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!