The contents of this report contains mature subject matter viewer discretion is advised.
12 eager April fools turned up for our annual Swan and Goose counters annual days holiday up to the Nanaimo Estuary, three cars were loaded up and Zan who had been out on the tiles all night was picked up in Ladysmith.
Our first stop was the south end of Cassidy airport where we looked in vain for any Bluebirds, the best we could muster was a few White-crowned Sparrows and a long distance Savannah Sparrow. From here we went up past the terminal to an area which Vesper Sparrow once roamed, but again we failed miserably. A big consolation prize was a very flighty Western Meadowlark that played hide and seek along a devastated ditch that was once home to some wonderful row of trees, it appears airports will no longer allow trees to brighten up the surrounding green-space. A Killdeer played out on the manicured grass. A few swallows were on the hydro lines and a couple of Turkey Vultures drifted over the west side of the highway. Daryl had a Yellow-rumped Warbler sing and some Evening Grosbeaks flew over, well I think it was here, the old mind is playing tricks again. Next stop was long Haslam Road which is on the north end of the airport and it was here that our past Swan counting proficiency came into play as in the field was a adult and two immature Trumpeter Swans, what a treat for our holiday.
Several times the girls tried a April fools joke on me, but I was ready for their shenanigans, they have to be much faster than that to catch this limey.
Nanaimo Estuary was next and here I must say the weather was rather pleasant so I threw off the coat and headed out to the viewing platform. A few Common Merganser flew over and out at the mouth of the river a Belted Kingfisher sat up on a dead snag. White and Golden-crowned Sparrows sat in the trees and brambles and a Greater Yellowlegs called from the river, we sent Daryl off in search of this early migrant shorebird, but she couldn’t find it. Another Belted Kingfisher sat still for about 2 seconds before it took off up river and way out in the marsh we had our second Western Meadowlark, it was way off and the heat haze made it hard to see any colors on the bird. Swallows flew back and forth but only two species Tree and Violet-green were seen. A very dark first year Bald Eagle flew up river and another adult stirred up the Gulls out on the gravel bars.
The only birds that I could see out across the fields was a single Great Blue Heron and a multitude of Common Ravens.
As we departed the viewing platform one of the ladies held back and I thought I should check on her, to make sure all was well, well she wanted to have a pee and so did I, so I said I would go one side of the platform and she could go the other. This worked out well as I was on the side where the photographers that were in attendance could not get their big zooms on what I was up to.
As is the norm the group heads to the Crow and Gate pub for lunch, so a lazy ride back along the road had us there just in time to beat the mid-day rush, there were no Black Swans to look at, but one sleeping duck showed good colors for Black Duck, but one has to be very careful as many hybrids have been seen here, so this one was left to enjoy the company of its Muscovy buddy.
We all had a wonderful meal and some of us partook in a fizzy or two, who would have thought that one of the ladies could out drink me on a pint.
After luncheon we slowly headed back along Yellow-point Road letting our meals slowly settle and a couple of more stops were made looking for ducks; Northern Shoveller, Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal were added to the days total. The dark clouds were starting to move in and the first few drops of rain started to fall as we hit the south end of the airport for one last look. It was here that my bladder was getting the better of me, must have been that second pint that Eric treated me to and so I asked Barry to drop me off so that I could nip up behind trailer, but the girls full of giggles and laughter had other ideas and they wanted to hold my hand, I informed them that I
was just going to speak to the local bunny population about what they were going to do at Easter.
That was it the rain started in earnest and our wonderful day was over, we finished the day with about 52 species which i have listed below, thanks to Daryl’s wonderful list keeping.
Canada Geese
Trumpeter Swans (3)
Mute Swans
Mallards
Northern Shovelers
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagles
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeons
Eurasian Collared Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Steller’s Jay
Northwestern Crow
Northern Raven
Tree Swallows
Violet-green Swallows
Chestnut-backed Chickadees
Bushtits
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pacific Wren
Marsh Wren
Bewick’s Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrows
White-crowned Sparrows
Golden-crowned Sparrows
Dark-eyed Juncos
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer’s Blackbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Evening Grosbeaks
House Sparrow
Happy Easter and keep on looking.
Derrick