Okay, I did give up.  For now. Great Gray Owl – 5, VI Big Year – 0

The day started very early with a 4 am alarm.  I had decided to do a “proper” owl survey, stopping every mile along the route, listening for owls, playing a Western Screech Owl call, listening, playing and listening again. This uses a sound file that is used by the BC Nocturnal Owl Survey (arguably the most boring citizen science project I have ever done — sorry, Dick Cannings–but necessary to guage changes in owl populations).

There is almost no noise at this time of the morning on Quadra Island, and with no wind, it couldn’t have been a more perfect setting.  I didn’t expect to lure in the Great Gray, but I thought that travelling the roads at that time of the day, I might bump into it, and in the meantime, get to listen to some other owls.

Things started off reasonably well.  At my second stop, I could hear a distant Great Horned Owl.  Really distant.  In fact, I’m not sure it was even on the island.  Given the stillness of the night, the sound could have been carrying over the water from Vancouver Island.  The rest of the stops went the way most of the stops go for my regular route in Victoria.  Listen. Play. Listen. Play. Listen.  Nothing.  Drive a mile.  Repeat.  A big difference is that I only had four cars pass me along the entire route; in Victoria, one of my stops has hundreds.

About half an hour before first light, I returned to Harbour Brook Rd and waited.  Predictable results. I really like birding.  I am definitely not enjoying the stakeouts. Time to throw in the t-owl!

I went back to the hostel and picked up my stuff for one last birding adventure before heading home.  Rebecca Spit had been calling me all week, and I was going birding!

There was nothing new to add to my year list, or even to my region list, but it was so good to just be out enjoying the birds.  There were more Harlequin Ducks than I think I’ve ever seen in one place, Barrow’s Goldeneyes were courting and even the robins seemed to glow.

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This White-winged Scoter was trying to impress a female by demonstrating how well he could find clams.  I was just impressed with his good looks, including the trademark infringing “swoosh”.

This year, I intend to meet a few personal goals, including becoming a better birder.  That doesn’t necessarily mean racking up the numbers, although that could be a side effect.  By spending more time in the field, I hope to learn more about bird behaviour as well as improve my identification skills.

I’ve never been a big “chaser” for a couple of reasons.  One is that I often miss the bird, and that’s just frustrating.  The second is that I normally don’t really care if I add a bird to my “list”–I don’t normally  even keep lists, although eBird is changing that.  However, my decision to do a big year has made 2015 different.  I DO care if I add the Great Gray Owl and all other birds to this year’s Vancouver Island list (still at 148).

I think I’ve figured the owl out.  It definitely has been showing a pattern, at least with regard to a route.  Unfortunately, we have only a couple of spots on that route identified.  I should probably have realized that once it left Carla’s sighting area, it wouldn’t be back for a while.  It seems to be clearing an area of rodents, then moving on to the next area.  For at least the last few rounds, it has appeared at one spot, then a few days later, at Carla’s, staying as little as one day or as many as four.  If it is seen on Harbour Brook Rd again, I may have to go back to try again.  But for now, I’m back in Victoria.

Chasing rarities is a matter of both skill and luck.  I’m in awe of the rarity-finding skill of some of by birding friends, including Ian Cruickshank and Jeremy Gatten, and of the incredible bird-locating skill of others, including Shawneen Finnegan and Dave Irons.  The luck part is that the bird has to be in the vicinity.  The skill part comes down to figuring out exactly where and when it will be in a particular spot–habitat, behaviour, getting inside the birds’ heads and knowing exactly what to do to find them.  I am determined to get better at both.

I will admit that I am totally happy when I appear at a rare bird scene and see birders with their binoculars raised and cameras clicking away.  I’d rather spend time watching the bird than looking for it.  It’s less important to me to find it than to study it.  That said, I really want to find some good birds to share with others this year.  And get better and finding them.  If there were only some good signs….