My  four day excursion from Friday to Monday started with me realizing just how unprepared I was to take such an excursion!  My plans to be out of the house before 8 am ran about three hours late, and overall, I fell quite a bit short on the planning part of the plan. I figured I needed to spend some quality time with gulls, so what better place to go than Oceanside (Parksville and Qualicum). Just two short weeks ago, the beaches were rich with herring roe and birds eating it. I understood that a second feeding frenzy would take place when the eggs hatched, so I figured the window would be close to right.

I had managed to check eBird to see what birds I might want to pick up en route. As a way of keeping the energy levels high throughout the year, I’m also doing a “county” list for each of the regional districts on the island. eBird is pretty good at managing this except for the Comox and Strathcona regions which went their separate ways in 2008.  eBird is a little behind in that regard! I recently split my  list along the true “county” lines, so you’ll notice a new column on my species table. However, since I started the year with the two counties joined, I didn’t always eBird my lists if I didn’t pick up a new species, so I’m having to redo several species that I’m pretty sure I had for both Comox and Strathcona.

My van has been repaired, and it was overdue for a road trip, so off we went!  Keep in mind that I normally drive a Honda Fit, a sporty subcompact that sips gas.  My other vehicle is a 1997 Roadtrek 170. It’s a camper van/RV on a Dodge 2500 chassis. It feels like a monster truck in comparison, even though it’s technically a standard vehicle (i.e. will fit in a regular parking space at Tim Hortons!) I’m reasonably comfortable going forward in it—I have owned an even larger truck in the past—but backing up and curvy roads make me a little nervous still.

A stop in the Cowichan Valley was in order, and Somenos Marsh was the place. Lots of easy parking and some potential for good birds, too! Tree Swallows were definitely the birds of the day here, and they were busily pairing up and trying to find good homes. House Sparrows in some of the boxes had other ideas, though. I had to make a couple of other short stops to pick up a couple of other birds, and managed to bump my list up by a few.

In Nanaimo, I was stopped at a traffic light when I heard a loud crack. Loud cracks are seldom sounds you want to hear. It took me a few seconds to register what had happened—this:

 

Right in the centre of my windshield.  I have no idea where the rock came from. The “good” news is that this kind of damage can usually be fixed for about $50. I shouldn’t have to replace the whole windshield. My gas tank was ¼ full so I decided to top it up.  $115 later…

I had done the math earlier in the year.  I needed to stay away for at least two nights to justify using the van.  Otherwise, the Fit and a motel might actually be less expensive. A big year of pretty much any kind is apparently not for the faint of wallet! Compared to travelling off the island, however, staying on Vancouver Island is definitely a less expensive way to go, and I am getting to visit and explore some pretty cool places.

The day was wearing on, so I decided to go directly to the Little Qualicum Estuary, scene of a seaduck and gull frenzy the last time I was there.  (Just a question—why do people get so knotted about the use of the word seagull, but not seaduck? Many seaducks also spend time inland.) If there were seacrickets, you could have heard them chirping. There were almost no birds at all! I had noticed the same at Qualicum Beach as I drove by.  Where did the thousands of birds go??

I birded the neighbourhood around the estuary until the rain drove me inside. One of the nice things about having the van is that anyplace can be a good place for a nap!It was still raining when I left and time to figure out where I was going to stay for the night.  Since Qualicum was quiet, I thought I’d head to Parksville for Saturday morning. I stayed at an official RV park—the one with the mini-golf course and big shoe on Hwy 19A.  The streetside is anything but natural, but the other side overlooks Parksville Bay. There were only two big motorhomes and me at the park on Friday night. I left the windows open so I might hear owls (I didn’t), and was nice and cozy under several comforters for the night. Before I turned in for the night, I posted a message on the BCVIBIRDS Yahoo group to see if anyone knew where the gulls had gone.  One great thing about the birding community is that it can be a great source of current information!  In the morning, it was a little chilly.  The next good thing about the van—I can turn on the heater without getting out of bed! It was nice and toasty when I got up.

The rain had stopped and the tide was out. Dunlin and Greater Yellowlegs shared the beach with good numbers of Brant and gulls. I was happy!

Then I saw a man walking out towards the bird with something in his arms.  Was he a birder?  A photographer?  No, a father, with a small boy he set loose at the shore to chase all the birds!

I approached him and asked if he had to let his son do that. The conversation went something like this:
Him: He’s just a one-year old kid.  I can’t stop him from chasing the birds.  Besides, I’m a hunter.

Me: You were encouraging him to chase them.

Him: So what? Maybe I should just dig a pit here and shoot them.  They’ve been having a lot of trouble with geese around here.
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Me: You’re a hunter and you don’t know the difference between Brant and Canada Geese?

Him: Whatever. You’re just bugged because you didn’t get pictures of the geese.

Me: You’re a hunter and you don’t know the difference between a camera and a spotting scope? I’m looking at the gulls.

Him: Whatever.  I didn’t look that carefully.  If you want to waste your time on shithawks…

Me: Yep, respect for nature.  I hear you!

At which point he walked off.  This guy couldn’t have been a more stereotypical redneck if he tried.  Plaid shirt, broken front teeth and foul mouth.  He muttered something about his kid just eating sand.   I’m not a parent, but if I had a kid, I don’t think I’d be encouraging him to eat the sand just vacated by hundreds of geese and “shithawks”.

Fortunately, the day was saved by a sane couple (Kelsey and Connor) I met on the beach just enjoying the scene and  Dave Baird, who was coming from Nanaimo to join me in some birding. Dave and I met up and headed to the Parksville Wetlands. It was fairly birdy throughout the area, but the highlight was about 70 Evening Grosbeaks in several groups, mostly feeding in the flowers of maple trees. We also had a fleeting glimpse of a sapsucker that had us wondering if it might have been a Red-naped instead of the expected Red-breasted.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t relocate it.

From there, we headed to the Little Qualicum Fish Hatchery for great looks at American Dippers feeding, swimming and gathering materials for their nest on  a light under the roadway. Dippers have had a nest at this location for more than a decade.

 

There were also several Red-breasted Sapsuckers working the trees along the hatchery trails.

Our last stop of the day was at Moorecroft Regional Park, another new spot for me.  Guy and Donna Monty manage this park, but they were otherwise occupied while we were there.  It’s a former church campsite, now open to the public and well worth a visit.  It has oceanfront, wetlands and easily-walked forested trails.

 

It wasn’t particularly birdy when Dave and I were there, but it is definitely a spot worth another visit.  I’ll share more the next trip!

From Moorecroft, I headed north again, this time to Kye Bay, where Rosemary Bishop had provided a tip that the gulls were gathered there!  Sure enough, when I arrived just before sunset, there were good numbers on the beach.  The wind was coming up, though, and it was raining again, so I headed to the Cape Lazo RV Park for another stormy night.

To be continued…

 

I know the spring migrants are working their way here, but having bumped up my number yesterday after such a long drought, I thought I might pick up another at Swan Lake. Aziza Cooper had reported Barn Swallows on Wednesday, and although that’s a species I will definitely get, today was as good a day as ever to do it.  It was very birdy there on Thursday, with hummingbirds courting, ducks pairing up, and plenty of flyovers, but no Barn Swallows to be found.  I didn’t really mind, as I came across something kind of special. A Marsh Wren was building a nest in plain view just a couple of feet from the boardwalk.

He also answered a question I had. Marsh Wrens build a very complicated nest.  Actually, the male will build more than one and the female chooses the one she likes best.  They use cattail leaves to weave the nest. I could never figure out how such a small bird managed to work the rather stiff leaves into such beautiful covered nests.  Well, the answer seems to be that they don’t.  This little male was picking up soaking wet leaves, not dry ones. When they are wet, they are much more flexible, and of course, they’ll stiffen again once they are dry.  Brilliant!

Bill Katz came along and we birded together for a little while.  We discussed my “misses”, one of the biggest being the American Bittern that had been seen several times earlier in the year at Swan Lake. It hadn’t been seen or heard for several weeks, and I wondered if it was even still there.  The good news is that a big year always has two “winters” and there would possibly be another opportunity in the fall.

After Swan Lake, I headed up to UVic to see if any Barn Swallows had turned up there.  En route, I made a couple of stops.  Can you guess where I am in this picture?

If you guessed King’s Pond, you’d be right!

Next stop was Mt. Tolmie, where Orange-crowned Warblers  and Bewick’s Wrens were singing and wildflowers were in bloom.  No Barn Swallows at UVic, though.  Next stop, Blenkinsop Lake!

The Lochside Trail runs to and over Blenkinsop Lake, and is a popular destination for walkers and cyclists alike.  Thursday, it felt a little too popular.  Before the bridge was installed, there used to be a quiet footpath along the edge of the lake, but now it is a major cycling route. Many (but not all) of the same birds are still there, and there are much better views of the lake, but I felt like I was taking my life in my hands.  This is a pathway that is crying out for separation of cyclists and walkers.  I wasn’t sure if I should be walking with the traffic or facing it as you would on a street.  Still I enjoyed watching Golden-crowned Sparrows feeding on willow and Chestnut-backed Chickadees eating maple flowers.

The master antioxidant works view this link generic levitra online at the cellular level to protect the trees. Apart from this, regular physical activity helps one maintain healthy body weight- appalachianmagazine.com cialis 5 mg a major benefit when obesity is a boner killer. There are lots of levitra on line sale supplements that are taken for managing issues of erectile dysfunctions. It relaxes sildenafil 100mg uk use this link the blood vessels in the corpus cavernosum of the penis. As I mentioned, it is a very popular trail, but it is missing some basic amenities. At the end of a little trail into the bushes is this sign:

I can relate.  When I lived in Saanich, a soccer field was built adjacent to my property.  You’d be surprised how many grown men would come and urinate on my fence, even though they had facilities on the edge of the park. In this case, there really isn’t anywhere nearby where one can “go”.  If you enlarge the photo, you’ll see that someone has written “Try telling that to the horses and the waterfowl”, I guess as a way of justifying their own behaviour. In fact, I don’t think Saanich provides facilities anywhere along their portion of this trail except where it passes through a sports field several miles from Blenkinsop Lake.  That’s something they should probably address.

Just down the road, Outerbridge Park is a small park near the corner of Blenkinsop and Royal Oak.  The flower gardens are maintained by the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific and the park is managed by Saanich Parks.  This used to be the private shangri-la of Joanne Outerbridge and despite a few years of neglect after she transferred ownership to Saanich, the park is now coming into its own. Today I saw two improvements: a new interpretive sign and the water feature was operational!

However, there are some changes happening that also make me a bit sad.  Joanne Outerbridge’s old home is being renovated by new owners.  In addition to changes to the house, they have pretty much removed all vegetation in the yard, stripping it bare right up to the property line.  Joanne’s sanctuary included this lot, and while the new owners are well within their rights to make these changes, the very birds she sought to protect have lost a major chunk of natural vegetation from her former yard. I saw a mallard inspecting the scene this afternoon.  He’s between the tree and the truck canopy in the photo below. I can only imagine what he might have been thinking!

Perhaps the new owners have a restoration plan in mind. Time will tell!  RPBO offers bird walks at the park at 9 am on the second Sunday of each month. Come on out and check the progress(?).

I had an errand to run which put me near the Saanich Police Station. I was in their parking lot when my phone rang.  It was Ian Cruickshank and he was looking at the American Bittern at Swan Lake, literally about 500m from where I was driving.  However, I was in a vehicle, not flying, so it took me a few minutes to get there. Thankfully, the bittern was still in the marsh, albeit quite well hidden.  Eventually, I got my eyes on it for a very important bird for my list!  Warren Lee showed up moments later, followed by his daughters, Emma and Rebecca as quickly as their mom, Cathy Reader could get them to the lake. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, the bird had wandered out of site.  Thankfully, it came back out for good views while they were still there.  Mary Robichaud also arrived on the scene while the bittern was putting on a show.

I don’t want to jinx anything, but this was the second consecutive day that I was in the right place at the right time to find a bird.  Has my luck changed?  Rumor has it that the Great Gray Owl is still on Quadra Island…

 

A drizzly Wednesday morning had me at home working on my last blog entry when the phone rang.  Mike McGrenere was at Martindale Flats looking at a Say’s Phoebe.  Yes!  I hung up and jumped in the car.  The most valuable piece of advice that I have been given (by John Puschock and others) about bird chasing is that you want to get there right away.  I was perfectly positioned only about 10 minutes away (that never happens!), and Mike said he’d stay and keep an eye on it.

When I reached the pump house driveway on Martindale, Mike still had the bird in view, although it was about 80 m down the field. We got it in the scope and I was able to add my first new bird in a couple of weeks to my year list. Warren Drinnan arrived a few minutes later and caught the last glimpses of the bird before it disappeared from the fenceline.  Sadly, Elaine Preston and Liam Singh arrived just a few minutes too late.  We looked around the field for a while and even went around to McHugh and McIntyre in an attempt to head it off, but we were unable to relocate it.

We did get some great looks, though, at a male Northern Harrier coursing the fields.

There was a cat in the field that beat a beeline home after this raptor passed low over its head.

It’s quite clear that I took this picture while on the Michell property at Martindale Flats.  For many years now, birders have been welcome to walk these fields provided that they follow a few simple rules.  Almost two decades ago, the Victoria Natural History Society formed a committee to work with Martindale Valley farmers to come up with a sub-code of ethics to be used in conjunction with the American Birding Association code.  It was developed after a farmer in the Martindale Valley approached a couple of birders and asked why no one had ever sought permission to walk on his property.  Conversaions were started and ultimately a sub-code was published in the Sept/Oct 1998 issue of the Victoria Naturalist.  I can provide a copy to anyone who wants one.

The same access privileges used to be true of the Vantreight properties, but I understand that the new owners are not as welcoming–at least not yet.  The Saanich Peninsula is changing. There are a lot more residences and hobby farms and a lot fewer large tracts of land. And sadly,  roving gangs of birdwatchers are not always welcome. It’s not as bad a situation as it is for black birdwatchers, though.

Some prescription canada de viagra of ayurvedic remedies are available to control high blood pressure or antidepressants are known to also relate to impotency. But, the role of statins for impotence check out for more info buy levitra is obscure. This herb usually grows in tropical regions and is cialis prescription amerikabulteni.com available in abundance in India, Myanmar and Srilanaka . Women, in particular, are aware of this natural fun called sex. viagra online purchase Last weekend, when several birders descended on a quiet rural street to see the first of the year Mountain Bluebirds, they weren’t exactly greeted with open arms.  There is reason to believe that a few may have intentionally trespassed, or at least walked on private property without permission, but most were just there enjoying the birds and the camaraderie.  In the process, dogs and babies may have been wakened, boulevards muddied and residents’ privacy and quiet on a Sunday morning disturbed.  No laws may have actually been broken, but it’s not always about the law. Sometimes it’s just about being respectful when we’re out and about.  I know that I have crossed  more than a few lines in this regard myself, in both the distant and recent past.  I pledge to do better.  The stakeout for the Common Redpoll was probably the most uncomfortable for me.  There I was, looking at the feeder, but essentially staring in the direction of the homes for hours on end. Hours, and hours on end.

We have opportunities to work with communities and individuals, like VNHS did with the Martindale farmers back in 1997.  Let’s try to keep that kind of good neighbourliness going in our interactions with non-birders!   I think I need to take a bag of birdseed to the redpoll host…

One of the downsides of my big year (and there aren’t many) is that I also get to see some of the disrespect shown to natural areas.  Why do people feel the need to dump their garbage in remote locations?  The day that Ian Cruickshank, Mike McGrenere and I were looking for Pine Grosbeaks, a car pulled up not 20 ft from us and threw out a pile of trash (yes, I got the license number).  On the Malahat this week, I was greeted by several piles that looked something  like this:

 

I recently found a new public shaming site, “Stop Illegal Dumping on Vancouver Island”.   You can post photos here, especially of things bearing addresses or other information that can lead to shaming and/or prosecution of the dumpers.  Interestingly, some of the junk is being dumped by people who have been paid to remove it and take it to the landfill, not by the owners themselves.  So don’t jump to any conclusions if you find an addressed item.  Fortunately, either way, the culprits can be found.  Worth an extra minute or two to take a closer look at the garbage.

 

It was bound to happen.  I was away in Oregon when some first of the season birds started to arrive on the island.  Thankfully, nothing that I shouldn’t be able to find as time goes on.  Knowing it was a longshot, I headed out to try to relocate the Cinnamon Teal found by Jeremy Gatten on Sunday.  I didn’t start at Esquimalt Lagoon, though.  My  “lifer” Cinnamon Teal was a male on Colwood Lake many years ago, so that’s where I headed.  This is a small lake on the Colwood Golf Course, surprisingly accessible from Aldeane Rd.  In fact, looking into this lake now is a  lot easier than it was a couple of decades ago.

There were a few species of ducks on the lake, but no Cinnamon Teal.  If you visit, you may wish to avoid the east end. There is a sewage treatment facility there, and it often is very aromatic!

Esquimalt Lagoon was my next destination, first from the Royal Roads University side and then from Coburg Peninsula side. There were lots of birds around, but it was their behaviours that got my attention on Monday.

At RRU, Double-crested Cormorants were practicing pecking order protocol by bumping each other off the light standards.  Young cormorants heading into their first breeding season were busily plucking their old, light coloured feathers, revealing shiny black feathers beneath.  I witnessed similar behaviour in King Penguins when I went to South Georgia a few years ago.

The few Mute Swan cygnets that survived the swan egg addling procedure last year were also asserting themselves with chases, furious flapping, and outright sparring, totally ignored by the ducks and gulls around them.

Common Mergansers were cooperatively fishing weaving intricate patterns into the water’s surface.

On the other side, I saw the largest gathering of Brant I’ve come across at the lagoon.  I counted 117, but there could have been more out of view. The numbers are good up island as well.  Counts this week have put them at over 3000!

By far the most amusing observation, though, was a Glaucous-winged Gull chasing a flying clam!

Admittedly, the clam was not flying under its own power, but it was very entertaining watching the gull try to figure out just how high to go to drop the clam and damage the shell,  but still stay close enough to be the first gull to get to the meal.

The skies then opened up, giving me a few hours to get a few other things done. Unfortunately, not as many as I had hoped!  I find it strange that I’m almost wishing for a few rainy days so that I can do some inside work without feeling the draw of the birds.

Tuesday began with a plan.  I have most of the expected birds in the Capital Region on my list, but my Cowichan Valley list was missing quite a few “easy” birds.  Looking at the map, I was suprised to find that the Cowichan Valley actually starts high on the Malahat!

Awesome!  I had been meaning to explore the Stebbings Rd/Goldstream Hts area, and Stebbings was fully in the Cowichan Valley, according to the map.  Mary Robichaud has had some great success along this route, but a visit back in January with Ian Cruickshank and Mike McGrenere yielded nothing but fog.  Tuesday was a spectacular day for a trip to the Malahat.

I believe I have visited this area once before, about ten years ago.  At that time, we travelled up a private logging road to a private summer home.  What a difference a decade makes!  The area is now all subdivided, with roads, homes, parks, trails (including a segment of the TransCanada Trail), and lots of “for sale” signs. A number of developers are involved.  One, the Elkington Forest, seems to be interested in a nature-oriented theme and is hosting the first “Big Tree Festival” on April 18.  Hmmm… maybe I can interest them in our upcoming Baillie Birdathon….

It’s not surprising that people might want to live here.  The views are incredible.  It seemed a little strange to be looking down on Mt. Finlayson.  You could also see across Finlayson Arm to Jocelyn Hill and to the observatory on Little Saanich Mountain. It’s not a bad time to go and check out the lots while they are still undeveloped.  You never know what you might discover!

As I walked the trails, I couldn’t help but think that if there is a remnant family of Mountain Quail, believed extirpated from the island, around, they would be here.  Not today, though.  After about three hours of hiking, I had picked up Turkey Vulture, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Rufous Hummingbird for my Cowichan Valley list.  Not a long list, but it was a great day of exploring.

The plant life was impressive, too.  This area has been previously logged and was not replanted.  As a result, there is a lot of shrubby regrowth, such as Red-flowering Currant and willows. Insects were dining in many of the flowers.  It was good to see the bird food out!

Even the mosses and fungi were particularly gorgeous on Monday.

On my way back to my car, I came across a beautiful little lake that we aren’t allowed to enjoy, at least not yet. Note the signs.

I also got a view of a cryptic hawk from the trail.  One of my goals is to become more skilled at spotting birds, and I think that is happening.  Can you see the hawk in this photo?
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Here is the Red-tailed Hawk, the only one I saw on Tuesday.

The rocks in the area look very different from those at the beaches I have been visiting, but also have sedimentary origins.  I think my big year may encourage me to develop an interest in geology!

As I approached my car, I remembered that the CVRD only covered part of the Malahat.  I wondered if some of the birds I saw might have actually been in the CRD.  Oops.  Fortunately, eBird had the answer.  Unfortunately, ALL of the birds I’d seen were in the CRD.  I got turned around, I guess, when I headed up Goldstream Hts Rd.  The south half, where I had just spent about four hours, was all part of the Capital Regional District.  I had NO new birds for the CVRD.  The sign at the lake should have been a big hint, but most of my walking was done by then anyway.

Oh, well!  Another “new to me” area discovered, and still a bit of time for a bit more birding.  There was a Tim’s not too far away in Mill Bay.  I looked at Google maps to choose my next spot (and make sure it was in the right district!) and headed to an area with large pastures.  Maybe some bluebirds or a Say’s Phoebe might appear.

While on Whiskey Point Rd, I heard a bird song that I had heard once or twice before but had never been able to identify.  It was a kind of “chip, chip, chip, rhee, rhee, rhee”, then a pause, then repeated.  Of course, not repeated enough to definitely find out who was making it, but this is the second time that there were Red Crossbills in the area when I heard the sound.  I’m about 95% sure that it was them.   Any other guesses?  A Turkey Vulture flew over, giving me two new species for the Cowichan Valley list.

Backtracking to Hollings Rd., I came across the Mill Bay Nature Park.  Who knew? It is a gem of a park with well maintained trails, lookouts, picnic benches, a creek, an open field and lots of forest. It opens out over some mudflats that look like they have a lot of potential when shorebirds are around.

If nothing else, this big year is introducing me to a lot of rarely visited places to go birding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After something of a whirlwind weekend, I was on my way again early Monday morning on a supposed quest for the Say’s Phoebe seen on Saturna Island on Friday.

There are several “rules” for rarity chasing and rule #1 is to get to the bird quickly once it’s been sighted.  While some rarities will stick around for a few days or even months, many can be one-day (or even one-minute) wonders.  It had been days since the phoebe had been reported, but given the dearth of birders on Saturna, that didn’t mean it wasn’t still around.  However, I really didn’t expect that I would see it.  Saturna was an island I’d never visited, and the phoebe was a good excuse to make the trip.  I also thought that maybe, just maybe, its proximity to the mainland might increase the chances of some birds from the other side of the Salish Sea.

Ferry schedules to Saturna are unlike most others.  There was a 5:10 am and 9:10 am sailing, but that was it until late in the day.  Returning would mean that I’d have to catch the 4:10 pm sailing or wait until 9:40 pm, arriving home after 11 pm.  I caught the 9:10 over and planned on returning late, giving me ample time to explore the island.

The first stop was East Point Park, the site of the Friday phoebe.  It was a perfect setting for a Say’s.  An open grassy meadow opens onto sandstone beaches, with forest along the northern edge.  Lots of fences, shrubs and towers for perching, but sadly, no phoebe.

A Red-tailed Hawk was clearly scoffing at humans’ attempts to keep birds from the roof of the foghorn building.

Below, thirty-five Black Oystercatchers flew among the rocks, occasionally dislodging the Harlequin Ducks that were resting there.It was a beautiful, peaceful scene, until… The phone rang.  There was an adult Glaucous Gull at Cattle Point in Victoria, discovered by Geoffrey and David Newell.  Huh. And I might as well have been on the moon.  As much as I would like to say I was unphased, it wasn’t true.  There was nothing I could do about it, but I couldn’t get that darned gull out of my head!

With a stiff upper lip, I set out to see what I could find on Saturna.  If I could find something new, the pendulum could easily have swung back the other way.

Saturna is a small, but beautiful island.  Half of it is parkland, and as a result, it’s never likely to be too much more developed than it is now. All along the shoreline are beach accesses and viewpoints, allowing everyone opportunities to see incredible views and just enjoy the peace of the island.

 At the other end of the island is another park at Winter Cove.  Very different from East Point, it was probably the birdiest spot I came across on Monday.  The forest was filled with the usual suspects, the bay had a good variety of ducks, and the marsh was roaring with the sound of Pacific Tree Frogs.  I even managed to catch a river otter trying to sneak by.

Nothing new for the bird list, though, although I did get to add Bonaparte’s Gull to my Capital and Victoria Checklist columns.

It was now just after 3 pm and I decided to grab a sandwich and catch the 4:10 ferry.  This might seem like something would be easy to do, but not so!  I headed to the general store–the only store on Saturna and was greeted with this sign.

 

Yep, if you didn’t get your groceries by 2 pm on Monday, your next chance would be 10 am on Friday! Life on Saturna may be laid back, but it  can’t have a lot of spontaneity!  Not easily defeated, I noticed a sign that said the sandwich shop up the street was open until 4:30.  Leaving my car in the ferry line, I hiked up the hill only to discover that they stopped making sandwiches at 2:30.  They recommended the pub, so down the hill I went.  I couldn’t quite bring myself to get a $15 sandwich, so I opted for an order of French fries.  Mmmm comfort food!

On the return trip, I got to have a new experience: ferry transfers!  The ferry stopped at Mayne Island and we all had to get off and wait in line for another ferry.  It was like changing planes at an airport, but something I didn’t even know existed!  When I got back to Victoria, it was getting dark, so I opted for a sunset at Maber Flats.  Lots of waterfowl showed up as the sun went down, but no owls.

Tuesday morning included a walk around Rithet’s Bog and, as you might expect, a trip to Cattle Point.

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The gull had been seen leaving at 1 pm on Monday, but there was a chance (wasn’t there?) that it might have returned for the same tide.  It wasn’t there, but Kim Beardmore was, so we decided to do a Victoria waterfront search.

Checking out the hotspots, we worked our way west.  There were some interesting birds at Clover Point, including a group of resting Dunlin.

From there, we headed out to Esquimalt Lagoon for some gull study, and then to the Royal Bay gravel pit.  Good company, decent birding, but nothing new to add.

Wednesday morning, I met up with Rick Schortinghuis to walk up Observatory Hill.  There were at least 25 Yellow-Rumped Warblers calling and several singing as we made our way up the hill.  A lot of birds were behaving as if spring was already here, and the flowers were popping up everywhere.  Near the summit, there was this:

Northern Pygmy Owls have nested on Observatory Hill in the past, and if this fellow is able to find a mate, maybe they will again this year.  We couldn’t locate the bird, but hearing it was satisfying enough.  Which leads me to make this Avian Service Announcement.  We are heading into breeding season.  Regardless of whether you think using call playback is acceptable or not, it is NOT a good idea to use it on potentially breeding birds.   If you need to listen to your iBird Pro or Sibley on your phone, do it well away from the birds (in your car, for instance), or use headphones.  The good news is that this time of year, you don’t really need to use it. The birds are singing spontaneously.  Use your birding skills to find them.

Wednesday afternoon included a brief stop at Cattle Point for another try for the Glaucous Gull.  I found Marie O’Shaugnessy, Gordon Hart, and Jacques Sirois, but no Glaucous Gull.

Thursday was a drizzly and dreary day, but I headed out anyway.  An area that had been recommended was the old Sandowne Racetrack.  It looked awesome, but I was greeted with many signs like this one:

 

I knocked on the caretaker’s door to see if I could get permission, but no answer.  The neighbourhood was pretty good as well, and I searched a lot of hedgerows looking for a Long-eared Owl.  I met some of the neighbours.

 

Walking through a forested area, I found Trilliums in bloom.  My yard used to be filled with these, but most have become deer food in recent years.

The rain got heavier, so the camera had to be put under cover, but before my walk was out, I had two new additions for my Capital Region list: California Quail (finally!) and Northern Shrike.

My last bird of the day was unexpected in this area and is another controversial species.  There are feral populations around so I might try to sneak one on the list at some point, but the proximity to homes is keeping this fine fellow off the list.

Friday morning, I head out of the count zone for a few days to go to Oregon and check on the owl nest boxes at the Boardman Tree Farm.  What we find this weekend will affect how many days I’ll be away from the island in the next few months.

I’ll be back looking for list birds on Monday!  If you find something good on the weekend, please keep your eyes on it until I get back!

There is so much about doing this big year that is making me happy!  I no longer wonder if I can fit birding into my day.  I get up and wonder where I’m going birding rather than if I’m going birding.  I am roaming Vancouver Island running into people I know on almost a daily basis.  AND I’m getting to visit so many places I’ve never been, all within a traveller’s stone’s throw from home.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of an invitation from Daniel Donnecke to join his family and friends on Hornby Island, a three-hour drive and two little ferry rides from Victoria.  It almost didn’t happen because he came down with a cold, but he is stoic and away we went.  Daniel’s wife, Susan, and kids, Sonia and Leo were already on Hornby, thanks to spring break, so dinner was waiting for us when we arrived. The home belongs to Susan’s brother and our host, John Gelland, and friends Peter Johnson and Faroe Des Roches rounded out the group to turn the gathering into quite the social event!

Like many homes on Hornby Island, John’s was designed as a summer cottage with no attic, so you didn’t need to look out the window to know it was raining as the sun came up on Saturday morning. We waited for it to settle down a bit before we headed out around the neighbourhood to look for birds.  We got a decent list, but it wasn’t the birds that blew me away–it was the geology! A mishmash of sandstone, rocks with cracks and scars, rocks with holes, glacial erratics,  natural sculptures and some of the most amazing conglomerate I’ve ever seen form the  platform for this island, tucked in amongst other islands between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island. It was stunning in its chaos, almost as if all of the leftover rocks had been sent here.

We did find birds, but not as many as we hoped.  The gulls that had been plentiful in the area a few weeks ago appeared to have moved on.  We figured we knew where they went!

The rain had stopped and I was treated to a tour of great spots around the island. We met up with Bev Bullen near her home at Whaling Station Bay.  Her property lost several feet of earth during last winter’s storms, an issue for anyone with waterfront property during this climate changing times.  In front of her home is this incredible bench of natural conglomerate rock.

Bev decided to join us on our 5 km walk around the Helliwell Park Trail, and we met up with Faroe at the trailhead.  Helliwell is on a forested peninsula extending out into the strait, with wet areas, exposed cliffs and  a great diversity of habitats in a relatively small area.  The trail is fairly level and easy for people of all fitness levels to manage.

Easily hiked in about 90 minutes, if you travel at a birder’s pace, it’s a good idea to leave twice as long!  Daniel predicted we should get around 35 to 40 species of birds, and he was absolutely right.  We ended the walk with 39.  The birds weren’t the highlight of the trip though.

While on the east side of the park, we had spotted an elephant seal a fair distance out.  We continued our walk, checking out a number of interesting events and locations, including ravens and a young eagle battling over the remains of a harbour seal.  There was enough to go around, but apparently ravens don’t like to share with other species.  One bird in particular set about to harass the eagle.  He approached from the rear and started pulling on the eagle’s tail.  After about five tugs, the eagle had had enough and flew off.  Mission accomplished!

 

Hornby Island is quite far north, but the geology of the area allows the west side of the park to be unexpectedly warm and dry.  So much so that prickly pear cactus grows along the cliffs.

While I was taking pictures of the cactus, who should appear in the background but the elephant seal!  He came up into a shallow bay directly below us.

The proboscis of an elephant seal is really just a flap of skin that he can voluntarily inflate.  I don’t know if he had love or war on his mind, but we sure enjoyed the chance to have such a great look at him.

After Helliwell park, we headed for “Squeaky Bay”, named for the sound of the Harlequin Ducks that hang out there.  Although the number of birds wasn’t as high as expected, Daniel, Susan, and I witnessed an amazing spectacle!  When herring are forced to the surface by predators from below, the predators from above take advantage.  Usually these are loons (and there were more than 100 Pacific Loons doing just that), gulls and alcids.  But on Saturday, the avian predators were eagles!  I counted 62 Bald Eagles at one time, and there were probably half that number again sitting in trees around the bay.  They swirled around like gulls, dipping their talons into the water to pick up herring.  I’m surprised a loon or two didn’t find themselves hooked on the feet of an eagle, but we didn’t see them get any birds, just fish.
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Josie Fletcher, local artist and our host shared wine and tea with us before we were on our way home for supper. Daniel and I had discussed the possibility of exploring Denman Island on Sunday, but he was still under the weather, and I had another option in the area.

The Victoria Natural History Society had a field trip to Parksville and Qualicum scheduled for Sunday.  Hmmm…. maybe a dozen pairs of eyes could help me find a “better” Glaucous Gull.

Sunday morning, I left Hornby Island fairly early and caught up with the field trip in Parksville.  The storms of the last week had shifted the herring roe–and the birds that eat it and most had built up in the areas north of French Creek.  Stopping at several spots along the way, we had great looks at Brant, and probably tens of thousands of gulls and scoters.  We even ran into Sandy McCruer at the Qualicum viewing platform, and then again at two other spots along the way.  I bet he thought we were tailing them!

Everyone was scouring the flocks for something unusual, but no true rarities popped out.  Herring roe was piled up on the shore in a few places, but nowhere as much as it was off of Surfside Rd. in Qualicum. Billions of potential herring fry were now just waiting to be consumed by others in the food chain.

Click on the picture to see an enlargement.  Those are all eggs!

We saw a few new birds for the day list here, including Yellow-rumped Warblers.

 

Apparently, they saw us, too!

There was time for one final stop at the Little Qualicum River fish hatchery.  This has been a long-time reliable site for nesting American Dippers. There is a tunnel under the road and the birds build their nest on top of the light housings under the bridge.  We got there only 10 minutes before closing, but sometimes (heh) birds can cooperate, and Dave Lynn spotted the pair going about their business of catching caddisfly larvae.  Dippers are songbirds, but they think they are ducks.  They swim underwater to catch their prey.  They sometimes swim on the surface as well, making quite an unusual scene.

Just as it was time for the gates to close, the skies opened.  With more than 70 species on their day list, the VNHS group headed south, and I headed back to Qualicum for one more look at gulls.  I really need to study these more and spend some more days with them before the roe is gone and the gulls head to their breeding grounds!

But rumor has it that there was a Say’s Phoebe on Saturna Island on the weekend…

 

The last few days have been filled with forensic photo analysis, Long-eared Owl chases, and visits to a number of places fairly close to home. But that’s not the “H” word referenced in the title of this piece.

in the world of listers, little strikes fear into hearts than the whisper of the dreaded “H” word—hybrid.  As a rare lister, this particular word hasn’t haunted me much in the past.  If fact, the only time it’s really affected me was with the disappointing “pinteal” from Nanaimo a couple of years ago. People literlly came from around the province to see the Baikal Teal on the Nanaimo River Estuary.  Cheers and congratulations were rippling through the birding community–until someone scrutinizing the bird and/or photos suggested that it might be a hybrid parented by a Northern Pintail. Reluctantly, people started review their own shots and eventually, consensus was that it was indeed a hybrid and was painfully scratched from dozens, if not hundreds of checklists.

Determining the parentage of an individual bird isn’t an exact science in the field, but certain patterns are recognized between species that frequently hybridize.  In the Victoria Natural History Society’s Annual Bird Report, editor Jeremy Tatum states “For the purposes of this report I am assuming that a bird cannot be said to be a hybrid unless it and its parents were observed at the nest.  Therefore any bird reported as a hybrid will be described with a phrase such as “a bird bearing characters intermediate between this species and that species.”  Even this is complicated by individual variation.  Features of some hybrids may mimic features of completely different “pure” gulls.   Features that normally appear in hybrids may also appear in “pure” birds.  In the field, it may not be possible to determine that a bird IS a hybrid, but given some characteristics, it may also not be possible to rule out that it is a hybrid. (Thanks, Cathy Reader for that insight.)  Better optical equipment and digital photographs are probably catching a lot of these that might have otherwise been accepted as reported in the past.  Gulls are particularly obnoxious in this regard. I’ll be looking at them very carefully going forward.

On Tuesday, I raced home with the hope of refinding a Long-eared Owl reported and photographed in Victoria on Tuesday.  Along with many of the Tuesday birders and a few others, we scoured the accessible areas of Rithet’s Bog looking for traces of the owl without luck.  Shades of Great Gray!  One owl did put in an appearance, but it wasn’t the right one.

It was pretty birdy at the bog, but none of the passerines were giving the Long-eared’s location away.

Spring has sprung, though, and nesting has begun.  It was fun watching Bushtits pulling fluff from the cattails.

 

Steller’s Jays were in the area.  You’d think that they could find the owl.

At sundown on Tuesday (and Wednesday and Thursday), I’ve stood at a high point of the bog in hopes of seeing the owl come out to hunt. Despite expert help from Daniel Donnecke,  Cathy Reader, and Emma and Rebecca Reader-Lee, there has been no sign of the owl.  Curses!

In my quest to understand gulls, I’ve been going to Esquimalt Lagoon for in-depth conversations with them.  The Glaucous-winged Gull below had quite a bit to share with me.The Esquimalt Lagoon gulls are more familiar with people throwing things to them rather than at them, so came quite close to get some dog chow I had left over from last fall’s pelagics.  Mew Gulls don’t care.  And to my surprise, even Glaucous-winged Gulls in places where they don’t normally get fed don’t react to my temptation.

The ducks were more cooperative.  Check out this Northern Pintail doing yoga!

 

Even the Mallards were looking especially brilliant in this light.I got to know a few of the gulls, but I still have a long way to go!

The ducks and gulls weren’t the only cooperative subjects. European Starlings may not be our favourite birds, but they are stunning this time of year. Click on any picture to enlarge it.  Do you see that the bill even changes colour?  In the fall and most of the winter, it’s black.  But this time of year, it’s bright yellow.

Quinine and medicines related viagra online amerikabulteni.com to it 7. It suggests the necessity of less stimulation to cheap viagra bring about ejaculation. ED Trial packs can come cheap cialis from india in many sizes and combinations. He had bled the country of all its preventive measures to get rid of the problem of male impotence. rx generic viagra On Thursday, I took the slow road to Jordan River.  I turned down roads I’d never visited and made a few fun discoveries. The first was two Band-tailed Pigeons flying over Happy Valley. Add that to the Rufous Hummingbird at my feeder on Wednesday, and my totals are up by two species.

Kemp Lake is just beyond Sooke, but I’d never actually seen it.  It’s a small but beautiful watering hole.  Along the road, a Hutton’s Vireo was singing.

 

Approaching Jordan River, I decided to check out Fishboat Rd.  There is a park there, and stairs to the sandy beach.  The birdsong was a little bizarre.  I could hear Red-winged Blackbirds and a strange mix of Band-tailed Pigeons and Eurasian Collared-doves.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but Cathy Carlson has this well documented on eBird.

 

There were some interesing botanical finds, too. Two very large Cedar and Spruce trees seemed to be in a shoving match.

You could probably have walked between them 100 years ago.

Spring fungi, including puffballs were popping up, too!

At Jordan River, things were pretty quiet. With the campground now closed (sad), there weren’t even as many people as usual.  I was able to scruitinzie the gulls and found Glaucous-winged, Mew, California and one that was almost an exact double of the one I saw last weekend.

I still had some dog food, so got to play with some crows.  How many kibbles can one crow stuff into its bill?  The pair that I was feeding would fill up, then cache the food about 50 ft away, then come back for more.

When it was time to head towards home, I made another stop at the end of Blackfish Rd.  Although the street is residential, the spot provides a brilliant view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  A potential seawach point, perhaps?

I stopped again at Esquimalt Lagoon and then ended up at Rithet’sBog to look again for the owl.   No luck.  However, I will be up on Hornby Island for the next few days, so I expect it to return any time!

 

 

 

Then they would be easy to identify!  And far less controversial than some other species–more on that later.

Thousands and thousands of gulls, a virtual sea of grey, white and black.  And to add just an extra level of difficulty, let’s add…. fog!

Although it was foggy in Nanoose when I woke up, by the time I had reached Qualicum Beach, the sun was shining and things were looking up.

 

Except that a Harris’s Sparrow had been reported at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo and I felt like I was torn between two important choices.  Fortunately, I have friends in all the right places, and Dave Baird set out from his home in Nanaimo to check on the Harris’s Sparrow.  He wanted to see one of those, too, and we had missed it together at Nanaimo River Estuary last month.

While Dave worked the marsh with several other birders, I continued north to the Little Qualicum River Estuary only to be met by a rolling cloud of fog where there should have been a massive scoter flock to poke through.  I could hear them, but there was no way to see them.  Fog moves, though, and I was optimistic that it might lift.  And so was a foggy photographer down the beach.

It wasn’t until we both had pretty much given up on this spot that I realized the photographer was none other than Mike Yip! We swapped a few bird stories before parting company, looking for brighter opportunities.

There had been a decent collection of birds at Qualicum Bay on Sunday, so that was my next destination.  The birds were there.  Unfortunately, so was the fog, but not as close or as thick as it it had been at the estuary.  Scoping the raft of birds, I got a pleasant surprise: at least 3 Orcas swiming by quite far away, but still easy to make out despite the fog.

The tide was falling, so I was able to walk slowly out onto the cobble beach to get even closer to the birds.

If you’ve never experienced a herring spawn, you might wonder just what it is that brings all of these birds together.  On the beach, I was able to find a sample.

Click on the photo to get a closer look at the herring roe, apparently just about the tastiest thing in the world!

There were three kinds of scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Ducks, Buffleheads, and lots of other birds you’d expect off Qualicum in March, but nothing that you wouldn’t.  There was a carload of birders, headed by Sandy McCruer, also checking out the area.

And the gulls did include a good number of easy to identify adult Californias.  I love those gulls!  Mews are good too!

 

About the time that the fog rolled in closer and the ducks swam out farther, Dave called.  Nobody had seen the sparrow, and he and Guy Monty were checking out the birds at Little Qualicum Estuary.  I headed south to meet up with them.

By now, the fog had lifted quite a bit at the estuary, and we were able to see that we couldn’t see anything unusual. After a couple of hours there, the fog started coming back in to shore and our thoughts were turned to bumping up my regional list.  A Snow Goose and two Greater White-fronted Geese had been at the Parksville Community Centre for weeks!

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These guys were drive-bys. We didn’t even have to get out of the car to tick them.  Nice change from the ordinary!

By this time, it was time for us to part ways again.  Surely the fog would lift by morning…

Or not.

On Monday, the fog in Parksville was thicker than ever.

 

Not wanting to waste my paid-for night in Parksville, I decided to go west to the other coast to see what I could see.  Just then, the phone rang.  Ted Ardley had been reading the posts on the Birding in BC site where there was a photograph of a Long-eared Owl taken in Victoria the day before.  Ergh….   This is a species that I had identified as a specific target for my year.  I think this is a vastly under-reported bird due to their incredibly cryptic behaviour, and I really wanted one.  Do I essentially throw away the money I spent to be mid-island and go home, or do I make a trip to the west coast anyway and hope that the owl could be relocated after I got back? Decisions, decisions, decisions…..

Remembering my regret at not going for the Great Gray Owl immediately on hearing about its resighting (you remember that, don’t you?), I decided to head south, but not before notifying a few people who I thought would help relocate the bird.  The chase for the Long-eared was on!

And now for the gull controversy. Later in the day, as I was checking my email, I started to get notes from people disagreeing with the identification of the Glaucous, and fewer people disagreeing with the identification of the Iceland Gull.   Oh, for them all to be California Gulls!

The Glaucous was scrutinized at close range, but not the best lighting conditions. We were satisfied that it was good for all the characteristics except the bill seemed too dark.  It did indeed have a clearly delineated tip, but it also had smudging between the tip and the pink base.  We discussed this at length while we were looking at the bird and referred to variations mentioned in Howell/Dunn’s Gulls of the Americas.  The line, on page 245: Pure Glaucous Gulls can have dull bills when young…” Given all of the other characteristics, we felt okay about the ID as a Glaucous, recognizing that most gulls on the west coast aren’t “pure” anything.

The Iceland Gull was a harder call, but the bird satisfied the requirements by spending about ten minutes preening in front of us to display all of the bits and pieces needed for an ID.  I grabbed my superzoom camera to try to get closer photos, but it was gone by the time I returned from the car.

So now I have experts satisfied with the IDs, and I have experts not satifisfied with the IDs.  The only constant here is that I do not claim to be an expert on gull IDs.  I will continue to look for less controversial individuals, but for now I will flag these (and other controversial birds in my species list) as “dirty birds” and invite anyone who cares to do so to deduct them from my total and comment on their ID and/or provenance.  This year is about me becoming a better birder, among other goals, so please feel free to send me your thoughts or post them in the comments of the blog.  I will also defer heavily on the records committees’ decisions where they exist.

At the end of the year, if I haven’t cleaned up the “dirty birds” I will make a call on whether to leave them on or take them off for the final count.  Of course, regardless of what I decide, you are free to make your own call on my “final” number, dirty birds or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After too little sleep, I headed north yet again on Sunday morning with plans to take in the spectacle in Oceanside–the communities of Parksville, Qualicum Beach and area.  In the last couple of weeks, the herring have been spawning, drawing tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of gulls and seabirds to the area. There were also  a few Brant, but not as many as I remember from Brant Festival big days back at the turn of the century.

Clearly, one of the best parts of doing this big year is getting to go birding with so many others, including some of the most highly skilled birders on the island.  It was a delight to spend the day with Guy and Donna Monty, picking through the birds along the coast.  We started the day at the Little Qualicum Estuary, where the flat water was full of birds.  The second stop we made was at the south end of Surfside, where before we even made it to the beach, Guy had spotted an interesting gull–not among the thousands on the beach, but on the roof of a waterfront home.  Scopes out!  We had good looks at the bird for about 10 minutes, which assisted us by preening so that we could see all of the important characteristics.  Final determination: Glaucous Gull (155)!

Okay, I could go home now.  No–just kidding!  I am in the area until Tuesday morning as this is just the type of setup for something particularly unusual to show up. I’ll be scouring the shores and waters for rarities like an eider or unusual gulls.

Just after the bird flew, Rae Ann and Jeff Newman showed up.  Sometimes the big island can actually be a pretty small island. You can often run into other birders at the popular spots.  We couldn’t relocate the bird before they left to head out to the west coast.  I’m anxiously awaiting reports from Tofino!

Heading to the Qualicum Beach viewing platform, another “suspicious” bird was in view.  Careful scrutiny by Guy gave us a Kumlien’s Iceland Gull (156).

I will add here that if I had been on my own, this bird would have gone unidentified.  I am working on getting better at these tough IDs, but I am definitely not there yet. I am so grateful for the expertise of others!  Maybe the next two days of looking at gulls will bump me up a notch.

Nearby, my first Bonaparte’s Gull (157) of the year.  Yes, I was able to pick that one out myself!

Heading north again, we enjoyed lunch near Qualicum Bay, getting to know each other better before going for more looks at gulls and seabirds.

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We stopped at several other locations during the afternoon, including Deep Bay (where all the gulls were hanging out on Denman Island) and the Chemainus First Nations Campground.  There are so many gulls, scoters, scaup and other ducks around, that you could stay in just one spot for the whole day picking through the flocks.  Birds are constantly coming and going.

 

and just as you make your way through the flock, an eagle will drop in and stir things up.

Could be a very interesting next couple of days!

In the meantime, a report of a Harris’s Sparrow at Buttertubs Marsh is very tempting. A Gray-crowned Rosy Finch at the top of Mt. Benson may be beyond my current capacity, but you never know!  Anyone have a spare helicopter?  😉

 

 

 

One of my goals this year is to discover parts of the island where I have spent little or no time.  I imagined that this would largely be the north and northwest regions of the island, as I have been to Nanaimo hundreds of times since I was a child.

The “problem” is that most of those trips had a destination and a time frame.  If we were going to our grandmother’s house, we wanted to get there sooner rather than later.  That is, unless there was a thrift shop along the way. My father was a record collector, and he spent far more time scouring through the bins at Goodwill and the Salvation Army than I ever will at Tim Hortons!  All those hours in the car when I could have been checking out the area. Of course, back then, there were no cell phones to arrange a pick up en route!

On Wednesday and Thursday, I turned east off the main highway at Fraser Rd between Mill Bay and Cobble Hill and headed to wine country–Cherry Point.  I can’t believe I’ve never spent time here!  Derrick Marven had recommended Garnett Rd as a good place to bird, so that was my first stop.  Most of the action was with the gulls, either following a crabbing boat while it set out traps, or bathing in the fresh water as it entered the beach.

 

 

From there,  a trip to the Cowichan Bay Dock Rd turned up a couple of early Violet-green Swallows and a few expected and unexpected sights.  Trumpeter swans were present in good numbers, but they weren’t the only things in the sky.

 

 

Seems that the estuary is a popular place for remote control planes as well.  I’m not sure that’s a great idea with so much waterfowl in the area.

I was also wondering what signs are about to be posted along the roadway.  A few weeks ago, I saw a couple get their car stranded when the gate got locked.  Might these be warnings to park outside the gate?

 

After this stop, I headed for refreshments, then off to Somenos Lake to pick up Ruddy Duck for the region.   I managed a few other passerines, including Bushtits,  and waterfowl for my Cowichan Valley list.  The birds were all a little too far away for photos, unfortunately.

It had been years since I’d driven the backroads of Duncan, so I headed up Bell-McKinnon and Norcross, until I was stopped in my tracks by a very active feeder just before Herd Road.  LOTS of birds here, so hopes were high that something unusual might be around.  Not this time, but this stop is a keeper!

Continuing on the backroads, I took the coastal route to Crofton, discovering a gem of a park at Osborne Bay.  Clearly, someone here liked birds!

 

It’s a leash-free zone as you enter the park, so you need to be comfortable passing through a doggie zone, but it doesn’t seem particularly well used.  A mix of brambles, forest, nearby residences and a beautiful beach definitely make Osborne Bay Park worthy of a visit.  As I walked down to the beach, a Great Horned Owl was calling.

The trail is a bit steep in parts, but very well maintained, wide,  and easy to walk.  Stairs or slope to the beach and a view across the channel.  I could see that someone on this island had a great concept for a home fitness program!

The light was fading, so I hurried along to Crofton, a town known for its paper mill and accompanying aroma. Over the years, scrubbers have lessened the sulphurous smell, and today was a good day.  Hardly detectable!  I have passed the sign to Crofton on the Trans-Canada hundreds of times.  I had no idea that there was such an extensive community on the waterfront!  They even have a beautiful walkway that curves around the bay.

As darkness fell, I vowed to return–which I did the very next day!

As I went up the Malahat, I had to turn around to have a better look at a bird on a wire.  It was not particularly interested in being my photographic subject, but I got a couple of quick shots of this Merlin. The race we often see here is called the “black” Merlin.  Here’s why!

Keep a gap to preserve the excitement, cheap cialis without prescription http://www.icks.org/data/ijks/1482965794_add_file_5.pdf get the most benefit, a man should investigate the ingredients list of each cream and select one that includes an emollient such as shea butter to moisturize and soothe the penis; a powerful antioxidant such as alpha lipoic acid, a potent antioxidant, it can add a great charm to your sex life. An estimated 50% of men ages 40 to 70 tend to suffer from erectile dysfunction, so that’s a lot of men who may be at risk of cardiovascular disease–and may not realize it. buy cheap levitra icks.org Edema, which in its viagra on line order early stages is discrete, extends and becomes permanent. You will lose not only the production of that http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482460671_add_file_1.pdf purchase levitra online day by finding the boiler machine dysfunctional but also you will lose the scope of getting production of the three hormones mentioned. I resumed my coastal route at the  ferry terminal in Crofton. The Chemainus Estuary looks like a fantastic place to go birding, but I was unable to find any official or even well-used accesses.  A Google search reveals that hunters use it, so there must be access somewhere….

When I was with Ian Cruickshank and Karen Ferguson on Salt Spring Island, we looked across and commented how great this spot looked.  It’s even better up close!

I continued north, going down pretty much every road on the water side of the street, but did not find any clear access points.  Eventually, though, I came across Bare Point Rd. which takes you right out into the channel–a perfect place for scoping.

There are other good spotting spots in town, including the ferry terminal, and Chemainus Kin Park.

 

 

Apparently the gulls need to keep a watchful eye, as while I was there, a truck with three young men drove quickly and deliberately down the boat ramp for no other reason than to chase the gulls away.  Unfortunately for them, when they decided to park (rather dramatically, I might add), they had to put up with the ranting of a disgruntled birder who had no problem comparing them with five-year olds!

North of Chemainus, still along the coast, is the community of Saltair. Beach accesses are difficult to find here, not surprisingly,  as the residential boom there is pretty new.  I am sure that as the population grows, more and more people will be insisting on having access to the the shore. I also drove by a sign indicating a wilderness park right in this area. Who knew there were so many cool places to bird just about an hour away from Victoria?

What was a surprise, however, was a new bird for my list.  Just before sunset, a Ring-necked Pheasant (154) called several times from a vacant lot at the end of a residential street.  Countable?  I’ll have to defer to the local experts’ opinions on this one.  There are few reports on eBird, and this didn’t appear to be a likely hunting area, so at least for now, it’s on my list.  With the sun down, I drove back to Chemainus for dinner with friends Christian McCarty and Erin Tett.

Friday was a busy day, starting with the weekly Maber Flats walk. Every Friday morning for more than a year, a small group of birders has been doing a survey that may become very important if this area is ultimately purchased by a conservation organization.

A Swamp Sparrow put in a brief appearance, but was far too quick for photos!

After a couple of other commitments, I headed up to the top of Observatory Hill–by car.  This is often a spot for early migrants.  Spring flowers including Satin Flower were brightening the summit.

 

Juncos were everywhere.

So was my shadow!

And an Anna’s Hummingbird was singing just below the Centre of the Universe.

Friday evening, I was helping Habitat Acquisition Trust with a Western Screech Owl survey, so I had to leave the hill before I was really ready.

On Sunday, I head to Parksville/Qualicum to investigate the herring spawn. Gulls and seabirds will be there in good numbers, increasing the chances for important additions to the year list.  Stay tuned!