of one from his garden, see attachment. Herd Road was a bust except for a Red-tailed Hawk which was one of our record high count for this season #10, Barry took a wonderful picture of one of the hawks and it is attached. We then went along to Hwy 18 where a nice group of Trumpeters were in the fields, just under 70 were counted and in amongst them was a pure flock of 29 Cackling Geese, now where did they came from, who knows, migrants already?
We stopped for lunch and yes you guessed it chicken legs was on the menu. From here we hit Boy’s, Sahilton and Corfield Roads where over 100 Trumpeter Swans and just 40 Canada Geese were noted. A few Bald Eagles were added on these three roads although overall adult eagles were way down while immatures were right on average.
We know headed over to the west side of town and although we looked very carefully we could only come up with just over 70 Trumpeters all the way through Bench Road , Dougan’s Flats had none, but did hold 350 Canada Geese.
St.

Wandering Goose

St. Catherine’s Road had a nice flock of 86 Trumpeters and while we watched a big female Coopers Hawk flapped across the fields, this in turn had us spot our first of the season Turkey Vulture off in the distance. We now descended on Koksilah Road east where just as we got there the farmer was out on his four track scaring all the birds away with Trumpeters and geese going in all directions, this would really mess up our numbers as I’m sure there were big numbers to be had, but hold on, a lot of the birds were heading towards Cowichan Bay and as luck would have it they were waiting for us to count them, both in the east side of the bay and along the Dock Road. We will never know how many we missed, but we did have our highest count of the season with over 720 Trumpeters counted.
One of the swans in the bay was a near adult Tundra Swan which had moulted into it’s nice white plumage but it’s bill was still in the immature stage and very bright at that, a distant photo is attached, you very rarely see a bird like this in our area.
Our good friend Peggy Smith sent me some interesting details that I think you’ll enjoy.

I checked with BBL on Tundra Swan
P927 we saw Jan/Feb 2013. He has since been seen :

01/21/2014 4.9 mi. SW from Burlington, Skagit County, WA

02/20/2014 10.8 mi. W from Tulelake, Siskiyou County, CA – Lower
Klamath NWR

It’s always fun to follow a collared swan we’ve seen.

The nice fellow at BBL also sent a map showing the reported movements
of P927.

Peggy
Map attached (Picture1.png).

It always amazes me how far these birds travel for breeding and lunch, we in turn only move a a couple of rooms for our delights.

That’s it we only have 3 more counts before we chase butterflies, so enjoy the winter and keep looking.

Derrick

South Side of the bay
The early hour and time change seem to have limited the size of the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre team. However, Dave Aldcroft, Gail Mitchell, and John Scull were there and counted:
2 double crested cormorant
17 great blue heron
2 canada goose
40 trumpeter swan
30 mallard
4 northern pintail
58 green winged teal
99 bufflehead
53 common goldeneye
1 barrow’s goldeneye
3 hooded merganser
1 mew gull
1 thayer’s gull
18 gloucous wing gull
3 unidentified gull
6 northwestern crow
2 common raven
There were a total of 371 waterbirds of 14 species observed on the North Side of Cowichan Bay
on March 8, 2015 by Bob Nation, Daryl Johnson, Kurlene Wen, Christine Gilbertson and Carol Hartwig.
Great Blue Heron 1
Canada Goose 9
Mute Swan 8
Trumpeter Swan 12
American Wigeon 18
Mallard 73
Buffleheads 90
Common Goldeneye 9
Common Merganzer 5
Hooded Merganzer 3
Bald Eagle 3
Mew Gull 20
Unidentified Gull 114
Northwestern Crow 6

Total birds 327

This week iI managed to pull myself loose of the apron strings and join the other 6 participants and I was so pleased I did as it was a wonderful count. What was so surprising was the number of swans which was almost identical to last weeks count, with 496 adults and 184 immature, add to this two other species of swans and 3 species of geese.
A Northern Harrier greeted us at the corner of Beverly St. and the Hwy and a flock of Ruddy Ducks were out on Somenos Lake, but no swans were in the Somenos area this week. We did add over 200 Canada Geese for Somenos before heading north, several Bald Eagles were seen along the way and along Westholme Road about 25 Trumpeter Swans were hiding down in the marsh. Surprisingly we had 4 Red-tailed Hawks along this area. Bald Eagle numbers bounced back up this week overall with over 30 being recorded.
It then went slow until Hwy18 where over 50 swans were in fields opposite the golf course and who should be with them than the Sandhill Crane, this guy or gal sure get’s around.
We also got good looks at a nice flock of swans between Drinkwater and Auhenichie, 74 in total.
After our break it was onto Sahilton and Corefield Roads where we managed another 150+ swans and 22 Canada Geese. Geese were in low numbers this week with some already setting up nesting locations and some moving north or just hiding from our counters.
We now headed to the west side of town and Koksilah Road where a group of 60 Swans were nice and near to the road for us to count. Riverside Road was next and in the flock of 140 swans was a nice adult Tundra Swan which poked it’s head up over ridge for us to admire.
Dougans Lake flats had another 80+ swans and about 125 Canada Geese, but it was here that this strange wet stuff cascaded down out of the skies and many decided to hide in the vehicle leaving muggings out side to do the counting. I could see through the raindrops the collared Swan which I assumed to be 01UK.
Over on St.Catherine’s Drive we were met with a lovely surprise as 14 little Cackling Geese were close at hand and out over the fields a Greater White-fronted Goose played hide and seek behind a bramble patch. We then picked up our second adult Tundra Swan which showed well the little yellow tear drop just above its nostrils. These good birds managed to drag out Kurlene from the vehicle and straight away she had a smallish hawk up on top of a fir, I quickly got the scope on the bird and let Kurlene tell everyone that it was one of senior Derricks tree hawks. I have to admit I had made a mistake along Herd Road where I had brought everyone to a sudden stop for a Northern Flicker that I thought was a hawk, so it happens to us all, at least mine had feathers.

During our recent counts I had noticed how one of our team Christina had this fixation with any chickens that she saw around our route, her salivating over these barnyard introduced species was becoming very obvious, I just thought it was some sort of fetish, but sadly no, this was a major addiction to deep fried chickens legs and especially the ones sold at A&W’s. It all started mildly with just one leg a week, but now she was on two a trip and not only that she has now turned San into a drumstick junky, I do hope that the rest of the group can show some sort of restraint or I will be forced to implement a white meat only bird count.

Cowichan Bay gave us our third swan species of the day with 4 adult Mute Swans and 2 immature and along the Dock Road another 15 Trumpeters were found.

Our day was done and we all had a good time with lot’ of neat things to see.
With just 4 more counts to go until we call it quits for the season, if you’re going to get involved, you better make it soon.

Derrick

Eight birders — David Aldcroft, Diana Aldcroft, Kathy Coster, Pamela Williams, Robin Lawson, Gail Mitchell, John Scull and Tony Sneep — counted birds in intermittent showers.
Horned grebe 1
Double crested cormorant 10
Mute swan 2
Green winged teal 1
Greater scaupe 10
Surf scoter 4
Bufflehead 58
Common goldeneye 52
Barrow’s goldeneye 4
Hooded merganser 9
Thayer’s gull 1
Glaucous winged gull 15
Northwestern crown 1
168 birds, 13 species were observed, along with 3 river otters fishing in the estuary.

There were 327 waterbirds of 16 species observed on the North Side of Cowichan Bay
on February 8, 2015 by Daryl Johnson, Kurlene Wen, Christine Gilbertson and Carol Hartwig.
Horned Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 4
Canada Goose 2
Trumpeter Swan 10
Surf Scoter 8
Buffleheads 100
Common Goldeneye 8
Common Merganzer 8
Hooded Merganzer 2
Bald Eagle 4
Mew Gull 13
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
Thayer’s Gull 1
Unidentified Gull 164
Common Raven 1

Total birds 327

There are times when life throws you a wobbly and such is the case for me lately, for the second time in as many months I have got the flu bug and had to stand down this week and let the troops do the job that they have been trained for.
They turned in a masterful count with record high count of swans #669 for the season and good numbers of hawks and eagles. Eleven birders turned up this week and a three car convoy took off from the dog park. What was lacking was any real report of what they got up to, Dorothy and Eric pulled out at lunch knowing all too well that the day was going to be long and left Kurlene in charge, talk about leaving the fox in charge of the hen house. A big thank you goes out to Daryl who took over the tallying of numbers, good job she has lot’s of fingers and toes with the high count this week.
I know they saw the Sandhill Crane this week on Sahilton Road and the American Kestrel at the exhibition grounds, with the majority of the swans located on the west side of the route, but that was it.
It is left up to me to fill in the report with what I have seen and heard while hacking away at home. During this time I have managed to give my beloved the bug and so I have not been able to rely on her support, finding things have been a task most unusual to me and locating a new box of tissues is like looking for a Great Gray Owl on Quadra Island.
A sad report has come out of Washington State with over 40 Trumpeter Swans dying in just a couple of areas this winter, presumed to be from lead poisoning, this comes from years of lead shot being used by hunters. The authorities are trying to identify the bad areas and will try and persuade the birds to forage elsewhere.
Lead shot is now banned in this country for waterfowl hunting, but it has, as usual, taken a long time for those in power to enact this ban.
There are areas in our valley that the swans and geese use on a every day basis that are littered with lead shot, Cowichan Bay, Somenos Marsh, Swallowfield Farm, Richards Trail have historically been hunted using lead and one can only assume that this deadly metal lies in wait for any foraging bird to ingest. Some of the worst cases of lead poisoning come when birds are forced to congregate in a single area to feed instead of spreading out in many locations.
Areas that have historically grown vegetables in the valley have seen lead shot used to disperse foraging birds from the crops, goodness knows what that has done to us that eat local produce.
I have watched as the population of Mute Swans have slowly diminished in Cowichan Bay from a once high of nearly 250 birds to present day numbers of less than 20. I am not saying this is due to lead, but it does seem strange that it would happen here where the birds have congregated each winter for many years.
We can only hope and pray that a terrible disaster does not hit our area and that the once endangered Trumpeter Swans can enjoy our hospitality here in the valley for years to come.

I am now starting to feel a little drowsy after finishing up my third bottle of cold medicine which, I might add, has no affect on this bug that I’ve got, but one can only hope and pray that this plague relinquishes it’s hold on my body and that I can return to counting birds instead of sheep.

Until next week.
Derrick

Hi Birders
Once again we had a tremendous day with one after another great birds, they just kept coming much to the enjoyment of the 7.5 birders present this week, I say .5 because Bob once again slept in and was picked up at A&W. He must have known that it was going to be a long day and needed all the rest he could get. One of our participants mentioned that she had been away to a retreat, well at the end of the day I was ready to take in one of these restful places. Another one of our ladies had a list a mile long of what she wanted to see, didn’t she know this was a bird count not a big day, anyways at the end I think we managed to find most of what she wanted, let’s hope next week she doesn’t come with a whole new list of species.
Hawk numbers were really good with 2 Northern Harriers, 2 Cooper’s Hawk, 1 Sharp-shinned , 1 American Kestrel and an amazing 3 Peregrine Falcons, now that don’t happen very often in the valley. Eagle numbers dropped a bit but we did see a mated pair sitting by a nest which was nice.
Trumpeter Swans # 591 dropped a bit but were still in good numbers and we got some nice close up looks this week.
This week we finally caught up with the neck collared Trumpeter that had been seen for several weeks and it was nice and close and was confirmed as we thought as 01UK which has been around now for several years.
A single adult Tundra Swan (photo attached) was up on Riverside Road much to the delight of the lady with the big list although it took the photographer a while to home in on the bird.
Canada Geese went up and we were lucky to spot a single Cackling Goose flying over Sahilton Road with a small group of Canada’s. A single Snow Goose had now moved back to the south and was seen loafing in a field off St. Catherine’s Road, this guy sure moves around.
You should be aware that most of the Geese roost in the Somenos area overnight, so it must be a toss up about who decides which way to go in the early morning.
The Sandhill Crane was once again off Koksilah and Bench. This got me to wondering, what will happen in the spring, will the crane take off with the Trumpeter’s or will it hear some of it’s own kind fly over heading north and head up to join them? If we could only know.
This week saw the return of a group of Mute Swans to the north side of Cowichan Bay and I counted 16 adults and 4 immature.
There was a lot of bleating on our route today (photo attached) so it has to be spring. Altogether Aah.
As our day came to a close down on the Dock Road we were hoping for another look at the Short-eared Owl, but sadly it did not put in an appearance this week, but the big consolation prize was a Northern Shrike that hunted right out in front of us until a Northern Harrier came cruising over and disturbed it.
That was it our day was done and so was I, the pressure of finding birds and keeping the troops in order at least for the first 5 minutes of count had taken it’s toll on my body, it was 4:00pm and I

still had to face you know who back home.
Once again a big thank you to Barry for his excellent photo’s
Take care and keep looking.
Derrick