Cowichan Valley Naturalists

This week we were reduced to just 5 counters and so we squeezed into one vehicle which was admirably handled by Kurlene although the participants in the back seat were doing a lot of groping, it appears that the seat-belts were trying to get into the wrong receptacles.

This week saw a new high for this season of Trumpeter Swans with just over 300 found, which were spread out over most of the area that we cover, but sadly once again immatures were in low numbers. Canada Geese numbers went down again, but no other goose species were encountered.

If we compare numbers from the previous couple of years the numbers of Trumpeter Swans have gone up from last year, but go back three years and we have dropped down a lot. Canada Goose numbers over the previous three years were somewhat consistant, but are at an all time low this year, not sure what’s going on with them. Looking back it appears that once we get into the new year, numbers of swans start to grow, more than likely due to birds moving further down the island as the weather deteriorates or food sources dry up.
This year we have yet to find any neck banded birds, we were hoping for a couple that we have recorded before would grace our valley once more.
Here are the comparable numbers for week six from the four years of the count

2013/14 Trumpeter Swan # 318 Canada Goose # 747
2012/13   “”    “”    “”    “”      # 237    “”    “”     “”     # 1774
2011/12    “”    “”    “”    “”     # 396    “”    “”      “”     # 1322
2010/11    “”    “”    “”    “”    # 502    “”    “”      “”    # 1400

Eagle numbers dropped down a bit from last weeks great showing but were still well represented around the valley, many of which were up and flying, so we could have missed many as we navigated around all the Christmas shoppers.

As we left Somenos Lake and headed up Drinkwater Road a Road Runner lay prone on the side, it appeared to be of the sub species nikensis. It is strange how many of this species you see on the side of the road and on very rare occasions you will see a pair, one wonders where they all come from. I have also recorded adididasensis,conversis in the Cowichan Valley checklist area. If you are fortunate to find a pair please retrieve them as people at the nature house are in dire need of them.

At A&W during our little break, eagles were soaring all over the place, I guess the thermals were just right for a fly about.
Also down off Sahilton Road good numbers were flying. Guess they got fed up with sitting around in the trees and chatting.
I was glad to hear that one of the Somenos Marsh members high on coffee from the garage lounge staggered across the road, looked up and was amazed at how many eagles he could see, dots before the eyes he said. Glad I’m a tea drinker.

Anyways more about the count, we continued on our route and chalked up the numbers adding a few here and a few there.
I should add that once again we were blessed with incredible weather that is six weeks in a row now, although the breeze coming off Cowichan Bay made a couple hide in the vehicle after a few minutes.

As we proceeded along Hillbank Road a little yellow job flew across the road, I screamed stop and lept out the car hoping that we would find some wonderful species for our count, alas it was just a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that had been lit up by the bright sunlight, oh well maybe next time.

A wonderful pale Red-tailed Hawk sat on a fence post on the side of Telegraph Road; a beauty of a bird, well could have been a more easterly sub-species.

Cowichan Bay came through with a few Mute Swans and a score of Trumpeters. A nice Northern Harrier cruised past to give us nice close views.

So that was it, another great day in the valley and many thanks to Dorothy’s meticulous number keeping and to Eric, Deb and Kurlene for their company, may you all have a wonderful holiday. We will be taking a break for a while and be back on January 8th

All the best
Derrick

Hi
There are times when us as birders encounter incredible sights, as was the case this Wednesday when we saw trees loaded with eagles down off of Sahilton and Boy’s Roads. Incredible numbers in just one tree left us in awe at what nature had to offer. Although we tried to count most on Sahilton the numbers on Boy’s Road could only be estimated as there were so many in view and so many back in the trees.
The question was asked why? was it a lack of food that caused them all to sit up in the trees, was it that they were all full up with salmon or were they just resting or was it their Christmas Party, we will never know.

This week also saw some wonderful Christmas cards and tins of smoked salmon, see you should have come. Thanks to Christina for this lovely surprise. May she have a wonderful holiday. Sadly we missed out on chocolates this week, but we did have some wonderful mulled wine and cookies to keep us on top of things. Yes this counting business takes a major toll on us.

This count saw a major drop in both Swan and Goose numbers, where they went, who knows? I am sure that the cold snap that we have been having had a lot to do with it. We did have swans in a few new places from previous weeks so that made a change. The north end produced swans for the first time for a while with a nice group at Quist’s Farm and on Hwy 18 opposite the golf course.
A small group of swans were on Koksilah Road west but no Snipe or Killdeer were seen this week.
As we rounded a bend around to Dougan’s flats I’m sure a Hermit Thrush leapt up off the side of the road and disappeared into the woods, these hardy souls tend to spend some winters in northern climes not like their close cousins the Swainson’s who head south to warmer lands.

During a lull in proceedings one of the counters exclaimed that she had spotted toeees, we are unaccustomed to such outbursts while we are counting and usually do not get into other peoples afflictions, not sure how she got this terrible disease, but I do know she spends a lot of time in Cowichan Bay, so maybe this is where she got it. Let’s hope it’s not catching.

A couple of Cacklers were seen in amongst a large group of Canada’s up on Koksilah Road east and a good group of swans were there also.

From the Dock Road we could see a dozen or more Trumpeter’s, also there 2 adults and 1 immature Mute Swans. A lot of the diving ducks have left leaving me to believe that the food source has almost gone, this is early this year and is a little worrying. A couple of Surf Scoters were spotted, (well not spotted, that was someone else) and the Double-crested Cormorants had their arms out pleading for more food on the log booms.

This week we said goodbye to one of our eager lady counters as she is leaving for parts colder, she did a wonderful job of driving this week and only had to be told a few times which way to go. She will be back with us in the new year to keep us on the not so straight and narrow.

I don’t think that on the count we will be recording more eagles than swans too often as was the case this week.

When all was said and done we had another great weather day, that makes 5 weeks in a row now, some great things to look at and some wonderful company. Just one more count before the holidays lets hope we can improve on this weeks low numbers of waterfowl.

Take Care
Derrick

Who knows what’s around the corner?

Gail Mitchell, Hilary Stead, Kathy Coster, Linda Hill, Jane Kilthei, and John Scull gathered on a cold but beautiful Sunday morning to count the birds from Hecate Park.  The bird list can be found at http://www.cowichanestuary.ca/wildlife/birds/#Coastal_Waterbird_Survey.  The new bird for the day was a Killdeer who appeared to be uncomfortably cold.  After the count most of us adjourned to the True Grain Bakery for coffee.

Three observers, Daryl Johnson, Carol Hartwig and Kurlene Wenberg, conducted a Coastal Bird Survey on Cowichan Estuary North-Khenipsen Road Sunday, December 8, 2013 from 10 AM to 11:25 AM. Visibility was excellent during the high tide and there was no human disturbance. There were a total of 15 species that included 515 American Widgeon, 230 Unidentified Gull, 245 Bufflehead, 8 Common Goldeneye, 67 Mallard, 12 Mute Swan, 24 Trumpeter Swan, 11 Mew Gull, 6 Surf Scoter, 9 Hooded Merganser, 14 Bald Eagle, 2 Double-crested Cormorant, 2 Canada Goose, 1 Great Blue Heron and 2 Horned Grebe.

It was a cool morning that brought 6 eager birders out to count and it was slow going for the first couple of hours with other than Canada Geese not much was put on the list. The tally keeper had not even had to sharpen her pencil as things were so bad.
Just two Trumpeters were on Somenos Lake and were surrounded by a multitude of Common Mergansers. A few eagles materialized at Quist’s Farm and a nice Merlin flew over A&W at break time.

The Corfield, Sahilton Road area provided us with our first significant count with over 400 geese and 33 Trumpeter Swans
Koksilah Road west provided us with some swans which skulked along a hedgerow making it almost impossible to get a proper count, but 30 swans were added to our slowly growing total. Bench and Wilson’s Road were devoid of birds unlike previous years counts
Dougan’s flats were bad again and St. Catherine’s Road could only manage one adult Coopers Hawk and a smattering of Sparrows of three different species.
We headed on past Jim’s Pond and around off Telegraph Road, the three ladies were really getting too far behind us at this point and were sure to miss something good if they didn’t keep up, this is where I spotted a Snowy Owl sitting on top of a house, a quick message was sent out over the walkie-talkie and shrills were heard as the girls roared up the road to join us, they were in such a hurry that they failed to hear all the message as the Snowy Owl was a plastic one put on the roof to attract gulls, heh heh heh.

Koksilah Road east provide us with some very good numbers of waterfowl with the cornfields being filled with with nearly a 1000 birds.
Once again this week the immature swans were low, but with a better percentage overall as the adults were down a bit.

Along the Dock Road we found a good number of swans and some idiot in a motorized hang glider who was disturbing all the birds over by the mill, not wanting anybody to get hurt I would have liked to have seen this individual go head first in the estuary.
Strangely only one Mute Swan was tallied for the area, not sure where the rest were hiding.

We were also approached by an older gentleman who, to say the least smelt like the perfume counter at Eatons, and then by another two guys who appeared to have been in close proximity to the first guy. This was a first for me having not smelt the bay being so exotic ever. I do hope I never meet them in a closed environment as I am not one for the old smelly stuff.

After the numbers were crunched the swans were down as were our hawks and eagles, but sadly those pesky Canada Geese increased a bit, maybe some from further up island thought that the weather would be warmer in the south.

With our chances of getting 5 weeks with good weather looking rather bleak and with this onset of cold snowy weather that our numbers over the next two weeks will be greatly diminished. Much counting I think will be done from the vehicles.

At the start of the day I had told the group that I would be unable to join them for next weeks count having a special engagement which due to a hiccup in my memory bank was totally wrong, but the three girls in our group had already started to plan how, what and where they were going to monopolize the count, well tough luck girls as I will be there to control your takeover bid, until next week.

Stay Warm
Derrick

Hi
Our numbers are growing, both in counters and swans. 6 people in two cars headed out through roadworks and dikes hoping that the good weather would hold and yes it did with ideal if not a little bright conditions for the whole count. This week I teamed up with Eric & Dorothy and the trouble makers followed on behind connected by the walkie-talkies.
We managed to count a nice group of geese at the golf driving range before moving on to Somenos Lake where a handful of Trumpeters and 1 Mute Swan were found.
Soon we were on our way along the Hwy where out the corner of my eye I spotted a large group of Elk off to our left, but with traffic coming behind us fast we were past them before we could stop, but the girls in the following vehicle managed to stop and count around 30 lovely beasts feeding in the field.
It was now north to Quist’s Farm where we managed a meager count of swans and a large herd of geese, did I say herd, I meant cackle. This season has been a bit disappointing in the north end of our count with most birds favoring the warmer weather in the south end. The Bald Eagles are starting to return and we had a healthy count of both them and Red-tailed Hawks for the day.
Westholme Road had a nice bunch of swans. Our lookout at this location is starting to grow over with broom and it took me two attempts to find my way through, maybe some loppers might be added to the trunk in the weeks to come.
Well that was it for a while, our pit stop at A&W produced both cookies and chocolates which were well received before we moved on to the south. Corfield and Sahilton were a bust so across the Hwy to the west we went, the cornfields on Koksilah was our next stop although no big birds were visible some smaller feathered friends were skulking in the stubble. It was time to put all my promises together and produce a Wilson’s Snipe, well what can I say we had them coming out our ying-yang. At one time I had 10 snipe in the scope at once, but if they didn’t move some had problems seeing them, in the end all had good looks and we moved on. YES Daryl SNIPE!
On and on we went with just goosies to count and it was not long before we had reached Cowichan Bay and Dinsdale’s Farm where this year we have got our numbers made up with large flocks of both Swans and Geese and of course our wannabe Swan, Sandy the Sandhill Crane.
It amazes me that the Swans roost this season out on the water in the bay but the Crane fly’s in and out with them both early and late, I just wonder where it sets up it’s bed in the evening. Could it roost on the back of a swan or maybe on a close by log, who knows?
After much counting we had increased our swan numbers from the previous week and even added a Tundra Swan and 9 Greater White-fronted Geese who appeared to be worn out and maybe had just arrived from the great white north. One of our counters tallied the geese and had arrived at about 700, which is one of the largest counts per location that we have ever had. Our overall numbers for geese decreased a little this week as I guess some had moved further down through into Washington State.
The Dock Road was next and we were greeted with a really nice surprise when we spotted 5 Bonapart’s Gulls mixed in with both California and Thayer’s Gulls. Earlier in the day I had seen a adult Herring Gull on the car park at Art Mann Park so it was a good gull day. I know not everyone’s cup of tea and some would say a gulls a gull, well not in my eyes.
That was just about it we said goodbye to the Marshalls and I jumped in with the trouble makers, one especially caused a lot of trouble and accused me of mis-conduct which in turn caused the woman to take me in the wood yard, where I feared for my life and after much begging I was taken back to my car with my scope in tact.

That’s it folks have fun and until we meet again next Wednesday.

Take Care
Derrick

Hi
We got off to a wonderful start to our annual count with record early number of both swans and geese.
Our day started by trying to find our way to the dog park, this is a true test of ones road rage, North Cowichan in it’s wisdom had blocked off nearly every road with what can only be described as a waste of our good property taxes, to rip up a road only to pave it again is beyond believe, heh but that’s what we pay them the big bucks for. Christina had been chatting up the young lad who was controlling traffic so that when it was time to leave, he gave her a wink and waved us straight out, such a nice lad.
Our first stop was the golf driving range where a goodly assortment of geese were counted (98).
Then it was along the highway to the boardwalk area for a few more geese to be added. Drinkwater Road was next up, but alas the lake was very slow with just a single Mute Swan and a half century of geese. As we left bells were going off in my head and I wondered if this was it, things got really slow, but with a release of the emergency brake the pace picked up considerably and the bells ceased.
Quist’s Farm was next on our list and it was here we scored our first Trumpeter’s with 9 adults and 2 immature. A large number of geese were tallied here (277)
Richards Trail was disappointing and with no crops being grown I can’t see that we will see many swans here this season.
From here we did our loop around the roads and stopped for a break, then on to Sahilton Road but our best bird was a male Northern Harrier. All in all our raptor count was not bad for the day with 2 Peregrine Falcons and 5 Red-tailed Hawks spread out over the course, we know it can only get better as the eagles move back in.
A stop on Koksilah Road west produced a whole bunch of Killdeer but for all our looking we could not find a Snipe, as we were about to leave I spotted a pair of Johnson’s on the road, they had stopped to see how we were doing before they headed off for lunch.
Talking of lunch we had a newbie with us today who had read that she had to bring along a snack, well Deb brought some wonderful chocolates which were devoured with many thanks, a bag of biscuits or cookies as they are called on this continent made the rounds, so this trip was not lacking in nourishment.
We hit Bench Road but all we could see were some tired old scarecrows. A large group of geese flew over as we were leaving and a few Cackling Geese were seen, I suspect that these guys were heading to Dinsdales Farm and were more than likely counted twice, but it’s early days so we let them get away with it.
Dougans had 2 nice adult Bald Eagles and 4 model airplanes and that was it.
As anybody who has been on our counts will know it’s no all about birds and this came into play when a small group of Shaggy Manes were seen along the side of the road, Curly was out of the truck like a flash and came back with a nice couple of handfuls and one dead Lucky lager. She then went on to tell us how she had been tempting her husband to eat any fungi she put in front of him, but he knows better and had seen the new life insurance policy and was not about to succumb to magic mushrooms.
Anyways back to birds. At St.Catherines Road we had our first Peregrine and Jim’s Pond had a nice group of geese with 2 Cacklers close to the road munching on grass.
Down through the bay we went and picked up a couple more Mute Swans and low and behold before us on Dinsdales Farm was the mother load of swans, never before had we seen such a group on the first count 111 adult swans and sadly only 4 immature, the younguns could be coming a bit later as I’m sure they have a struggle on their first trip south. A large group of geese were here also with at least 20 cacklers. Birds flew all around as a Bald Eagle passed over and our second Peregrine passed the other way, as I made my third look through the crowds hoping for a strange goose or swan a large gangly bird came into my vision a wonderful adult Sandhill Crane was in the thick of it, what a beauty, it even gave a trumpeter a little dig with it’s bill as it walked by. As we all admired the crane a couple of Marshalls turned up so it gave us great pleasure to brag about our find.
The Dock Road was our last stop and here after much searching I spotted a strange gull out on the log booms a nice white Glaucous Gull, a bit early for this species but we were happy to add it to our list.

A great day with wonderful weather and a great bunch of gals to spoil me. Life is good once more.

Derrick

PS, on Friday lunch time the Sandhill Crane was still with his big white buddies

On Sunday, October 13, four birders, Daryl Johnson, Kurleen Wen, Ray Demarchi and Carol Hartwig, conducted a Coastal Bird Survey on Cowichan Estuary North-Khenipsen Road. The beautiful sunny day with excellent visibility afforded the viewing of 14 species including: 950 American Wigeon, 260 unidentified Gull, 33 Double-crested Cormorant, 27 Mute Swan, 16 Common Merganser, 7 Surf Scoter, 3 Glaucous-winged Gull, 3 Northwestern Crow, 2 Hooded Merganser, 2 Horned Grebe, 1 Great Blue Heron, 1 Canada Goose, 1 Belted Kingfisher, and 1 Bald Eagle.

Four observers, Daryl Johnson, Christine Gilbertson, Carol Hartwig and Kurleen Wen, conducted a Coastal Bird Survey on Cowichan Estuary North-Khenipsen Road Sunday, November 10 from 11 AM to 12:10 PM. Visibility was excellent during the high tide and although gun shots were heard, generally the birds did not seem to be too disturbed. There were a total of 16 species that included 835 American Widgeon, 651 Unidentified Gull, 285 Bufflehead, 105 Common Goldeneye, 54 Common Merganser, 43 Mallard, 30 Mute Swan, 6 Trumpeter Swan, 5 Mew Gull, 4 Surf Scoter, 4 Hooded Merganser, 4 Bald Eagle, 3 Double-crested Cormorant, 3 Canada Goose, 2 Glaucous-winged Gull and 1 Horned Grebe.

Hi Birders,
Thanks for the nice evening together birding. I just entered the birds and you were right, Bob, there was no way to record the swallows or even the purple martin on the form even once I asked for the longer form!! I did enter them in the
comments at the bottom of the form, however. I did check out the abundance and frequency of our counts and yes, there are just those blue boxes that don’t really mean much!! I will contact Karen and ask her about that!

So, here is what we saw:
52 Unidentified gull sp, 25 Mute Swan, 9 Great Blue Heron, 3 Belted Kingfisher, 2 Northwestern Crow, 1 immature Bald Eagle, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Turkey Vulture, 3 Purple Martin, 2 Barn Swallow,
1 Violet Green Swallow, 1 Purple Finch and 1 House Wren.

Hope to see you again birding in the summer!
best, Carol

Hi
Yesterday I met up with 7 or 8 enthusiastic butterfliers and we walked the train tracks at Cowichan Station the weather was spot on and was not long before we spotted our first butterfly a Cabbage White. At the meeting place a Red-breasted Sapsucker was drilling some wells in a large Maple. On the trip we saw and heard many species of birds and some were more co-operative than the leps. Our second species and the one that was the most noticeable was the Veined White, this location being one of the best in the valley for seeing this lovely white.
Ravens called overhead and some with better hearing than me heard Evening Grosebeaks. A Pacific-slope Flycatcher calling was the first of the year for the valley. As we moved on the butterflies became more abundant and Spring Azures, Satyr Commas showed well. It took a while but most participants got to see one of the rarer species a Moss Elfin as it rubbed it’s hind wings together while sitting on a sunny leaf.
Mourning Cloaks put on a good show and I think this is the most number of this species I have ever encountered here. A brief glimpse of what I judged to be a Green Comma was had, but the best I could do was to show everyone what to look for in the book.
I found that the Spring Azures were in low numbers which was a bit worrying as they are usually very abundant here. Sara Orangtips paraded back and forth, no this was not one of the participants but a nice little white with orange tips to it’s wings.
As we returned we ran into Mike Yip and his partner, he was there to try and get pictures for his upcoming book on the butterflies of Vancouver Island
As we neared the end a big battle ensured between rivaling Orange-crowned Warblers and we got nice looks as they showed their wares to each other.
Below is a list of the butterflies that we saw:

Cabbage White # 2
Veined White # 21
Sara Orangetip # 5
Moss Elfin # 2
Spring Azure # 5
Mourning Cloak # 6
Satyr Comma # 9
Green Comma # 1
Comma Species # 5

One of the best April days I have ever had for butterflies from this location. Some of the numbers could be low as leps were going in all directions.

In light of the way some of us looked on our return to the cars I am thinking of re-naming our group the Cowichan Valley Wobblers, it was hot and I think all were glad that it was over even though they all had a great time, I hope?

Derrick Marven

Hi
There are days when you just know that it is going to be an exceptional day.
My day started on a bit of waste land along Cowichan Bay Road where I found a pair of discarded kitchen catchers loaded with empty beer cans, over forty in total, what a start to the day. Then a walk through Hecate Park like I do most days I found a poor Loon laying in the car park, this was no Common Loon but one of those brass ones, I was rich. I was on a roll and there would be no stopping me for the rest of the day.
My next stop was the Cowichan Bay Dock Road where I found a young lady who was eager to accompany me on my morning walk, it was not long before we spotted one of the resident Ospreys who was doing a bit of fishing and soon flew across the bay to join its partner at last year’s nest site.
Barn Swallows had been seen before we met and a single Savannah Sparrow flew down and settled on a partially sunken boat, this was a new bird for my year’s list and you know the old saying that once you’ve seen one then the floodgates open, well two flocks of Savannah’s appeared and flew along in front of us.
Our attention was then drawn to a dark thin cloud that approached from the south-east, this cloud was calling loudly and it was a large skein of migrating geese this was soon followed by many others and this annual occurrence of Greater White-fronted and Lesser Canada Geese continued on right through the day.
A River Otter dove for it’s breakfast and only had time to give us a passing glance.
After saying our goodbyes I headed home for my brekky. It was not long before I got the itch and with the sun coming out Winston and I headed back out to see what we could find. Corfield Road was my next stop and it was here that I found my first Damselfly of the year, a Pacific Forktail freshly emerged to bask on some damp dirt right in front of me.
Later while conducting my daily bird observations in the garden my attention was drawn to a wonderful male American Goldfinch that came into the sunflower seed feeder, it sat on one side while a lovely male House Finch sat the other, what a picture.
Alas it appears that the Crossbills found the lovely weather too irresistible and were not observed, what a treat they had put on for me for a couple of days.
5 species of butterfly passed through the garden today and one fresh Spring Azure sat still long enough for me to get a nice closeup look at it’s under-wing.
The day was not finished yet as nature had another few surprises for me, a flock of 7 Red-winged Blackbirds came flying in and brought with them a female Brown-headed Cowbird, another new year bird for me.
One of the bay’s Ospreys passed over with a nice trout, caught from Quamichan Lake, this was sure to impress his lady friend who was more than likely waiting in anticipation for his return.
Next came a phone call from my good mate Dave who said that a large flock of Greater White-fronted Geese were passing over Mill Bay and that I should look out for them, well it took exactly 8 minutes before I saw them coming over the house. This posed a question if it took 8 minutes from Mill Bay to Duncan how long would it take a flock to fly from it’s California wintering ground until they reached the breeding grounds so many miles north?
As the young lady birder had spoken this morning this is my favorite time of year, one never knows what will turn up next.
We are blessed here on the west coast with a wide variety of nature to watch, so get out and enjoy.

Derrick

Early on a sunny Sunday morning five bright-eyed birders gathered with no time to waste – observations had to be complete by 0904, two hours after high tide. First “waterbird” of the day was a Turkey Vulture, on beach patrol right in front of Ray and Carol’s place. But most of the estuary was calm and almost deserted. Biggest numbers were of Mew Gulls, Buffleheads and some American Wigeons, mostly up where the river opens into the bay. We recorded 17 species and 300 individual birds, both down from the March count. Mallard and Glaucous-winged Gull numbers were way down. Even human activity was absent; the motorized paraglider often seen on this side of the Bay was not out, or at least not early enough for us to count.

Kurlene spotted the still head of a Mute Swan raised just above the tall grasses; could it be on a nest? A presumed mate fed quietly in the water close by. Not exactly an indigenous bird, but anyway, one more species for the day’s count.

Next survey will be Sunday May 12, and it looks like another early morning.
Bob and Carol

Hi Birders
Well spring has arrived with all sorts of weather so I guess it must be April. Rufous Hummingbirds abound and are coming into feeders and stationed along the Dock Road on hydro lines. Chipping Sparrows are making an early debut with one at my feeder and another on Corefield Road.
First sighting of an Osprey was one sitting on a crane in the woodyard in Cowichan Bay on the 9th, but haven’t seen it since so it might have moved on north as this fellow was at least a week early.
3 Red Crossbills came down to my sunflower feeder on the 11th with 2 handsome males showing up the dull green female.
Common Yellowthroats are in full song along the boardwalk at Somenos Marsh and all Swallow boxes appear to have residents with a waiting list already posted.
Coots and Ring-necked Ducks are hanging in around the marsh and a young lady wearing wellies finally managed to find her yearly Wilson’s Snipe in one of the wet fields. I personally bumped into one at the foot of Corfield Road on the 10th as it sat in a puddle. No not a young lady in wellies but a Snipe, it of course took off in it’s zig-zag flight.
A great report from an old birding friend of a group of up to 40 Sandhill Cranes that passed vocally over Cowichan Bay on the 10th and passed right over my house while I was busy cleaning house, so of course I missed them.
A strange occurrence while myself and Winston were walking along Hecate Park a large Beaver was on the beach right below the viewing tower, we are used to having a run in with Otters who like to groom themselves in the bark mulch, but a Beaver is a rare sighting at any time of year in Cowichan Bay. It gave us nasty look and then swam off slowly out into the bay. Not sure if males get shoved out by one another at this time of year or not.
Butterflies are coming out in good numbers and I have heard of at least 6 species being seen around the valley already, mind you as I look out the window at this dreary morning all good butterflies are tucked up in bed.
Many species of Wildflowers are out with Trilliums and Shooting Stars looking wonderful amongst the leaf matter.

Well keep your eyes peeled as it is all happening now.

Proud to be a Naturalist
Derrick

Hi
When you got to go, you got to go, as was the case for the swans and geese this past week with a mass migration from the valley.
Just 47 Trumpeter Swans were counted and even the remaining few looked eager to leave us to go north.
A group of four immatures on Sahilton Road looked strange without their mum and dad to show them the way, but I’m sure they know which way to go.
This week there was nearly as many participants as birds with 8 volunteers ready to do battle. John once again joined us and we had cameras coming at us from all directions. One neat gadget he had was one of those headcams which had a mount with a large sucker on it which was placed in many spots on Christina’s truck although her hybrid Ford looked like it had been attacked by a giant pacific octopus by the time we’d finished. He told us that it could withstand speeds in excess of 150km, but we just fell short of those speeds.
Somenos Lake had a few lingering Ruddy Ducks and a very active Marsh Wren was busy building one of his many nests, we were lucky to get nice close up views as he went about his yearly chore.
A large eagle, thought by me, to be an adult Golden Eagle flew around the base of Mt. Richards and a Northern Harrier glided over fields on Richards Trail.
By the time we got to A&W we knew that it was going to be slow for swans and it did not get much better from then on in.
Yellow-rumped Warblers were heard and seen and a couple of Evening Grosbeaks played hard to see in Cottonwoods at the bottom of Corfield Road.
The four immature swans on Sahilton Road were gone the next day so they just wanted to get a little bit more greenery in their bellies before setting off.
One lucky counter had seen a pair of Cougar kits earlier in the week and it is nice to know that this much maligned animal is doing okay besides all the adversity thrown its way.
Well we wizzed around the route and were on our way down into Cowichan Bay when low and behold we spotted the Kozee Wrap truck parked at the pub, now this was strange as old Derrick had indicated that he would be busy in a Victoria attic and would not be able to come and count birds. The next day I confronted him and he said he was under the pub looking at a job. Now I personally have been found under and behind a pub a few times in my life so I did not accept his lame excuse.
Our day ended on the Dock Road where our last Trumpeter Swan of the season was recorded and to cap off a wonderful day a male Rufous Hummingbird sat up on the hydro wires as we left.

Big thanks this week to Christina (see I do remember your name) who finally lead the group and to all other participants who have made this a wonderful counting season, what would we do without you, your company over the weeks has been a real joy.

Next week when I have had time to recover I will talk more about numbers and the ups and downs of the past season.

Take care and enjoy this wonderful weather

Derrick

Attachments added.
Copy of 2012-13 Winter Swan & Goose countCopy of 2012-13 raptor count