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