“Our last hurrah”
All good things must come to an end and so our swan and goose count played out its last week of the season. The weather was cold and damp, but we shouldn’t complain as this season has been very kind to us. Numbers were down right across the board with just 33 Trumpeter Swans remaining with most of them being immature birds. Our Hawk numbers took a dive, but we did find 3 Turkey Vultures sitting on top of a hydro tower up on Richards Trail, our first of the year, and 2 Peregrine Falcons, one along Lakes and the other on Sahilton Road which sat nicely for his photo to be taken.
8 of the swan and goose counting fraternity left the dog park and oh was it slow going, the raptor car got even slower than normal and was missed for most of the first half and was way behind by the time we hit A&W. We could have done with some sunshine to brighten our day, but we have been hardened over the weeks so laughter came from both vehicles as our count began with a few goosies. Most of the geese appeared to have left with none of those monster flocks which were last encountered last week. Dickie birds were at a premium which did not help the photographers among us. We did have a photogenic Great Blue Heron in Somenos Marsh and a Red-breasted Sapsucker that played hide and seek around a maple on Drinkwater Road. Somenos Lake had a few Canada Geese and about the same number of Double-crested Cormorants, but all other duckies were long gone.
We pushed on and the north end did not give us much to write home about, some say they had Killdeer, but I never saw them. The Richards Valley has started to lose some of it’s water and with that went the ducks and swans, swallows have replaced waterfowl with many flying low over the remaining water trying to catch a bug or two, most of these were Tree Swallows and Violet-greens. American Robins have set up camp next to the roads as they pick up the odd worm and creepy crawlies. It was not long when we found ourselves stopping for lunch all of us praying that the second half would bring forth a few big white birds. But just like our beginning we stumbled out of the blocks and were long gone around Koksilah and Bench with still no Trumpeters. We did pick up a few eagles and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks but that was it. Dougan’s Flats was devoid of any birds except one solitary gull way down in the fields. We nipped across the highway and headed for St.Catherine’s and I urged the others to think positive and it worked, there way down in the fields were our first Trumpeters, a family group of 2 adults and 3 immature spending their last few days stocking up on food for their long journey. A male Anna’s Hummingbird sat up beside the car until he saw the cameras and made a dash for cover much to the annoyance of some. Jim’s Pond had one of the bigger flocks of Canada Geese this week and just a couple of Bufflehead males looking lost without their girlfriends to keep them company. Along to Koksilah Road east and another small group of swans this time 15 birds with 13 of them immature. Down through Cowichan Bay we picked up a Mute Swan and in Dinsdale’s Farm another 13 Trumpeter Swans again most being immature. This our last group of swans were saved in digital format. We were now well ahead on time as we hit the Dock Road and I was surprised to see everyone out of the vehicles as it was not at all pleasant, we did get 5 more Mute Swans and one far off bird, but I was not about to get the scope out and look at this single bird in this weather so it went down as swan species.
Our count was complete and after a good rest I will put together some data about how our numbers fared this season, but numbers are down a little as migrating birds search further south for that sweet sweet grass. Our last good sighting of the day was a pair of Killdeer flying out of Somenos Marsh, it won’t be long before they are nesting.
I want to give a big thanks to all those who have taken part in our count this season and a major round of thanks to Dorothy for keeping our tally up to scratch and those great photographers who have brightened my roundup report each week. To those wonderful drivers who kept us on the straight and narrow even if some times our vehicles decided to go it alone, a major thank you.
Derrick
Photo Credits
Peregrine Falcon by Barry Hetscho
Last of the swans by Zan Stenhouse
Red-winged Blackbird by Zan Stenhouse
The Cob by Christina Cutbill
Great Blue Heron by Zan Stenhouse
