Cowichan Valley Naturalists

Hi Birders
Due to the winter falling on a Wednesday again this year the count was canceled. Winter came on the 12th last year, so take it from me that winter is late this year.
It is time for reflection with our count, the Raptor count has got off to a good start although the lack of accipiters and falcons is a cause for concern and even eagles have not lived up to expectations.

“Meanwhile back at the feeder the Juncos have gone mad with nearly sixty eating all my seed.”

The Swans and Geese have shown that we don’t know yet know about their movements with birds not using some fields as before and now taking up residence in new spots.
The numbers for swans is down from the past two winters although last week showed some promise with normal numbers appearing.

“Meanwhile back at the feeder a female Townsend’s Warbler is coming in to the feeder, nice”

Geese appear to have put on a spurt over the last week, the same thing happened last year with low numbers the first week of January then larger numbers for the following couple of weeks.
It was nice to see the reappearance of the White-fronted Geese on Willmot Road, it has only been over the last few years that this species has over wintered.

“Meanwhile back at the feeders i just spotted a orange variant House Finch, this is a new one for this winter here”

The Mute Swans in Cowichan Bay have been steady through this winter although I think someone is feeding them in around pier 66 as four of them appear to have gone AWOL.

“Meanwhile back at the feeders the chickadees are banging on the window, I had forgot to put out their sunflower hearts on a bracket just outside, I am amazed that they don’t come in and help themselves.”

Well that’s it for this weeks installment, let’s hope that mother nature shines on us next week and we can get back to what we enjoy, counting birds and having a good laugh.

“Meanwhile back at the feeder a pair of wonderful male Varied Thrush’s have come in what a lovely sight sitting there surrounded by snow.”

All the best
Frosty the Snowman

Hi Birders
This week saw a major infusion of birds but a lack of counters. The day started at the dog park with just me and Daryl, so 10:00am came around and we started to pull out just as Sheila was pulling in. The three of us then left and started the count with a few Geese here and there and with a lot of Somenos Marsh frozen. The mated pair of Mute Swans was still on the DU pond as this has yet to freeze. Onwards to Somenos Lake where right behind us pulled up Bob who clearly needs a new alarm clock, yes we will have a whip round next week for him. Thankfully the lake was loaded with birds so a great count was had with 200 swans and just under 350 geese.
Off up to the Quist farm found us counting another large group with nearly 75 swans and another large flock of geese.
From then on we hit the wall as we could not find anything for most of our early session, having said that we had our best sighting of the day on Hwy 18 when we were stopped by a train near Somenos Road, now that is one rare beast in the valley of late.
A Northern Shrike was in the same tree on Hwy 18 as three or four weeks ago, must be some good hunting in them fields.
A & W came and went and then we got to Sahilton Road where the fields were bare except one lonely Swan who had been shunned by his buddies, further down the road we did find a few more to give us a quarter century for the area.
On we pushed and here I must say that with young Derrick at the wheel this week we were making record time, although I had driven past two of our usual stops, silly me.
There was nothing on the west side of our count and so we found ourselves quickly around on Koksilah East where there was one big party in the fields, it appeared that half of the waterfowl in the valley had been invited. White-fronted and Cacklers joined with Canadas for a grand total 360 birds and these were dotted with 180 Trumpeters and one not so lonely Tundra Swan.
Dinsdale’s Farm had its usual crowd of Canadas with a few Trumpeters mixed in, Daryl did the counting here and a fine job she made of it too, she nearly got it right.
5 Mute Swans ended our day along the Dock Road and a late arriving Peggy joined us for a chat, of the vocal kind that is.

Raptor numbers were below par this week, especially with me having to keep my eyes on the road this week. Not to say that the other counters were not looking.

Stay tuned for the next thrilling instalment of the wild goose chase.

Derrick

Hi Birders
It had to happen sooner or later, weather wise and today we were hit with the worst rain of the winter. It came at us from all angles but my quote from last weeks report must have been noted as most counters wandered out of the vehicles this week. Things were slow and Swans and Geese were few and far between today. Where the large groups have gone is anybody’s guess. The birds seemed to be split up all over the count area and at the end of the day only geese were at a low number, with swans just down a little from last week. Best spots for swans this week were Westholme and Richards Trail with the Westholme birds hiding from us somewhat, so a good estimate was used. The Richards Trail group were nice and close giving us some excellent views.
As we worked our way around the north end of the route we added a few here and there and it was not long before we had our first pit stop at A&W. An immature Bald Eagle flew over looking for any lost hamburger or any unsuspecting Crow who was not alert.
Once again at Sahilton Road the swans were in an area for which we have no access, so another estimate was made of these far off white blobs
As we headed towards Dougan’s Flats a far off dark bird sat in a lonely oak tree which i called a Red-tailed Hawk, i was brought to task by an older gentleman sitting beside me over my identification skills and on a second look the hawk became a Raven, well everybody’s allowed to make one mistake in their life. I made up for this later on when a small blob on Koksilah Road east turned into a Northern Shrike and all got good looks. Dougan’s finally had some Swans and 61 were counted for the biggest number this season for this area
We quickly headed to Dinsdale’s Farm where we had our largest count of Swans for this area this season with 56 more added to our growing total.
On to the Dock Road where I really made up for my prior mistake when I spotted a 1st winter Glaucous Gull off in the doom and gloom of Cowichan Bay.

Over the three seasons we have seen several neck banded Swans, one of which is 01UK, thanks to Peggy who finally got a response from her requests about the number, we find that this bird was:
Banded: 08/03/2006
Sex: female
Age of bird: Hatched in 2005 or earlier
Location: 20 mi, NW of Galena, Yukon-Koyukuk census area, Alaska.

Also over the last two seasons we have seen immature birds with yellow legs and thanks to the spy from Guelph “Ariel” we now have an answer to this matter.

Well that’s it for this week, stayed tuned for the next installment of “How the world turns” next week, God willing.

Derrick
Master of ceremonies

Hi Birders
The weather played a big part in the count this year, with atrocious conditions, no snow, rain, wind or cold temperatures. Birders were seen coming into the roundup with smiles on their faces, something we are not used to on the Duncan count. No whining or complaining was heard, just jokes and laughter.
Let’s hope we can get back to some normal conditions next year.

Early results suggest that our total will be the same as last year 103 species, with Common Redpolls taking the honors as best birds of the day, seen in several locations. This is a new species for our count I believe. Three count week species were never found sadly.
Eurasian-collared Doves saw a new record with over 20 birds, 16 of these were on one hydro line in Cherry Point, much to the delight of the area leader.
This year we had not one alcid, something that I find really strange, maybe they are all up Island.
Two species of warblers were found, Yellow-rumped and Townsends.

My group had a good day around Somenos with 57 species found. We missed several easy birds this year, failing to find Pied-billed Grebe or Belted Kingfisher. Many thanks to Aziza for keeping all the numbers and compiling our sheet at the end and the company of Jeremy.

I will post our final totals when compiled.

Many thanks to all participants for their tireless help on this years count and all previous ones.

Wonderful food was provided by the many helpers at the roundup and they have my major thanks for their efforts. What would we do without you?

Derrick Marven
North Cowichan, BC

Still looking for my ear trumpet.

Hi Naturalists
This past Wednesdays count was attended by 6 counters so we all squirmed into one vehicle which did help with keeping everyone warm, not that we needed it with a balmy 10c outside.
My day started with a nice cuddle in the carpark, I knew then that this was going to be a good day.
A small squabble happened between two participants over who was going to keep the days tally, this was quickly sorted as seniority takes precedent.
Lot’s of Geese and Swans were in the Somenos area and were quickly added to our total. A immature Bald Eagle scared up 3 Great Blue Herons out behind the DU pond and the Hooded Mergansers, Gadwall, Ring-necked Ducks and two adult Mute Swans swam on the pond.
We quickly moved north to the Quist Farm in hopes of big numbers, but we were disappointed as far as swans went but Oh! the eagles put on a marvelous display 42 birds were in and around the farm with a line of at least 15 mostly immatures lined up around the flooded field as if they were waiting for something to leap out into their beaks.
On to Richards trail where we found a nice group of swans, Tanya who has eyes in the back of her head had already spotted a few in the fields as we drove along, but the big group was on Pastula’s farm with over 70 birds present.
From here it got rather slow we entered our pit stop at A&W in good time and then it was south to Sahilton Road where last week we saw hundreds of birds, this week was a different story with just a handful of flying swans. It was here that we encountered our first of three Northern Shrikes, this first one flying quickly and over the hedge before most got to see it clearly.
Koksilah Road west was next and here we found a nice group of swans close to the road for easy counting, quickly we racked up over 130 birds and moved on further down the road where we found a lovely adult Coopers Hawk sitting on a hydro pole
Next it was Bench Road where a few swans tried to evade our prying eyes, but with senior Derrick’s intuition we added them to our list.
There were no birds at Dougan’s Flats, but a pair of Red-tailed Hawks put on a nice courting display.
We crossed the Hwy and headed to St. Catherine’s Drive where we got our second Northern Shrike, it was a nice adult sitting far away across the fields. After checking the sparrows it was then onto Koksilah Road east where we hit paydirt. The first group of swans had a nice adult Tundra Swan with them and as we checked the field marks our third and final Northern Shrike flew right over the head of the Tundra, this brought a comment from a wit in the back bench of ” Three Shrikes and you’re out” this in turn brought a large groan from the assembled crowd.
A lovely Peregrine Falcon sat watching the birds from a dead snag in the field and made for wonderful watching from the truck.
We then moved on to Wilmot Road where another large group of geese and swans were gathered, low and behold another adult Tundra was spotted, I knew then that the hug had worked wonders.
Dinsdale’s Farm was a bust, so we headed straight on to the Dock Road, the rain started to spit, but the hardy group were out the truck in a flash avoiding many little piles left by fido to catch the counters unaware. The rain really started to come down as I set up the scope to count some far distant swans, after a quick scan I turned to record my numbers only to find that my fellow counters were all sitting in the dry truck, what a hardy bunch I have to work with.
Well that was it we were done for 2011 and I’d like to thank all those that have taken part, your good company is much appreciated.
Here’s to lots of hugs and a good 2012.

Derrick
who’s eyes are always forward

Hi All
Seven eager counters turned up on this lovely sunny day and things couldn’t be better, two cars left the dog park and it was not long before we were counting Geese on the school playing fields on Beverly, another group of geese caused a bit of a discussion at the golf driving range as my quick estimate was shot down as being too low, well what do I know about counting Geese?
This week Guelph University sent a spy from Ontario to check on our scientifically run count, many pictures were taken and we hope we passed the test with flying colors; thanks for coming along Ariel.
There were no major surprises this week with numbers dropping for both waterfowl and raptors although geese once again hit high numbers with the main concentration all in one location along Sahilton Road despite hunting and dogs being in this area all week.
2 Mute Swans on the DU pond at the Forest Museum was a nice surprise.
A Northern Harrier passed us by on the Cowichan Bay Dock Road but all in all the only high number for raptors were the Red-tailed Hawks. We continue to hit a blank with accipiters they must all be sitting around feeders.
Here are our final totals in song, please sing along at this festive season.

On this seventh week of our count my counters gave to me:

1364 Canada Geese Feeding
341 Trumpeters Trumpeting
41 Bald Eagles Hunting
10 Red-tailed Hawks Sitting
6 Mute Swans Swimming
2 Cackling Gooses Cackling
1 Northern Harrier Coursing
and a yellow thing in a cottonwood tree

Thanks to all the counters for their good humor and their good company.

Have a great holiday.

Derrick

Dear Naturalists
This week found us lacking in participants but getting better with swans. After last weeks low numbers we found a total of 396 swans so four times better than last week.
Five birders took off for the route and it wasn’t long before we knew that this week was going to be different, 48 swans on Somenos Lake was a good start.
Quist farm took the honors with most Trumpeters with just over 130 swans and just under 250 Geese.
As we worked our way around, Richards Trail fell flat with no birds at all and just a solitary immature Trumpeter on Richards Creek seen from Herd Road.
On this day we had a new person doing the numbers sheet and what a great job she done, she has a real “passion & killer” detail for this position especially when shes kept warm.
We pushed on and were rewarded with a adult Northern Shrike on Hwy.18 opposite the golf course, this brought everyone out of the truck for a bit of cold air and a few yards of exercise.
Nothing was seen again until we reached Corfield /Sahilton Roads were we had some closeup views of Trumpeters right beside the truck, 75 in all with 9 Greater White-fronted Geese which appear to be settled in for the winter if their not too disturbed. Also along this road were 60 Bald Eagles in all variations of plumage. A family group of swans at the foot of Corfield had 5 young – a wonderful sight and the most from one family that I have seen.
Bench Road produced our first of the season for this location with 23 swans and Dougan’s Flats had 34 swans but no geese, where did they all go from last week?
Koksilah Road east produced 21 swans with 9 being immatures what a wonderful ratio this was.
A quick run down through Cowichan Bay found us looking at a massive flock of geese and 41 swans on Dinsdale’s Farm, I made a suggestion that a good guess would be better than me counting them all, but then what an opportunity to get some accurate figures saw me set up the scope and relay numbers to Daryl, a 100 here and a 100 there were joined by a Snow Goose here and a Cackling Goose there and when I had finished a total of just over 700 geese were counted. So that’s where they were.
The Cowichan Bay Dock Road had 10 swans and a nice Northern Harrier and as we stood there we heard this incredible sound as all the birds took off from Dinsdale’s Farm and circled around, I do hope this was not a dog that put them up as they all looked so contented together in the fields.
Our last bit of good luck on this cloudy day was a dark figure that senior Derrick spotted sitting low in the cottonwoods opposite the Dock Road, at first I think we all thought it was an Owl, but no it was a Dark Red-tailed Hawk of the Harlan’s race – a real beauty.

Thanks to all participants for a great treat of a day.

Good Birding
Derrick

Hi Swansters
Once again we were blessed with fine weather, but we were let down by the swans this week. Not sure what has taken place, many of the swans have just up and left, it’s for sure they know something we don’t. With a high count of just 102 Trumpeters today we are down over 400 birds from the corresponding count last year and well down from last weeks tally of over 250.
Goose numbers fared well with over a 1000 Canada’s counted along with 9 Greater White-fronted Geese on Sahilton Road and 1 lonely adult Snow Goose on Dinsdale’s Farm, I shouldn’t say lonely as the Snow had over 250 Canada’s for company.
As we venture our merry way around our route it is amazing how many people old Derrick knows, just as soon as he stops on the side of the road, logging trucks, motor homes and all sorts of 4x4s, big trucks and cars sound their horns and wave vigorously out of their windows, he sure is a popular fellow and we should be thankful that we have him on our count.
Many eagles were tallied this week with 75 bettering last weeks total, but other than 8 Red-tailed Hawks no other other raptors were seen.
A large white blob in a tree along Herd Road brought my identification skills into question and I beckoned the driver to stop so that I could put the peanut gallery in it’s place, Bald Eagle was called from the back benches completely overriding my sighting of a Red-tailed Hawk. When the dust had settled we had two Red-tails sitting near each other with no Bald Eagle for miles.
We ventured on failing to find much of anything, Sahilton Road had a few swans and that was it until we reached Dougans Flats where the main flock of nearly 500 Canada Geese were found with 5 Cackling Geese mixed in.
Dinsdales Farm as i mentioned had good numbers of Geese, but there is a real problem brewing in this area with people running their dogs across the fields and allowing their four legged pets to chase the birds.
THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW.
This is a silly practice as they have the dike around the fields and the dog walking area in the large maples opposite the tennis courts.If you’re down that way and see this happening please take down their licence plate number and call the conservation office at 1-877-952-7277. This also applies to any infractions against wildlife by man or beast that you may encounter while out.
Our day ended on the Cowichan Bay Dock Road watching the duckies and a nice adult Western Gull which I found while counting hawthorn berries.
Thank you to my 9 hardy companions for a great day and we hope to see you all next week for another installment of the wild goose chase.

Oh i nearly forgot this week we were treated to some lovely cookies with m & m’s embedded in them, better than those dry old crackers that float around the truck now and again. I know I will pay dearly for this remark?

Derrick

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

Derrick

At Somenos Lake

Hi Birders
What a day for a count, wind, rain, snow, you name it we had it, but in the true style of hardened birdwatchers we persevered and recorded what we could see through the mire.
7 of us took part in two vehicles and we welcome a new counter Cathleen who I inadvertently blamed for the weather, her being from Calgary and all, but we all know that Calgary has nice weather?
We started by counting geese at the schools along Beverley and quickly worked our way around to Somenos Lake where good numbers of geese and ducks were visible, there were two adult Trumpeter’s out on the lake and 3 Barrow’s Goldeneye which were the first returnees for the fall season of this lovely duck.
On we went fighting snow and blinding rain along to Westholme, here we were lucky to find our first immature swans of the season, sadly only two younguns with 14 adults, not a very good ratio.
Richard’s Trail was a bust, no farming was done on Pastulars farm, so no taters and carrots for the swans to munch on.
Hwy18 had a nice flock of geese just west of the TCH, but that was it for the north side of town.
We stopped for our washroom break at A&W and then it was on to Sahilton Road where we hit paydirt with a large group of Geese; an adult Snow Goose was the star attraction in amongst the feeding crowd, also 18 Cacklers were also at the same location. Further along Sahilton we found a small group of Trumpeters with most almost hidden from sight, this time we tallied 22 birds with 2 immatures making for an even worse ratio. I am sure there were more swans at this spot hidden from us, but we have no access to this field
No more birds were found until we reached Dougans Flats where 200 geese were seen last week, they could have been there but dark wet blobs on the soaked windows was all I could count. We did have a nice Peregrine Falcon fly over the truck which added greatly to our raptor count for the day.
St. Catherines Drive had a few dickie birds, but it’s a bit early in the season for swans and geese here.
Onwards we pushed to Cowichan Bay where we found our last group of swans with 8 adults on Dinsdales Farm. Here we had a nice Merlin which appeared to be chasing starlings in hope of a nice lunch. We all got out on the Dock Road but it was a bust, it was impossible to see across the Khinipson Road side so the Mute Swans went uncounted.
At the end of the days count we were rewarded with cold hands and feet, 52 swans, over a 1000 geese and 18 raptors. The swan count is not much different from last years corresponding count where 60 Trumpeter’s were seen.
May this remain our worst weather day of the upcoming season.
Thanks to all for their support and their good humor and a big thank you to Dorothy for her endless work on the days tally.
Please find attached two excel spreadsheets with the days totals for swans, geese and raptors.

Derrick

We did the first of the season count last Wednesday and five eager counters piled into old Derrick’s truck for the event, my he’s a wonderful driver, slows for anything that looks like a bird and I do mean anything.
Bob and Helen kept the tally, so you can’t blame me for any oversights, while Daryl pointed out anything that we missed. Young Derrick was his usual self with many wisecracks and a great ability to spot things other than birds, many dead beer and pop cans could be seen on our trip, what I need is a big net.
The count started with a flyover flock of Trumpeter’s at the dog park and was quickly followed with four more flying across Somenos Lake.
Old Derrick had seen a Red-tailed Hawk attack a female Mallard and wandered down into the field to retrieve it, when he returned he had the poor duck in his hands and was dribbling at the thought of duck for dinner, but I convinced him to let the hawk have it. Derrick took the bird back to the field where it took flight and was gone with no one getting a nibble of her.
We did encounter two more Trumpeter’s on Somenos lake and one at the Quist Farm out at Crofton and that was it until we reached Cowichan Bay and found two more.
All the Trumpeters were adults which I hope is not a trend for this season.
On Sahilton Road we had a nice flock of Geese with 7 White-fronted and 15 Cackling Geese in amongst the Canada’s.
The Canada Goose numbers were high compared to last year, but these are early days yet to start making comparisons.
This year we are also counting hawks and eagles and we were not dissapointed with what we found, 8 Bald Eagles, 6 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Coopers Hawk and a flitting glimpse of a large accipter along Westholme Road that had the size and flight of a North Goshawk, but we were unable to confirm the identity.
Anyways a good start to the season and we all had fun.
Derrick Marven

Hi Birders
The month of May will go down as one of the most miserable months for migrant birds with most arriving more than two weeks later than usual. The Tree Swallows, I think, will be the hardest hit and I’m not sure if their breeding will be at all successful.
I observed 64 species in the checklist area during the month and there was one other observation of a Oriole Sp. seen along the boardwalk by a visiting birder.
There were still good numbers of migrating geese in the marsh in the early part of the month, with both Greater White-fronted and Cackling Geese.
A single Pied-billed Grebe was seen in the first week as was a Double-crested Cormorant.
A possible migrant Sharp-shinned Hawk was down beside the golf driving range and a single Vaux’s Swift flew over the boardwalk during the first week.
Things didn’t get any better in the second week, but 5 Hooded Mergansers in the DU pond was a nice show. Highlights of the second week was a Peregrine Falcon flying out over the boardwalk and a single Western Sandpiper in a flooded area behind the school board offices, 7 Short-billed Dowitchers were also in the same puddle another day.
Highlight for the second week was a new bird for me in the marsh a Mourning Dove that was on the golf driving range only the second record for the checklist. I felt lucky to see this bird as I was just about to leave and had one foot in the car when I saw it fly down.
8 Lesser Scaup were a bit late leaving the area mid-month and were, sadly, some of the only ducks seen out on the lake after this.
Both Yellow and Orange-crowned Warblers finally started to sing with some vigour into the third week and were in full song at the end of the month
A male Western Tanager flew across the marsh to Timbercrest; a rare sight at this location; also Black-headed Grosebeaks started to arrive and sing late.
A single American Pipit was down the long field early one morning and I was lucky to have my scope with me this day. Killdeer were seen running around also this morning, but I have not seen any young this year.
A male Osprey has taken to sitting on the old pole down the long field and also on a dead snag much nearer the hwy; twice now I have seen him with a tasty fish breakfast.
Cedar Waxwings finally arrived during the last week of May and were quickly seen sitting near their interpretive sign.
Swainson’s Thrush could be heard giving it’s call in the last few days down beside the golf driving range and should be in full song now as I write.
The only species that has seen to be having a good year are the Canada Geese who can be watched charging around with many young in tow down the long field.
All in all a disappointing cold month which has had an effect on the birds and we can only hope for better things to come

Good Birding
Derrick

The Young and Improved Derrick (he now has a bionic knee) has commissioned us to write the account of this week’s Wild Goose Chase and you must admit his is a hard act to follow.

Four tried-and-true counters set off with Old Derrick at the wheel. We tallied 58 Canada Geese on Somenos Marsh and saw redwing blackbirds, coots and various ducks. Our stop at Somenos Lake yielded only some cormorants over the far side and some violet-green swallows skimming the lake.

We saw widgeon, mallards and one tweagle tree from TransCanada Highway. (A tweagle tree has two bald eagles perching in it!). By the time we arrived at Mt Sicker Road having seen no swans, zero, zilch, we were worrying that our Leader would feel we’d let him down, however we then found nine swans – all juvenile trumpeters.

We drove through Westholme finding only 12 Canada Geese, but Dorothy got her horsey fix when she spotted two Norwegian Fjord Ponies. On Richard’s Trail we saw only a few duckies. Tom Windsor Road yielded TWO Canada Geese – in past weeks we’d scan the geese and say “Oh, put down 300 – that’s a good enough estimate” and today we got excited over just two!

On Herd Road, by Avalon Farm, we watched two large birds wheeling and soaring overhead and we came to a consensus that they were Golden Eagles. (I’d never seen a Golden Eagle in my life, but agreed with the others that they were not of the Bald variety.)

From Highway 18 we saw two geese from the Park & Ride and three further down the road. On Auchinachie Old Derrick spotted a Post Hawk. Old Derrick has excellent peripheral vision and an even better imagination!

Finally on Sahilton we came up trumps. Derrick will be proud – 12 adult and 14 immature Trumpeters and two adult and one immature Trundras. (Honest, Bionic Derrick, we had two scopes and we watched intently – hopefully the portraits Old Derrick took will convince you.)

After that success we had a short hiatus for shopping (bird food, honest) – which would not have been allowed if our Leader had been present. Then nothing till we arrived at Dougan’s Flats and saw 19 Canadas, eight deer and one bald eagle.

St Catherine’s had no swans and very few birds on the feeders – no quail. Koksilah Road East provided 36 adult and 11 juvenile trumpeters.

Driving through the quaint village of Cowichan Bay we noticed a local leading his goat into one of the stores – don’t ask – anything goes in Cowichan Bay!!

Arriving at Dinsdale’s Flats we all agreed that Bionic Derrick would be envious when we saw the most Y-fronted – sorry make that White-fronted Geese we’ve ever seen in one flock – 31; but there were only three juvenile trumpeters and two Canada geese.

From Dock Road we saw four mute swans and one (the injured?) trumpeter.

Although total numbers were lower than previous weeks the drive took even longer because the hesitant, amateur birders felt the need to check and recheck every bird, without our fearless leader to guide us.

Later in the day we saw the two mute swans happily going about their life on the DU pond next to the Forestry Discovery Centre. Presumably they were again making whoopie in the bushes during the official count.

We are all looking ahead to next season when Derrick will put his best foot forward and lead the Wild Goose Chase again.

Good Birding!

Dorothy & Eric.

Hi Birders
Once again the weather gods smiled upon us and 5 counters got on their way.
It appears that us counters are fast becoming some sort of cult figures with a large following waiting with bated breath for word of what happened each week. There is talk of a book and we are currently in the process of contacting our publisher to see if we can match the likes of Harry Potter or James Bond.
I thought that it was going to be a little lean this week, but the swans had decided that they liked Cowichan hospitality so much that half had decided to stay over for a few more days. In a strange twist exactly half of the adults had stayed over from last week and about 75% of immatures. Canada Geese dropped by a long ways and we did see Geese flying north as we started our count.
After a few stops all we had to show for our work were some Canada Geese, but we soon found some swans at Mt. Sicker Road, this in turn settled down the counters into their usual swing of things and it didn’t take long to find 2 Red-tailed Hawks and 5 Turkey Vultures flying in the skies looking like they were having just as much fun as us.
We added about another 100 or so Geese before we hit Corfield/Sahilton Roads, here we were treated to a nice group of 130 Swans.
The large group of Swans off Koksilah west had all gone and it appeared as though the farmer had been spreading some sweat smelling liquid aroma, it is obvious that even swans can’t stand this stink.
Bench once again came through with nearly 100 swans but Dougan’s Flats was a total loss with just 2 Canadas to show for our keen eyes.
St. Catherine’s Drive one of our favourite spots showed many birds, but only a single California Quail tried to implant itself on the front of the truck.
Jim’s Pond had nearly a score of Geese and our favourite nags still had their blankies on letting us know in no uncertain way that the cold is still with us.
Koksilah Road east produced the most birds with a nice group of both swans and geese, two Cackling Geese were also seen at this location and were dully snapped by one photographer with great comparisons when caught standing beside a regular sized Goose. Here again we had Red-tailed Hawk and Turkey Vultures.
I have been told that taking a snap was not appropriate in this day and age of electronics and that i should refer to the pictures taken as expensive digital images, which ever way some gooduns were had.
Our day finished on the Dock Road where we finally caught up with some Mute Swans which were spied from the Cow-Bay Road but vanished on us at Hecate Park. It was almost certain that they wanted to be counted on the north side and not to be seen begging for tit-bits at the park.
With only one more count to go this term things are looking good for the Swans with increased numbers all round, it will take a few more years before we can get any good insight into if they are stable or going up and down.

This was my last count of the season as I will be under the influence of gas and pain medication at the time of next weeks count as I get my new bionic knee. I know it pains my fellow counters not to have me there to guide them, but my pain will be far greater then theirs.

Another great season achieved, thanks to all who took part and thanks to all our groupies for continuing to follow us weekly.

Good Birding
Derrick