Nature Cowichan

Hi
With word flowing around the Vancouver Island birding community of a massive influx of Heermann’s Gulls to the east side of the island into the Salish Sea, myself and senior Derrick “he don’t like being called old anymore” decided to do a big gull search around the Cowichan Valley on Saturday. There has only been one questionable sighting of this lovely species of gull recorded in the valley and it is one that is on my bucket list.
Like most of us Brit birders we need a good hearty breakfast to get us going in the morning and so i met up with senior at his residence where he did us proud with a full English.
I sat and watched out his living room window while the sausages spat and sizzled in the frying pan and was excited to see a nice male Northern Harrier drifting by over the Cowichan Estuary, this was quickly followed by an Osprey that glided up and landed in a tree next door. Many ducks were out and about and included Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal and many American Wigeon.
Old senior is bit slow getting his feeders going this year, but Chickadee’s, House Finch, Anna’s Hummingbird were all coming and going. A juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler was catching insects in an old maple, one of only a couple i have seen so far this fall.
We soon scoffed up our brekky and were off down to Cherry Point to start our quest. With only one parking spot left at the foot of Garnet Road we soon were out with the scope checking the gulls on the gravel bar, some of the first gulls noticed were about 50 Bonapart’s with a spattering of California Gulls mixed in. Just a couple of Glaucous-winged Gulls stood high and above their smaller cousins. A few Surf Scoter were way out on the water but were well outnumbered by fisherman.
We left without ever seeing our prey and headed back to Cowichan Bay and the dike that goes out behind the saw mill. After a steady walk to get rid of some of that belly busting breakfast we were set up and looking out over towards Khenipson Road and the gravel bars which at the beginning of the month were loaded with gulls, but now the numbers were much decreased, where they had all gone, who knows? I scanned back and forth and added Ring-billed, Mew and Thayer’s Gulls to our list, but once again we were skunked in finding a Heermann’s. We did get nice looks at the local Trumpeter Swan who has been here for a few years now and it did a lot of flapping and wind stretching, so not sure what keeps it here through the summer unless it’s his buddies the Mute Swans that it finds most attractive.
We headed back out to the car downcast as to why us poor birders here in the valley should not be able to see this wonderful west coast gull that has decided to invade our little bit of east coast Vancouver Island.
All was not lost and i instructed the driver to head to Sahilton Road in the hopes of finding some American Pipits as they have also been noted moving south over the last week. It was only a couple of days ago that a misplaced islander who finds himself in Salmon Arm Bay had found a very rare for Canada a White Wagtail in a flock of Pipits. With some freshly cut corn fields along Sahilton Road, this makes for some ideal habit for migrating Pipits, but once again we were thwarted in our attempt to find some birds. With our tails between our legs we were just about to call it a day when the last field gave us some hope and we spotted 8 Greater White-fronted Geese, again this species is making a big move right at the moment and are migrating down in large numbers from way up north.
We were happy campers and called it a day and headed back home.
One Day a Heermann’s Gull will give us the pleasure of spotting him, one day.

The two Derricks

Ps
On Sunday there were about 200 Cackling Geese and almost 100 Greater White-fronted Geese on Sahilton Road in the early morning.
PPS – A large flock of Greater white-fronted geese were seen flying south from East Sooke Park on Saturday.
Eric Marshall

It was a very quiet morning.  Only  one counter.  The weather was clear; seas were calm; and there was moderate human activity - 3 powerboats, 2 kayakers, 8 walkers, 5 dogs.

Start time was 09:30.  Finish 10:30.

The tide was high and still rising.  I only observed seven species of birds:
Double-crested cormorants: 7
Great Blue Heron: 2
Glaucous winged gulls: 8
Unidentified gulls: 17
Belted Kingfisher: 1
Northwestern Crow: 8
Osprey: 1

Gail Mitchell

Bob and Helen Nation, Kurlene Wenberg, and Daryl Johnson spent a beautiful
one and a half hours with the birds on a sunny, calm morning in the bay.
We saw thirteen species of birds:

D.C. Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 3
Canada Goose 37
Mute Swan 34
Trumpeter Swan 1
American Wigeon 8
Mallard 36
Common Merganser 79
Osprey 1
Accipiter species 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 7
Belted Kingfisher 3
Common Raven 1

Hi Naturalists
It has been a while since I put fingers to keys and thought that as surveys are about to start that I would enlighten you on what this birding duffer has seen this late summer.
The shorebirds have been the best for many years, but numbers are still low for what was once one of the best spots in BC. Bigger numbers of both Least and Western Sandpipers, a few Bairds Sandpipers and above average numbers of Semipalmated Plovers. Just a handful of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs have been seen and the same for Dowitcher Sp. A couple of times both Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers have been observed.
The Ospreys have done really well with at least five young raised from the two visible nests, not sure about the nest in the mill yard this year, hopefully they produced also. This in turn means that there must have been good fishing for the birds in the bay this year, is that eel grass growing?
Great Blue Herons appear to have done well with lot’s of birds out on the mud.
Have only seen one pair of Bald Eagles this year, but no young have been observed, for the Herons and Osprey this could be a good thing.
Numbers of Ring-billed Gulls have decreased this year with less than half the normal arrivals in August.
Just the other day while standing in Hecate Park near the viewing tower a immature Coopers Hawk attacked a Northwestern Crow and much screaming was done by the Crow, but unbeknown to the Coopers all the Crows relations (25) were perched up in the maples and descended on the hapless hawk, who was chased off across the bay, never to try it’s luck again with a crow.
A few times I have witnessed a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers hammering away at the logs along the beachfront and the Eurasian Collared-Dove invasion has continued unabated right down into the village and have joined up with the local Rock Dove flock.
Warbler numbers have not done very well with many normal spots being very lacking.
The Tree Swallows raised a few young, but with all swallow species their numbers appear to be decreasing fast. Barn Swallows have not done very well at all in the bay with numbers at a all time low. Only once have a seen Northern Rough-winged Swallows who once nested in the banks of the rivers flowing into the estuary.
Now all these sightings and numbers are just my observations and I’m sure some of you would have witnessed some other good birds in and around our little gem called Cowichan Bay.
It won’t be long and that dastardly group the Swan and Goose counters will be out and about and i guess many stories will be told of their exploits, so stay tuned, fall is just around the corner.

Derrick Marven

Kurleen Wenburg, Daryl Johnson and Carol Hartwig conducted a Coastal Waterbird Survey on Cowichan Estuary North-Khenipsen Road Sunday, April 13, 2014 from 5:37 to 6:30 PM during high tide. Visibility was good but there was glare on the rippled surface. A total of 13 species were observed including 100 Bufflehead, 69 unidentified Gull, 45 Mew Gull, 35 Unidentified Duck, 21 Turkey Vulture, 15 Mallard, 10 Mute Swan, 10 Unidentified Cormorant, 6 Common Merganzer, 4 Bald Eagle, 2 Raven, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, and 1 Trumpeter Swan for a total of 319 birds filed with the BC Coastal Waterbird Survey online.
An osprey was included in the Survey on the south side of the Bay.

Spring is here and the migrants are starting to pour in, many new species have been recorded including Black-throated Gray, Orange-crowned and Townsends Warbler, Pacific-slope and Hammond’s Flycatcher. Brightly colored male American Goldfinch are starting to appear at feeders and the shorebirds are being seen in Cowichan Bay with good numbers of Greater Yellowlegs and the first groups of sandpipers coming through.
A pair of Osprey have set up shop on the old nest site in Cowichan Bay and two or three Purple Martins have been seen on nest boxes also in the bay.
Rufous Hummingbirds have already started nesting while the Anna’s Hummingbirds have got fledged young attending feeders.
Over the past two weeks large groups of Geese have gone through, White-fronted, Cackling and Canada Geese all going in a north-westerly direction and will continue for the next couple of weeks as they head way up north to start the new breeding season.
My garden has seen many species leave with just a few straggler sparrow species hanging in for the seed, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers must be nesting close by as they are at the suet block most days. Robins and Starlings along with House Sparrows have been grabbing any good nesting bits and bobs and carting them off, one busy House Sparrow was seen with a large dead grass stem about a foot and half long flying by the kitchen window without any problem.
Many duck species are starting to leave and the number of Green-winged Teal have built up in the bay with a nice male Eurasian Teal being seen on several occasions. Good numbers of Northern Shoveller were seen on our little field trip to Somenos Marsh and some Greater Yellowlegs showed themselves nicely with one in near breeding plumage. It was a cold morning on the walk and we did not see too many species, but if you don’t go and look you will never see anything.
Hopefully if the weather warms up a bit over the next couple of weeks we should see many new species arrive and it won’t be long until those with feeders see the arrival of those wonderful looking Black-headed Grosbeaks.
The Great Horned Owls have young now and at a westerly location in the valley young birds have been keeping a couple up at night as they call and cry begging for mum and dad to bring them some food.
The last two Trumpeter Swans that i saw were in Cowichan Bay, I did sneak around our route one day with the wife just to see if there were any more hanging around but none were found.
A pair of Red-tailed Hawks are displaying most days above Tzouhalem Road and will soon be nesting and a fly through Sharp-shinned Hawk made some slow moving House Finch bring up their breakfast at my feeder the other day.
The Tree Swallows have taken over most boxes around both Somenos and Cowichan Bay and Violet-green Swallows have found their old haunts around the sub-division, but I have not seen any signs of our other three species, Barn, Cliff or Rough-winged yet.
Our neighbor was walking down the road yesterday with his little boy and dog when a Turkey Vulture came down really low and cruised up the street, it was good to see the amazement in the little boys face as this monster bird came so close, of course i told them to keep moving just in case the vulture was a little hungry and hadn’t eaten for a while.
Well i think that’s about it, lot’s to see and hear at the moment, so get out and enjoy what nature has to offer.
Derrick

Four eager counters appeared for this our last count of the season and little did we know what wonders were in store for us on this lovely spring day.
We started off with a few Canada Geese here and there and some swans flying off to the north-west, migrating possibly?
Tree Swallows sat and flew around the boxes at Somenos, it appears they have already set up shop and are ready for the upcoming season of laying eggs and making babies.
Along at Quist’s Farm the Golden Eagle put on a nice display while an adult Bald Eagle took a spring bath in the flooded fields, juveniles stood bye and watched wondering what on earth is this adult doing, that’s wet!
As we pulled up at the park and ride along Hwy 18 just to the west of Hwy 1 I noticed some funny looking lumps along side of a fence line out across the fields, low and behold a herd of Elk were laying down taking in the sun rays, 18 of these large lovelies were there being watched over by one large bull looking after his harem of ladies and their offspring.
On our pit stop at A&W a Red-tailed Hawk circled over us, I wondered if this meat lover was drawn to the smell of patty’s cooking or was looking for that now defunked famous pizza place for their large meat lovers.
One of our group had brought along some tasty liqueurs and it did not take long before I was feeling a little happy and was seeing all sorts of strange birds. The last time I saw these liqueurs one of group was on all fours in the car park as we left and she was seen with liqueurs scattered all around her.
As we hit Corfield Road the ladies all starting screaming as some officers of our local constabulary dressed in bullet proofed vests were working their way around the Farmers Market, these female screamers were so intent on seeing what was going on they refused to go down the road and count swans. I had to force them to move along, but as soon as we returned half the street were out trying to see what was going on, I had suggested that someone had made off with a cabbage from the market without paying.
I could only wish to create such excitement in a woman as did 2 Swat team members, one four legged sniffer woofter and a brassicus thief, as was shown in our vehicle. It took the authority of the SWAN team leader to make these ladies leave the area and let the SWAT team carry on with their apprehension.
A few swans were had along Riverside Road before we descended to Bench Road where goodly numbers were added to our slowly rising list.
Dougans Flats came up with a few swans and we had good looks as the ladies forced me down some farmers driveway to get a closer look, I must admit it was a good move and one area we must remember for next year for easy counting. Big numbers of Canada Geese were once again out in the fields and a conservative estimate of 400 birds were added.
It was here that a small dog tried in vain to be rescued, jumping up at the door trying to get into the window, but Christina who had been trying for a rescue dog for weeks was not amused and sped off leaving this poor dog looking forlorn beside the road wondering what it had to do to get a warm home to call its own.
St. Catherines Road had a nice group of swans and then we hit Jim’s Pond where in amongst the Lesser Scaup and Northern Shovellers was the Ruddy Duck that we encountered last week.
Koksilah Road east gave us a good number of swans, but were hidden from view until we went around the back of the field to count them.
Another one of our members admitted this week to raising House Sparrows and throwing snakes out into the road, I have to admit that this conduct can not be acceptable to naturalists like us and if she persists strong measures will be taken against her, I believe a suggestion was to be thrown into a snake pit with just sparrows for protection.
The final big piece of excitement happened as we left the Dock Road and a smallish whitish bird flew up into a tree out across the field, at first I thought it was the local Northern Shrike that had been around for most of the winter, but looking through the distorted glass of the windscreen this bird looked a little fat, so I asked Christina to pull forward so that I could see out of the side window and it was then that the true beauty of what we was looking at came out, it was a lovely female American Kestrel, this bird was more than likely in migration and k

new that this was our last count of the season and wanted to put on a show for us and we thank her dearly for her display of hawking in the field.

Although the adult swan numbers dropped by half the immature birds remained identical to last week. Goose numbers also dropped dramatically with many pairing up for the upcoming nesting season.

As our Swans and Geese head north for the spring we wish them well on their journey and hope that the breeding season is nice to them and that they come back in the fall with their offspring for us to start counting them again.

A really big thank you to all of you that came out this season and for your good humor and your tolerance of such a stickler of a leader and for all your hard work counting the swans, geese and hawks of the Cowichan Valley.

Derrick.

I did it again a lovely day of sunshine although the wind still had a bite to it, you could tell this draft was having some affect on the ladies as some feared to remove themselves from the vehicles.
Two carloads set out with 8 people, our good friend Genevieve turning out to see what all the fuss was about. It didn’t take long to get her excited as we no longer had just stopped at Quists’s Farm than the Golden Eagle was doing a little dance in the mud out in the field, not sure if it loathed the mud or it was trying to gobble up earth worms, which ever way it put on a wonderful display before flying off over to the barns to join some youthful Bald Eagles.
A small group of Trumpeters were also found at this location, so this got us started on today’s count. Kerlene volunteered to do the tally sheet this week, but she had failed to bring an eraser, this entailed some close scrutiny of the results as I added up the days takings.
On we went and some more Trumpeters were found along Westholme Road, but then it was just a few Canada Geese along Richards Trail and some others at different locations back to Hwy 18 where we found a nice family group of swans. All went slow back to A&W, Eric dropped Genevieve back off at her car as she could no longer stand all the excitement and she went home to get on with some soothing paperwork.
Sahilton Road once again gave us our biggest flock of swans and an immature Tundra put in a show way over in the field, we spent some time here checking through the birds and time was getting late so Christina booted it away from the side of the field once again covering me in mud as I tried in vain to get the window up, this is the second time she has done this and she apologized profusely while giggling away.
Off to the west we went, but sadly Koksilah Road failed to increase our numbers, so we quickly went up Riverside Road where a modest number of swans were found. It was here that I was dumped out on the side of the road while the girls took off up the road, I must have looked forlorn as I held my thumb out working my way back down the road, but luck was with me as Eric stopped and offered me a ride, well both of us having got the same make of car I had never tried to get in the backseat and as I squeezed and pushed to get in, cramp set in and I lept back out and I was left to hobble down the road in pain, but then along came my ladies who showed mercy and picked me up. I promise never to pick on them again until next week.
Bench Road came next and a wonderful group of swans awaited us, but some were ways off and it took some scrutinizing to pick out the immatures who have now started to gain some adult plumage. The two furthest swans caught my attention and I was sure that one of these had a neck collar and through the haze pushed up by the sun we finally could see the ring around it’s neck, but way too far away to get the number. I think that this is 01UK who has been at this location couple of times this year.
Good numbers of geese were had at Dougan’s Flats and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks got it on as they circled over the highway, it was nice to see that the male who we had seen on many occasions had finally attracted a nice lady to keep him company.
Our next bit of excitement came at Jim’s Pond which is the pond adjacent to Cowichan Bay Road and Jim’s Crescent, a Ruddy Duck came floating by fast asleep, this is a very rare species to find here as they are usually only found on Somenos or Quamichan Lakes.
With our day nearly done a nice group of geese were at Dinsdales Farm to bolster our numbers which this week were down some, pointing to what I said last week about counting some twice as they moved back and forth between sites.
The last bit of good fortune was had on the Dock Road, Cowichan Bay where I found a penny, this tiny little brown job are hard to find these days and can only be found hanging out at some of the local banks.
Well that’s it until next week when we endeavor to make the last count of the season a biggy, much partying is expected as we wind up the count until the fall.

Cheers
Derrick

Thanks to Dave Aldcroft and Derrick Marven for leading the March 13 birding trip to Parksville. They each took credit for the balmy morning sunshine while dodging the blame for the rapidly chilling afternoon. Still, it was a fine day overall for the 15 participants:
David Aldcroft, Stephen Aldcroft, Jenny Carter, Christina Cutbill, Daryl Johnson , Dorothy Marshall, Eric Marshall, Derrick Marven, Zosh Miller, Gail Mitchell, Sheila Sanders, Heather Wade, Ken Walker, Kurlene Wenberg, and Jim Wisnia.

Surf Scoters were the dominant species, with good flocks of Brant flying back and forth. Highlights were Northern Mockingbird, Marbled Murrelet, and Eurasian Wigeon. Many birds were well offshore, too far to identify. Though we were surprised to miss expected species like Red-breasted Mergansers, it was not bad for the birds, either, with 64 species:
Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Brant, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Eurasian Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Bonaparte’s Gull, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer’s Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Belted Kingfisher, Anna’s Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Hutton’s Vireo, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Violet-green Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick’s Wren, Pacific Wren, Varied Thrush, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

Jim Wis

nia

Oh weren’t we the lucky ones, the sun shone and the head of the Golden Eagle lit up and birds were everywhere.
This week saw some new swans come into our area as the birds slowly make their way north. 5 Tundra’s and 8 Greater White-fronted Geese were had as well, lot’s of eagles.
Only 5 participants this week but we did have the return of Deb who had been working on her tan down south, it had taken her a couple of weeks to get over her trip before she could manage some swans, it appears to many Tody’s were to blame.
Sheila once again came along, she really knows how to look after her man with a large box of cookies to spoil me, so here i was with four ladies again and i came away with just minor scrapes and bruises.
Quist’s Farm this week treated us to some amazing sights with Bald Eagles of all ages spread out in the trees and on the ground and it took a while before Ispotted the Golden Eagle and just as quick the bird flew, but luck was with us as it landed on the other side of the highway and posed in the sun, the scope was out and we all had some wonderful views of this great bird. Kurlene was at the ready with her camera and snapped many images, one of which is added to this message for your enjoyment.
Our next major stop was Sahilton Road where we saw the other Golden Eagle soaring over the road, it came right over the vehicle, but hold on we have a sunroof, it was quickly opened and we enjoyed this young bird go back and fourth over us, did I say we were the lucky ones?
It was then time to get down to business and start counting swans, a major crowd of these big white lumps had gathered and the numbers were climbing with each group. All of a sudden I started to see Tundra’s first a young bird and then two adults and as we all got good looks we had forgot about the eagle who had now landed over behind the swans and was doing this funny sort of dance. It was pretty obvious it had caught something and I tended to lean towards a large snake as the bird was having a bit of trouble with it and kept lifting it’s legs up as if the snake was winding around it.
Anyways back to the swans, I needed to confirm my counting, as I scanned through the birds a brown butterfly flew through my line of vision, first of the year, I think it was a Anglewing species more than likely a Satyr Comma one of the first to fly in the spring.
Koksilah Road west was next and yet another butterfly, this time trying to land on Christina’s windshield, this time I was sure a Satyr Comma it was.
We did manage some swans in a new spot up the road and then added some more along Riverside Road where a Great Blue Heron took off from a small pond
A good group of swans were in a field at the corner of Bench and Phipps and here we added another immature Tundra Swan.
We arrived at Dougans Flats and oh my was there a group of geese, but no sooner had we stopped than a truck came in from the far side of the fields, it was the model airplane guys come to fly their machines, of course all the geese took off and I pleaded with the feathered flyers not to leave as I had just done a estimate of their numbers, but would they listen, no. When we finally reached Dinsdales Farm of course there was a massive herd of geese and maybe just maybe that’s why the numbers are a little high this week, as I suspect they were playing games with us and wanted to be counted twice. Did I mention that when all the birds took off from Dougans a Cackling Goose was spotted in the crowd as they went over the highway.
Back at Dinsdales I got some White-fronted Geese in the scope and I suspect that they were the same 8 that we have had a couple of times before.
I have had enough of this typing, my little fingers are starting to ache, so until next week, have fun and keep your eyes open, things are happening it’s spring, well nearly anyways.
Just two more counts to go, so if you keep thinking you should come out you should do it soon, or you will have to wait until late fall.

Picture,

thanks to Kurlene, enjoy

Derrick

With the Swan and Goose count cancelled because of weather conditions I had decided to do a bit of birding from the window, alas my better half had other ideas and I was given the task of cleaning the house. I flitted here and there like a Bushtit at a suet feeder and it was not long before I got a tea break, so I positioned myself by the window to watch all the goings on at the feeder. Varied Thrush were in good numbers with 6 recorded at one time, 2 American Robins had found a bare patch on the lawn to dig for worms, sadly they took a big dislike to each other and spent most of the time battling. Funny with the adverse conditions many of my Oregon Junco’s did not turn up for their elevensies also awol were 2 White-crowned Sparrows and my wintering White-throated Sparrow, could it be that someone else was feeding them better food than me?
At this point the wife decided she needed a fix at Walmart and took off, leaving me to fend for myself, well that’s all I needed to discard my feather duster and put the cleaner away. I thought I now I would get to work on my penny collection having sadly neglected all my copper through the Christmas period, as I held a bright 1999 up to the sunlight a Anna’s Hummingbird appeared at the window and hovered there checking out the date, as I twisted and turned the coin the hummer would twist and turn the same way, memories of Chubby Checker came to mind. It must have been the bright reddish color that had attracted the bird as it was mesmerized by the coin.
At this point I decided to turn around the other way just in case the bird hit the window and would you believe it a Bewick’s Wren turned up and worked the windows looking for spiders, well I think it was, as I don’t think it was interested in numismatics. That’s coin collecting for all you out there that don’t know.
Anyways many species came and went and I found myself gazing up at the sky and there coming like a bullet was the local Merlin hell bent on swiping one of the local European Starlings.
Many other species came and went and the House Finch’s worked on their tan as about a dozen of them sat on top of the plum tree, a male and female Purple Finch visited the sunflower silo and then one of the American Robins took great offense at having sunflower seeds dropped on his head and attacked driving off the pair.
I once again gazed off up into the skies, I think Iwas having some withdrawal symptoms as I yearned for a Trumpeter Swan to fly over, it was getting bad as I would have been happy to even get a Canada Goose to pass the house. All I got for looking up was a pain in the neck and one lonely adult Glaucous-winged Gull heading into Quamichan Lake.
With my attention going back to the amassed coinage on the table I wondered how many pennies it would take to escape this white wonderland and head off to somewhere warm. This thought of getting warm led me into a false sense of security as I had failed to notice that “she who must be obeyed” had just arrived back home and it was time for another tea break.
I miss my friends and laughter of the Swan and Goose count and we can only hope that next Wednesday sees the weather improve and get back to some positive work as this housework thing is for the birds.

Keep looking
Derrick

You know it’s a good day when you arrive at the dog park and there are smiling faces there to greet you, noone hiding in their cars away from the weather, yes once again we had incredible conditions. It was one of those days for hanging your washing on the line and drying your smalls.
Five participants today with poor Eric (who joined the party at A&W) being sent to Coventry, all alone with just a walkie-talkie as a friend. I don’t know how to drop the ladies without hurting their feelings, but it has to stop, people are starting to talk.
Off we went and for once the golf driving range lacked any birds but we were not discouraged as we were in for a real treat today several goosies were counted in the Somenos area and then it was up the highway to Quist’s farm where our first 7 Trumpeter’s were seen. Our first treat of the day came sailing across the fields a immature Golden Eagle, this bird has been here now for more than three weeks and it put on a wonderful display as we sat nervously beside the highway.
Westholme Road had nearly 40 swans and a few geese and we watched as eagles and ravens sparred over Quist’s. Further on at Richards Trail with the fields flooded for the first time this season we had good numbers of both swans and geese and one shocker was a Mute Swan swimming with the Trumpeters, this has to be the first time for me of seeing this species on Richards Trail. It must have flown in with the Trumpeters from their roost in Cowichan Bay. The local Merlin was seen and another surprise was an adult Northern Shrike keeping watch over the sparrow flocks.
Our numbers this week for raptors was almost identical to last week, which is always comforting to know that they show themselves for us, but not always in the same spots.
Other than some more Canada Geese, counting got boring from here on until our break with just a few more added.
Sahilton Road was next and as soon as we got along the road we could see good numbers of Trumpeter Swans in the field, just under 50 gave us real close looks. We then moved further up the road and a large eagle came at us, at first i thought it was a Bald Eagle, as you know if you’ve looked through a car window screen up to the heavens things can get a little distorted and it was thanks to Kurlene’s keen eye that she exclaimed is that another golden, well would you believe it we had stunning views of our second Golden Eagle of the day and again it was a immature with wonderous underwing windows and a big black tail band. Both Kurlene and Eric tried in vain to get their cameras out but the bird knew what they were up to and glided off across the field and landed in a tree too far away for a picture. Maybe next week we will have the cameras at the ready in case of any surprises.
Koksilah Road west was our next stop and as usual the birds got as far away as possible making for hard work counting, but we managed to record over 80 Trumpeter Swans.
Kurlene had spotted some Elk on her way in this morning and so we had to go have a look and we were treated to a small flock of about 12 beasts way down in a field, their light tan bums showing as they grazed, one Elk was kneeling down while feeding. This time cameras were at the ready.
Back to the birds, as we hit Bench Road just under 40 swans were added to our ever growing list. At Dougan’s Flats there was nay a white blob to be seen anywhere, but many brown lumps were seen way down in the fields and a quick guesstimate had 600 Canada Geese added.

As a birder I know only to well how easy it is to cheat and show off to the unsuspecting, such is the case with a certain Red-tailed Hawk who seems to be glued to a certain branch on a dead cedar snag week after week, how easy it is to say there’s a bird when you know it’s there and people then say how on earth did you spot that, you have amazing eyes, just one of the tricks of the trade I’m afraid.

Koksilah Road east was our next busy spot and over 70 Trumpeters were counted, from here on in things were slow and just a handful more birds were added including a couple of sleeping swans off the Dock Road that were unidentifiable.
Our day was done and what a treat we had, there are not many days on Vancouver island when you get to see two Golden Eagles and a herd of Elk.
The number of swans and geese were right on our average with a slight increase in immature Trumpeters.

Thanks to my fellow counters and a big thankyou to Christina who’s driving was impeccable even when the leader grabs at the wheel trying to get her to turn right.

Time to take the washing in, see you all again next week.

Derrick
watch out for funny phone spammers.

This week I was once again surrounded by women, I don’t know how I do it, but there you are, some of us have it and some don’t. Four of us took off from the dog park and it was not long before the numbers started to grow.
Goose numbers this week dropped drastically and swans went up although immatures remained low. We only had one Cackling Goose in amongst some cousins on Dinsdales Farm. We never could find a Mute Swan this week but I have it on good authority that a flock has been seen in Mill Bay so maybe they headed south for some better weather.
Corfield and Sahilton Roads had the bigger numbers of swans along with Koksilah Road west and the main areas for geese were Somenos Marsh and Dinsdales Farm Cowichan Bay.

The one good thing about our little group is that if we ever found a rare bird we would have the book on hand to look it up. The vehicle comes equipped with so many bird books it is known as Amazon 2. One book which caught my eye this week was a great book on Birds of Prey by Crossley, a wonderfully illustrated book showing birds perched and flying and in all sorts of plumage. Here is a link to the book in question :

Although this week our raptor numbers suffered a bit with the star being a Peregrine Falcon on Koksilah Road east.
We managed to get around on dark chocolate and arrowroot bickies this week brought to us by our long lost friend Daryl who had been awol for far too long.
As one can imagine their was lot’s of chatter this week ranging on many subjects, one was religion which in its written works lies many articles on birds, but I have never found the bible of much use for identification purposes.

Over off Koksilah Road east we found some swans way over the back field and so we had to go around onto George Street to get a better look, some of us squeezed our bodies through this tiny hole in the fence and straight away I noticed this swan with a great deal of yellow on it’s bill, the only trouble was the shape of the bill and swan all pointed to it being a Trumpeter, anyways Kurlene got us a nice picture which we can keep on record should we ever come across this bird again.
Also of note was that Kurlene while out on Thursday caught sight and photographed the neck banded swan UK01, we had heard from Peggy that it was seen a couple of weeks ago, but we have not had any luck finding it on the count. I think this is the fourth year for this bird in the valley. It’s band is starting to fade in color fast and might not be identifiable after this year.
Anyways a short report this week as the police have arrived, it appears that some of my comments about the new police station have not gone down well, so if I don’t turn up for the count next week, you know where Ill be, just put the tally sheet under cell door 1.

Have fun and keep looking up.
Derrick

Hi
This afternoonI witnessed one of the most amazing and sad birding sights I have ever seen.
I had just been out to feed the birds as I usually do about 2:45pm each day, Icame back in and sat down ready to jot down my sightings when I noticed I had not filled up the hummingbird feeder, so out Iwent onto the deck and filled it to the brim as we have many Anna’s Hummingbirds coming in. It is not uncommon for the dominant males to fight and chase anything that comes near and today was no exception, just one large female was left in peace as she sat in the plum tree and watched as the big male sucked up the new juice at the feeder. From where I was sitting Icould not see all the feeder so I asked my wife if she could see the bird and as she looked all the other species of birds which were down on the ground feeder and up in the trees scattered, I just caught a flash of white and was not sure what I had seen, but whatever it was landed in a big fir next door. I quickly lifted up my binoculars to see what it was and I was shocked at what I saw, a adult Northern Shrike had just caught my best adult male Anna’s Hummingbird, it had took it clean off the feeder in a split second. As I looked the poor hummer was still alive flapping its wings while held firmly in the mouth of the shrike, I was staggered by what we had just witnessed, the sadness that I felt for this wonderful little bird was to put it mildly, too much, just when it was time to spread his genes around all the lonely females its life was taken.
To make matters worse the shrike then descended into our plum and devoured the lifeless little hummer; all this taking place in full view of the female who sat looking around watching what was taking place. I went out to see if there were any remnants of the hummer on the ground as the shrike had obviously finished as it was wiping it’s bill on a branch, but not a scrap was found so Ican only assume the shrike had ate everything; it sat there looking at me even after I tried to frighten it off. Another male hummer came into the feeder seising the chance to get a drink, little did he know that he was now the king and it would be up to him to take over the harem of our local sub-division.
This is not the first time something like this has happened at my feeders, once in Ontario I watched as a adult Coopers Hawk attacked and caught a male Northern Cardinal; back then I felt the same sadness as I felt for the poor hummer.

I am not sure if this type of attack has ever been documented before, but I doubt if I will ever witness this again, having said this the Northern Shrike is now stationed in the top of a fir tree being attacked by another hummer, how amazing is that.

Derrick

It was one of those days which you could never have predicted, I personally thought it was going to be wet and totally lacking in birds, in fact it was totally the opposite. Big numbers of raptors and waterfowl included, Bald Eagle, Coopers, Sharp-shinned and Red-tailed Hawks, Merlin and Peregrine Falcons, mega number of Canada Geese, a nice count of Trumpeter Swans with a big improvement in immatures up to 15% of the total. A good showing of Mute Swans whose youngsters are starting to show signs of adulthood, with bills changing color and lots of white feathers coming in. To cap it all a nice immature Tundra Swan was seen close up, over on Willmot Road. Add to all this, the temperature rose, the sun came out and all were smiling.
This week saw six participants leave the dog park and then Scotty beamed down at A&W for a lucky number 7. Two cars full set off and we were soon adding up good numbers, birds were again spread out all over the place, a female Common Goldeneye was seen well on Somenos Lake a not so common sighting this winter as ducks have been at a premium around the marsh with not much water to test the new dike.
The first of three Cooper Hawks dashed across the highway as we headed north and up at Westholme we had to bushwhack the broom to count the swans, it has become harder and harder to count swans at this location as the vegetation keeps growing higher and higher. Once again a large contingent of geese were found off of Hwy.18 and a guestimate put the total at 1000 birds, but I couldn’t find any other species only Canada’s. Red-tailed Hawks dotted the hydro poles as we turned to head south for our rest stop.
Just to let people know that Canada Geese migrate both north and south during the winter months so it could be that some of the numbers encountered this week could have come from anywhere.

This week I received some upsetting comments, that I of all people would steal someone’s sighting and call it my own, so to put things right I kept note of what the others saw and did this week, below are some of those happenings:

Kurlene saw many hawks and eagles after the lead car had gone past.
Deb, a new birder, managed to distinguish between crows and gulls. Ouch!
Christina once again managed to drive while using the walkie talkie and her cellphone, plus scoop up rescue dogs, she is big into adoption you see. Ouch! Ouch!
Dorothy, complete with tan, managed to steer Eric clear off any oncoming vehicles from the back seat, whilst keeping all the data in good order. Whack!
Eric managed to ignore Dorothy and did a great job of driving.
Scotty learned the art of birdwatching and keeping his ears plugged with the ipod while being fed nuts and raisins with the ladies.
During all this I just pointed out a few feathered things and counted birds.
Now lets not say I don’t give credit where credit is due again.

The counting continued all the way around our route and down at Dougans Flats we had the opportunity to view a nice adult Coopers Hawk through the scope and nearly missed some Canada’s that hid behind some big cedar trees.
Off of Koksilah Road east we had a few Cackling Geese and a nice group of swans and it was here that “WE” spotted the immature Tundra Swan on the Willmot Road side.
Down through Cowichan Bay we had two nice adult Mute Swans and a Horned Grebe that had made friends of a female Bufflehead and on Dinsdale’s Farm even more geese were counted.
Our last stop on the Dock Road produced some more Mute Swans, a handful of Trumpeters, good looks at a immature Bald Eagle through the scope and a couple of Surf Scoters way out on the water.
I was half expecting to hear or see swallows as the weather was so nice, but let’s not get fooled into thinking spring is here already, there is new snow on the hills out towards Shawnigan this morning and colder temperatures are forecast for next week.

Until we count again, keep well and keep smiling.
Derrick