Nature Cowichan

North side of the Estuary:

With two birders off in another hemisphere trying to escape the Canadian winter, the remnants of the team enjoyed a fine warm February 10th. Despite the hazard of the bright setting sun in our eyes, we counted 711 birds of 16 different species. Glaucous-winged Gulls, Mew Gulls and Mallards made up two thirds of the total. A tight, contented flock of Greater Scaup were new to the count. Buffleheads remained numerous, while January’s big flock of American Wigeon were nowhere to be seen. Small numbers of Trumpeter Swan, Horned Grebe, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye, and Hooded Merganser went about their business here and there in the calm water. One Pacific Loon and 6 Surf Scoters were visible further offshore.

A challenge of the Coastal Waterbird Survey is that every observation must be entered as Inland, Near-shore, or Off-shore. Near-shore includes on-shore; Inland means near the shore but over the land. Near-shore means the birds are near enough to see properly, and Off-Shore means they are barely visible in the distance. This is not to be confused with Far-shore, which are also difficult to see, but the birds are actually Inland or possibly Near-shore, depending on how near they are to the far shore. If you can’’t decide, you are allowed to call it Unknown-shore. We hope this is clear. For a while we didn’’t know which numbers to write where, but finally we sorted something out.

Bob and Daryl

Go to Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre website for south side of the Bay.

Hi
The morning saw just 3 participants and with Bob looking a little ragged around the edges I sent him home even though he never had a doctors note. So it was left up to Daryl and myself to complete the task at hand.
Another good count of swans this week with the major flock having moved again, not sure why these birds keep changing locations but we watched as a farmer on a ATV scared a large group of swans and geese from his fields, they sure don’t like those four tracks.
The best spot today was Corfield Road with a major flock of swans. Koksilah Road east had the largest group of geese.
On Corfield Road Daryl brought my attention to some Evening Grosbeaks that were coming to a feeder behind the hatchery and really this was our only look at any good dicky birds, unless you count the California Quail and assorted sparrows on St. Catherine’s Drive.
We did have the flock of Greater White-fronted Geese on Sahilton Road and some Cacklers on Koksilah Road east. 5 Dusky Canada Geese were on Corfield Road showing their dark bellies which really stood out.
Immature Bald Eagle numbers were low this week, maybe due to the adults setting up nesting territories and chasing the youngun’s away.
The Ruddy Ducks were back at Somenos Lake although I never bothered to count them this week, but it looked like a 100 or so.
Today was the highest number of adults counted on our trips this season although immatures were down a few from last week. We never did see a Tundra Swan, so I’m sure there was another flock of swans out there somewhere away from our prying eyes.

We finished at the Dock Road where I found a flock of Greater Scaup for Daryl to see, a tricky species to identify from a distance. Something to remember Greater Scaup like salt water estuaries and inlets and Lesser Scaup like lakes and ponds. You very rarely see Lessers if at all on the ocean side waters.

That’s it for this week, short but sweet, as I’m rushed off my feet and have to get on with the cleaning before “she who must be obeyed gets home”.

Have Fun
Derrick

Hello Birders
This week saw a major rise in numbers of Trumpeter Swans with the highest total #635 this is the best for two years. We also had 3 adult Tundra Swans and 5 Mute Swans. In the raptor species we had a Peregrine Falcon, Merlin and a high number for this season of Red-tailed Hawks #7.
We started off slow as usual with 6 participants soon getting into the swing of things. Somenos Lake lacked any Ruddy ducks this week, but some Common and Hooded Mergansers were seen along with a couple of adult Bald Eagles. A group of skulking Double-creasted Cormorants tried in vain to avoid my prying eyes.
Quist Farm had lot’s of American Wigeon and just a few swans and eagles. Westholme had hardly any birds with just with just 14 trumpeter’s trying to hide in the sedges.
Richard’s Trail fell flat as has been the case for most of this season.
As we got to the top of the trail a Red-tailed Hawk sat down on a hydro pole to our “RIGHT” this was met with a correction as the location was dispatched to the following car by walkie-talkie. It appears that one of the counters does not know her left from her right and twisted and turned like a contortionist so that she had the bird on her left, which made no earthly difference as the bird was clearly on the cars right. After this all conversation went totally down hill over the airwaves, as the following car lost all confidence in our sightings.

Onwards we went adding eagles and red-tails, but a lack of swans was sadly lacking.

After a quick stop, it was Sahilton Road next where a major flock of swans was found, just under #180 birds were seen along with #550 Canada Geese, #18 White-fronted Geese and #14 Cackling Geese. On Corfield Road I spotted a Peregrine Falcon but before the group could get on it, it flew off behind some trees.
Off to the west we failed to find anything of note until Riverside Road where #24 swans and a handful of Cackling Geese were found. Bench Road came next and we had the blue necked banded tundra swan again at this location with just over #60 Trumpeters.
At Dougan’s Flats we hit the major flock with #280 Trumpeters and #355 Canada Geese, all birds were counted at this location with a counter for a more accurate number.
Koksilah Road east had a small flock of swans which did include our third Tundra.

A few more swans were added in Cowichan Bay along with Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye and way off Surf Scoters. One more Trumpeter was added on the Cowichan River to finish off our day in a light rain, for the most part the weather was good with a light wind.

Next week sees a hand over of the reins as Dorothy and Eric take a welcome break from the pressures of counting swans, it should be a very exciting few weeks with a new tally person and me teamed up with the ladies.

Enjoy the spring as i fear were not done with winter yet.

Happy Birding
Derrick

Hi Birders
It always amazes me that so many weather forecasters can only get get conditions right about once a week, well much to our delight their forecast of rain on Wednesday did not materialize.
Six eager beavers set out and it was not long before we were adding Canada Geese to our list and a Northern Shrike that sat in a tree at the corner of TCH and Beverley Street before taking off over the highway to Thrifty’s, they must have House Sparrows on special this week.
Red-tailed Hawk and Bald Eagles were quickly added before we reached Somenos Lake. At the lake we soon found the Ruddy Ducks that were Awol last week and after counting we had 99 birds dozing in front of a group of Double-crested Cormorants.
Many eagles were noted by the time we hit Quist’s Farm and between here and Westholme Road we added just under 40 trumpeters. Richards Trail was found wanting as it has been for the last few weeks. We did add another Red-tailed Hawk and 3 Bald Eagles on Tom Windsor and a large group of Geese on Herd Road, another Red-tail was very close to the road sitting in a small ornamental tree, strange place for this bird.
As we headed down and around to the fields off Drinkwater Road I mentioned to Eric that it’s been a while since we had any birds to count down this way and low and behold 130 Geese and 2 Trumpeters were added. We headed down Sherman Road and I caught a glimpse of a accipter sitting high in a cottonwood, Eric quickly stopped the car so that everyone could get a look at this adult Cooper’s Hawk; as is always the case, us stopping did not go down well with the locals who sounded their horns in displeasure.
After a quick break we headed for Sahilton Road here we had much better looks at another Northern Shrike sitting up on the hydro wires. We did manage to add a few more swans here before we headed west. Koksilah Road west was a bust and only 9 swans were on Riverside Road, but this all changed as we come up the hill on Bench Road and a big white cloud sat on the fields, just under 180 Trumpeters were found and 2 adult Tundras, one of which had a blue neck band. This same bird had been around since the Christmas count on the 1st and it was not until now that we had chance to get it’s number. This bird P927 was our first banded Tundra Swan and one of only a few ever seen on Vancouver Island and big thanks to Peggy Smith who quickly sent in the data, below is it’s details.

Banded: 07/28/2009
Sex: MALE
Age of Bird: Hatched in 2008
Location: Smelt Lake – south of Smelt Island
Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska
Bander: Susan Savage
Alaska Peninsula / Becharof NWR
King Salmon AK

At Dougan’s Flats we added just under 50 swans and a gaggle of geese, there were more swans hiding down behind a large bank which we were unable to count. A Northern Harrier cut across the fields and landed so we all got looks at this bird. Jim’s Pond came through with a few geese, Lesser Scaup and several Bufflehead. Telegraph Road had another 200 geese before we hit Koksilah east. The first stop found 35 swans and then the flood gates opened for geese with almost 1000 birds between Koksilah and Wilmot Roads. It didn’t take long to find the 18 Greater White-fronted Geese, but a bit longer to see a Cackling Goose.
Just under 20 trumpeters were in Cowichan Bay and another Red-tailed Hawk was counted on Dinsdale’s Farm.
That was it. I was given a free transfer to Bob’s car and it was off back to the dog park where waiting to greet us was Christina who turned up late and waved to us somewhere along the roadside before giving up. I think she was ready to go round for another count, but that will have to wait, until we meet again, stay fit and stay healthy and keep counting.

Derrick

Hi Birders
This week saw eight eager birders turn up for the count and although the Goose numbers were normal we seem to have lost a large proportion of our Swans. The Ruddy Ducks on Somenos Lake were gone, hopefully back to Quamichan Lake. The Hawks suffered this week with low numbers for Red-tails and adult Bald Eagles. The north end of our route was very dull with not much being added by our diligent counters. By the time we had reached our lunch break we had only counted just over sixty swans and 15 raptors.
Those egg salad sandwiches and the small room break must have worked wonders because at the end of Corfield Road we had one of the stars of the winter counting season with a Red-breasted Sapsucker at point blank range, sap sucking on some drill wells on the side of a maple. This dapper member of the woodpecker family gave excellent photo opportunities, one is attached to this report.
We then headed off to the west where we found a nice group of Bald Eagles on trees at Kelvin Creek, but alas no sign of the invisible Killdeer or the most elusive Wilson’s Snipe.
Riverside Road saw a major group of Canada Geese, but no swans. I had under estimated the number of geese but through the walkie-talkie the number was adjusted by the teller. Our one and only Red-tailed Hawk was seen on Bench Road as the rain got a little more intense.

Onwards to Dougan’s Flats where I commented on a group of Wigeon in a field I was quickly corrected that these were Mallards and was told in no uncertain terms to add this into my report. We continued round to Dougan’s Lake where a nice little flock of Trumpeter’s were had with 22 adults and 6 immature, this making for a good average.
It was here that I heard some tittle-tattle and giggling behind me on my mistake of identifying Wigeon for Mallards. Unbeknown to these counters who think that with chocolate biscuits they can get away with such unlady like behavior this was a test orchestrated by myself to see if those who were in our vehicle had learned anything over the years and weeks on my tuition about bird identification and I was glad to see that Dorothy had truly learned the art of duck species id. There will be other unsuspecting tests done over the next few weeks too see if the gigglers have learned anything.

Our quest for swans continued but the best we could do was 20 until we got to Koksilah Road east here we found over 60 Trumpeters and nearly 350 Geese among these were 18 Greater White-fronted Geese a new species I believe for some.
This was about it as we only added a few more swans along the Dock Road, oh and a nice adult Cooper’s Hawk which was admired by us in the pace car before it flew off before the others caught up with us.

That’s it until we meet again

Derrick

Hi Birders
Well I finally made it out to a count this year and it was nice to see all the happy counters, even got a hug from one enthusiastic follower. Eight people in two cars headed out from the dog park and before we had even got past Somenos Lake we had over 400 Canada Geese and over 30 Trumpeter Swans. Several Bald Eagles were in and around the Forest Museum and several were seen to take off over the lake. On the lake the numbers of Ruddy Ducks had dwindled to just 8 birds, maybe the lake partially freezing had something to do with the low numbers. A sleeping Horned/Eared Grebe was spotted and a pair of Pied-billed Grebes dove for food. A few more Bald Eagles were added as we headed north towards Quist’s Farm. We had picked up another 50 plus swans by the time we reached the Westholme Road.

I had forgot to mention that we were using walkey talkies to communicate between cars and for the most part it worked great especially if ours was turned on. “Truckers we are not”

The birds seemed to dry up from here on in to Duncan, but a nice immature Coopers Hawk gave us good looks off Drinkwater Road. We stopped for our usual break at our sponsers A&W and then it was then off to the south, Boys/Sahilton and Corfield Roads only handed us a few additions to our total although Corfield had a nice pair of Eurasian Wigeon for us to admire. It was now time to head west and at the Koksilah west corn fields we had the invisible Killdeer. I had spotted one with my bionic eyes but the others could not see the bird with my directions, so as not to loose face I put up the scope, even then some could not see the bird in the scope view, anyways I think all got too see the bird eventually,as they were looking I picked out 3 more skulking in the field. No wonder we never saw a Snipe?
Onwards we went and finally arrived at our new spot at Riverside and Shaw Roads, Cowichan Station, it didn’t take long before we were getting good looks at 4 adult Tundra Swans and 1 possible immature.We added over 60 Trumpeter Swans and about 150 Canada Geese here.
At Bench Road a large group of swans were way out over the fields and when counted we had added another 130 to our total. Dougan’s Flats added another 35 and then we were off to the east and St.Catherine’s Drive where a family group of 2 adults and 3 young were seen.
Working on a tip from Dave Aldcroft we headed to Telegraph Road and the old sod farm where another 65 swans were added.
I forgot that we had a nice pair of Lesser Scaup on Jim’s Pond who were diving for lunch.
Koksilah Road east had a major flock of geese that included over 20 Cackling Geese and several Dusky Canada Geese. We got skunked on the White-fronts but I was told they were down on Cherry Point Road so I was glad to hear that they had not left the valley.
We worked our way down through Cowichan Bay to Dinsdale’s Farm but as has been seen this year there were no birds. Some have said that the farmer has seeded with a different crop, which is a shame as these fields were purchased by Nature Trust for the birds.
We finished our day on the Dock Road and added a few Trumpeters to our list, it was low tide and we could not see any Mute Swans. As we left the resident Northern Shrike flew across in front of the car.
What was Bob doing in the back seat with those women? What happens on the Dock Road stays on the Dock Road.

Until we meet again

Happy Birding
Derrick

South side of the Estuary:

Sunday morning was a bit chilly but dry. Cowichan Bay, the mountains, and the sky were so beautiful in the early morning light that it was a challenge to keep our attention on the birds. Four eager counters, Christina Cutbill, Gail Mitchell, Hilary Stead, and John Scull counted 348 birds, 13 species. The results for December and January may be viewed at http://www.cowichanestuary.ca/wildlife/birds/ or on the Bird Studies Canada website at http://alturl.com/zypq5

For the February count we will meet at the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre at 2:30 pm on Sunday, February 10. See you then.

John

North side of the Estuary:

Here is what three cold birders spotted on a glorious calm early Sunday Morning on January 13, 2013 from the north side of Cowichan Estuary: 1 Horned Grebe, 1 Canada Goose, 51 Trumpeter Swan, 220 American Widgeon, 232 Mallard, 8 Surf Scoter, 35 Bufflehead, 9 Common Goldeneye, 5 Hooded Merganzer, 3 Bald Eagle, 56 Glaucous-winged Gull, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 5 Northwestern Crow, and 1 Common Raven. Also spotted were 14 unidentified ducks. A total of 642 coastal birds, 14 species. Visibility was excellent although our spotting scopes were not good enough to identify the distant ducks.

Carol

Here are the results as I found them from the reports.

Count Totals 108 species, 28,730 individules

Participants # 51

New for count:
White-winged Crossbill #1

New Highs
Greater White-fronted Goose #37
Cackling Goose #36
Tundra Swan #3
Eared Grebe #2
Eurasian-collared Dove #49
Anna’s Hummingbird #143
Common Raven #506
Red-breasted Nuthatch #140
Red-winged Blackbird #1380
House Sparrow #516

Big thanks to all participants for their continuing support of our count.
Major thanks to the ladies who put on a wonderful spread of food, they as usual were the best sightings of the day after many hours in the field.

Derrick Marven
North Cowichan, BC

Hi
I have to admit that it was something I didn’t know was going to happen, after slogging around on the Christmas Count I was feeling good, so it came as a shock when going out to feed the birds on Tuesday morning that I slipped, stumbled and then fell, putting a dent in my duff and hitting my noggin on a rock wall knocking myself silly and causing blood to sliver down my neck. My knee was twisted and my ankle was turned over and I couldn’t move. As I lay prone in the torrential rain with seed scattered about my torso, Junco’s and Chickadees pecked at my body. I knew then that I had to make it to the house before the local crows spotted me and set to on my eyeballs. So there you have it, I was unable to make the count on Wednesday as I was skulking in bed, but three trusted volunteers came through and scored big time.

Here is Bob’s shortened report:

Ten A.M. at the Dog Park, only 3 participants, no data sheets, no news and no Derrick! But no rain, either, so the small band pressed on, and soon tracked down a message that Derrick was temporarily out of action. A flurry of creative photo-copying provided some ad hoc data sheets, and we were off on the usual route, not too far behind schedule. The loop north of Duncan produced little to slow us down, except for over 150 Ruddy Ducks on the far side of Somenos Lake, still hanging out there after their Christmas Count appearance.

Swan numbers picked up smartly as we swung south through Sahilton, Koksilah and Riverside/Bench Road areas. And at last, more perched Bald Eagles and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks. By the time we motored north again, Cowichan Bay estuary was brilliantly lit by the low sun in the west. Distant ducks looked gorgeous, but there was naught for our swan and goose totals. Nevertheless, the final count for Trumpeter Swans was a satisfying 463 birds.
Bob Nation

Until the next count
Derrick

Hi
With only one participant willing to brave the weather, I was dragged screaming and kicking from my sick bed to accompany old Derrick along for the count.
To say the weather was bad, is I think an understatement, let’s say it was the worst we’ve ever had on a count by far. With the truck in either 4 high, 4 low or 2 wheel drive we sloshed and squelched our way around the route. The road was flooded up on Hillbank Road, but along Richards Trail no snow, guess those winds blowing up the mountainside from the banana growers in Maple Bay would not allow the white stuff to enter the area.

Some of the highlights were a Merlin on Westholme Road and a Peregrine Falcon eating prey on Cowichan Bay Road above Dinsdales Farm.

Trumpeter Swans were about average for this season and the Canada Goosies numbers went up a bit.

Their was a great sighting of small Greater White-fronted Goose seen at the corner of Beverly and TCH, seen through splatterings of snow and sleet and two Cackling Geese. I’m sure there could have been more, but you could only have the window open for 5 seconds at a time.

Best of all was saved for Koksilah Road east where we were treated to hundreds of geese with top spot going to 26 Great White-fronted Geese and at least 40 Cackling Geese.

I find it hard to type while huddled back in my comfy bed.

There will not be a count next Wednesday the 26th as the holiday rest period kicks in and the following week will have us in a rest period after the Duncan Xmas Bird Count. I will add the numbers in from the count on the 1st January as not to leave a gaping hole in count.

Our next count proper will be on January 9th, let’s hope for some sunshine.

Derrick
under the blankies.

Hi Birders:
Unfortunately, our stalwart leader Derrick, was unable to man the helm on the weekly Wild Goose Chase and Swan Count today. So I offered to pitch in along with Eric the dutiful driver and wife Dorothy, always sharp eyed for perching raptors whilst recording the accurate tallies for the day. On another threateningly grey, very late Autumn day we were accompanied by Christina a newer resident from Radium Hot Springs in the stunning Columbia Valley. She was not forewarned of CVNS’s very active birding activities like I was when I moved here last year, but has just now joined the “chase” in this Valley so highly bestowed for Nature. Christina managed to ensure that Dorothy did not fall silent in the back seat when distracted with scribing/tallying duties and raptor watch. Husband Eric soldiered on, driving in varying weather conditions that saw wondrous sunshine and verdure in the Valleyview by Dougan Lake etc between rain downpours.

I spotted a Boney at the Great Wall of Somenos on the way in – a winter plumage Bonaparte’s Gull behind the PetroCan 7-11 Gas Station where Derrick earlier reported a Glaucous and Herring Gull this week. The very active Victoria birder, Mary Robichaud, reported she could not find those Gulls Tuesday, but did get some 8 Long Billed Dowitchers all of which eluded my survey. A quick side trip up to Art Mann Park on the way in showed all the wildfowl flushed further up Quamichan Lake with a returning boater. The winter resident Ruddy Ducks were out of my binocular range, with lost Scope still languorous in Victoria for this forgetful retiree to retrieve.

As we wandered up the highway stopping at Somenos Lake boat launch, things seemed quite quiet with the occasional daft Coot and a few White Breasted Mergansers (American in my youth, but now Common) rafting lazily on the Lake teasingly on the edge of binocular challenged range. But as we hit the Westholme area the Swans suddenly popped up. My Eastern senses could not tease out the larger (than in Ontario) Western Cackling Geese in the throngs of Canadas but we were very happy to find an ominous looking Goshawk holding watch nearby. A couple of female Pheasants threw off this Easterner with their surprising flavian, light phase as they perched on the corral beside the barn suggesting a more recent domestic origins by Richards Trail. Reconsideration makes me realize their wildness. A huge number of Pintails nearby seemed to illustrate they felt safe from hunters here, but the mere sound of my conversation voice flushed a hundred or so.

A quick pit stop at A&W allowed a picnic break and onwards south after the heavy rain squall that timed nicely with our stop. A trip down Sahilton Road pleasantly showed up a brace (aerie) of eagles. Again the lack of Scope challenged our binoculars but the sun again smiled upon us to improve our view. Naturally I had to check these rarities (for this Ontarion) online with pics + guides but certainly we had our Golden Eagle with presumed youngsters. Christina let it slip that she has several times noted the Golden Eagle young in the nearby area in the past couple of years that now seemed to have come to maturity. All of this has escaped this recent birder’s knowledge but nice to have the 3rd FOI (first of Island) bird in one short trip. Then on to the lovely Valley and then abortive trip around Cowichan Bay Village for Swans. The California Quail on St. Catherines again showed in sunny conditions – both sides of the road where the feeders once drew in the White Crowned Sparrows etc. Finding a Killdeer at the Great Wall of Somenos upon return was a fitting end to a productive outing (Mary reported 2 the previous day on eBird but no Bonaparte’s). No Shrikes or Harriers this day, but a fun tour with fine company.

– Robin Lawson

Hi This week we once again had good weather to start and rain to finish. I sat patiently waiting for the participants to arrive and as 10.00:am drew near there was know one to be seen, then finally they started to arrive and when we were ready to leave we had six participants in two cars. I jumped in with Eric and Dorothy while Bob handled the other ladies not literally of course. This week saw a new enthusiastic rooky arrive with a vehicle with a large metal platform attached to the back of her car, for just a minute I thought this was for me to travel on the back and shout out the species as we sped along the highway. Anyways off we went and we only went 400 yards before we lost Bob as we skipped around school district 79’s yard so that we got a good look at the golf driving range, here we counted a small group of geese. On to Somenos Marsh where we recorded our first adult Trumpeter Swan, this bird has been in the same spot for a few days, so I hope it’s not injured. As we approached the DU pond, low and behold there was Bob parked up with his two ladies, he quickly followed on behind as we headed down to Somenos Lake. The birding was slow on the water with just Doubl Crested Cormorants and a single Common Loon. We then headed down the highway to the Quist farm where a nice assortment of ducks and geese were present, but no swans. Then it was on to Westholme Road where 10 adult swans were seen, only two participants found me in amongst the tall broom, but others could hear me calling out the numbers. Don’t forget the pruners next week. Richard’s Trail came through with good numbers of all waterfowl species and just over 160 swans and about the same amount of geese were counted. We were very lucky when I spotted an adult Tundra Swan motionless between two clumps of grass and it gave the group lovely looks for all to enjoy. After this it was all geese as we headed to our rest break at A&W. One high lite was at the top of Auchanchie Road where a large group of Pine Siskins where feeding on seed heads down in a field and kept flying up and sitting on the fence, I of course scrutinized these in the hope of finding a Common Redpoll, but it was not to be. Corfield and Sahilton Roads were next, but we bombed out and all we had for our troubles was 4 Trumpeters and a large female juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk and our one and only Northern Shrike which sat up on the hydro lines looking for it’s afternoon snack. The Sharpy was a first since I started counting raptors last year. Off to the west we went and we only found 3 swans on Koksilah west. Nothing at Bench and so we were on our way to Dougan’s Flats where the motherload of Canada Geese were stationed. Almost 800 were dutifully counted in the rain with not a swan to be seen. Nothing was seen all the way through to Dinsdales Farm where two trumpeters had the vast area to themselves. Cowichan Bay has had a nice bunch of swans for the past couple of weeks and we manged to find 10 Trumpeters and 8 Mute Swans over towards Khenipson Road. Lot’s of ducks and gulls were out on the water which is good for the soon to begin waterbird survey. Our numbers have increased a little from last week and we hope that the big numbers will start to move down the island as the weather gets colder. The eagles in Cowichan Bay are showing well on the low tides, but seem to disappear as the water rises, these past two early mornings have seen over 50 in the bay towards the mill from the Dock Road.
On a side note this Friday morning a adult Peregrine Falcon was chasing American Robins along the Dock Road. Another rare sight was a Short-eared Owl that was being harassed by Common Ravens, this bird kept circling up and up trying to get away from this pests and in the end it glided out over Dinsdales Farm. It was strange to see this species so high in the sky as they are usually seen coarsing the fields or sitting on the fence posts. The Ravens soon turned their attention to a juvenile Northern Harrier that came gliding down beside the river and the marauding bunch chased it across the bay. The Ravens soon returned to feast on the dead Salmon that have really started to wash down river into the estuary. That’s it until next week. Happy Birding Derrick

Hi
Our day started out with just three counters meeting at the dog park, a bit disappointing to say the least. Anyways we had a nice Red-tailed Hawk being harassed by crows in one of the last standing trees in the path of the Great Somenos Dike.
We soon found some geese with a reasonable sized group at Beverly and the TCH and as we passed Somenos Marsh a group of swans flew out to the south.
At Somenos Lake we found another group of geese and a few Trumpeters.
Onwards we went along the highway and we found some swans that would be hidden along Westholme Road if we hadn’t done a bit car maneuvering back and forth along the highway.
At Norm Quists farm a large group of geese were seen in the fields along with several species of ducks.
We headed around onto Westholme where we found a nice group of swans, but our viewing area was very overgrown with broom and it was lucky we didn’t have any short people with us as they would not have seen a thing.
Along Richard’s trail we hit paydirt with nearly 70 swans feeding in the fields and a good average of immature with 14 compared to 54 adults.
It tended to dry up from here with just a few raptors and our first Northern Shrike of the day.
A quick stop at A&W yielded another adult Bald Eagle while the other lads nipped in for a coffee and water the plants.
Along Sahilton Road we picked up 4 more adult swans and then it was off to the west where things were very slow until we hit Dougan’s Flats and it was here that we found our second Northern Shrike and our largest flock of geese.
Back along Koksilah east found another large flock of geese and along Wilmot Road an even larger flock, but sadly they were all large species and we were unable to find any Cacklers or White-fronts.
Down into Cowichan Bay we headed and I thought I saw a swan in Dinsdale’s Farm but it turned out to be a man investigating something down in the grass, it must have been something magical as he continued to be bent over scouring the sod. I bet he wasn’t looking at goose pellets.
Off to the Dock Road we went and I was surprised to see so many Trumpeters over towards the mill, they were joined by 3 Mute Swans. It was here that we had one of the best sightings of the day, as i was scanning the swans a flock of gulls passed through my scope vision and it turned out to be a flock of about 40 Bonaparte’s Gulls, this is very late for this species to be in our area.
As we headed for home along the Dock Road we had our third Shrike for the day a fitting finish to a lovely sunny fall day.

Lets hope we have more people next week.

Derrick

Hi Birders
The last count of the season has come and gone and we had almost an identical number of swans as the last count last season. Swans were found in only four localities this week with the main flock on Koksilah Road west and even these were trying their best to hide from us.
This season has seen a major decrease in the number of swans down over half from what we recorded in our first year 2009/10, what this means i don’t know, maybe birds stayed further north or possibly they passed us by and headed further south. We can only hope that they return to us next time.

This season we also counted raptors and from my personal files the numbers of eagles appear to be low in the valley this year, maybe due to the lack of fish being available to feed on. We will have to wait and see how the numbers stack up next year for comparison.

Many counters came and went this year but overall we had a good attendance and the hard core counters kept coming back for more. Most weeks we had at least 6 people come out and at the worst only two vehicles were used. I have to thank the drivers for the use of their cars and trucks without them we could not achieve our counts each week.
A real big thank you to A&W for the use of their facilities at our halfway point, not sure what it would have been like without this little room to use.

To all counters a big thank you for your company and for those little details that I added into my report each week, the feedback that i have received has been all good and supportive.

This week we had some nice sightings with the Red-breasted Sapsucker and Downy Woodpecker stand off at nest holes on Drinkwater Road at Somenos Lake being the high-lite also here was my first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the year. Another first was the female Brown-headed Cowbird on St. Catherine’s Drive most surely an over wintering bird that went undiscovered this winter or young lady eager to get north for the lads. The Northern Shrike that caused a major turn around on Herd Road our first along this road. Thanks to senior Derrick for his keen eye.
We battled the weather this week, but it was not as bad as the forcasters had foretold, being caught in just a couple of major showers.
We were greeted at our meeting place by a woolly Mute Swan splashed across the front of birthday girl Helen, a nice sweater find for her, as it turned out this was the only one we saw this week.

Listed Below is how our first three years have gone, make of it what you will, but for me personally I think we need a few more seasons under our belt before making any assumptions from the data

Cumulative totals for all weeks added together.

>>>>>> Trumpeter Swan A >>> immature >>>> Canada Goose
2009/10 >>>> 10,473 >>>>>>>>> 1,951 >>>>>>>> 12,765
2010/11 >>>> 8,888 >>>>>>>>> 2,140 >>>>>>>> 18,104
2011/12 >>>> 5,524 >>>>>>>>> 1,002 >>>>>>>> 21,236

Average per week

2009/10 >>>> 557 >>>>>>>>>>>>> 102 >>>>>>>>> 672
2010/11 >>>> 488 >>>>>>>>>>>>> 112 >>>>>>>>> 953
2011/12 >>>> 276 >>>>>>>>>>>>> 50 >>>>>>>>> 1062

Let’s hope Shaw does not mess this up as it gets transmitted to you.

Until next season good birding and good health to you all

Derrick Marven

Dear Birders
Four D’s and a E, it is possible that these were my grades when I left school back in England many moons ago, but no, these are the first initials of the participants in this weeks survey. While 2 D’s and an E kept watch for birds, two D’s were doing a crossword; it is no wonder that for the first half of our count in the northern sections not many birds were counted. I must admit that 1 D dragging herself away from four down did spot a Eurasian Wigeon and then a Pied-billed Grebe in Somenos Marsh, but this D missed completely the Tree Swallow sitting on one of my nest boxes, the first to set up home this year.
Before I get into too much waterfowl I have to comment on the raptors for this week which put on a good show with 30 Bald Eagles, 4 Turkey Vultures and 3 Red-tailed Hawks. Quist Farm came through with 13 Bald Eagles which seem to like these fields and trees for some reason.

Several times this week my birding skills were called into question only to be accepted on further investigation and identity proved, the penalties will be payed next week; the last count of the season. So I missed a few swans, so what.

Anyways, I was surprised to see that our count was not missing too many swans for this week as I had thought that many had left already, although adult numbers were down, maybe some eager adults had left for northern climes in anticipation of getting the best nesting spots.
With good warmer weather forecast for this weekend you might want to look up now and again while cutting the grass or whatever you do outside on warmer weekends.
Our first swans of the day did not come until we were on Highway 18 heading towards Drinkwater Road, 10 birds were feeding in a large field.
The next group came in a new field off of Sahilton Road where over 150 were fattening up on the new grass.
Corfield Road once again had the Common Teal the Eurasian counterpart of our Green-winged Teal and also another Eurasian Wigeon, I think we ended up with four for the day. Here we had our first of the year Killdeer playing with the ducks.
Koksilah Road west had a few swans and Bench Road came through with over 50. Dougan’s Flats had a handful of swans in a far off field and over 250 Geese, our largest flock of the day.
We quickly nipped around to St.Catherine’s Road where we picked up another 45 swans and a few dickie birds.
Koksilah Road east was next with over 170 swans and 130 geese. Because of the lack of exercise made by the counters I made them get out on Wilmott Road to walk back and forth while I checked the swans, in doing so I found our old friend 01UK, the neck banded swan, feeding away with it’s buddies.
Onwards and down through Cowichan Bay village a soaring Turkey Vulture was spotted and at Dinsdale’s Farm 7 Great-white-fronted Geese were seen with 135 Canada’s.
We did the Dock Road without much success and then headed home seeing another 3 Turkey Vultures soaring up towards Mt. Tzouhalem.

Next week sees the last count of the season and so if you think you’re missing something be at the dog park at the corner of Lakes and Beverly at just before 10:00 am.

Big thanks to my CVNS friends for reminding me that it is my wedding anniversary this weekend, good job as I had forgot, I was sure to end up as Cassowary food if it was not for their lovely card; she who must be obeyed was very impressed.

Good Birding
Derrick