Another early morning.  Out the door before the official sunrise to be in position to see the Great Gray Owl that would certainly show up at first light, right?  Right??  Wrong!  Another no-show!

One of the best things about my big year adventure is that I have several objectives and the bird list is just one.  An important one, but just one.  Today, I set my mind on the others: to try to get some usable photos of birds and to explore new areas.  After giving the owl search a couple of hours, I decided to head farther north on the island.  I have been concentrating on the south because that’s where the owl has been hanging out, but there is much more island to explore.  Carla had promised to text me if the owl showed up, so off I went.   My adventure was short-lived, however.  I did see an Emu (not countable), but I wasn’t very far down the road when I realized that I didn’t have cell service.  That could be  a problem!  The only thing worse than the owl not being seen would be if it is seen and I somehow miss it.  So I headed back towards the south.  Still out of range, I stopped for this shot at Heriot Bay.  This is a beautiful place, even if owl spotting is pretty sketchy.

I thought I might bird Rebecca Spit.  Jim Danzenbaker and I checked it out on January 2nd, and it looked like a great place to spend some time, but no cell service there, either so I moved closer to the supposed owl ground zero.  I had noticed a trail that I hadn’t checked out within cell range so off I went to the Haskin Farm Trail.  To the beach!  This trail is right in between two of the locations that the owl has been seen.  Could it?  Maybe? As with the rest of the island, owl habitat is abundant along this trail.  Hairy Woodpeckers, Pacific Wrens, Spotted Towhees, but no Great Gray.

I continued along the trail, eventually coming along to this one:

This is not a good sign!  The reason for the horse restriction is that the trail is narrow, winding and steep, heading down to a cobble beach below.  What (or who) goes down, must come up, and given my recent Pine Grosbeak expeditions, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to do this.  But I did.

The beach is west facing and was spectacular.  The people of Quadra Island are very comfortable with island living and had left some artifacts for visitors to enjoy. The Hippie Dippie Hobbit Hole had a custom firepit, complete with primitive drawings.

I knew I could not visit this kind of beach without seeking out my sister Esther’s passion, beach glass.  While there was plenty of plastic, there wasn’t a lot of glass.  Can you see the two pieces in this photo?

There were only a few birds within binocular distance, so I grabbed a walking stick from the abundant driftwood piles and started up the hill.  I think the elevation change was pretty similar to Eagle Heights (the hill that has me reconsidering a trek for ptarmigan in August), but the switchbacks made it a fairly easy climb.  My calves were whining a bit, not screaming, and while I was breathing a little harder than normal, I didn’t feel like my heart was going to burst from my chest.  This is the kind of climb I need for ptarmigan!  Fortunately, during yesterday’s owl chase, Guy Monty suggested an alternative to the heart-wrenching, lung-busting climb up Crest Mountain– Mount Cain.  I passed the signs to Mt. Cain when I went to Woss last Monday.  I’m going to have to look into that a bit further.

Continuing along the trail to Fir Rd, I found salmonberry in blossom. Can Rufous Hummingbirds be far away?

A trip along the road back to the car still didn’t turn up any sign of the owl.  Now mid-day, I figured I could safely leave cell coverage for a bit of exploration.  After grabbing some stuff for lunch, I headed to Cape Mudge.  All my life I’ve heard weather reports reference this spot, but until this year, I’d never seen it.

There is also a great campground very close to the lighthouse.  It’s where I would have stayed if I had managed to get my van started.  Maybe I’ll come back and stay here another time, but hopefully not in search of the Great Gray.  I want that battle won on this trip!

Along the water’s edge, Harlequin Ducks were starting to feel the springlike weather.  Two males were actively pursuing a coy female.

 

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After the golf course, I returned to owl central, and walked the road right around the time it had been seen hunting last week.  I found an ant nest coming alive in the late afternoon sun, but no owl.I headed to the second site, and hovered for more than an hour, and no owl there, either.  Clearly, this owl has other hunting sites.  I sure wish I knew where they were!

Back to the hostel for the night, but not before picking up some fixings for a decent cup of tea!

Catching up on emails, I learned today that there may be a rare bird not too far from home.  Jody Wells found a towhee that looks like an Eastern at Island View Beach.  I will wait for a confirmation before I have to make the tough decision whether to abandon the owl in hopes of getting the towhee.

Tomorrow.  Yes, let that owl show up tomorrow!  Save me from having to throw in the towel yet again!