South side:
We had a wonderful turnout of 10 counters, some of whom loved the sunlight on the clouds behind Swuqus (Mount Prevost) but were less enamored of the icy wind blowing off the bay. A flying beaver took off during the count, but the birds were not particularly disturbed by it, and there were lots of birds:
5 Mute Swan; 36 Trumpeter Swan; 189 Bufflehead; Â 9 Common Goldeneye; Â 1 Hooded Merganser ; Â 6 Horned Grebe;Â 1 Western Gull;Â 1 Thayer’s Gull;Â 8 Glaucous-winged Gull ; 24 gull sp.; Â 4 Double-crested Cormorant;Â 2 Northwestern Crow;
The intrepid observers were: Derek Gibson, Thomas George, Steve Mitchell, John Scull, Wilma Harvie, Eric Marshall, Gail Mitchell, Donna Zipse, Ken Bendle, Dorothy Marshall, a harbour seal that joined us for a while and cameo appearances by Christina Cutbill and Eve Savory.
North side:
On February 9, 2020, Kurlene Wenberg and Carol Hartwig observed the following 11 species of waterbirds as the light dimmed late in the afternoon:
8 Double-crested Cormorant; 4 Pelagic Cormorant; 11 Canada Geese; 87 Trumpeter Swan; 27 Mallard; 2 Greater Scaup; 2 White-winged Scoter; 24 Bufflehead; 33 Common Goldeneye; 4 Common Merganzer; 3 Dunlin; 10 Mew Gull; 4 Glaucous-winged Gull; 75 Gull sp.;
Jim and Lyn Wisnia enjoyed the calm, sunny Sunday afternoon.
They observed in the Verdier Point area:
1 Surf scoter; 28 Bufflehead; 15 Goldeneye; 7 Barrow’s goldeneye; 7 Red-breasted merganser; 9 Horned grebe; 2 Red-necked grebe; 2 Western grebe; 8 Mew gull; 10 Glaucous-winged gull; 15 Gull sp.; 1 Pacific loon; 1 Common loon; 3 Brandt’s cormorant; 1 Belted kingfisher; 1 Common raven.
In the Mill Bay area:
5 American wigeon; 10 Surf scoter; 14 Bufflehead; 8 Common goldeneye; 10 Barrow’s goldeneye; 2 Hooded merganser; 7 Common merganser; 3 Red-breasted merganser; 2 Red-necked grebe; 1 Western grebe; 14 Glaucous-winged gull; 36 Gull sp.; 1 Common loon; 1 Brandt’s cormorant; 1 Pelagic cormorant; 1 Belted kingfisher; 3 Northwestern crow.