“James Bond, well nearly”
Today I returned to the count in hopes of shaking off this bad back and what a fine day it was, the rain was gone and the temperature was very pleasant and the birds did not disappoint. 6 birders left the dog park in two cars and another 2 joined up at A&W at the break. It didn’t take long for the excitement to begin with plenty of geese to count along the Beverly Street stretch and at the golf driving range there he was James Bonds older brother with neck collar 008, it will be a great day if we ever find 007, that’s if it hasn’t already been shot. 050 was also in the same field.
This week saw a great increase in Trumpeter Swan numbers with just under 650 being counted, this is not unusual for the numbers to go up in the middle of January as more birds come down from the north end of the island. All it takes is a little snowfall and the fields get covered and food source becomes hard to find.
I was hoping for a bit of sympathy today and thought I would be sat in the vehicle watching the others do all the counting, well this did not happen instead I did the counting and the book work, which somehow seemed to get in a tangle each time I entered some numbers on the spreadsheet, all those pencils on string, most confusing, they had a mind of their own.
Eagle numbers went down, which again is the norm for mid January, with the food source diminishing fast, they all start to move on.
44 Trumpeters were on Somenos Lake and another 16 were at Westholme, so this got us off to a good start and it seemed from here on until the end we found swans at most locations. This week 3 immature swans gave me a little trouble with identification, you see Trumpeters stay very dull brown and gray well into February before they start to molt whereas Tundra molt from December into January and are very white by the middle of the month. Two birds were on the fields at Bench an another was up off of Koksilah Road, We got photo’s of one of the swans and it shows what appears to be a Trumpeter in advanced spring plumage, this is very strange. The bill clearly identifies the dark of the bill right up to the eye, which rules out Tundra. I guess I will put them down as immature Trumpeters unless next week we get a better look at these very pale birds.
As we entered Tom Windsor Drive a young Deer peered at us through a page wire fence and seemed entranced with us, Barry of course was quick off the mark and shot a few pictures off through the window, the other car lagged behind looking at a Cooper’s Hawk and before they arrived a large semi turned onto the road and frightened the deer off, who ever heard of a semi truck being on this short dead end country road.
After our break we headed down to the Boy’s/ Sahilton Road area and as luck would have it the Barred Owl which was seen and found by Kurlene last week was waiting to say hello to the arriving counters and of course photographers. This lovely bird just sat there posing for all. This is our first Barred Owl in all these years of Swan and Goose counts which is surprising to me especially with how many there are around the valley. A few more swans were added and our goose numbers started to rise. We had only gone halfway and we were over 500.
Over to the west side of town we headed and much to our surprise Koksilah Road west gave us over 100 swans and some very accommodating eagles. A couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets put in an appearance beside the road, these tiny little mites had survived the cold and snow and were getting a living low down in the bushes. Bench had a few more swans and then Dougan’s Flats added a few more Geese.
Over on St.Catherine’s a nice mixed group were seen with over 70 swans and 400 Canada’s. Here a Anna’s Hummingbird was intrigued at what we were doing and sat watching us watching him, Barry always on the alert for a good client, blasted a few pictures to keep the hummer happy. It kept turning it’s head to show his better side.
Birds have finally started to use the fields on Koksilah Road east and our totals gained a few more of both swans and geese.
In Cowichan Bay village we managed 5 Mute Swans and then it was down to Dinsdales Farm where we were treated to a nice flock of birds. In among the Canada’s I got a look at 2 Cackling Geese, there could have been more but many of the geese were down sitting having a snooze. A Peregrine Falcon sat up in the old Maples keeping an eye on the surroundings below.
Around on the Dock Road we got our one and only Northern Harrier sitting way out in the field taking in the mild temperatures.
After a few more swans were added both on the Dock Road and along Tzouhalem our day was done and we headed back to the dog park and headed home.
I was pooped by the time I got home, I am not used to all this gallivanting and a cup of hot chocolate and a comfy sofa soon had me dreaming of rare birds.
Photo Credits
Deer by Barry Hetschko
Anna’s Hummingbird by Barry Hetschko
Red-tailed Hawk byKurlene Wenberg
Barred Owl by Zan Stenhouse
Until we count again
Derrick