This week saw 8 counters head out in 2 vehicles and we put all the girls in together and Barry who needed some tender care after a couple of weeks with the girls came in with myself and the Marshalls.
It had to happen sooner or later and a dramatic change occurred as more than 2/3rds of the swans must have departed over the last couple of days and our numbers dropped to just 288 with of these there were 108 immature birds who are now becoming harder to tell as their winter coats slowly turn white. Goose numbers continued at the normal average with just under 600 birds scattered around the valley, we did see many pairs setting up shop for the upcoming breeding season. Just 2 Mute Swans were had this week out on Somenos Lake, they too have started to mate up for the spring festivities.
Somenos Lake still had a few Ruddy Ducks, but the highlight was seeing a fresh Yellow-rumped Warbler of the Audubon’s race low down in the trees beside the boardwalk on Drinkwater Road (picture attached).
There are two races of this species that come through our area the other being mrtyle which tend to come about two to three weeks later, one has to watch out for hybrids as they can be a little confusing.
Our raptor count took a bit of a drop with adult eagles dropping down to just 11 birds and the immature down to 5. This is to be expected as there are lots of birds moving north and west for fishing and breeding.
The Harbor Seal was spotted again in Somenos Lake (photo attached) which came very close to the viewing area, not sure if it was counting us or not, but it seems to have made a home of the lake, sure hope it takes off back down the creek soon or the poor fisherman will have a hard time this coming spring of catching a trout or two.
The Sandhill Crane was again spotted, this time on Dougan’s Flats, this is the fifth location that we have encountered it this season. It appears he is running out of buddies and will have to make a decision soon on what he is going to do. I have called it a he as I think it is time to call him Simon, but it could well be a Susan.
Dougan’s Flats held the largest groups of birds this week with Somenos Lake second and St.Catherine’s Drive third.
We failed to have any of the swans close enough to check for bands or food balls in their throats, but most birds looked a little plump, so they will leave the valley well fed and we hope that they tell all their buddies what wonderful hospitality there is to be had in the Cowichan Valley and that there was only a couple of times that the nastier inhabitants chased them off.
The girls who once again lagged way behind had a nice find when they found a pair of Great Yellowlegs on Sahilton Road, these early migrants are to be expected in the middle of March before the real push starts. The girls did let us get way out in front before relaying their message over a very crackly walkie-talkie, we forgive them for this as they took a nice picture (atached) for confirmation. I do require this from them as they tend to make up things just to upset me.
Our day was done and with just one more count remaining we can only hope that we have something to put on the sheet next week.
Keep on looking.
Derrick