Tuesday morning, I attacked by land and sea, with a little help from my friends.  An early morning walk along the power lines near Francis King Park with Rick Schortinghuis, Andrew Harcombe and Kim Beardmore turned up a good assortment of birds, all of which were already on my list, as expected.  I keep hoping we’ll run into a Lazuli Bunting somewhere.  While they normally occur in small numbers each year, they seem to be getting more scarce.  So far, only one had been reported on the island this year, on May 6th at Uplands Park.  Or so I thought.  In checking eBird this morning, I see now that one was seen in Maple Bay on May 18.  Sure wish I’d known about it sooner.  I’m not sure why it didn’t show up on the eBird alert system, although in doing a bit of research, it may have originally been a misidentification (Western Bluebird).  In any case, I may need to make a trip to the Cowichan Valley real soon!  Willow Flycatchers were fitz-bewing in good numbers, and we even got decent looks at a MacGillivray’s Warbler.

But soon I was off on my real adventure for the day–a boat ride with Marilyn Lambert!  Our destination was the Oak Bay Islands, and our goal was an unusual shorebird or two. Access to these islands is restricted, but it was not our intention to go ashore in any case.

It was a perfect day for a boat ride. As we left Cattle Point, the water was like glass.  Rhinoceros Auklets and Harlequin Ducks popped up here and there, and although there were not a lot of birds, the looks were much better than you can get from shore.  There were lots of Harbour Seals in the water and resting on the islands.

 

No shorebirds were obvious, but as we approached one of the islets, a tattler-sized and shaped bird took off and flew and flew and flew.  While I feel 90% sure that’s what it was, I’m not adding it.  I’m still optimistic I will get one at the breakwater at some point this year. Good thing it wasn’t a Red Knot-sized and shaped bird! I’m truly worried about that one, particularly as Adrian Dorst has seen them just about every day this week in Tofino, and I haven’t gone back.

Pigeon Guillemots have to be one of my favourite seabirds, especially in breeding season.  They don a fresh tuxedo of black and white, strikingly different from their gray/white winter plumage. No cumberbunds, but they make up for it with bright red feet and mouth linings.

 

Although there were cormorants resting on the islets, the huge Double-crested Cormorant colony is gone.  What once was the second largest colony in the province with more than 500 pairs now just hosts empty nests and transient visitors.  The recovery of the Bald Eagle population has resulted in heavy predation of cormorants and gulls on these islands.  A few of the stacked cormorant nests are still visible from Oak Bay, and sometimes people mistake them for eagle nests, as the predators will boldly perch on top of them to look for their next kills.

 

There was a bit of a fish ball off the Victoria Golf Course and the feeders included a Common Murre.  Not so common this time of year.

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As I looked back to take a picture of Marilyn’s boat, a colour-coordinated Black Oystercatcher flew by.

The return trip didn’t yield any new birds for us, but it was a wonderful day on the water.  Almost makes me wish that I had a boat!

 

Wednesday started with a walk, supposedly up Mt. Newton, but thankfully a few blocks from home, I got a call from Jody Wells who had an interesting gull.  An opportunity to trade a hill for a beach.  I’m in!  It turned out to be a California Gull, but I’m happy to check out anything people feel is out of the ordinary.

In the afternoon, I headed to the Canadian Blood Services to make a donation.  This is something I’ve done since university, but the recent passing of Barry Gatten was a good reminder of how important it is for those who are able to do so.  Before his death, Barry underwent heart surgery and required a fair amount of blood, there for him because of the blood donor program.  Remember, it’s in you to give.

Next stop was Clover Point. Despite the lack of vegetation, Clover Point hosts a lot of rarities, from Lapland Longspurs to Snowy Owls, through out the year. There was nothing rare there on Wednesday, but I met a couple of birders from North Carolina who were visiting the area.  They’d seen my scope, so knew we were kindred spirits.

My last stop for the day was at Cattle Point, where three Harlequin males were feeding very close to shore.

 

The next few months will involve visiting a lot of hotspots frequently and hoping to be in the right place at the right time when a rarity shows up.  I’ll also be spending more time up-island to check out new places and maybe find a special birding location.   And maybe even a few birds!

 

 

The chances of multiple bird days are pretty much behind me now, except when I can get offshore.  In fact, the next couple of months will be the doldrums as far as birdfinding goes.  To find new birds, one fact remains–I have to be outside!

Monday, I headed to high ground, first at Christmas Hill, and then at Mt. Tolmie.  I had no expectations for Christmas Hill.  The most interesting sighting was a flock of about 35 Red Crossbills flying overhead.  Early in the morning, in hopes of relocating the Western Wood-pewee that had been reported there, or even better, a Lazuli Bunting!  Tolmie has been the most reliable spot for this species, but by most reliable,  we’re talking from 0-3 sightings a year.  I did hear the Wood-pewee, although I will admit that it was an unsatisfactory find.  Two “peee-wees” in about 30 minutes–still counts, but I had hoped for more!  This puts me at 222 species for the year, which is a good start, but I’m really going to have to work hard to get close to my goal. At least the Spotted Towhees were cooperative.

I got a third-hand report that Black-necked Stilts had been seen by a non-birder “a while ago” at Maber Flats.  This species nested at Maber two years ago, but hadn’t been reported since, despite many people looking for them.  This year, the water has been drained, so there was little to no suitable habit. It would be a shame if they had returned, only to find their “home” gone. Hoping against hope, I headed to Tod Flats, or the Red Barn Flats, as they are also known.  This is really the last place in the area that has a decent amount of standing water.  I ran into Cathy Reader there, but even a focussed search by the two of us failed to turn up the stilts.  We did find some Blue-winged Teal and Wood Ducks enjoying the depth. I walked along the Interurban Trail and up Farmington Rd which has turned up some interesting birds over the years.  A Purple Finch got extra scrutiny given the recent sighting of a Cassin’s Finch near Shawnigan Lake, but the plain white undertail coverts confirmed the Purple Finch ID.

 

Next stop: Maber Flats.  The water level has dropped so much that it’s pretty much a barren field except for a few drainage ditches and a couple of deeper spots. Waterfowl and shorebirds have all but abandoned it until the fall rains, but I couldn’t take a chance.  Walking the central dikes, I was seriously being checked out by Turkey Vultures overhead.  I was moving.  Did they know something I didn’t?

I even witnessed a near mid-air collision.

 

Soon I found the real object of their attention. A Canada Goose was standing by its dead mate.

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As problematic as Canada Geese have become since the introduction of resident stock for hunting in the 1970s, they still have some endearing traits.  “Mate for life” is probably overused in the bird world, but these geese are among those who build very strong pair bonds.  Surviving members of the pair have been observed protecting and apparently “grieving” the loss of their mates.  I know, anthropomorhizing.  I am comfortable with this.  Prolonged attendance, vocalizations, and contact with a dead partner sounds like grieving to me.  I was sad for this goose, standing in the hot sun, attempting to prolong the inevitable.

I wondered what a confrontation between a Canada Goose and Turkey Vultures would look like.  These geese can break a human arm with a flap of their wings. I figured one-on-one, the goose would win. But with a tag team, probably the vultures.  I raised my binoculars to see if there had been any scavenging and saw something surprising–a clear beady eye looking  back at me.  And then it raised its head.  The goose had fooled both the vultures and me!

There is one section of the flats that can’t easily been seen from the dikes, and it’s where most of the last remaining water is.  I didn’t know the potential for stilts, but I had to find out.   I could have driven all of the way around and viewed that side from the Maber Road entrance, but the space between the dikes was pretty much dried up, so I decided to cross the trickle that remained.  The ground was spongier than I expected–no real way to get a good jumping off point.  Thankfully, there was one section where someone had set out a couple of short 2×4 sections to use as stepping stones.  Only problem was that the “water” was more than 2inches deep and I immediately sunk in.  Ewwwwww!

 

As gross as this is, I was glad that I was wearing shoes that could be easily washed.  I’d have had to throw out a regular pair of sneakers!  Needless to say, there were no stilts, but at least I tried.

We are at a point in the year where there are very few “certain”  birds left on my list now.  These include late migrants like Common Nighthawk and Heermann’s Gull, and regular but uncommon birds like Red-eyed Vireo, Black Swift, Yellow-headed Blackbird and Red Knot.  I am 53 birds away from my target  and almost 50 of them are going to require effort and luck — and your help!  I have only one set of eyes, and since they can’t be everywhere all at once, I’d like to borrow yours.  Think of it as an excuse to get outside and go birding.  If you see anything that you find unusual, please give me a call or text me at 250-514-6450.  Thanks!

 

 

My trip to Oregon was short.  I left Victoria early Thursday morning and was back on the first ferry on Saturday morning.  Thankfully, no one found anything stunning for me to miss while I was away, but my return had less to do with birds and more to do with the birding community–my chosen family.

Last week, we lost an important member of this community, Barry Gatten.  Barry and his (then young) son Jeremy were among the first birders I met when I got into the habit. I credit Barry as one of the people who truly demonstrated that birding can be fun–whether or not birds bother to show up.  Recently, health issues slowed him down, but he still got out with the binoculars when he could.  I was so glad to see him just a few weeks ago, birding with Jeremy at Maber Flats.

The celebration of his life was on Saturday, and I’m very glad that I was able to be there.  His sons, Joshua and Jeremy, provided the kind of insight that only sons can, and I think it was an event that Barry would have liked to have attended himself.   I am honoured to have known Barry, and his legacy will live on in the birding community through Jeremy and  everyone he’s influenced over the years.

Back to business on Saturday night, I headed to Swan Lake to try again for the Green Heron.  I think I’ve seen more sunrises and sunsets there this year than I have over all time! Each time is a little different, though, and Saturday included bats!

But no Green Heron.  They have been nesting in Courtenay in recent years, so I may have to go there to get one for my list.

The clouds and sunset even brought out the best in the starlings.  If a large flock doing its nightly dance is called a murmuration, would this just be a mutter?

 

Sunday started with an exploration.  Although I was well aware of the controvery surrounding the SilverSpray development in East Sooke, I had never actually been there.

En route, a quick roadside stop provided an unusual view of Whiffin Spit. I think if a larger shorebird was on the spit, you might actually be able to scope it from here.

When I made it to the the end of the road, I could sure understand why the developers wanted their hands on this property.  What a beautiful spot! The development has proceeded much slower than anticipated, but a few houses are in and the condos are being built.

 

 

There will be no solitude here.  Cabins and condos will be cheek-to-cheek, but if you have $300K + to drop for a condo, it would be a great place for a seawatch!  As with the Goldstream Heights development, if you haven’t had a chance to visit this site, now is the time to do it, before all of the fences, gates and security block the views from mere birding mortals.

The exploration continued as I headed back.  Along East Sooke Rd, one homeowner had done some creative tree pruning that has resulted in a surreal hedge.

 

The biggest surprise was a little park called Seagirt Ponds.  In addition to some small ponds that probably attract a good variety of birds, this spot also provides a stunning view across Billings Spit and the Sooke River Estuary.

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Next stop was all the way across town to meet up with Daniel and Leo Donnecke at Island View Beach.  As you might expect, there were dog owners allowing and even encouraging their dogs to chase the gulls resting on the sand bars. This is a growing problem at Island View with sides being taken in the development of a new plan for the park.  There is still time to weigh in!

One of the most interesting sights was a flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds.  A single female was being courted by up to ten anxious males.

 

The shorebirds were limited to a couple of Spotted Sandpipers, which seem to be pretty abundant around Victoria right now.  Most of the others have moved on, and many have already arrived in Alaska.

As we headed back to the parking lot, we crossed paths with three young people, probably just a few years older than the ones I’d interacted with at Esquimalt Lagoon last week. The exchange went like this:

Young woman: Did you get some good pictures?

Me: No, actually this is a spotting scope for looking at birds.

She: Oh, what kind of birds did you see?

Me: Rhinoceros Auklets, cormorants, Spotted Sandpipers…

She: What was the first one? I’ve never heard of those.

Me: Rhinoceros Auklet. Would you like to see one?  ( I set up the scope).

While she had a look, Daniel and I talked about the name and the horn that they grow each year, giving them the name.

Young man: Do the females grow the horn, too, or just the male?

Other young woman: Why do they lose it and grow it back again every year?

We answered their questions and they all had a look in the scope.

Young woman: Thanks for letting us have a look and telling us about the birds!  Have a nice rest of your day.

Maybe there is hope!

Update on the Esquimalt Lagoon nests: Today, there was a report of a young swallow with adults near the nests that were being destroyed last week.  Maybe the destruction was stopped before it was too late, at least for one chick!

Family business took up much of Tuesday, but I still managed to get in a couple of hours of birding late in the day.  Saanichton Spit was the destination, and the near-sunset was gorgeous.  However, as I approached the spit, there was something particularly foul going on.  For as long as I can remember, there has been a sewage treatment plant adjacent to the spit.  Usually, you wouldn’t even notice it, but not so on Tuesday night.   I fixed the septic system on my van and worked on the septic system for my house, but this was sewage on steroids.  I’m not sure I’ve ever been so overwhelmed.  I quickly moved to the beach in the hopes of fresher air.

The water of the strait was so calm, you could easily count every bird between the spit and James Island.  Easily, because there weren’t that many.  The angle of the sun made the bills and crests of the Rhinoceros Auklets just glow, and there was one particularly odd duck.  A  late Long-tailed Duck was cruising along, much closer to shore than they are usually seen.

A couple of guys with a large dog passed me, pretty much eliminating any chance for seeing shorebirds, so I headed inland and chased Savannah Sparrows with slightly strange songs for a while.  Thankfully by the time I got back to my car, the sewage treatment plant was functioning again On my way home, my phone rang. It was Jody Wells calling from Saanichton Spit where he had seen an odd duck.  I impressed him with my clairvoyance and told him it was a Long-tailed!  He was hoping he had found an eider for my big year list.

Wednesday was a day of real highs and lows.  I got on the road mid-morning and caught up with Mary Robichaud near Pike Lake.  She had just scored her Willow Flycatcher for the year and shared it with me.  We headed up to Goldstream Heights with the faint hope of finding a Cassin’s Finch.  Stu Clarke had photographed one in his yard near Shawnigan Lake on Monday evening. Years ago, I’d received a report of one at the KOA Campground on the Malahat.  Maybe they frequent the area more often than we think.

There were lots of birds singing–mainly MacGillivray’s Warblers, Pacific-slope Flycatchers and American Robins, but nothing out of the ordinary.  We couldn’t find the cougar that Mary’s son Dave photographed a couple of evenings ago.  We decided to explore some of the trails in the area.  A trail near the Elkington Forest development took us to a small lake that looked perfect for a Spotted Sandpiper, but none appeared.   The area had a lot of butterflies, including some I had never seen before.  I was able to identify one, but I’ll need help from some of my leppers to ID the second.

A tour around Shawnigan Lake included a brief stop at the provincial park.  The lake was amazingly quiet for such a lovely day.

We parted ways at Goldstream Park–well, sort of.  The new configuration of the highway requires you to go 5km north before you can turn around if you park along the road at Goldstream.  Mary went off in search of a pheasant (which she found) and I headed to Esquimalt Lagoon.

One walk I had never done was between Esquimalt Lagoon and Albert Head Lagoon.  This section is much less popular than either lagoons, and I thought might be my best chance for a new shorebird.  Along the way, I ran into a few dog-walkers and passed by a group of twenty-somethings who had started their party early.  There were very few birds.  About half-way along, just below the gravel pit, I noticed a man with a hat walking towards me about 150m away.  I don’t think he noticed me at that point, but I decided to take an alternate path.  I didn’t really have a problem about the man with the hat, but sometimes having binoculars, a scope and camera can feel a little awkward.   After all, all he had was a hat! 😉

Eventually, he did notice me and hurried back to his clothes and towel.  Just as well, as there were several other people coming along from both directions.  One couple pointed out a trio of river otters hunting and playing near the shore.

 

They had no problem finding lots of fish to eat.  After using a lot of digital card space on the otters, I continued back towards my car.

I could see the party group and what two of them were doing made me feel sick and my blood boil. Two of the men were digging into the bank with long sticks.  Northern Rough-winged Swallows were flying all around them, but they just kept going.  I started yelling at them, but I was too far away.  I hurried towards them as the men continued bashing at the sand. Finally I got close enough for them to hear me.

“What do you think you are doing?” I yelled.

“We’re just digging holes.”

“No, you are not.  You are destroying bird nests.  That’s against the law!  I could call the police right now and you’d be charged!”

“We didn’t know. We thought they were marmot holes.”

And that’s when the impromtu science lesson began.

“How were we supposed to know there were nests in there?”  They acknowledged that they had wrecked them and said that they were trying to put things back. Right.
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I had to think fast.  I wanted them to listen to what I was saying.

“You guys look smart (I lied).  Surely you know some science!”

One of them responded, “We don’t know shit!”

Well, let me tell you, I thought.

For the next ten minutes, they got a lecture on swallow nests, migration, site loyalty, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Canadian Species at Risk Act.  One of the men said that his construction boss had told him to knock down some swallow nests on the side of a building but he hadn’t done it yet.  I told him to save himself the effort and just let his boss know that it was illegal.

I took a picture of the nests before I left.  The swallows were no longer around.  I hope there is enough time in the season for them to try again.

 

Once I was a good distance away, I thought it would be good to grab a picture of the group as well.  I tried to discretely fire off a few shots.  There was one young women with the men.  She had been silent throughout the whole confrontation.  I wondered what she thought of the whole thing, why she hadn’t spoken up when the men were wrecking the nests.  I thought about calls for women to be better mentors and role models, in the world of birding and beyond.  I though that maybe it was a good example for her to see me  – on my own – confront 8 (!) men (with beer) about something wrong that they were doing.  When I reviewed the photos when I got home, I think I got my answer!  Shaking my head…

 

For the record, it was the two men standing in the above photo that did the damage.  Anyone know who they are?

 

I can only hope that there may be a family or two of Barn Swallows that may be allowed to survive as a result of all of this.  Maybe these yahoos won’t feel the need to dig out holes in the future.  Or maybe they’ll just be afraid that some crazy woman might give them another lecture.  I’m okay with that!

There will be many rare bird sightings on Vancouver Island over the next few days.  I am heading to Boardman, Oregon to check the owl nests at the tree farm.  If you find something good, please save it for my return!

 

 

 

 

As predicted, I was on the first ferry to Sidney Island on Saturday morning, chasing a Great Egret discovered by Daniel Donnecke on Thursday.  He and his son Leo paddled out again on Friday night and confirmed that the bird was still in the harbour just before sunset, but with campers on the island and the ferry running for the weekend, no one knew how long that would last.

I was able to spot the American White Pelicans at the far end of the bay before we even got off the ferry, and decided to scope the shore before heading out along the footpath.  Boom!  There it was.  Right in the open on the shoreline, bird number 218, Great Egret.

If I’d been just a little quicker, I could have hopped right back on the ferry, but I now had two and a half hours to spend on the island.  I walked down to the dock near the campground to get a better look at both the egret and the pelicans.

The Purple Martin colony at both docks were very busy. When you see a dozen or more of these birds at one place, it’s hard to believe that there were fewer than that in the whole province thirty years ago.

 

The nest box program initiated by folks like Darren Copley,  Tom Gillespie and Cam Finlay brought these birds back from the brink of extirpation to a healthy population of more than 1000 pairs now. The Purple Martin program is managed now by Bruce Cousens and Charlene Lee of the Georgia Basin Ecological Assessment and Restoration Society, and locally, Wallis Reid is in charge of the boxes around the Victoria area.

Twenty-one American White Pelicans, most likely the same flock that had been in Cowichan Bay a week earlier, were keeping close company at the far end of the lagoon.

Although the water in the lagoon is largely closed to humans, the pelicans were particularly sensitive. When a couple launched a dingy in the allowable area, up they went.   It was like deja vu all over again when they flew around, but they never really gained height and soon settled back to where they had been.

 

The egret was also moved from its spot, but in this case a Great Blue Heron was the trigger.

When it came down, it was very near the pelicans, perhaps camouflaging in the sea of white.

I headed back to the big island on the next return ferry to spend some time with my visiting family and friends.  Then I saw the message–a Lapland Longspur was at Esquimalt Lagoon.  I had missed the Clover Point longspur when I was at the north end of the island.

Kim Beardmore had found the new one, and when I called him, he graciously went back to the lagoon to see if he could refind the bird while I headed his way.  Like the Clover Point bird, this longspur was also particulary cooperative. #219!

 

 

His beach buddies, Semipalmated Plovers, seemed to also want in on the photo action.

On Saturday, Mary Robichaud had seen the Swan Lake Green Heron, which inspired me to get up early on Sunday and head to the boardwalk.  I was there at 6 am, but after 90 minutes of waiting moved on without a “score”.  It was a beautiful morning, though and watching the lake residents wake up and get going was a lot of fun.

 

 

Next stop was Mt. Tolmie for a chance at Western Wood-pewee.  All was quiet.

A short return to Esquimalt Lagoon and a visit to the Munn Road powerlines didn’t turn up anything new either, so there is a small group of “known” birds around that still aren’t on my year list.  Willow Flycatchers are starting to show up, but I’d sure like to see a Lazuli Bunting before that window closes!  The shorebirds have pretty much gone through, but there will be another shot for rarities during their southward migration in several  weeks.

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And it did.  I was out before 4 am to try to get to Buttertubs while the birds were still actively vocalizing.  I found the location, but nothing Bobolink-like was around.  Since I was already in Nanaimo, and my list for that region is really slim on the shorebird front, I headed to Piper’s Lagoon.  The timing for the tide was nearly perfect. It was just about at its maximum and the lagoon would start emptying while I was there.

On the beach, I found a damaged crab trap with some interesting inhabitants.

These are squid eggs, with each finger-like sac containing multiple eggs.   I suspect that these eggs drifted into the trap during high tide, but were now trapped in the sun as the water levels dropped.  I tossed most of them back into the ocean.  It’s unlikely that any would survive, I think, but they could probably serve a higher purpose in the water than out of it.

A walk out the spit gave me a view across the Shack Islands to Neck Point.  When I was a child, I’d never heard of Neck Point, although I spent many weeks of my life there. Back in the 60s and 70s, my aunt and uncle, Fran and Sid Wharton, had one of the summer cottages on this beach. Every summer, my grandmother would spend a week there with my sister and me.  Kerosene lamps, wood stoves, ice boxes, outhouses, fishing with my uncle, watching my cousin water-skiing–there are some very fond memories fom this place! I even rode my standard one-speed bicycle from Vic West to Neck Point when I was fifteen.  A friend and I made the trek in about 8 hours.  I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do that now, even with a 17-speed bike.

 

The wind came up and there were some very ominous clouds overhead.  I looked for some shelter in case they opened up.  On the beach, I found the “love shack” as it was labelled on the doorpost.

It might have provided some privacy, and a little protection from wind, but I can assure you, it would have offered little shelter from the rain!

I made a beeline back to the car and had just stepped inside when I noticed a crow in a life and death battle with something. The crow wasn’t at risk, but the furball it was chasing down was doomed.  It had found the largest vole I had ever seen!

I generally think of crows as scavengers and nest raiders, but this week they have been active predators. I guess when there are young to feed, good protein sources are a must.  Given the size of this rodent, I think a crow could give a decent sized rat a run for its money!

The rain stayed away, but I decided to head home anyway.  After all, I had company!

In Duncan, I thought I should check email messages “just in case”.  I’d have hated to arrive in Victoria then have to turn around for something in Cowichan Bay.  There was nothing from the Duncan area, but Court Cameron had just found the bird of the day in Sooke!  A golden-plover was on Whiffin Spit and I was on my way.

We get two species of golden-plovers here, more in the fall than in the spring.  The Pacific Golden-plover is more common, but they are quite difficult to tell apart.  When I arrived at the spit, it wasn’t the ID that concerned me.

Really?  In May?  With a golden-plover on the beach?

The spit is over 1 km long and no additional details gave a hint about where the bird might be.  This is also a very popular dog walking area, so anything could have happened between the report and my arrival.  The tide was very low and there were a lot of people down on the intertidal zone.

I headed for the middle of the spit where it widens out into a grassy meadow.  There were no birders to be seen, but the out of the fog, Court arrived.  She had gone for a run and had come back!  We headed back to the spot where she had seen the bird–the outside of the spit, pretty close to the parking lot.  The fog was thick, but then she spotted some movement. Yes!  It was still here.  With the bird still unidentified to species, but duly checked as seen, we sat on a log and waited for it to come to us.  It took a while, but eventually it was only about 20 feet from us. The fog lifted a bit and many thousands of pixels were spent!

In the fall, golden-plovers are pretty drab shorebirds, but this one was a beauty in its breeding plumage. Photo analysis brought us to agreement on an identification of the bird as a Pacific Golden-plover.

We waited for more birders to show up, and Mary Robichaud eventually did. With everything going on in town, she’d had to run quite the gauntlet to get there.

It was time for me to head home.  I had visitors, remember?  Thankfully nothing else showed up while I was en route, but Mary told us that she’d run into a birder from Calgary who had seen a Wandering Tattler at the breakwater on Sunday.  Can I be blamed for suggesting Ogden Point as a place for my sister and brother-in-law to visit Monday evening?  😉

We did walk the breakwater in the evening, but the Tattler didn’t show.  This is a regular location for this species, but I won’t tell you how many trips I made before I first saw one.  I had no expectations that it would be there on my first try! Dinner at the Beagle Pub and sunset at Island View Beach were a perfect way to end the long weekend.  220 species was a pretty good way, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Those readers well versed in the script of “The Big Year” will know what I’m talking about. Never seen it?  Well, Bostick was the character who put chasing birds well above his family obligations.

My sister and brother-in-law arrived from California on Wednesday afternoon.  Before dawn on Thursday, I was heading to the west coast of the island in search of Ruddy Turnstones and Red Knots.  This is the week when the species overlap on the Tofino checklist, so my best opportunity to try to get both species.  The long weekend meant that almost everything was booked in the area, so Thursday it was.  My family understood.  We grew up in Victoria, so Esther had other people she could see while I was chasing birds.

I arrived in Pacific Rim Park just as the tide reached its maximum height for the morning, so there was no point in going directly to the mudflats. I headed to the beach. The Green Point campground and Combers Beach parking lots are closed to the public due to maintenance, so I parked at the administration building and walked in at Green Point.   There were a few surfers right at the beach access, but once I walked around the corner—-no one!  This is just a couple of days before a holiday weekend, and there was literally no one but me on the beach.  Well, several hundred birds and me.  With the lots closed, very few people were willing to walk the distance to get to this section.

There were still hundreds of Western Sandpipers and Dunlin, with several Whimbrel, Black-bellied Plovers and quite a few of these:

It took me a while to figure out that these are breeding plumaged Sanderling!

The outgoing tide was making pretty patterns in the sand, to be washed away a few short hours later.

Driftwood and remains of beached jellyfish complimented the repetitive sand art.

I spent a few hours here, but as I was about to leave, I thought I should check the rocky outcrop near Green Point one more time.  I was glad that I did.  Along with Black Turnstones, I found this one Ruddy Turnstone, one of the species I had hoped to see on this trip.

No Red Knots, though, the harder of the two target species.  Turns out they were on the mudflats, where Adrian Dorst saw four at Jensen’s Bay while I was enjoying the sand and surf.

It seemed like a good time to check into my room for the night, my first B&B experience.  When I arrived at the home, named for a bird, but mispelled (should have taken that as an omen), I discovered that I didn’t actually have a room for the night.  Mostly my fault.  I had contacted them on Wednesday, asking about a room for “tomorrow”, May 15.  Problem was that “tomorrow” was actually May 14. When the host confirmed the date, he didn’t point out that there was a discrepancy between the day and the date, and I found out the hard way.  The place seemed like it could use a little TLC and there was a lot of stuff going on, so I was a bit relieved when they agreed to cancel my reservation for Friday.  But now I was without a place to stay.  Thank goodness for cell phone apps!  Jamie’s Rainforest Inn was one of the Shorebird Festival Sponsors and they were right on the mudflats, so I decided to stay there for the night.  The room was great, but the internet was more or less non-existent.  On advice from Adrian that he might have had a Pacific Golden Plover at the airport this week, I headed there to see what I could find.  It was technically after hours, and the gate was open, so I went in and poked around.  I saw a right-sized shorebird take off and land waaaay down the runway, so went after it.  Sadly, it was a killdeer not a golden-plover, but I got some exercise.

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Imagine my surprise when I headed to the terminal to use the facilities and discovered that I was the only one in the place.  I went out the same way I came in just in case the other doors were alarmed!  Getting busted for breaking and entering was not something I wanted to have to deal with!

The next morning, I checked my emails on my phone and discovered that not only had a Ruddy Turnstone turned up at the exact location that Daniel Donnecke and I had searched for one on Tuesday, but that he’d paddled to Sidney Spit Park and relocated the American White Pelicans AND a Great Egret.  I did the math and realized that if I went straight home, I’d get there just in time to catch the last ferry (service began that day) to the island, but would not be able to get back home until the next day.  My camping gear was in no state for a quick pickup. I decided to stay the day in Tofino as planned.

I managed to catch the mudflats at a good tide.  There is only about a 90 minute window during each tide change where the birds are close enough for good looks.  You pretty much need to choose your spot and stick to it, as by the time you can drive to the next spot, the tide will have covered half of the flats.  It really moves a lot faster than we experience on this end of the island.

Two weeks ago, Grice Bay had hundreds of Whimbrel, Dunlin and dowitchers.  On Friday, there were birds, but only in small numbers.  And no knots.  Bet you can’t guess where one showed up!  Okay, you can.  Adrian found one on the very beach I was visiting on Thursday.  I didn’t find out until several hours later.  Too later.

There was an afternoon whale-whatching trip at Jamie’s, and a discount since I’d spent the night at the inn, so I decided to go.  I hadn’t been able to get on a Cleland Island trip during the Shorebird Festival, so here was my chance.  Maybe a puffin?  Tattler?  Red Knot?  Although there were only 8 passengers on the trip, I didn’t think the captain would have appreciated a Bostick-style mutiny to plead for spending more time at the puffin islands.

We saw several Sea Otters and had glimpses of two Gray Whales, but unfortunately, no new birds for my list.

Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots looked flashy, and Black Oystercatchers announced our approach to their rocks. It was a fun afternoon out, but I couldn’t help but think about that egret on Sidney Island.  At least I wouldn’t be torn between it and the Ruddy Turnstone in Sooke.  I knew where I would be early Saturday morning!

 

 

 

With my list filling in nicely, there are not a lot of expected birds left to find for my Big Year.  One of the trickiest is the Red Knot.  Earlier this month, 3000 were seen in a single day near Gray’s Harbor, Washington.  They nest in northern Alaska, so you’d expect to see good numbers along our coast.  (K)not so!  Small numbers of knots do show up on the island, but are rarely reported.  The flocks probably fly directly from their feeding grounds in Gray’s Harbor to Alaska, with just a few stragglers stopping along the coast to refuel and rest.  Talk about your needle in a haystack!  But you won’t find if you don’t look, so on Tuesday, I enlisted the help of Daniel Donnecke and we headed out to Jordan River to see what we might find.

It was a very interesting day.  We tallied 66 species in the Jordan River area, but didn’t see any migrating shorebirds.  Black Oystercatchers and Killdeer were there, but no peeps, no turnstones and no knots.  The highlight was probably warbler cooperation.  We got great looks at Wilson’s Warblers and even managed a photo or two.

There were several surprising misses, including Bewick’s Wren and Spotted Towhee.  With a bit of luck, you could probably get 75+ species in Jordan River right now.

On our way back to town, we stopped for a look at Cathy Carlson’s feeders. A side bonus was tea and cookies with Cathy and her husband Ted!  There were many American Goldfinches at the feeders, but no repeat of the Lesser Goldfinch from a couple of years ago.

Cathy and Ted also host a large flock of pigeons, both Band-tailed Pigeon and the recently arrived Eurasian Collared-doves.

Steller’s Jays and Black-headed Grosbeaks were also coming to the feeders and posed a little for us.
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Continuing homeward, we stopped at Whiffin Spit in hopes of turning up a Ruddy Turnstone, but we were too early.

It was a great day of birding, but no new species for either my year or Capital Region lists.

Wednesday was one of the few non-birding days I’ve had this year.  My sister and brother-in-law were arriving from California mid-day, and let’s just say that my housekeeping style has been even more “drop and run” than  usual.  Not to mention a septic tank issue that took up more of the day than I would have hoped.  What is it with me and sewage these days?

Esther (my sister) and I did go for a walk up Observatory Hill. I was hoping a Western Wood-pewee might materialize, but all was quiet.

 

 

‘A wonderful bird is the pelican,
Its bill can hold more than its belly can.
It can hold in its beak
Enough food for a week
I simply don’t know how the hell he can.’

The phone rang at 7 am.  As you can tell from the times on my posts, I’m often up until after 3 as I had been on Sunday night.  Three and a half hours of sleep, and I couldn’t have been happier to receive the call.  Derrick Marven had been down to Cowichan Bay, and the pelicans were still there!

Sunday night had, in fact, been a repeat of my previous White Pelican chase;  I had been only about half a kilometre away from the birds, but didn’t see them.   I knew what I had to do!

I rolled out of bed, desparately needing a shower, but that would have to wait.  I grabbed a cup of tea and some fruit and I was heading back to Cowichan less than 12 hours from my last visit.

The traffic lights were with me and I breezed by one, two, three Tim Hortons without even a whiff of temptation to pull me in.  I really wanted these pelicans! By 8:25 I was on the dock road in Cowichan Bay, where Derrick was standing by with the pelicans in sight.

Duly checked, we headed to the other side of the bay for a better look. There were 21 of these seldom seen beauties in the bay.   American White Pelican sightings seem to be increasing on the island, usually as flyovers.  Most people think these are likely from the Stum Lake breeding population.

A walk down Blackly Dike gave us our closest look, but it was clear that these birds were nervous visitors.  Even though we were a long way away, our presence got the attention of a few birds so we stuck to the shrubbery and stayed well back to avoid disturbing them.

On the way down the dike, I tried to dictate an email to the BCVIBIRDS Yahoo group, and hilarity ensued.  The voice to text function couldn’t figure out “Cowichan”, and when I went to hit the delete button, I accidentally bumped the “send” icon.   This is the message that was distributed to the group:

“up to 21 American white pelicans are still present at cow it should be. They can be viewed for a check from the dark road but are likely to be better seeing from good luck the black ed steak doesn’t know that wordll”

What I said was “up to 21 American White Pelicans are still present at Cowichan Bay. They can be viewed for a “check” from the dock road, but are better seen from the Blackly Dike–doesn’t know that word!

I quickly followed up with the correct information and deleted the accidental post, but let’s just say I expect the ribbing to continue indefinitely.

I spent a couple more hours checking the area for other interesting birds, meeting a very cooperative Yellow Warbler along the way.

 

When I arrived at the dock road viewing spot, sure enough, the pelicans were still there.  I posted an update to BCVIBIRDS, but within fifteen minutes, it was already out of date.  A man in a red canoe had beached it on the sandbars in the bay and was walking towards the pelicans. When he saw that he was agitating them, he stopped, but it was too late.  You could almost hear the birds discussing their options. They took off, slowly circling the bay several times to gain height before heading south, likely to go around Mount Tzouhalem.

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This was a very low probability for my year list, so I am very grateful to Steve Large for eBirding them and to Derrick for checking early Monday morning.

On my way back home, I stopped at Panama Flats to see what was happening.  There was a nice flock of Long-billed Dowitchers and several Spotted Sandpipers.  Some of them (presumably the females) were even displaying.

 

Before I had even left the house just after 7, I received a second call. Chris Saunders had seen a Green Heron at Swan Lake.  This is also a bird I will have to work for to add to my list, but more likely than pelicans, so it was going to have to wait.

I headed to Swan Lake late in the day, knowing it could be a long wait.  It was.  In the meantime, I occupied myself by taking photographs of ducklings.

 

The cuteness supply seemed unlimited.

As the sun set, and I was feeling like I’d been here before (waiting for the American Bittern), bullfrogs started to appear and swallows lined up on the boardwalk railings.

 

 

I can’t think of a much prettier place to wait for a bird, which is a good thing, as the heron had not shown by 9:15 pm.  By this time, I was tired and cold and still had to get groceries before I headed home.

None of this mattered.  I had American White Pelicans on my list!

One of the really important things about doing a big year is to get outside as much as possible.  These days, once I leave the house, I am rarely back before dark, and dark is coming later and later.  That’s a big reason you see these blog posts published at such crazy times of the day.  You won’t stumble across a rare bird very often if you aren’t out in a potentially birdy area during daylight.  I admit to missing dawn most mornings, but many nights, I’m only getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep.

Another really important thing for a big year is to get on the rare birds as quickly as possible. As happened with the Say’s Phoebe in Victoria, sometimes the rare bird is only around for a few minutes.  If you can get to it right away, you have a chance.  Otherwise, as they say, “you snooze, you lose.”

The news on Friday evening of a Sage Thrasher photographed in Black Creek (~3 1/2 hours away) was tempting but frustrating.  My best chance for this bird would have been to get there the same day.  Anything could have happened overnight.  I was planning on helping out at RPBO’s International Migratory Bird Day event at Beaver Lake Park on Saturday.  Could I even get away?

The more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to go.  Even though I was a day late, I would feel better about having chased the bird and missed it than to not have tried.  Emails were sent to the event organizers and first thing (well, before 7), I was on my way.  I didn’t think any of my Victoria friends would have wanted a pre 7 am phone call, but birders in Nanaimo could be reached a little later and still get in on the fun.  A brief stop in Duncan brought some bad news.  The bird hadn’t been seen at all on Friday; it was last seen by the homeowner on Thursday afternoon.  That greatly reduced the chances of finding it, but I was well on my way and could go birding in the Black Creek area anyway.   I called Dave Baird shortly before 8 and met up with him on the Inland Island Hwy around 8:30.  For these “twitches” , extra sets of eyes can be invaluable, and it doesn’t hurt to have a witness in  case the bird isn’t easily photographed.

The fellow who had photographed the thrasher owns 100 acres of property between Hamm and Macaulay Rds in Black Creek.  He hadn’t offered access to his property, so we stuck to the roads.  It was fairly birdy, with even Common Yellowthroats coming out to check us out.

We were looking for open areas, akin to the sagebrush prairies where you’d expect to find a Sage Thrasher.  Imagine our delight when we came across the Island Bison Ranch!  If I was a Sage Thrasher, I’d thnk this would be a pretty good spot to hang out.

I loved their driveway speed limit sign.

Sadly, dedicated efforts on this property and along both Hamm and Macaulay Rds didn’t turn up our target bird, although we picked up several firsts for my Strathcona region list.  We spent about four hours in the area close to where the bird had spent part of the day on Thursday, and then moved on to try other areas just to see what might turn up.

Miracle Beach Provincial Park was brand new to me.  A beautiful sandy beach, and in the park trees, a call of a flycatcher that got our attention.  I’m not naming it at the moment.  I got a bit of bad audio recording that I have shared with some experts. It might not be enough to confirm the ID.

After this stop, we continued along the waterfront, looking for Caspian Terns and other uncommon birds,

We picked up several new species, but nothing unexpected.  Around 5 we headed back south. I dropped Dave off in north Nanaimo and continued for a bit of a walk at Buttertubs West Marsh to round out the evening before heading home.

There was a possible Green Heron at Swan Lake, but I knew I there was no way I could get there before dark

International Migratory Bird Day at Beaver Lake went well without me, and Sunday I was able to redeem myself by spending the morning at Outerbridge Park for our first IMBD event there.  But first, I had to check for the heron!

At Outerbridge Park, in addition to our regular monthly walk (held on the 2nd Sunday of each month), we had a same-day photo contest, a big sit, and Jeff Kreiger brought his Red-tailed Hawk, Loki.

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Daniel Donnecke had his largest group so far for an Outerbridge walk, with about 24 people checking out the birds. I estimate that about 50-60 people participated in the events.  The Big Sit list had 33 species, and about half a dozen people entered the photo contest.  Not bad for a first go!  Congratulations to Penny Lancaster who organized the event, and all of the volunteers who helped out.

After wrapping up just after 1  I headed to Panama Flats to check out the aftermath of a drone training exercise that had occurred in the morning. There were fewer ducks and shorebirds around, but still some decent numbers.  About a dozen dowitchers were probing the mud, four Blue-winged Teal were swimming around and I saw the first Greater Yellowlegs there that I had seen in several visits.

The beetles that had been abundant just a few days earlier were sparse.  That could have been expected as I was intending to collect a few for Claudia Copley.

On my way out, a crow was struggling with a substantial garter snake.  My mind went to the videos I’ve seen where hawks have been strangled by an ill-advised prey item, but I don’t think this crow was at risk.

 

I stood back and watched for a while.  The crow eventually took off with the snake, heading directly for a neighbour’s sundeck. That could have been interesting!  It veered off, though, at the last minute.

Arriving home around 6 pm, I decided to take a nap. I have to admit that this full-time birding can be exhausting!  When I woke up, I looked at the clock.  7:15. It was light outside.  Could I have possibly slept more than 12 hours?  I knew I was tired, but really, 12 hours tired??  And I hadn’t budged an inch.  Gradually, reality set in.  It was only 7:15 PM, not AM.  Like I said, I’ve so seldom been home before dark lately, my mushed brain hadn’t even considered that option.

I checked my email at about 8, only to discover that a flock of American White Pelicans had landed in Cowichan Bay at 2:15 in the afternoon!  Still groggy, I checked sunset.  8:40.  Google maps–arrival at 9:04.  If I left now and did not stop en route, I could arrive at Cowichan Bay with five minutes of dim light left.  If they were near, I just might be able to make out the pelicans!

I was definitely feeling a sense of deja vu.  A couple of years ago, a similar situation had occurred in Sooke. Pelicans flying around late afternoon, possibly settling in for the evening.  I chased and dipped. Turned out that they had settled about 500m from where I was standing, but just out of sight around a point.  That could easily happen again given the fading light.

As scheduled, I arrived in Cowichan Bay just after 9 and climbed the viewing tower.  I could make out Osprey on the pilings and could hear Purple Martins hunting for insects.  Try as I might, I couldn’t turn up the pelicans. With no light left, I drove around to Dock Rd and to my surprise, the gate was still  open.  Zipping through, realizing I might get locked in, I made it almost to the viewing spots when a commissionaire who had been clearing the road came along.  I pleaded for a couple of minutes to look for the pelicans, and he agreed!

Scanning the bay below Mt Tzouhalem, I could make out some large white shapes in the darkness.  Could it be?  Scope out!

Sometimes good optics are not our friends.  With the higher powered gear, I could see the birds stretching their necks. Swans.  Bah!  It was too dark to confirm the species, but I know there are several Mute Swans in this bay.

At least I had time to stop for a tea on my way home.

Please, if you see a bird (or hear about one) that you think I might want to know about, call me!  My cell number is 250-514-6450 and time of day (or night) is not a consideration.  I promise not to be cranky if you wake me up.  In fact, I might even buy you a tea!

 

 

 

 

I had very few expectations about the pace of a Vancouver Island Big Year, but I can tell you now that it’s been a lot more phrenetic that I thought it would be.  Here we are in May, and I’m still running all over the place on a daily basis.  Perhaps that will change soon.

Thursday was a chance to take things a little easier with a return trip to the Chemainus Estuary with Karen Ferguson.  I didn’t have any specific target birds, but was just going to go out for some birding exploration. That said, I wouldn’t have objected if a Yellow-headed Blackbird showed up!

We spent a few hours checking out spots around the estuary, coming up with more than 40 species.  Spotted Sandpipers weren’t there the last time I visited, but several were on the river banks this time around. This is a seriously underbirded place, but hopefully that will change.  On Thursday, we ran into very few people; it’s definitely busier on the weekends. I need to try to get there on a high tide sometime just to see how different it is with the water in.

While there, my phone buzzed with news of a new species in Victoria–Wilson’s Phalarope at Panama Flats.  Kim Beardmore had found a trio in the wetland. I had been toying with the idea of heading north after the estuary, but now the course was set. I was heading back to Victoria!

Chasing birds is most successful when you can get to the bird within minutes, but I was arriving hours after the first report.  Thankfully phalaropes tend to stay put for the whole day once they’ve been spotted, but will often move during the night.  When I arrived at Panama Flats, they already had an entourage of birders watching them.  Phalaropes are a group that demonstrates sex-role reversal.  The females are more colourful than the males, and it’s the males that brood the eggs and rear the young.

 

 

This little group had two females and a male.  They were following dabbling ducks closely to take advantage of any food they might stir up.

A Bonaparte’s Gull, Long-billed Dowitcher and Blue-winged Teal were also present, making Panama Flats the place to be on Thursday afternoon! Before I could check out the rest of the birds in the area, I was informed that there had been a possible thrasher sighting at Blenkinsop Lake earlier in the day.  That definitely required a look! Liam Singh and Mike McGrenere joined me in the search, but we couldn’t turn up anything thrasher-like.

On my way home, I decided to make a quick stop at Maber Flats.  While I was checking phone messages, I thought I heard a Sandhill Crane.  There’s a scene in “The Big Year” movie where Brad Harris and Stu Preissler are chatting and they hear a crane, As I nearly fell out of my car, it felt like I was in the scene from the movie!  However, I couldn’t see a crane flying over or anywhere on the flats as I scanned.  I took my time checking out the area.  It’s really amazing how much difference a few days and a dropping water level can have.  Spotted Sandpipers seemed to be the dominant shorebird, flying around, courting and calling.  Like the phalaropes, the Spotted Sandpiper males are the ones that rear the young, so I wasn’t certain if it was the female or male that was displaying.

A very cooperative female Red-winged Blackbird came in for her close-up.

 

And then, there it was!  A Sandhill Crane strolling along the field at the northwest corner of the property!

 

 

I started dialing the numbers of the Friday morning Maber crew, and almost everyone headed to the flats. Just as I was putting the phone away, I got a message from Ed Pellizzon that he was looking down on the flats and had seen a Sandhill Crane.  But he hadn’t noticed me looking at it from the other direction!  The crane wasn’t a new species for my list, but anytime you can spend time with one of these magnificent birds is a good time.

Eventually, the bird took flight and circled the field a couple of times.  I held my breath as it neared the high tension wires, but it made it through the electrical gauntlet unscathed, settling down somewhere near the adjacent polo field.

About half an hour later, it returned to the original field just as we were leaving.
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Friday morning, I returned to the Blenkinsop trail to look and listen for anything thrasher-like.  The habitat was all wrong, but we’re in mid-migration and anything can happen.

 

 

A Cooper’s Hawk riled everyone up for a bit.

Mary Robichaud was also checking out the area, and we were joined by Muriel Carson before long.  Black-headed Grosbeaks were in full song, Yellow Warblers were everywhere, but no rarities were detected.

I headed to Maber Flats to meet up with the group there, when my phone rang.  Mike McGrenere had just found a Bullock’s Oriole male in the Martindale Flats area.  180 degree turn!

I joined Mike along Welch Rd, and over the next hour, I saw the Bullock’s Oriole and a Vaux’s Swift!  And rumor had it that there was another countable bird at Panama Flats.

Back at Panama, there were several birders trying to locate a Pectoral Sandpiper.  One phalarope was still there, as was the Long-billed Dowitcher, and there were now three Blue-winged Teal!  But we couldn’t find a Pectoral Sandpiper.  We thought we had three way across the water at one point, but decided that they were probably Baird’s. There were clouds of small beetles flying around and landing on everyone.  None of us knew what they were, but an internet search suggests that they are actually Striped Lady Beetles.

 

Eventually, I decided that I would head home to get some things done (and maybe take a much-needed nap).  I was moments away when Mary called–they had the Pectoral!  180 degree turn again.  Thankfully, it was still there when I got back, becoming species 215 for my year.

By this time, it was too late to go back home.  Paul Lehman and Barbara Carlson were arriving in Victoria on a cruise ship and we had a coffee date!  I headed to a quiet place in town to try to grab that nap in my car before the ship arrived.  I had just woken up when Barbara called to say their ship had been delayed due to high winds.  The winds made the seabirding excellent, but there wasn’t going to be time to get together.

It’s been  rare when I’ve been home before dark these days, so I took advantage and decided to give myself the rest of the evening off.  Ahhhhhh!

My phone made an ominous sound.  It was an email from Jeremy Kimm with a second hand report of a photographed Sage Thrasher in Black Creek just south of Campbell River…