One thing that I’ve learned during this big year is that there are definitely not enough hours in the day!  Friday is the day I usually join up with the gang at Maber Flats, but I decided to forego that in order to get the door I was fixing back on the Rocky Point trailer and head up island in time to look for a Three-toed Woodpecker at Mt. Washington.  The dilemma was that my van was in the shop–and it might be fixed by the end of the day on Friday.  So should I wait for the verdict on the van (and miss my opportunity for the woodpecker on Friday) or pack up the tent and camping gear and go in my car? Decisions, decisions, decisions. Off I went in the Fit.

It took longer to fix the trailer door than I thought, so it was after 1 pm when I left Metchosin. Then the phone rang– the van was ready.  More decisions!  If I went and got the van, I definitely would not have time on Friday to look for the woodpecker.  Saturday was a VNHS butterfly field trip that I was looking forward to,  so Friday was my best chance.  Hmmmmm….  I continued north!

By the time I arrived in Courtenay, I found out that a Green Heron had been seen just a few blocks away twice that day.  Did I have time for a side trip? Temptation, but I stayed the course.  Going up!

I arrived at Paradise Meadows with enough time to do the Lake Helen Mackenzie Loop before dark.  I promised myself that I’d head directly to the site where Christopher Stephens had multiple Three-toed Woodpeckers earlier in the week.  No birding en route.  Well, maybe just a little!

A couple of very cooperative Gray Jays spent a few minutes with me.

Sapsuckers were around, and at one point I could hear young woodpeckers in a nest.  I waited around to confirm that they were young Red-breasted Sapsuckers. The trail was good, with boardwalks over rough sections, and for the first 4 km, I only saw two other people.

I wasn’t really sure how far I’d gone when I heard loud drumming about 100m away from me.  I got my bins on the bird and it was indeed the target Three-toed Woodpecker.  Too far for a  photo, and it was moving around too much. In fact, it’s possible there was more than one bird, but the distance and movement  prevented me from confirming.  I took the longer way back, completing the full loop.  In about the last two km, it started to drizzle, so I was a bit cold and wet by the time I got back at the car.  At least that gave me incentive to pick up the pace.

I had made a reservation at the Cumberland Lake Campground, which was too bad in a way, as I have now discovered that there are a few campsites near the Mountain Centre.  That would have been convenient for the next morning!  Next time, I might just stay there.

O ne benefit of the Cumberland site, though, was that it was a little closer to Courtenay, so I was able to go for a look for that Green Heron before I met up with the VNHS group.  I spent 90 minutes scouring the area it had been seen, but the best I could turn up was a Common Merganser hen with 20 young ducks in her entourage.  There was a 21st, but it seemed younger and not quite part of the group.

Much of the rest of the day would involve bad choices and miscommunication.  I headed back to Mt. Washington for the 10:30 meetup with the group from Victoria.  Shortly after my arrival, Bill and Eva Katz were on the scene, and soon after that, Jeremy Tatum.   The plan had been to check for butterflies around the chairlift area for while, then take the chair to the top.  However, it seems that somewhere along the way, the bigger plans were changed, and the carpool groups didn’t arrive from Victoria until nearly noon.  I had wandered off in pursuit of singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets by that time, but met up with the group shortly after they arrived.  We very quickly spotted an Anna’s Blue butterfly.

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With everyone newly arrived,  I figured I had time for a trip to the ladies room and to grab a muffin.  When I stepped back outside, the group was nowhere to be seen…

If I’d been thinking, I probably could have reached them by text or call, but I thought that if I went up on the lift, they’d catch up to me shortly, so that’s what I did.  It was eerie. This was my very first time on a chair lift.  I was the only one on the lift at the time, and it gets very quiet in the middle of the ride.

 

Did I forget to mention the fog?  😉

I didn’t see the group on my way up on the lift, and I didn’t see much at all at the top.  A Dark-eyed Junco and Swainson’s Thrush were bathing in a puddle, but that was about the extent of the birds at that point.  Only then, after poking around for about half an hour, did I think about texting. Turns out the group had decided to walk up the mountain in an attempt to see the Vancouver Island Marmot.  Agnes provided some instructions on which trails to take if I wanted to hike down to meet them, but I had the wrong shoes and way too much dangling gear for that to work for me.  I hung around for another half hour or so, but eventually gave up and headed back to Courtenay.  I’d received a call from Kathy Clouston with more specific  details on where to look for the heron.

Arriving at the Courtenay Marina, Kathy and her dogs were waiting. And so was the heron!

 

That makes 230 species for the year, so far!

Kathy and I birded the area for a while before I headed north to Telegraph Cove.  I had seen the two species I had hoped to get on the weekend.  Now it was time to go some places I’d never seen!