Cowichan Valley Naturalists

There are times when it is best to bite your tongue when someone says something bad, as was the case this day when one of the 7 counters present said the “S” word, one should always think before opening his or her mouth, didn’t he realize that this was a Wednesday. We took off under dull skies with a bitter wind blowing, it was dry though.
This week we broke an old established record going back to 2011 as we recorded 674 adult Trumpeter Swans, add to this 78 immature for a grand total of 752. This was the highest count of adults since March 2011, great stuff indeed.
Even the Bald Eagle numbers went up with 28 adults and 6 immature. One very nice raptor that nearly eluded the cameras was a dark phase immature Red-tailed Hawk which is rare here in the valley with only a few records, thanks to Barry for letting me post his pictures as they are slightly below the standard to which we have become accustomed too from him. The bird enticed us as it flew in circles just far enough away to be a pest, but then it started a glide towards us only to veer off and go over the trees, what a blighter to treat us like that. We also had 2 Peregrine Falcons an obliging Merlin and 2 Coopers Hawks to add to another 6 Red-tailed Hawks. Who ever said you need good weather to see Raptors. On the other side of the coin, the young Trumpeters are really changing color making it a hard time counting them, good job their heads are the last thing to go white as if they stick their necks up I get them. If asleep, well that’s a different matter. A Eurasian Wigeon was again at Quist’s Farm and a single Killdeer was spotted on Cherry Point Road.
Now back to this weather and our second point of call, who would expect to see swallows on a day like this? Well they have been known to come early and we were lucky to get three different species hawking over Somenos Lake. 3 Violet-Green, 2 Tree and 2 Barn Swallows were trying their hardest to pick out some tasty bugs just above the water. This I’m sure set the trend for the rest of the day as we slipped and slid along the gantry back to the cars where some of our group were glad of the warmth of the vehicles, one member of our group could never ever wear enough clothes to keep her warm, good job she has chocolate on hand to ease the cold.
Once again this week the swans were spread out in many locations and all were visible even those who were at a great distance. It was just as I had finished scanning some swans that Barry said don’t put the scope away there is something in the trees about 5 miles away, with the scope at nearly full throttle we could just make out our first Peregrine Falcon; the other being on Koksilah Road.
The big “S’ had followed us around with much falling on the hillsides, we did get a bit of dandruff here and there but nothing worth worrying about. As we went down Drinkwater Road I shouted look did you see that, which in turn caused Barry to slam on the breaks and slide on the gravel, which in turn woke up the passengers in the back seat who were having a little nap. I apologized for sighting the sun and causing the others to think that I had seen some rare species; well on this day it was.
After lunch we carried on counting swans here and there and I knew it was going to be a good count, one long distance sighting was a immature Tundra Swan up on Bench Road, there well could have been an adult out there, just too far away to be sure; maybe next week.
As our day came close to ending we found ourselves on Willmot Road where a young eagle sat down low in a tree, we stopped and observed and then moved on, suddenly Dorothy started to shout “shrike shrike!”, we were to far along when we were told that it was sitting right beside us in a bush, we radioed the following car and as they pulled along side the Northern Shrike for some snaps the beast took off cross the field. Oh well you can’t get them all.
We ended our day on the dock road as the “S” started in earnest and a Great Blue Heron sat up high on the Osprey platform, I wondered if it had heard about a major dump and was getting some elevation, not wanting to get it half way up it’s legs.
That was it great day counting and birding and what we saw we were truly thankful.

Derrick

Photo Credits
High-rise Heron by Derrick Marven
Spot the immature swan by Derrick Marven
Eurasian Wigeon by Kurlene Wenberg
Merlin by Zan Stenhouse
Uphill Swans by Zan Stenhouse
Dark phase Red-tailed Hawks by Barry Hetschko

The next survey will be at 9 am on Sunday, March 11.

Cowichan Bay:
Kathy Coster, Linda Hill, Gail Mitchell, Barry Hetchko, John Scull, and Leslie Hodgson were joined by Dorothy and Eric Marshall on a beautiful midday in Hecate Park to survey the south side of Cowichan Bay.
2 Mute swan; 2 Mallard; 9 Surf scoter; 67 Bufflehead; 19 Common goldeneye; 7 Hooded merganser; 5 Double-crested cormorant; 1 Great blue heron; 3 Bald eagles; 22 Gull sp.; 5 Northwestern crows.

On the north side of the Bay Bob Nation, Kurlene Wenberg, and Daryl Johnson saw the following birds:

2 Canada Goose; 2 Mute Swan; 11, Trumpeter Swan; 15 American Wigeon; 26 Mallard; 13 Surf Scoter; 1 White-winged Scoter; 28 Bufflehead; 2 Common Goldeneye; 1 Common Merganser; 1 Red-throated Loon; 3 Horned Grebe; 1 Bald Eagle; 5 Mew Gull; 2 Glaucous-winged Gull; 54 Gull sp.; 1 Northwestern Crow; 1 Common Raven

South Cowichan:
On a chilly Sunday afternoon Jim and Lyn Wisnia counted in the Verdier Point area:
16 American wigeon; 22 surf scoter; 21 bufflehead; 43 common goldeneye; 15 Barrow’s goldeneye; 1 common merganser; 4 red-breasted merganser; 1 pie-billed grebe; 5 horned grebe; 1 red-necked grebe; 10 mew gull; 6 glaucous-winged gull.

In the Mill Bay area:
5 mute swan; 25 American wigeon; 36 surf scoter; 18 bufflehead; 17 common goldeneye; 3 Barrow’s goldeneye; 4 hooded merganser; 13 common merganser; 11 red-breasted merganser; 4 common loon; 33 mew gull; 6 glaucous-winged gull; 6 gull sp.; 2 northwestern crow.

It was Wednesday and of course the weather was just perfect with sunny skies and great visibility. In spite of this Barry and I were left out in the cold on this Valentines day as we were the only counters to turn up. We had purchased Valentines day chocolates and cards for our lady friends but we were left high and dry on this day of record numbers of Trumpeter Swans. We did meet up with our good friends Dorothy and Eric at lunch but by this time we had eaten all the chocolates and stashed the cards for next year. Trumpeter Swans at 730 was a new high for the season and for several years and the Canada Geese sank back down to 839, they seem to go up and down each week, maybe the extra goose hunting days were to blame for this drop in numbers this time. Raptor numbers were about the same with all accipiters gone from our eyes except one bird that shot over Tom Windsor Drive that had to be registered as just a hawk species, it had a long tail though.
I was a bit late this morning as when I was supposed to be counting birds at Quamichan Lake I ended up taking pictures of gulls and I know how much you like gulls so I have added a picture to keep you happy.
Just like last week birds were spread out all over the area with hot spots being Quist’s Farm, Bench Road and the Sahilton / Corfield Road areas. I can’t say that we saw any good birds except one lovely immature Red-tailed Hawk which is very rare in winter in our area. I think I could count on one hand how many I have seen in 30 years of birding on Vancouver Island. We of course took many pictures of the very co-operative bird. For the most part the swans were far off and with the immatures now starting to turn white I have to admit I couldn’t see any Tundra Swans among the white flocks, that doesn’t mean there were none there though.
I was glad that Dorothy took over the data writing as I am not that good and multi tasking three things at once, I need my eyes fixed on what is sitting in the trees although Barry has a sharp eye for spotting all sorts of things.
We did try and take a nice picture of a pair of Dorothy’s favorite ponies, they were more intent on feeding than posing for the camera.
Without our ladies to take pictures we were now suffering with just a few shots between us, it was time to take some swan pictures because that’s what we are all about. We did manage a nice closeup of Canada Goose number 071F on the golf driving range and there were also several geese with leg bands having discarded their neck collars during these hot spring days. It has been mentioned that the glue came unstuck on the collars and they fell off.
We managed a nice Merlin along Cowichan Bay Road which was our only Falcon. It was again slow for passerines but I did mange to pish up a good smattering of mixed species on St. Catherine’s Road with the now breeding plumage’s of the House Finch’s standing out in the cottonwood. Do you know that spellcheck does not know what a passerine is or a pish, who put this thing together, definitely not a bird scholar.
Our day was done and I was feeling a bit sick after eating all those chocolates. So it was off home to spend the rest of the day with my number one Valentine, when I arrived she informed me that a Northern Shrike was sitting in the climbing rose bush, alas it was too late and it flew before the camera could get out of the bag.

Photo Credits
Flying Ring-necked Duck by Barry Hetschko
My little Ponies by Barry Hetschko
071F by Barry Hetschko
Merlin by Brry Hetschko
immature Red-tailed Hawk by Derrick Marven
Western Gull by Derrick Marven
Swans by all of us.

Enjoy our Spring
Derrick

Such lucky counters to be out on a day when the weather man said rain and it didn’t happen, just overcast, which is just how I like it for counting birds. Big crowd this week as 10 people showed up; the word as gone around that we are having to much fun with citizen science.
The Trumpeter Swans were spread out right across our area today with most spots showing white. Raptors were as usual with a nice American Kestrel and a Merlin to add.
We also saw one poor Trumpeter Swan that appeared to have hit hydro lines on Modeste Road and a nice couple were there attending the poor bird and had already sent out for the recovery troops from the Falconry Center and as we left they had retrieved the bird, well done to all involved.
Did you know that Richards Trail area is one of the best spots for seeing different types of Raptors we are now up to 6 different species for the season. One thing I have tried so hard to embed into the counters is the use of adult or immature, some have learned but others continue to say mature and immature, now for someone who is a little mutton jeff, that’s deaf to you valley people that sounds the same and I have to ask what was that, hopefully they will all come around to help this old boy out.
Signs of spring were all over with lambs a bleeting, Winter Aconites and Snowdrops in full bloom, this is far removed from this date last year when we were under some deep snow in the valley.
This weeks count saw an increase in Trumpeter Swans and some Tundras to add to our lists. Canada Geese were stable and several species of Ducks were seen including a nice Eurasian Wigeon at Quist’s Farm. Northern Pintail seem to be very absent so far this year so it was nice to see a few closeup on Westholme Road. Here I forced the others to endure a bit of Gull watching as I needed to get some pictures of Mew Gulls for my friends back east. Another suspect Gull was along the Dock Road which quickly got my attention sadly it was too far away for a positive ID but it was big and dark backed; something gull nuts like to encounter.
One other species that we have had good luck with this year are Killdeer with more than 20 seen today in several spots. Barry manged a great photo of one at Somenos. We had two Northern Shrikes this week and the trailing car got one on film.
Corfield Road had many swans and almost straight away I spotted an immature Tundra Swan standing close and at least two or possibly three adults, we have not had much luck locating these this year so this was nice surprise.
Most of the west side of town was still low in numbers with only Bench Road having a nice flock to count. Dougan’s Flats continued this week to be bare so we quickly headed east back over to St.Catherine’s where many Trumpeters were way down the field and a local Anna’s Hummingbird put on a show for some.
Cherry Point Road had nothing except a nice Northern Shrike for the car that was lagging behind and Koksilah Road east came through with both good flocks of Trumpeters and Canada Geese.
Down through the Cowichan Bay saw some local Cormorants out on the pilings. Earlier in the morning I witnessed a group of Great Blue Herons flying around in circles downtown over the stores, I wonder of they are getting ready for the upcoming season with some stick gathering and general buddy association.
The Dock Road gave us our first Mute Swans of the day and a handful of Trumpeters to complete our list. Several Bald Eagles were out on what appeared to be a very low tide, me thinks they were looking at gulls just like me.
We were done a great day to be outdoors with my friends. Lot’s of pictures this week so enjoy what these great people see.
Derrick

Photo Credits
Spring Lambs by Eric Marshall
Red-breasted Sapsucker by Eric Marshall
Killdeer by Barry Hetschko
Great Blue Heron by Barry Hetschko
Annas Hummingbird by Kurlene Wenberg
Merlin by Kurlene Wenberg
Tundra Swan by Zan Stenhouse
Northern Shrike by Zan Stenhouse
Swan catchers by Zan Stenhouse
Excising Trumpeter by Derrick Marven

Northern pintail by Zan Stenhouse

Oh! what a day as 6 counters headed out into the floods. Swans turned into Geese, Sealions headed inland, naturalists headed for higher ground and at North Cowichan headquarters councilors were seen doing the stop the rain dance. and the counters kept going, what a wonderful group they are. Unperturbed by all the goings on, we had a great day, cold and wet, no problem for us.
Adult Trumpeter Swan numbers dropped by 130 and the immature birds stayed just the same as the past few weeks, did these adults leave, i wonder. Canada Geese on the other hand went up by 300, did these two species swap feathers? We had a nice group of Cackling Geese and even a immature Tundra Swan. Bald Eagles numbers went down after that little influx last week and a two Peregrine Falcon day is always welcome.
We headed off from the dog park counting geese along the way, we missed the Sealion that was frolicking in the car park at Somenos as good birders that we are we are always looking up. Once again our best stop on the outward half was Quist’s Farm where we had over 60 Trumpeter’s and a gaggle of geese. I had a quick glimpse at a snipe while Killdeer played around in the mud. Westholme Road gave us a few more swans and a large flock of gulls which always gets my attention, most of these were Mew Gulls which had come down to feast on water logged worms. Along Richards Trail a lovely adult Coopers Hawk was seen displaying it’s tail up in a tree, trying it’s hardest to get dry. The water had really risen in the fields and not much was had. Our next major find was a large group of Canada geese along Herd Road totaling over 300. Hwy 18 gave a few more Trumpeters and Canada Geese. By now we were seeing a few spits of rain so we headed for A&W for our break.
Boy’s Road came next and only a single Red-tailed Hawk was was spotted, gone were all the eagles and even the dickie birds were hiding and the same went for Modeste Road with another Red-tail seen. Sahilton Road again had the swans digging deep in the fields and just under 100 were counted. There must be a lot of roots and new shoots in these fields as the swans have been hold up in these fields for several weeks now.
We then headed west and nothing was seen until we hit Bench Road where the fields contained just under 150 Trumpeters and a few Canada Geese. As we headed down Phipps Road i spotted a very white immature bird which turned out to be a Tundra Swan, this got the photographers excited and many shots were taken. As we headed south on the highway a certain Mary Street naturalist was seen fleeing for higher ground, this species was identified by certain stickers adorning the back bumper, but she was gone in seconds at break neck speed as we went off to count down in Dougans Flats. Here we found the mother load of Canada Geese with them was at least 25 Cacklers what a sight I got out to take a picture of the little ones. There is a old saying ” there is safety in numbers” I am not so sure this is true because a Peregrine Falcon flew over which got the goosies attention and it was quickly followed by a Bald Eagle, well this caused a mass panic as over 3/4’s of the 700 geese took to the air, what a tremendous sight as they headed off down the fields, so much for counting them one at a time and as for pictures none were taken. Back over the other side of the highway and St.Catherines Road gave us some big white birds to count and just under 90 were added to our slowly growing list. Cherry Point Road gave us a few more and Koksilah Road east added another 50+ Trumpeters. We were now on the homeward stretch, down through Cowichan Bay the water was this dirty brown color and the Double-crested Cormorants sat up on the pilings not wanting to get down in that water. The Dock Road let us have 6 Mute Swans and a pair of Northern Harriers were seen, this species does not do well in flooded fields and have been hard to find of late. A few more geese were added along Tzouhalem Road and our day was done.
At one secret location we saw a wonderful herd of Elk, this spot will remain with us just in case.
Until we ride again stay dry and warm.
Derrick

Photo Credits
Northern Shoveller’s by Zan Stenhouse
Tundra Swan by Eric Marshall
Cooper’s Hawk by Barry Hetschko
Trumpeter Swans by Barry Hetschko
Killdeer by Eric Marshall
Elk by Derrick Marven
Mute Swan by Derrick Marven

This year we had great weather with no rain or snow, the temperature early in the day was a little nippy but by mid-day had warmed up nicely.

We had 118 species seen with some rare sightings. This is our highest species total since 2007. The Northern Mockingbird obliged by staying around for more than a year, one wonders if will last out to next year’s count. A Bohemian Waxwing was found in a flock of its smaller cousins, the Cedar Waxwings, along Maple Bay Road in a Holly farm, this is the second year running for us to find this rare species for Vancouver Island. A flock of 21 Common Redpolls delighted the group counting in Cowichan Bay. It appears that this species has made a major influx this winter onto Vancouver Island with sightings at many locations.

Our overall count found 22,010 birds, which was slightly up from last year but sadly still well below our average.

We had around 35 people out counting and another 10 watching their feeders. It appears that the flu bug knocked our participants down this year as it ravaged the lower island.

The whole of Somenos Marsh was still frozen dragging the duck number down, surprisingly Quamichan Lake stayed open but lacked large numbers of ducks with not many Ruddy Ducks this year, this following on from getting skunked last year with this lovely little diving duck. Our count had established itself as the highest count in Canada for Ruddies but now we are an also ran.

Below are just some of the highlights by groups of birds.

Waterfowl

Most dabbling duck numbers were down with not many Green-winged Teal or Northern Pintail, we did manage to find 2 Eurasian Wigeon among the ever diminishing American Wigeon. Bufflehead numbers crashed with less than half our normal count. Lesser Scaup numbers were way down with the Sewage lagoons have the lion’s share. We did well for loons although their numbers remain low from many years ago.

Hawks & Eagles

This year saw a record number of Coopers Hawks with 20 recorded. Eagles were average and we only had 2 Northern Harriers which is low, they seemed to have vacated our area big time this year, we need more vermin. 1 American Kestrel was surprising as the swan and goose people seem to find them every week. Other Falcons did well with 5 each of Merlin and Peregrine.

Shorebirds

This was a big disappointment with just 4 Killdeer and 9 Black Turnstones. On the bright side we had 16 Wilson’s Snipe with one lucky group finding a nice flock.

Gulls

Gone are the days of major numbers found on our count, Mew Gull number went up nicely and a single California Gull was found  and the same group found a 1^st winter Glaucous Gull. 82 Bonaparte’s Gulls were found between us and Saltspring and 3 Ring-billed Gulls made up the numbers.

Owls

Not bad for owls with 8 found, a Barn Owl was nice and so was a Short-eared Owl

Hummingbirds and Woodpeckers

Anna’s Hummingbirds went up from last year and the woodpeckers were around the same although still low from past years with one counter finding it hard to find a Northern Flicker for his list

Shrikes and Corvids

Northern Shrikes was a record with 9 found and Common Ravens were right on average. Northwestern Crows on the other hand dropped drastically, not sure what caused this but the large late afternoon flocks of yesteryear are no more.

Chickadees, Wrens and Kinglets

This is where our numbers tumbled with low counts across the board for all species. Brown Creepers being absent off many lists

Thrushes and Starlings

Robins, Varied Thrushes and Starlings were all in low numbers, Varied Thrush go up and down each count, this is two years running of low numbers. One Hermit Thrush was had.

Sparrows

Here the numbers went up a bit with reasonably good counts of most species and a Swamp Sparrow and 2 Lincoln’s were a nice addition. It is strange the way the Lincoln’s Sparrows which were so abundant just before Christmas appeared to have left.

Blackbirds

Red-winged Blackbirds continue to drop in our area although the Brewers are stable and came through with a good average count. We did have a Western Meadowlark for the count week and I know for certain they were out there on count day, must try to encourage the counters to paddle out in those wet fields.

Finches

Most finches were right on average although Pine Siskins took a major hit with this little finch being so irruptive some years and absent in others. The Common Redpolls were a great find and added nicely to our species count.

Lastly House Sparrows

Their numbers continue low from three to four years ago when we had record numbers, maybe the record Coopers Hawks have played a part in this.

Overall a great count with happy faces all around at the roundup where we were spoilt rotten by the ladies with lots of food and hot drinks, big thanks to all for their help and we will hopefully see you all again next year.

Derrick Marven

A copy of data sheet of the bird count is avialble on requesr from ericmarshall@shaw.ca as an Excel or pdf file.

At the dog park there was much happiness and laughter, not sure if it was my return of the lovely sunny weather that came with me. 7 eager counters set out and 1 other joined us later. A few geese here and a few geese there got our tally sheet moving under the watchful eye of Dorothy, Barry and Kurlene did the driving and this was much appreciated, we put ourselves in their hands week after week and we thank them deeply for what they do. Found one goose with a neck band this week: 071F. I thought I saw one with a leg band at the golf driving range but it soon disappeared into the crowd. A Red-tailed hawk has been standing guard for the past few days near the corner of Beverly Street and the highway, that was our first addition of the day. Zan took a picture of a flyover swan along the creek dike which appeared to show a small yellow teardrop below it’s eye, was it a Tundra, well maybe? A lovely pair of cuddling Bald Eagles awaited our arrival at Somenos Lake, yes it’s that time of year when you meet up with that old girlfriend and tell her what you’ve been doing since you left her last year. Our immature Bald Eagle numbers took a dive this week as many are left to fend for themselves and are chased off by the adults as two’s company three’s a crowd. At Quist’s Farm many swans and geese were counted and a game of hide and seek took place with up to 17 killdeer and 3 Wilson’s Snipe hid among the low vegetation, I am sure there could have been more just sitting there watching our every move. Westholme Road gave us some nice closeup looks at both adult and immature swans and many photo’s were obtained. Richard’s Trail was well flooded and we added a few more geese. A far off American Kestrel sat down on the hydro lines and then dropped down in the grass. We have done really well for Kestrel this year, one of the best that I can remember for the valley. Herd Road now unfrozen added a few more swans and a good bunch of geese and Tom Windsor Drive added even more geese and our first Great Blue Heron and a diving Belted Kingfisher. Highway 18 gave another 35 swans and that was about it until our break with just a few soaring Bald Eagles to add.
Our swan number were good this week at 660 just down a little from the past couple of weeks and our Canada Geese numbers shot back up at 1303 with the unfrozen fields giving up there bounty.
Boys Road was slow with just a couple of Red-tailed Hawks. Sahilton Road once again had the swans delving deep into the mud to get some new shoots to feed on, this is the first time that I have witnessed this action by the swans and to watch them push their heads way down and come back up with mud all over their bills and face is just mind boggling. This week we got a few pictures to show what they look like.
We now headed out west and only to find a major hydro crew doing work along Koksilah Road so nothing showing there, Riverside Road came next and here Dorothy tried to turn some big concrete blocks into swans, we were having none of that. Bench Road gave us some nice numbers of swans and 226 were counted. Dougan’s Flats had good number of geese but no swans. St. Catherine’s had nothing except some dickie birds that avoided my slow focusing camera, good job Eric’s was faster. On a hunch I sent the ladies, along with Bob, off to Cherry Point Road where they boosted our swan count up tremendously with way over 200 to bolster our total.
That was about it except a handful of Mute Swans along the Dock Road. No accipiters or other falcons this week, just a lovely day to be out with no rain.
Thanks to my good friends for giving me snacks to keep me going, it appeared that being at home being waited on by my dear wife has taken it’s toll on me as I was ready to drop at the end.
Many photos this week, enjoy
Derrick Marven

Photo Credits
Golden-crowned Sparrow by Eric Marshall
House Finch by Eric Marshall
Tundra Swan flyover by Zan Stenhouse
Wilson’s Snipe by Zan Stenhouse
Bald Eagles by Zan Stenhouse
Trumpeter Swans mud pack by Barry Hetschko and Eric Marshall
Adult and immature Trumpeter Swans by Derrick Marven
How many Killdeer by Derrick Marven

South side of Cowichan Bay.
Robin Lawson, Claude Lahaise, Kathy Coster, Richard Campbell, Gail and Steve Mitchell & Carol Milo were observers and saw:

Mute Swan, 6; Bufflehead, 120; Common Goldeneye, 4; Hooded Merganser, 7; Horned Grebe, 4; Double-crested Cormorant, 11; Great Blue Heron, 2; Bald Eagle, 1; Mew Gull, 1; Iceland Gull (Thayer’s), 3; Glaucous-winged Gull, 15; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Northwestern Crow, 4.

Kurlene and John did the count on the north shore of Cowichan Bay and saw:

Trumpeter Swan, 18; Gadwall, 3; American Wigeon, 109; Northern Pintail, 2; Surf Scoter, 32; Common Goldeneye, 20; Common Merganser, 2; duck species, 30; Double-crested Cormorant , 5; Bald Eagle, 6; gull sp., 87; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Northwestern Crow, 2; Common Raven, 1; Bufflehead, 49.

On sunny Sunday Dec. 10 Lyn and Jim Wisnia saw 25 species total in their two Coastal Waterbird Survey areas. The large gathering of Western Grebes right in the bay was impressive, and the lone Eurasian Wigeon right next to the boat ramp was a treat.

Verdier Point:
Mute swan, 4; American wigeon, 169; Mallard, 1; Surf scoter, 17; Bufflehead, 16, Common goldeneye, 40; Barrow’s goldeneye, 3; Hooded merganser, 2; Red-breasted merganser, 31; Pacific loon, 3; Common loon, 1; Horned grebe, 10; Western grebe, 258; Double-crested cormorant, 3; Bald eagle, 1; Mew gull, 17; Ring-billed gull, 1; California gull, 1; Glaucous-winged gull, 131; Gull sp. 1; Northwestern crow, 2.

Mill Bay:
Canada goose, 69; Mute swan, 5; Eurasian wigeon, 1; American wigeon, 39; Mallard, 26; Bufflehead, 26; Common goldeneye, 15; Barrow’s goldeneye, 6; Hooded merganser, 8; Common merganser, 1; Red-throated loon, 1; Pacific loon, 1; Common loon, 1; Horned grebe, 1; Red-necked grebe, 1; Western grebe, 150; Double-crested cormorant, 3; Mew gull, 303; Glaucous-winged gull, 35; Gull sp. 41; Northwestern crow, 5.

I was not able to attend today’s wet and woolly count due a very poorly back, so it was left up to my good buddies to bare the brunt of today’s good weather. The results were awesome with numbers mirroring last weeks totals and all this under terrible afternoon conditions. Dorothy took the honors of writing a report, her humor not being as silly as mine. Today’s count had the highest number of Trumpeter Swans for a long long time with 695 added, they obviously like the rain.
Here is Dorothy’s report:

On a balmy morning four blythe and bonny birders embarked on the count without their stalwart leader; everyone had their assigned task – Barry opted to drive, Dorothy took the swan and goose sheet and Zan the raptor sheet and Eric was co-pilot and head counter for swans and geese.

Zan reported having seen a flock of redpolls just before she arrived at our starting point; but they did not hang around for the rest of us to see them.

There was a small flock of Canada geese on the old golf driving range and at Somenos Lake 20 on the water at the south end and 40 on the grass on the shore opposite to the dock.

Barry spotted the kestrel perched on one of the banners at the Exhibition Grounds. Quist Farm yielded a large count of trumpeter swans. On Richard’s Trail we counted 194 Canada geese.

On Herd Road east we found 26 Canada geese decoys and no live geese or swans in the area!

At our lunch break at A & W we congratulated ourselves (too soon) on the mild weather but rain arrived as soon as we restarted our drive. On the south side of Sahilton Road we found 50 adult and 23 immature trumpeters and wondered what attracted them to the rough grasses and rushes there. We drew a blank on Koksilah Road west but up Riverside Road we found many swans scattered over a large area.

No swans or geese showed up on Wilson Road where the sheep were sheltering under a tree from the pouring rain. Later on Jim’s Pond even the ducks were hiding from the downpour under the bushes around the edge of the pond.

From St. Catherine’s Road we could see many trumpeters spread out over a wide area and we had to drive down Telegraph Road to confirm a total of 312 adults and 28 immatures.

From Dock Road we could just make out seven trumpeters over against the south shore and 10 mutes close to the north side of the road.

Sorry, Derrick, no neck bands this week. We did our best but visibility was poor once the rain began. Hurry up and get that back better – we need your leadership.

I returned home to find four feisty flickers fighting over our suet feeder.

A very big thankyou to my good friends and a job well done, hopefully I will be back next week although the docs have said it could be a long recovery, let’s hope not. I hope to be back with a complete full rain dance to get us back on the straight and narrow.

Derrick

Photo Credits

Wet woolly Jumpers by Zan Stenhouse and Eric Marshall

Common Redpolls by Zan Stenhouse

Adult and Immature Trumpeters by Zan Stenhouse

Decoys by Barry Hetschko

Trumpeter Swans by Barry Hetschko

Cowichan Bay South:
Seven determined birders –Eric Marshall, Carol Milo, Gail Mitchell, John Scull, Linda Hill, Wilma Harvie, and Christine Cutbill — peered into thick fog to try to identify waterbirds. Only those near shore could be seen. 4 glaucous-wing gulls obligingly landed in Hecate Park so they could be positively identified. The birds we saw were:
Bufflehead, 27; Common Goldeneye, 15; Double-crested Cormorant, 5; Great Blue Heron, 2; Glaucous-winged Gull, 4; gull sp., 10; Northwestern Crow, 1.

Cowichan Bay North:
Heavy fog on Sunday sent Bob Nation and Daryl Johnson back to count the waterbirds on Monday afternoon, Jan. 15th
Birds counted were:
Horned Grebe, 3; Double Crested Cormorant, 2; Mute Swan, 2; Trumpeter Swan, 31; Gadwall, 5; American Wigeon, 73; Mallard, 6; Green-winged Teal, 7; Surf Scoter, 7; Bufflehead, 8; Common Merganser, 8; Bald Eagle, 2; Mew Gull, 4; Unidentified Gull sp., 28; Common Raven, 1

On the clear, calm morning of January 14, 2017 Jim and Lyn Wisnia did two coastal waterbird surveys in South Cowichan.

Verdier Point area:
Canada goose, 16; American widgeon, 48; Surf scoter, 13; Scoter sp. 2; Bufflehead, 22; Common goldeneye, 14; Barrow’s goldeneye, 5, Red-breasted merganser, 9, Pacific loon, 2; Common loon, 1; Horned grebe, 11; Western grebe, 240; Brandt’s cormorant, 3; Double-crested cormorant, 1; Great Blue heron, 1; Glaucous-winged gull, 12; Gull sp. 3; Belted kingfisher, 1; Common raven, 1.

Mill Bay Area:
Canada goose, 35; Mute swan, 2; Mallard, 12; Greater scaup, 2; Surf scoter, 75; Bufflehead, 63; Common goldeneye, 27; Barrow’s goldeneye, 8; .Hooded merganser, 3; Common merganser, 5, Red-breasted merganser, 8; Pacific loon, 1;, Common loon, 1; Horned grebe, 2; Pelagic cormorant, 1; Double-crested cormorant, 2; Mew gull, 10; Glaucous-winged gull, 44; Gull sp. 10; Belted kingfisher, 2.

Today was a real pain in the butt, literally, the rain that was forecast never happened, there were great birds all over and we hit a 5 year high for Trumpeter Swans. Back to this pain in the butt, I was suffering today with a terrible lower back pain and could hardly walk, Barry being the gentleman that he is even brought my scope to me while I leaned up against the vehicle to count the swans. Zan on the other hand thought that we had a touch of a breath problem and plied us with breath mints and Jane being the newby brought along some Christmas cookies. Elizabeth did a great job on the walkie-talkie.
5 counters left the dog park and we were quickly counting Canada Geese at the school and the golf driving range. Strangely this week the geese numbers took a major dive and we could only find 617, down almost a quarter. The Trumpeter Swans on the other hand came at us in near record numbers with just under 700 counted, we have never reached these numbers since the spring of 2013. Eagle numbers were down as is expected at this time of year.
When we got to Somenos Lake we were greeted by a nice Pileated Woodpecker trying it’s hardest to top this cottonwood tree, be interesting to see if next week if the top of this tree which is home to nesting swallows in the spring has any top left on it. Out on the lake Barry spotted three little ducks with their tails turned up, these were the first Ruddy Ducks that we have encountered this season. A few swans were added and we headed off up the highway. Funny we had just mentioned about the Kestrel not being around lately and there he was sitting on top of the flagpole at the exhibition grounds. As Barry was taking it’s picture a Red-tailed Hawk came in from behind and chased the Kestrel off the pole, well the American Kestrel took offense to this and went after the Red-tail which by this time had landed in a small tree, the Kestrel dive bombed the larger bird and squealed his annoyance at being disturbed from hunting, all the time Barry had the camera on rapid fire as we called out here it comes again. Such fun to watch as nature showed us one of it’s wonders.
Down to Quist’s farm where good numbers of birds were awaiting our counting and by the time we left we had added over 130 swans to our ever growing list. Along Westholme Road we saw some resident Eurasian Collared-Doves, a Great Blue Heron and sundry dickie birds. Richards Trail was next and a nice flock of Canada Geese contained one Great White-fronted Goose which gave us good photo opportunities. You could easily see why hunters call these adult birds speckled bellies. Somehow we went into some sort of time lapse as we totally forgot to go up Herd Road and found ourselves on Tom Windsor Drive counting geese, so we could have missed a few birds with that miss.
Today we had a new guest Elizabeth along with us and we were hoping to show her some Elk, but not this week I’m afraid.
After the break we headed over to the Boys and Sahilton Road area and the latter came through with a nice flock of swans with what appeared to be a possible family group of Tundra swans with one adult and two immature, there well could have been more out there but the birds were busy feeding with some swans having so much mud on their bills it was hard to tell what species they were. We left having counted over 130 birds. On the west side we found another large flock of swans near the corn fields on Koksilah Road, this is always a awkward spot to count made even harder this week as I hobbled back up the hill with the scope with Barry in tow in case I collapsed half way up. When all was said and done another 125+ Trumpeters were added and I’m sure many were lurking back behind the trees out of our prying eyes. Working on a tip we headed up Riverside Road and found a small flock of 18 swans and a strange bird walking up a field and as we got closer it turned out to be a Northern Flicker going for a stroll, acting more like a Green Woodpecker from the old country who spend a lot of time on the ground. On and around to Bench where way down the field a small group of 30+ swans were having a kick around. Dougan’s Flats was once again void of any birds, not sure whats going on out there but Barry spotted a funny looking thing out in the fields which closely resembled a hunting blind. Off we went to St Catherine’s and oh my what were all those white things down in the field. Once again I was propped up against the Jeep with the scope counting the crowds of swans and geese. 184 swans and 100 geese later and we were heading off down the road. Koksilah Road had a handful of swans for the first time in a while.
Dinsdale’s Farm like Dougan’s Flats was lacking any birds at all so it was left up to the Dock Road to give us our final additions with 25 Trumpeters and a few Mute Swans.
That was it great time with a great group of friends and still no rain at the end, couldn’t be better.

Photo Credits
Greater White-fronted Goose by Derrick Marven
Attack by the American Kestrel by Barry Hetschko
Muddy Trumpeter by Derrick Marven
Trumpeters and Ring-necked Ducks by Barry Hetschko
Pileated Woodpecker by Zan Stenhouse
American Kestrel by Zan Stenhouse
Red-tailed Hawk by Zan Stenhouse

Derrick
in severe pain

Our first count of the new year was a little foggy but full of good birds and plenty of them with high numbers of Trumpeter Swans and good numbers of birds of prey.
8 people in two cars left the dog park with a new addition today as we were joined by Jane, her first S&G count, I believe she had a good time as she left a present behind in one of the vehicles.
At times today we were unable to see into the fields as mostly on the west side; you couldn’t see more than a few yards, the fog really didn’t lift until last thing which made it easy to see a few remaining birds in our last few spots.
We had an old friend, Trumpeter Swan with collar, and others with bills covered in mud, we had one whiter than the others and one dead swan feeding a hungry hoard of Eagles and Ravens at Quist’s Farm. We had a flying Greater White -fronted Goose who took up ice skating with it’s Canada and Cackling cousins on Somenos Lake. We also had 3 Northern Shrikes, a herd of Elk and a few assorted Gulls which did include a first winter Glaucous Gull. Barry got a Western Meadowlark just before the count along the Somenos Creek dike, a scarce bird for the Somenos area. Hawks were good with Coopers, Sharp-shinned, Red-tails, Merlin and Peregrine to add to our good total of Bald Eagles. All on all a wonderful January count, it was good to be out in the fresh winter air, good for clearing out all that holiday fuzz, I was personally glad that I didn’t have to walk far after just one days rest from the Christmas bird count, my legs were shot.
Trumpeter Swans reached new heights with over 450 counted and the Canada Geese decreased again down to 877. I am sure there were many more out there in the fog. A single Tundra Swan was mixed in the bunch at Quist’s Farm and at least two Killdeer were seen by at least one of us anyways. Star of the show today had to be at Somenos Lake where we found the neck banded Trumpeter Swan 01UK and below is what our good friend Peggy who keeps tabs on this bird had to say.
“She was banded Aug 3/ 2006” Age: “hatched in 2005 or earlier”
(For purposes of aging, swans are assumed to be hatched in June so she is at least 12 years 6 months old)
banded in Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge in western Alaska wetlands where there are no roads)

We first saw her in the Cowichan Valley north of Phipps Road in Feb/ 2011, it is amazing what we can learn from a single bird with a band.

The Elk were in their normal spot at the park and ride on Hwy18 and then from there onwards it became all foggy and that was not just me. Big thanks to my buddies for sticking with me for another year on this count. A another big thanks to Kurlene who went back up to Bench and managed to add a few more swans after the fog had lifted a bit.
A short report this week as I have got a massive load of entries to make for the Christmas Count

Photo Credits
Northern Shrike by Derrick Marven
Elk and Geese by Derrick Marven
muddy billed Swans by Barry Hetschko
Western Meadowlark by Barry Hetschko
angry Bald Eagle by Barry Hetschko
odd goose out by Zan Stenhous
01UK by Zan Stenhouse

Happy New Year
Derrick

Cowichan Bay Swans

It was the week before Christmas and it was quiet, it was no wonder as all was white
The sun was clear which made the birds disappear
Our numbers were down which left me with a frown
Dorothy and Eric had disappeared but Bob and Helen suddenly appeared

Oh! I am not that good at that stuff.
5 birders cuddled up with Barry in his 4 wheel drive and it was a good thing as in some spots we needed to crunch some snow even if we didn’t crunch lot’s of numbers. The swan numbers were down and the good numbers dropped like a stone, on the good side we did find a few more Red-tailed Hawks this week all taking in a few rays of the lovely sun. I can you believe it we found a American Kestrel in another new spot, either this bird gets around a lot or we have a good number of them in the valley, it will be interesting to see how many get counted during the Duncan Christmas bird count on the 1st of January. Eagle numbers were good although they were spread out a bit except for one tree on Boys Road that had a good number all chatting away.
Somenos Lake had a nice group of Trumpeter Swans, sadly they were way down in the south-west corner in thick mist and although I could count them I could not tell if there were any immature with them so they all went down as adults
We found 4 Killdeer on Quist’s Farm along with a good helping of swans and geese as they enjoyed the last bit of unfrozen water to be had. On Richard’s Trail we found our only falcon of the day the American Kestrel and with the water fast freezing only four Trumpeters were seen along with some dabbling ducks.
This week all participants behaved themselves so there was no juicy tales to tell,yes this weeks lot were a dull old bunch but good company.
Boy’s Road came through with it’s usual assortment of Bald Eagles with one tree bending under the numbers. A few Golden-crowned and Song Sparrows hopped from snow mound to snow mound and Barry just manged to get a shot in before someone came down the road and they all dived into a snow ladenned blackberry bush. On Sahilton Road we found bird of the day, I was telling everyone about a moggy that was sitting up on snow bank when Zan exclaimed look there’s a Great Blue Heron close, well close it was and Barry said I can’t get it all in the frame, so I grabbed the camera while Zan was letting the rapid fire of her camera go unabated and with such an obliging bird I hate to think how many pictures we took between us. This bird would not fly away instead paraded up and down in the bright sun, what a darling it was, thanks Mr or Mrs Great Blue Heron for a real treat.
A very strange occurrence on St. Catherine’s Road where Barry spotted a Northern Shrike that was sat up in a tree with a American Robin, maybe the robin was a bit big to stab on a spike somewhere so it was left alone as the shrike took off across the fields to find something bit smaller. Good numbers of Swans and Geese were counted at this location and some California Quail sat up nicely only for the camera to decide it was too sunny on the snow and failed to focus properly, don’t you just hate these over sunny days.
Good numbers of Red-winged Blackbirds were on Jim’s Crescent although the pond was frozen so no duckies or geese this week.
Just off of Telegraph Road we encountered a Snowy Owl which appeared to have dived into some dirty snow as its beak and the front of its face were a little dirty as it sat up beside a chimney breast for heat.
With Koksilah Road East devoid of birds we soon found ourselves down in Cowichan Bay where a few swans awaited us counters, then a few Eagles were at Dinsdale’s Farm and is always the case of late they sat on the wrong side of the road with the sun behind, you’d think they would know that we count on Wednesday and would be taking photographs of birds.
The Dock Road was next and a good number of Trumpeter Swans were enjoying the Khenipson Road side of the sunny bay while a few Bald Eagles sat on some posts and some lazy Seals were spread out on the log booms.
As we returned to the dog park a group of swans flew over with one that was decidedly smaller, a Tundra Swan , what an end to the day.

That was our day, I wish you all a great time over the holidays and we will be back in the New Year.

Photo Credits
Cowichan Bay Swans by Derrick Marven
Swans in flight by Barry Hetschko
Skiing Golden-crowned Sparrow by Barry Hetschko
Great Blue Heron by Zan Stenhouse
Snowy Owl by Zan Stenhouse
Tundra and Trumpeter swans in flight by Zan Stenhouse

Red-tailed hawk

Today was one of those wonderful birding days that we dream of, the sun shone brightly all day, the birds put on a great show and so did the beasts. Counting on a day like this was a joy, with the birds all being mostly easy to see.
6 birders left the dog park this morning and all had smiles on their faces from the get go. Some of the usual occupants of the Somenos Marsh were in attendance when Barry took his walk along the dike before meeting up with me, Northern Shrike, Red-tailed Hawk and a far off Peregrine Falcon and as the vehicles left and headed along Beverly Street a Merlin sailed over chasing another raptor which was unidentified. The usual group of Canada Geese were having kick around on the football pitch at the school and a few more were protesting at the golf driving range, wanting it left as grass and not another concrete jungle on floodplain.
Somenos Lake had a good number of Geese and a handful of ducks and a few far off Bald Eagles. As headed up the highway near Norcross Road we could see a few Trumpeter Swans down in the fields to the west and then a few Elk appeared and then a whole herd of the beauties were standing out grazing, it is always the way when your on the wrong side of the highway and no gaps in the concrete barriers. We did discuss about turning around, but we were on a mission to count birds not ungulates although I am sure a few photo’s would have helped holding back the tears. Later our good buddy Zan got some pictures.
This week our numbers of Swans increased with a healthy 233 adults and 42 immature, we were now getting a better ratio of young birds to adults. Bald Eagle numbers also bounced back up with 78 adults and 59 immature birds. Our total raptor count was 7 different species which is always nice to have, although the lack of Red-tailed Hawks was noticeable again this week. Barry managed a wonderful rear end shot of a Red-tail in Somenos, see attachment to see how this bird gets it’s name.
Best spot of the day was Richards Trail where the flooded fields were loaded with swans, geese and ducks, let’s hope no permit is issued to hunt on these lands this season as no crops have been planted now for more than four years and remains a very important area for waterfowl in migration.
We had another look at the Elk from the park and ride on Hwy18 before heading for our break.
Boy’s Road was next and good numbers of eagles were spread out among the trees at the bottom of the road and and it is nice to see heads way out in the field as some eagles were bathing in the flooded parts of the field. For the second week running at this location a accipiter darted over before we could get the glasses on it. Maybe next week will nail down what it is.
Back over to the west resulted in not much being added to our lists, another Merlin here and Bald Eagle there and then on Bench Road a group of swans awaited our counting while a Northern Shrike sat tantalizing on the wrong side of the sun on a hydro wire, oh it would have been such a nice shot.
Back along the highway and down to Dougan’s Flats, now I know how this location got it’s name as there was flat nothing there.
Back across to St.Catherine’s Drive and smiles were back on our faces as a group of swans and Canada Geese had a single Snow Goose among them. The girls went off to check out another raptor but it remained unnamed.
Jim’s pond had some geese and the Red-winged Blackbirds sat up in the willows to welcome us. I pished out a Spotted Towhee and asked it to come nearer which it obliged, it only sat still for a couple of shots in the brambles, that was enough for me to get a closeup of it’s red-eye.
Koksilah Road was next and again it was flat empty, not even a wayward duckie could be seen and gone was the shrike from last week. Down to the bay we went and 5 Mute Swans awaited us along with some Hooded Mergansers and a couple of Great Blue Herons. Just a few more eagles and a group of Canada Geese on Dinsale’s Farm and we were nearly done for the day.
The Dock Road had a Northern Harrier and hoards of Ducks and a pair of hunters scaring everything up from the fields, don’t the hunters understand that if they can see the ducks while walking out in the field, the ducks can also see them. We added a few more Trumpeters and eagles, four big lights in the wood yard were put down as Osprey just to please one of the counters and a e-mail was received from someone who left early and was supposed to be tending to the dog instead of playing on the computer.
That was it we were done, just a wonderful day out with good friends enjoying the wonder of nature.
When the sun shines you get lot’s of pictures, thanks everyone.

Photo Credits
Red-tailed Hawk by Barry Hetschko
Fox Sparrow by Barry Hetschko
Spotted Towhee by Derrick Marven
Richards Trail waterfowl by Derrick Marven
More Richards Trail Zan Stenhouse
Elk and little buddy by Zan Stenhouse
More Elk by Zan Stenhouse

Derrick

It was one of those days when you leave home and you think am i dressed properly, well for sure some of us weren’t as the wind and cold went right down to the bones. It was nice when the seven of us were riding around in the two vehicles with the heater on, but get out and wow!
Barry had already found a few goodies by the time we left and so we had to improve on his finds. The school football pitch along Beverly had two nice Snow Geese mixed in with some Canada’s – one was an immature and the other almost an adult, more than likely last years youngun. On the golf driving range we found our first neck collared goose of the season and after closer inspection Zan spotted that it had leg a band also and the one next to it also had a leg band but no neck collar. We quickly moved on getting more geese along the way and at Somenos Lake we got our first Bald Eagles to add to the Red-tailed Hawk and Peregrine Falcon that Barry had spotted. We would have had a nice picture of the Red-tail in flight but Barry’s computer crashed under the weight of all those bird pictures he takes. Along the Highway we found the first American Kestrel of the day sitting in the exhibition grounds, I think this could be the same bird from last year back to gather in the produce that assorted barns have to offer. At Quist’s Farm the 5 Greater White-fronted Geese from last week were still present and a good flock of American Wigeon. Along Westholme Road we got our first sitting Trumpeters to add to the four seen flying over Somenos flats and along Richards Trail another 74 Trumpeters with our first immatures of the day, it is good to see these birds back in this location. That was it until we hit Herd Road and another 33 Trumpeters and 300 Canada Geese were added along with a nice assortment of ducks with some snazzy Northern Shovellers showing well. Our next American Kestrel was on Tom Windsor Drive a long ways off down the hydro line. There really was not much else for the first half so we broke for a rest and huddled in the car park of A&W waiting for our new driver senior Derrick who I’m afraid has no sense of time or cold. It was nice to have our senior friend along this week for the full circuit although his spotting of many leaf birds was a cause of some concern. Back on the road one vehicle doing Boys and the other doing Sahilton, there were less Bald Eagles than last week this was enhanced by two really dark almost black immatures, I personally have never seen such dark birds almost melanistic in appearance with just a few white blotches. Over we went to the west side and a few eagles were up and floating around sadly the photographers were not so energetic in getting out. Just a single swan was seen until we hit the end of Koksilah Road west and here we saw 8 Trumpeters in a field where we have never had them before so this was a nice surprise. One real funny sighting along the road was this big truck with a very long aluminum bridge on a big trailer. it passed us twice, I made the remark that it was the York Road–Somenos Creek bridge looking for a new owner.
Up on Bench Road a nice group of 45 swans were way down the field and a Merlin sat up on Wilson Road the same spot where last week it sat. Funny how you learn that some birds have a pattern for feeding and hang out at the same places week after week, like it is their personal larder. Dougan’s Flats gave us our second Merlin and it was here that I found myself in trouble again as I thought it was a female Kestrel, the others put their foot down and I found myself floundering. Mrs.Marshall, the local head mistress, tweaked my ear and made me apologize to the other car. Oh! I bet she was bossy when she teached and had some good nicknames.
On St.Catherine’s we had just two swans and nothing else not even a dickie bird. We then after a few geese found ourselves down on Koksilah Road east where a good 300 Canada Geese were browsing and just around the corner on Wilmott Road was a lovely Northern Shrike which dragged me out of the truck for some snaps while senior Derrick and Kurlene caused chaos by blocking the road. If there are any readers held up during the road block please accept our apologies. A good Northern Shrike picture is hard to come by especially one that seems to come back to this location year after year. Down through Cowichan Bay and a few more eagles were added and four Mute Swans. By the time we got to the Dock Road the wind was blowing and small whitecaps were coming across the bay, so we didn’t dally long and headed for home. The other car had just got a Northern Harrier way over the field to help our good hawk and eagle numbers.

Back home to a nice hot drink and warm fire.

Photo credits.
Snow Geese by Zan Stenhouse
Banded Canada Geese by Zan Stenhouse
American Kestrel by Zan Stenhouse
Bald Eagles by Kurlene Wenberg
Black Bald Eagle by Derrick Marven
Northern Shrike by Derrick Marven

Derrick
wearing the dunces cap