Saturday was a birding day of a different kind. I knew I’d be spending most of the day indoors with wood ducks, wood songbirds, wood owls and wood shorebirds. It was time again for the Brant Festival carving competition. I have served for a judge for this event for five or six years now. Although I have a little experience carving, my reason for being there is to attest to the likeness to real birds. Among the other judges, ornithologist Gary Kaiser shared the bird “authenticity” role. Over the years, this event seems to be getting smaller and smaller. I’d like to encourage anyone who is looking for a new hobby, or those of you who may already carve but are too shy to compete, to seriously consider it. The carvers are divided up by experience, so novices do not compete against experts. Believe me when I say that you needn’t be concerned that your beginning work won’t be good enough!
That said, some of the work is truly phenomenal. Here are a few samples of the advanced and expert carvings.
I was keeping up with email alerts during the day, so knew that Cathy Reader had found a Whimbrel at Whiffin Spit. That was too far in distance and time by the time I was finished at the competition. Then Kirsten Mills had one at Cattle Point. Decisions, decisions, decisions! This species tends to be fairly reliable at the right time of year on the Victoria Golf Course. Christian Kelly posted that he’d been unable to locate the Cattle Point bird, so I sent him a text suggesting that the golf course might be the destination. He was already checking the regular shorebird haunts and it wasn’t long before I got a call confirming two on the fairway! And away I went. Add Whimbrel to the year list! Buoyed by our good luck, Christian and I headed to Mt. Doug to look for a Townsend’s Solitaire, but the wind came up and the rain came down, so that put an end to our late afternoon birding plans. Note that this is twice I got rained out for this species on Mt. Doug and it had also happened to me on Observatory Hill. A definite trend is developing!
Sunday started with a bird walk at Outerbridge Park. Daniel and Leo Donnecke were the leaders. We managed to find 31 species in a little over an hour. I predict this park is going to turn up something unusual in migration! The plan was to meet up with Ian Cruickshank and Rick Schortinghuis a little later for a trip to Tower Point and Witty’s Lagoon. I was halfway there when I got a call from Mike and Barb McGrenere. Townsend’s Solitaire on Observatory Hill. A u-turn was in order and off I went to the hill. Did I mention that it was Sunday? The gate is locked on Sunday, so that meant a walk up the hill. At a birder’s pace, that takes about 45 minutes, but I think I made it in about 25. Mike and Barb were still there–but the solitaire wasn’t. Rick took an even steeper route up, but even with the four of us looking, we couldn’t relocate it. Since I was already up there, I decided to stay a while longer to try to find it. I didn’t find any solitaires, but I found about the rattiest ravens that I have ever seen! Normally birds molt after breeding, so I’m not sure what’s up with this pair. Raven molt can take months to complete.
I hung around until it started to rain and hail. I took cover under an awning and found this cool nest on one of the supports. I believe it’s a Spotted Towhee nest. They usually nest on or just above the ground, but it sure looks like one.
When the weather broke, I ran for it, down the hill and out to meet up with Ian, Daniel and Rick. The cars were there when I got to the Tower Point parking lot, but a brisk walk to the point only got me Harbour Seals, no birders.
By the time I got back to my car, theirs were gone. Like solitaires–vanished without a trace! Cell service is sporadic at best in that area, so it took a while to catch up with them. A couple of quick stops didn’t turn up anything out of the ordinary, and some people felt the need to get on with their lives. I managed to persuade Daniel to meet me at Panama Flats to check for swallows and shorebirds.
At the flats, there were only Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer in the shorebird category, but the sky was filled with swallows! In the fading light, photographs were a challenge. Daniel got a couple of good ones but I wanted to share a particularly bad one that I took.
Sometimes when people spot an unusual bird, this is about the quality of the photo that they are able to get. Needless to say, they might be a little shy to share such a shot. However, sometimes a picture like this is all that is needed to validate an identification. Only one species of swallow in this area has the buffy rump, and that’s a Cliff Swallow (new year bird!) So don’t be shy–take the best shot you can with whatever camera you can get your hands on–even a cell phone. You may be able to get enough of a picture to document a rare bird sighting!
We had about a dozen Barn , a handful of Cliff and good numbers of Tree and Violet-green Swallows swirling around us. Thankfully, they set down a couple of times and posed for some photos.
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Along the dike, a Canada Goose bravely defended her nest. It is likely only a matter of time before these eggs are addled. The Canada Goose population is out of control here, much as it is in many other places. She wasn’t the bravest bird I met this week, though.
Monday was a bit like deja vu all over again. I had a meeting with some folks at Outerbridge Park to talk about future plans, and then I headed to Observatory Hill to try yet again for the solitaire. I wouldn’t get past the gate, though.
Apparently, a movie was being filmed on Monday, so no birders allowed!
I headed to Maber Flats to look for shorebirds when my phone rang. It was Mary Robichaud, and she was looking at a Townsend’s Solitaire on Gonzales Hill (about as far away as you can get and still be in town!) I rushed the scope back into the car and away I went.
As I pulled in to the parking lot, I could see that Jannaca Chick and Christian Kelly were also there. Great! Four sets of eyes! But they weren’t focussed in one direction and that could only mean one thing–the bird was gone. I said to Christian that we were going to find it. Those must have been the magic words because the wind came up and the rain started pelting down. We tried for about 10 minutes, but it became obvious that no bird in its right mind would be out in this. Retreat to the cars! I checked the weather radar and saw that a drier patch was coming so stuck around.
When the rain stopped, I continued my search. I didn’t find a solitaire, but I found a robin that puzzled me. It had something on its breast, almost looking like it was oiled in three places. It seemed kind of stressed, too, and even coughed up a bit of food. But she was sitting well. I took a few photos and continued up to the cairn and lookout tower. It wasn’t until I looked at the photos later, I realized that the marks were not oil, but blood. This poor robin had been attacked, probably by a hawk, and had managed to escape the clutch of the talons with three bad punctures.
I suspect her prognosis is not very good, but she wins the “bravest bird” award from me today. She’s the thought behind the blog title today.
There were no solitaires on either side of the hill, but the view wasn’t bad.
Heading back towards home, I stopped at Cattle Point. The Killdeer is still on her eggs in the vernal pool enclosure, and a river otter was sharing its meal with a very patient crow–whether it wanted to or not.
The rain and wind were back by the time I reached Mt. Doug, so I gave it a pass and headed to Maber Flats again. Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer and Wilson’s Snipe. Still waiting for peeps. Any day now!
I ended the day with a nice look at a California Quail. These birds have been scarce so far this year, but courting has begun in earnest. Even though these are not native birds, they are still among my favourites!
