I suspect those of you who have been following my (mis)adventures know without me saying, that I did NOT find the Great Gray Owl. Again.

As it turned out, that was just the beginning of a day that would end with no new species for my list.  But there were still adventures to be had!  I started the day by travelling the roads on south Quadra Island, phone at the ready in case Carla called with news of the owl.  When it became clear that it wasn’t putting in an appearance in her yard, I decided to follow her advice and search the Community Centre Trails, situated between two recurring locations for this Great Gray Ghost.

Any day out birding is a good day, and the trails take you through a beautiful forest.  Bird numbers were low, but there were a few interesting sights.

There was a tree festooned with grosgrain ribbons, each with what looked like new year’s resolutions, favourite things or wishes.

I came across the carcass of a cat that I am pretty sure was predated by the elusive Great Gray Owl.

I found what I can only believe is an oyster mushroom nursery.

But alas, the only whitewash I discovered turned out to be tree sap not cherished owl droppings.

Word of a Mountain Bluebird sighting and knowing that there were several other year birds waiting for me on the big island prompted me to cut the day short and get on with the trip south.

On arrival at the Superstore in Courtenay, it became clear that I was a long, long way from the bluebird, and between me and it was a lot of private property. I scoped from several roadside angles, but no flashes of blue for me!

Moving on to the dump–what kind of big year would it be if I didn’t visit a dump?–I found an impressive show of eagles.  There must have been at least a couple of hundred in the area, and there had been a recent report of a juvenile Golden Eagle.

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And there, at the bottom of this tree, sat a very pale, large eagle!

At this point, the rain was pouring down.  Through my misty scope, I could see some white in the rump/tail area.  I fired off a bunch of shots with two cameras (one of which is still recovering from the soaking) with plans to scrutinize them when I got home.  I managed to get a little closer,  understandably attracting the attention of the landfill staff.  While talking with a very nice manager about the birds, someone fired a shot and they all took off–of course, without me getting to see the light bird leave the tree.  On closer inspection of the photos, this bird turned into a weirdly coloured Bald Eagle.  There were molt limits, so it wasn’t a juvenile, and far less white than I would have expected on an older but still immature eagle, but try as I might, I could not turn it into a Golden.

Given the time, I had decided to bypass the Marbled Godwit in favour of the Harris’s Sparrow in Nanaimo.  I’d arrived around 4 on Monday and wanted to get there earlier to increase my chances of finding it.   My GPS showed I could make it by just after 3.  The Marbled Godwit hadn’t been reported since Jan 10 in any case.  On Monday I had thoroughly searched the airpark and area without seeing it.

The day was dark and dreary and by the time I arrived at the Nanaimo Estuary, most of the birds were already hunkered down.  I managed to find a small flock of White-crowned Sparrows feeding in the hedge-row that, in my assessment, was east of the big oak tree, but I will fully admit to being directionally challenged.  I’m working on that!  There was no Harris’s Sparrow among them.  I also found a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos, similarly unendowed with a Harris’s Sparrow.  The Rough-legged Hawk, though, was putting on quite the show.  Two men had gone to the viewing platform and the hawk had flown right over to sit in the tree next to it.  That made me wonder if they had mice in their pockets.  They didn’t.  They didn’t even know what kind of hawk it was, but I wonder if someone has been feeding this bird.

With barely enough light left to see it, I raced to Duncan to find the Sandhill Crane without even stopping for tea.  I headed straight to the field on Bench Road where more than 200 swans had been loafing two days earlier.  What a surprise!  Out in the field, there were maybe five swans. Where had everyone gone?   It was too late to check any of the other recommended spots so I headed home.

Finally stopping for a tea near Goldstream, I checked my emails and found that two interesting things had happened in Duncan before I passed through.  The farmer where the swans (and crane) had been, had chased them all away that afternoon. And someone reported a Northern Hawk Owl!  Note to self:  Check email more frequently!

Yesterday, a new report of the Marbled Godwit surfaced.  It might have been there as I drove by the site.  Erghhh!

Which takes me to today’s blog title. As birders, we become familiar with local sites by local names. Updates to eBird and listservs often don’t carry the level of detail that the original reports do. I’ve been guilty of this. “Known bird in usual location” is a typical comment on a recurring rare bird.   Today, I learned that the Marbled Godwit at the Courtenay Airpark isn’t actually at the airpark- it’s been seen along the shoreline  near the airpark.  I had searched that area, too, so I’m confident it wasn’t visible when I was there last week, but I also spent a fair amount of time searching the airpark itself.  No real loss, and I might have turned up something unusual there as well, but it does point out to me that updates should repeat at least some of the location details of original reports.

For the sake of “foreigners”,  details that can be found on maps are very helpful  (King’s Pond-Ascot and Queensbury instead of just King’s Pond, for instance).  Just over one month into my big year, and I’m already seeing how I will change the way I bird and report birds going forward!