Nature Cowichan

Hi Birders
Not sure what we have done to deserve the weather we have been subjected to this week, wind, rain, even a bit of sunshine, but nothing stops the swan and goose counters. Five hardy souls set out from the dog park and it was not long before we started counting geese with over 150 before we had left Somenos Marsh. As two of us fought our way through the wind and rain at the foot of Drinkwater Road I suddenly saw a strange bird on the water just off the end of the floating viewing platform, lucky for the two of us it was the Red-throated Loon still lurking from last week. It took one look at these rain sodden specimens and dove never to be seen again, I guess it headed into the willows which were knee deep in water. Daryl had noticed that the bird had a slight hint of red on the neck.
A quick stop at Tim’s to get rid of one of the cars, we were on our way north, much tugging and fondling was taking place in the back seats as we headed up the highway, these seatbelts sure cause a lot of trouble for those with much too much clothes on.
Surprise surprise no swans or geese at Quist’s farm just a few forlorn immature Bald Eagles sitting on the ground. Onwards we pushed with wipers working overtime, but all we could add was another 90 geese before the halfway mark.
Once again we stopped at Tim’s to retrieve a car and then onto A & W, not sure whats with my fellow counters, they love these fast food outlets on a rainy day.
Sahilton Road was next and finally we added some swans to our list with just under 100, nice and close for good viewing.
Next we headed over to Koksilah Road west, but 5 measly swans was all we could find. On Bench Road we did a little better and picked up 45 swans, but where were the big flocks that we have become used too, had they left already?
Dougan’s Flats produced the lost flocks with over 500 geese and 175 swans. It was here that we had our one and only Red-tailed Hawk, well spotted Bob.
St Catherines Road had 8 swans and a nice assortment of Sparrows and my sharp eye spotted a Northern Shrike down the fields hunting from a fence post.
Onwards we pushed and yes it was still raining cats and dogs, Koksilah Road east came next and another 100+ swans were added to our ever growing list.

We headed down into Cowichan Bay where a Polster Sp. was seen along the waterfront, it had a camera at the ready in case a log started to roll from the new and improved wave buster, trouble was it had taken a hammering just a couple of days before and did not look too healthy.

Dinsdale’s Farm had a nice assortment of waterfowl, with over 70 swans and nearly 300 geese, how do they know that the hunters are finished for the season? Off in the far field I had spotted some Greater White-fronted Geese so a quick trip around into the campground had a us nice and close, this was nice for Robin who had never managed to catch up with this species in the valley. 10 were found a new high total for the season.
We finished our day along the Dock Road where I spotted another Northern Shrike way out in the field hunting from a log. Just 3 Trumpeters and 2 Mute Swans were all we could find and so the day was over and the counters could finally go home and dry out and wouldn’t you know it as soon as I opened my front door the sun came out.

We had noticed this week that the immatures are really starting to turn white, this makes it all that more harder to distinguish them from the adults.

Oh well, two more counts to go before our white ghostly friends depart for the breeding fields of Northern British Columbia and all points north.

Thanks to Bob for driving and to Daryl for the meticulous number punching, and to Robin and Sheila for their good company, until next week.

Good Birding
Derrick

Hi Birders
Talk about Rag, Tag and Bobtail, that was the swan and goose counters this week. I arrived at the dog park with just Daryl waiting, after few minutes Bob turned up to let us know that he would meet us half way round later on. So into the car the two of us got only to see a carload coming into the car park. We stopped got out of the car and were greeted from some Manitobans in shorts and T-shirts, gladly away from the cold chill of the mid-provinces, but they were only going to join us for the first quarter as they were heading off up island.
Finally we got under way and our first bit of luck was a Northern Shrike sitting on the poles at the golf driving range, but it flew off before I could let the others know.
On to Somenos Lake where the prize of the day was found diving over near the far shore a Red-throated Loon only my second ever sighting for the Somenos area and just to the left of it 98 Ruddy Ducks all lined up in a row.
We soon moved on to the Quist Farm area where to our surprise 11 Decoys were feeding in the field, closely watched by a camouflaged tent. Here we did have some Trumpeters in a nearby field all 13 of them.
We bid our farewells to the Winnipeg group and had a little chuckle about their hockey team as they headed off up the highway.
Daryl by this time had fallen asleep with the lack of birds to write down, but I soon awakened her with 55 Canada Geese on Tom-Windsor Drive.
That was it, A & W here we come and waiting for us was Bob, did I ever tell you Bob has trouble with electric door windows, he would push the button when he saw a good bird and the window would open when we were two miles further down the road. Yes Bob you will be getting a bill.
On Sahilton Road the fields were devoid of anything to count, but a lovely breeding plumaged Ring-billed Gull put on a nice show, it even stood beside a adult Mew Gull for mantle color comparison.
Daryl was now starting to doodle with her pencil from lack of entries, this was all to change quickly as we hit Koksilah Road west and just under 75 trumpeters were found. Bench Road had 9 and Wilson Road had 80 swans, Heh we were now on a roll.
For the first time in a while Jim’s Pond had geese, 12 made into our book.
Then it was the turn of Koksilah Road east and oh my was there ever a group of birds, over 200 swans and an estimated 500 geese were spread out over the fields towards Wilmott Road. Hiding in amongst the thronging crowd were 9 Greater White-fronted Geese.
After that it was all down hill with just two more Trumpeters counted off the Dock Road, Cowichan Bay.
It was here that Bob tried to emanate me and dive into the estuary, Daryl as quick as a sloth, tried to stop him and all the days tally sheets took off in the wind, I have had to work around mud spots to bring you these numbers.

With just three more counts to go we can expect the Swans to start leaving soon and our numbers will decrease each week, but there could be new arrivals coming soon from down south, so one never knows what to expect on the Cowichan Valley mad Swan and Goose count.

Oh we do have some fun on these counts, most of you don’t know what your missing and I don’t even report on the real juicy bits.

For those who don’t know who Rag, Tag and Bobtail are, punch it into your search engine. It’s one of those quaint British expressions for a motley crew.

Today’s numbers on all on the attached excel files.

Happy counting
Derrick

Hi Birders
There are times when one wishes they had stayed at home instead of going out birding in such horrible weather, but not so for those hardy counters who join us each week. Having said that one less than hardy counter did not want to get out of her car, she fumbled with her backpack making all sorts of excuses not to get out in the rain. Finally she exited the car, only after 1 minute she lept back in. Next year we must find some hardier counters to help us out.
This week we had two vehicles to hold all the counters and we got off to a very slow count with the scorer mentioning that she was getting paid for nothing this week. Swans were few and far between, with just two on Somenos Lake and 18 at the Quist Farm. Immature eagles put on a good display this week and i think the adults are starting to chase off the younguns as courting starts to happen. Adults will not allow the rugrats to stay around once nesting starts in earnest.
We quickly found ourselves back at A&W with Eric getting us around in record time. At the end of this season we will loose our A&W sponsorship, they feel that the use of their toilets and the buying of the occasional hot chocolate does not warrant their participation. So if you would like to sponsor us to the tune of $15 a week for gas, that is at $1.35 a litre, I will personally see to it that your company gets mentioned each week in my report that goes out nation wide each week. Cheapest advertising anywhere.
Back to counting, the Sahilton Road area was a bit of a bust with just 13 swans and just over 200 geese, so it was over to the west side of town to see if we could do any better. At two locations we managed to pick up over 80 swans, oh did I mention the snow, not much but enough for me to ask about Eric’s tires.
Bench Road came through with over 100 swans in two locations and then it was on to Dougan’s Flats where we found over 200 geese and another few swans.
St.Catherine’s Road was devoid of what we wanted to count, but the dickie birds put on a great display at a local feeder and a group of California Quail idled across the driveway.
We pressed on not to be put off by the weather and the lack of birds, Koksilah Road east once again increased our tally with 150 swans and just under 200 geese. I was lucky to spot a adult Tundra Swan on the edge of the group, more than likely the same bird I had seen just two days earlier in Cowichan Bay. The birds at this location have to be seen from both Koksilah and Willmott Roads for best viewing.
The Cowichan Bay area left us twiddling our thumbs with hardly anything seen, this in part has to be due to the Goose hunting extended season which I’m afraid has a major impact on the swans trying to fatten up for the long haul north. So much for the protection of an endangered species like the Trumpeter, being forced off their feeding ground just so a hunter can make bit of goose pate.
Our day ended with numbers down a bit from previous weeks, but with the weather conditions this is not surprising. Did I mention that when I got home the sun came out, damn.

Happy counting
Derrick

Dear Birders
And this is why you should never let Swan & Goose counters go out for four hours un-supervised:

Derrick

PS. well done counters a record number of swans for the season.

On 22nd February four stalwart birders set off swanning around the Cowichan Valley with a borrowed scope. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, but, sadly, with wind cut like a whetted knife. The worst problem though was not the wind but that we were leaderless – Derrick was not feeling up to guiding us, so we felt like four lost souls.

The first part of the tour yielded very little in the way of feathered fliers. The recorder claimed the right to stay cowering in the vehicle rather than brave the biting wind and it seemed the birds were in agreement as no raptors, very few eagles and not many swans showed their heads. By the time we reached Richard’s Trail we were so desperate for something …anything…to record that we listed two domestic geese on a small farm pond.

The day livened up however when we swung on to Herd Road and a rank amateur claimed that two birds flying high above, then perching in fir trees were golden eagles. A long delay followed as the scope was trained on these magnificent birds, the bird book studied and the argument grew more and more heated and almost led to blows. Peace was restored when the driver agreed to take their portrait though a long-focus lens and forward the result to Derrick for his decision. (Did I mention that without Derrick’s leadership we are lost?)

Continuing along Herd Road another eagle was spotted and the back seat passengers begged the driver to stop so the bird could be studied. Only the driver was aware that 200 yards previously we had passed a hitch-hiker hopefully thumbing for a ride and that he was now joyfully pounding down the black-top after us, so grateful that we had stopped. When he was only a few yards behind the car the driver gunned the engine and we tore off leaving him confused and angry.

As we neared our A & W pit stop we spotted a helicopter in Somenos Marsh and felt obliged to list it as an unusual species as we had so little else to record.

On Wilmot Road we struck (as one of our members termed it) the Mother Lode! Over 300 swans!! In her enthusiasm our Dedicated Daryl waded through the smelly ditch over her ankles in her efforts to make an accurate count. As the weeks pass it is growing more difficult to distinguish the immature swans as their feathers whiten and they look more like their parents. Surprisingly when the counters compared their totals the numbers were always close.

Derrick GET WELL QUICKLY, we can’t do this without you!

DOROTHY

Hi
This week I put into the weather forecasters for some nice skies and boy did we get some, according to the square box the Cowichan Valley was the warmest place in Canada.
Seven counters got under way and it was not long before we found our first swans at the rest stop beside Somenos Marsh with 17 birds present.
We quickly made it around to the lake but with just a few swans, our attention was drawn to a big flock of Ruddy Ducks in front of the far shore, I started to count and when I had finished my total was 85, what a lovely show.
Onwards we went with Sheila telling us about the good numbers of swans that were at the Quist Farm, but when we got there just 12 were visible, these birds seem to be there one day and gone the next.

As always on our route many little bits of useless information get banded around the vehicle and this week was no exception, crossword puzzles had been mentioned many times before and this week saw some comments of just who puts them together and their mental state. I personally don’t bother with such things except to find the six differences in pictures in the TV guide, now there’s a challenge, I have got it down to below 30 minutes now. I was told that sleeping with ones Blackberry under ones pillow is good if you wake up and remember all the things you forgot that day you just punch in the info and go back to sleep. I would have trouble with this as all my pennies are under my pillow and if I wake up I just start counting after about a $1.50 I’m snoring again.

Enough of this dribble, we worked our way around to Tom Windsor Drive and by this time we were well on our way to 500 Canada Geese. The local Red-tailed Hawk sat on a hydro pole for us all to see.
Hwy. 18 had one swan for the second time this season, this called for drastic action so we made for A&W to see if we could shake off this lack of swans. After a quick break it was on to Corfield and Sahilton Roads, Peggy threw a bit of a loop here and took us around some shops before she found Sahilton. We soon found over 150 swans and over 600 Canada Geese in the fields, also here were our over wintering Greater White-fronted Geese all 8 of them looking wonderful under the bright sunshine.
Behind one of the farms on Koksilah Road west we found another 36 swans, we were now on a roll and it was not long before the numbers climbed substantially with another 85 swans around the Bench and Wilson Road areas.
We then hit a dry spell with not much found until Jim’s Pond where for the first time this season we had some Canada Geese.
Off of Telegraph Road we added both numbers of swans and geese and then to Koksilah Road east where once again this week found many birds with nearly 150 swans and 400 geese.
Dinsdale’s Farm was dead and only a few swans were found on the Dock Road. As the party got back in the van a posse of Common Ravens flew over and disturbed a Northern Shrike out of one of the fields, but none of the others got to see it as it done a disappearing act.
Our day ended with:
2 Mute Swans
504 Trumpeter Swans
1669 Canada Geese
8 Greater White-fronted Geese

15 Bald Eagles
7 Red-tailed Hawks

There was a general lack of dickie birds this week with hardly any seen on our travels, that’s what happens when the sun shines.

A job well done by all.

Thanks to Peggy for the driving and to Bob,Daryl,Dorothy,Eric and Sheila for their great company.

Derrick

Hi
This week I had great expectations of some large numbers having gone up island and seen a big flock of swans at Quist’s Farm on Sunday.
Things don’t always happen the way you think as was the case as we started our count, Somenos Marsh had 27 swans near the rest stop on the highway, but the lake fell short with just 5 birds of which I only saw 2. The group of Ruddy Ducks had increased on the lake with a nice line of birds spread out in front of the far shore. By this time our goose numbers had risen to over 150 and the two Mute Swans were on the DU pond were to be our only ones of the day.
We headed north hoping for the large group, but the fields were bare with not a swan in sight and so the saga began as we travelled all the way round until Drinkwater Road where 8 swans were sitting down in the fields. By this time panic had set in and crying was heard from the rear seats, not sure if this was for the lack of swans or Bob trying to find his seat-belt hole.
After a very quick rest at A&W we headed on to Corfield and Sahilton Roads and again no swans were found. At Corfield we got out of the van to look for Evening Grosebeaks that suddenly disappeared as soon as they saw us, but one lucky counter who still has some hearing could detect them far off in the distance. Daryl decided to walk the rest of the way down the road while the rest jumped in the van, she was like one of those sniffer dogs on the trail of a hidden bounty and as it turned out the prize was at the end of the road with a lovely male Common Teal, this is the European counterpart of our Green-winged Teal. It so happens that it was a life bird for Daryl and my 100th species for this road which is only .39km long. So at least a couple of the people were happy.
On we pushed around Koksilah Road west where we found 26 swans and 2 Canada Geese, we were now on a roll and on arrival at Bench Road we found our just deserts with over 200 swans and around on Wilson Road another 60. In with the group off Bench was 01UK the neck banded swan from Alaska.
Dougan’s Flats had a few more swans and over 100 geese.
On St.Catherine’s Drive we watched some California Quail parade down the Road while a large group of Golden-crowned Sparrows played hide and seek in the brambles. My sharp eye spotted a Coopers Hawk trying to dry out on a fence post, it suddenly took flight and landed along the edge of the field and run around like a chicken looking for it’s lunch no doubt.
Anyways on we went to Koksilah East where the Peregrine Falcon of the tundras sub-species sat high up in a tree, but no swans. The dark form pealie had been seen by Daryl mid-week on the mainland, but I have never seen one on the island.
Around on Wilmot we found a major group of geese which contained 1 Cackler and 8 Greater-white Fronted Geese, this was the first time we had seen these for a while.
Dinsdale’s farm was a bust and the Cowichan Bay Dock Road failed to find us our Mute Swans this week.
All in all not a bad day for such wet weather, oh did i fail to mention the rain, well yes it did rain but funny as it was every time we had to get out of the van it seemed to slow up.
Our Swan numbers are way down from last year at the same time, we only counted 352 adults and 55 immature, compare this to last year on Feb. 9th when we had 806 adults and 159 immature, so where have they all gone, this is one of the mysteries of bird migration?
As you might have guessed with the rain our Raptor numbers were very low.

Thanks to Peggy for doing the driving and to Sheila, Daryl and Bob for their good company.

Happy Birding
Derrick

Hi all naturalists
This weeks count was attended by 6 counters and the weather gods smiled upon us today with clear skies and moderately nice temperatures.
The count this week saw numbers similar to last weeks with a rise in Canada Geese and amazingly the same number of immature Trumpeters.
We counted the geese around Somenos Marsh and then headed towards the lake but on arrival we could only find 1 Trumpeter, was this a sign of things to come we wondered?
Out on the lake a small group of Ruddy Ducks were spotted and from what I could observe they all looked like males, but they were a long way away and some counters put them down as brown blobs.
We moved on to Quist Farms, but again no swans. Over on Westholme we were lucky to find a small group of 35 swans so all was not lost in the north end.
Richards Trail was a bust with nothing to count, but there were lots of duckies in there.
We headed on and it was with surprise that a sharp eyed counter spotted some swans in a field on Herd Road, a location that we have never had them before.
It then went cold again with no more sightings before our regular stop at A&W, here i spotted a couple of flying eagles which i added to the list of raptors which was suffering a lack in numbers at this point.
On to Sahilton Road saw the swans hiding down in this far off field for which we don’t have access too. But what was this, a gray blob sitting in a tree just above the swans, it must have been half a mile away but I was convinced it was a shrike and just as we were about to leave it flew down and was not seen again.
Koksilah Road west produced a few swans and Bench Road came through with over 90 swans in three locations; it really is a hit and miss with this location this year. Past years have been reliable for good numbers in the Bench fields.
Dougan’s Flats had a pitiful number of both swans and geese so it was on to St. Catherine’s Drive were it was nice to see a small group of swans and another Shrike. Lot’s of Sparrows at this location and a single Steller’s Jay a rare species this winter in the valley. An Anna’s Hummingbird sat up nicely in a small tree for all to view.
A new spot on Telegraph Road found 5 swans and 100 geese.
We moved slowly along to Koksilah Road east where there were just over 90 swans, this has been one of our most reliable spots this winter for swans and geese.
We worked our way down through Cowichan Bay admiring the new nature center and viewing platform as it quickly takes shape. What a great asset to Cowichan Bay this will be when it’s finished.
Dinsdale’s Farm found the mother load of Canada Geese and so I challenged the counters to each make a count and we would take the average of all numbers, well they ranged from 750-1000 so we settled for 850. These numbers will certainly drop in the coming weeks as the month long goose hunt starts soon.
The Dock Road had our usual number of Mute Swans and there were few Trumpeters out there also.

After recent comments in the newspaper I decided for the 10 minutes that we were there in the bay I would count the species out on the muddy and murky waters and in the hedgerows, I GRANT you I was worried that we wouldn’t see anything based on the news article but I came up with 26 species in and around us as we stood there and this from six senior citizens whose hearing and eyesight is not what it used to be.

Enjoy the sun
Derrick

Hello Birders
The day started with 7 birders meeting at the dog park, one was sent packing as he had a nasty cold, didn’t want him contaminating the van.
With senior Derrick away counting Zebras and Hippopotami, Peggy had the honors of driving us around our route and what a wonderful job she made of it, getting round in almost record time, thanks Peggy.
As usual we encountered plenty of geese in Somenos with 200 being recorded, now that’s a good round figure. 2 Red-tailed Hawks were also seen. The mated pair of Mute Swans were breaking ice at the DU pond. Just over 20 swans were counted in Somenos and we had a couple of Lesser Scaup swimming out on the lake with some Common Mergansers.
Quist Farm came through with a nice showing of Bald Eagles (20), a few Trumpeters and a large gaggle of geese.
On Westholme we got a nice bunch of swans and the family with 5 immatures was at this location.
Richards Trail produced nearly 40 swans and a large group of geese; only the second time this season we’ve had geese here.
Nothing much happened after this, so we headed around to A&W for our P & T break.
Sahilton Road came through with nearly 150 swans, but no geese!
On Corfield Road a resident Peregrine Falcon flew sharply passed us and out over the highway.
Koksilah Road west had a few hiding swans, but our sharp eyes counted them.
Dougan’s Flats were a big disappointment with no swans although there was a large contingent of geese way out in the fields.
We whisked our way around to Koksilah Road east where we hit a good number with nearly 130 swans, two of which were adult Tundras although one of these garnered much debate, myself thought caution was the best way to go with this bird, but those with much more experience in these matters out voted me and so we registered two.
At this same location our second Peregrine Falcon of the day sat proudly up on a dead snag looking down at its next tasty meal below; Mallard possibly.
Dinsdale’s Farm had a major clump of geese with one skulking Cackler in their midst. Not wanting to count this mob I decided a good estimate would more fitting. It is strange that the swans have vacated this location as a group are usually there early in the morning when I pass by, I wonder if they may roost out on the fields at night.
We finished our count as usual on the Dock Road adding a few Mute Swans to our days total. Most of the ducks have now left the bay as the food source slowly diminishes.

What was discouraging this week was the lack of immature swans, we had one of our lowest ratios to adults ever recorded.
This week saw our second highest count for swans and our second highest count for geese this season, not bad for a bit of a rainy day.

Well happy birding and we’ll see you all next week

Derrick

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