It was one of those days which you could never have predicted, I personally thought it was going to be wet and totally lacking in birds, in fact it was totally the opposite. Big numbers of raptors and waterfowl included, Bald Eagle, Coopers, Sharp-shinned and Red-tailed Hawks, Merlin and Peregrine Falcons, mega number of Canada Geese, a nice count of Trumpeter Swans with a big improvement in immatures up to 15% of the total. A good showing of Mute Swans whose youngsters are starting to show signs of adulthood, with bills changing color and lots of white feathers coming in. To cap it all a nice immature Tundra Swan was seen close up, over on Willmot Road. Add to all this, the temperature rose, the sun came out and all were smiling.
This week saw six participants leave the dog park and then Scotty beamed down at A&W for a lucky number 7. Two cars full set off and we were soon adding up good numbers, birds were again spread out all over the place, a female Common Goldeneye was seen well on Somenos Lake a not so common sighting this winter as ducks have been at a premium around the marsh with not much water to test the new dike.
The first of three Cooper Hawks dashed across the highway as we headed north and up at Westholme we had to bushwhack the broom to count the swans, it has become harder and harder to count swans at this location as the vegetation keeps growing higher and higher. Once again a large contingent of geese were found off of Hwy.18 and a guestimate put the total at 1000 birds, but I couldn’t find any other species only Canada’s. Red-tailed Hawks dotted the hydro poles as we turned to head south for our rest stop.
Just to let people know that Canada Geese migrate both north and south during the winter months so it could be that some of the numbers encountered this week could have come from anywhere.
This week I received some upsetting comments, that I of all people would steal someone’s sighting and call it my own, so to put things right I kept note of what the others saw and did this week, below are some of those happenings:
Kurlene saw many hawks and eagles after the lead car had gone past.
Deb, a new birder, managed to distinguish between crows and gulls. Ouch!
Christina once again managed to drive while using the walkie talkie and her cellphone, plus scoop up rescue dogs, she is big into adoption you see. Ouch! Ouch!
Dorothy, complete with tan, managed to steer Eric clear off any oncoming vehicles from the back seat, whilst keeping all the data in good order. Whack!
Eric managed to ignore Dorothy and did a great job of driving.
Scotty learned the art of birdwatching and keeping his ears plugged with the ipod while being fed nuts and raisins with the ladies.
During all this I just pointed out a few feathered things and counted birds.
Now lets not say I don’t give credit where credit is due again.
The counting continued all the way around our route and down at Dougans Flats we had the opportunity to view a nice adult Coopers Hawk through the scope and nearly missed some Canada’s that hid behind some big cedar trees.
Off of Koksilah Road east we had a few Cackling Geese and a nice group of swans and it was here that “WE” spotted the immature Tundra Swan on the Willmot Road side.
Down through Cowichan Bay we had two nice adult Mute Swans and a Horned Grebe that had made friends of a female Bufflehead and on Dinsdale’s Farm even more geese were counted.
Our last stop on the Dock Road produced some more Mute Swans, a handful of Trumpeters, good looks at a immature Bald Eagle through the scope and a couple of Surf Scoters way out on the water.
I was half expecting to hear or see swallows as the weather was so nice, but let’s not get fooled into thinking spring is here already, there is new snow on the hills out towards Shawnigan this morning and colder temperatures are forecast for next week.
Until we count again, keep well and keep smiling.
Derrick