Swan & Goose Count Nov.30th, 2016

White-fronted geese
White-fronted geese

 

Great blue heron 'Otis'
Great blue heron ‘Otis’

 

Battle for the perch
Battle for the perch

 

Herring gull
Herring gull

I have to admit that I am becoming a little concerned about the lack of Trumpeter Swans in the valley at this late time, we are well below our norm. Having seen data from other areas we are the only ones that appear to be missing large numbers. We will just have to see what unfolds over the next few weeks as the cold and nasties are coming.
We did manage to raise our previous weeks number with a total of 135 of which 109 were adults so our immature to adult ratio is good at 25%. Geese numbers went up which is normal as we enter December.
Eagle numbers dropped a bit this week although many were up the Cowichan as the raging river pushes all the scraps back down.
8 birders set out in two vehicles this week and we hadn’t gone far when a nice surprise awaited us at the golf driving range a pair of Greater White-fronted Geese right up by the club house, what a start for us on this mild last day of November. Yes I did it again, lovely day with some very nice temperatures, although you could tell at times that the wind had that cold nip about it.
A very patient Great Blue Heron sat on the dock at Somenos Lake, because of it’s seating arrangements I have called it Otis, I am sure some of you remember the song.
As you know I have tried to educate our team on bird identification but I fear that sometimes some of the group just don’t get it. The big white ones are Swans and the smaller brown ones are Geese, you can’t get much clearer than that, or can you? Even when in flight this color difference stands out like a sore thumb, oh! well it is still early days and I’m sure they’ll get it sooner or later.
We went and had a peek for an Elk that I had spotted the day before but alas just two of it’s smaller cousins were visible.
Three Snow Geese were on Lakes Road and they stayed all day until our return.
We managed two Merlins again this week with one zooming across Tom Windsor and the other perched on top of a tree on Sherman Road. We were lacking a few Red-tailed Hawks but a nice dark western type was perched on Hillbank Road, he soon flew off when he saw the camera. A lovely male Northern Harrier was also on Tom Windsor Drive.
A nice pair of Herring Gulls were on the Dock Road and there were hundreds of other species out on the bay.

Sorry but that’s all I can do for this week as my brain is sending the wrong directions to my fingers;spell check can’t keep pace.

Photo credits
Greater White-fronted Geese by Zan Stenhouse
Otis Redding by Zan Stenhouse
Battle for the perch by Barry Hetshco
Herring Gull by Barry Hetshco

Until next time
Derrick

PS: This weeks Trumpeter tally from Comox Valley was 565 adults and 161 juveniles for a total of 726. In comparison, the total tally for the same period in 2015 was 1454 swans and in 2014 the total was 864 swans.