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…