Eric and Dorothy’s notes from the Swan & Goose car where Barry was at the wheel: Wednesday 6th January began with the sad news that our leader has a bad back and would not be joining us. The temperature was only a little above zero when the seven of us set off in two cars. Have you ever tried looking for neck collars on white trumpeter swans against snow in a thick mist with the sun trying to shine in your eyes? It isn’t easy and I don’t recommend it!
The walk from our vehicles at Somenos Lake was slushy, and counting the swans and geese was difficult due to the low sun glaring through the think mist. We swung off the highway near the Exhibition Grounds but our friendly kestrel was not around. At Quist’s farm we saw killdeer and eagles but no swans or geese. The turnoff towards Crofton yielded no geese but there were eagles in the roadside trees. Heading back through Westholme things were looking bleak – not even the Norwegian Fjord ponies were around. Along Richard’s Trail by the Pastula farm mist was very thick but the water was mostly frozen so no swans or geese. On Tom Windsor Road the thick mist hid some fields where we often see geese. Crossing the TCH our totals were still low when we suddenly spotted a large flock of geese just before heading up the hill by the gold course.
The United Nations joined us at the lunch break. On Boys Road we met an immature trumpeter swan on the roadside. It was trying to get away from us but the chain-link fence was stopping it. Christina stopped her car and shepherded it back round the corner away from the traffic on Boys Road. We found just two more swans in the field at the end of Boys Road. Numbers were boosted slightly when on Koksilah Road west there were some 13 swans close to the road – 6 were immatures – a high proportion.
Finally at Bench Road we found a large flock of both swans and geese which boosted our numbers but still low for January. The sun was now shining making the later part of the day quite pleasant. Dugan’s Lake and flats were empty of swans and geese and on St Catherine’s Road we found a small flock of swans – some had been hiding behind a hedge but for some reason were disturbed and flew out so we added them to our totals. As we swung round the corner on to Wilmot Road we found a few more swans and a huge flock of geese.
Heading along Cowichan Bay Road there was a peregrine falcon in a tree by the Old Farm B & B which was well photographed before we stopped at Dinsdale Farm where there were a few swans. Down on Dock Road the tide was high and relatively few birds are to be seen – just a few swans way over by the white house where they are often fed. Our final stop was just before the bridge by the Butter Church where a small flock of swans were in the field.
Hopefully next week Derrick will be back and our numbers of swans and geese higher and perhaps we will finish a little sooner that 3.45 pm.
photo credits
Barred Owl by Kurlene Wenberg
Great Blue Heron at 12 o’clock by Zan Stenhouse
Trumpeter Swan Head by Zan Stenhouse
PS
The Barred Owl is the reason they were so late.
Derrick
Well we certainly had a wonderful Raptor and Swan chase, oops I mean, Swan and Goose count although Derrick your charm, wonderful wit and of course expertise were sorely missed.
Kurlene our fearless driver, well it seems that you decided to go off on your own and hit the jack pot with your Barred Owl. Some people just don’t like to SHARE.
Today “the Raptor†vehicle had Deb, who decided to get in on the fun again and was a great asset, Zan, “our photographer†and Carol who kept us on tract and didn’t miss a single tally and of course myself who got us back in one piece, albeit doing a little extra scoping on our own routes. Sorry Derrick, but we did actually stay closer to the lead vehicle regardless and managed to get a good count for ourselves.
Although the first vehicle had tried to lose us several times we managed to do a very competent job of tallying our birds, while analyzing where we could make time to get close to them again. Chuckle chuckle!
Neither the Shrike nor the Kestrel made an appearance today.
As per usual we stopped at our fav spot, AW and were joined by Bob and Helen, they opted to go in the First vehicle. Wonder why?
Some of us had to be forced to go in and purchase organic, grain fed …
Once again Dorothy kept up with what I think is a wonderful addition to the entire count, with her delicious cookies.
Kurlene had called us and explained where to find the Barred owl she had seen earlier. Although we did search high and low we were unable to find him. Alas ! We did find an immat swan who had strayed from the flock and was trying desperately to get through a chain linked fence. We were relieved when it made its way to an open field and hopefully it got it’s bearings and was able to catch up with it’s clan.
Eric and Bob did an amazing job of counting everything even swans which we had thought were missed. But no they were onto to them.
Along the way we did get birds of note, Eurasian Widgeon, Ring Billed Ducks, oodles and oodles of Red-winged Blackbirds, Killdeer spotted by Barry’s eagle eyes at Dock Rd.
52 Bald  adult eagles, and 26 Immatures seems to be a good ratio.
 8 Red-Tails
 2 Northern Harriers
 2 Coopers
 1 SharpSh
1 Peregrine (great photo op)
 1 Barred Owl ( we think it should be included)
Christina
Barred OwlTrumpeter SwanGreat Blue Heron at 12 o’clock
