Every year,  I say I will be better organized for the Baillie Birdathon.  And every  year, I seem to be less organized. And so it was last Thursday with only a few days left in May and my birdathon quest unfullfilled.

The Baillie Birdathon is an event organized by Bird Studies Canada where individuals and teams go out on any day (24 hour) in May to see as many species as they can.  Pledges are sought, and the proceeds go to BSC or are split between BSC and another nature-related charity.  Rocky Point Bird Observatory has been the beneficiary of some of these funds for many years. I’ve done my birdathons in Texas, Arkansas, Ontario and here on Vancouver Island.   Last year, I did a 24 hour blitz starting at 6 am one day and finishing at 6 am the next, scoring more than 100 species. Then I did a second, a “Big Sit” at Panama Flats where I birded from a 17 ft wide circle for about 6 hours.  This year, I opted for something in between–a big day on the grounds of Royal Roads University, Esquimalt Lagoon/Coburg Peninsula and the connecting routes.

I started out with a circumnavigation of the lagoon beginning at 5 am.  The Purple Martins were in fine form at the RRU dock.  We installed those boxes in 2000 and it took four years before the first nest was established.  It’s very gratifying to see such an active colony now.

Early birders Jody Wells and Rick Schortinghuis joined me for some of the trip, and later Kim Taylor jumped in for a portion of the route.  I’ve done this circle several times before for a Victoria Natural History Society field trip, but I went the opposite direction this time to take advantage of the habitat and the time of day. The route goes through a good variety of habitat, including old grown forest, open fields, residential developments, and of course brackish lagoon and ocean shores.  Most of it is easy going, but there are a few rocky sections on the RRU side between the lagoon bridge and the boathouse. The rough sections can be avoided by cutting through Belmont Park via the Cavendish property if you feel less sure-footed.  You definitely need to budget plenty of time, though.  There’s always lots to see.  Here are a few photos from the trek:

I approached this particular big day with less urgency than I might have.  I took time to watch the birds, not just tick them.  The herons were particularly interesting.  I counted 22 in the lagoon, including a number of recently fledged young.

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With a group, it typically takes 5 1/2 to 6 hours. I thought it would take less time with a smaller group and on my own. Turns out that wasn’t the case.  I think I perfected the art of dilly-dallying.  By the time that I was back at the dock, I had 63 species ticked.  Not bad for the end of May.

There were still a number of species missing, so for the next several hours, I looked in likely spots and picked up Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler and Cliff Swallow.  The law of diminishing returns was evident.  By the time I was back at my van, it was almost 3 o’clock, and I’d been walking for about 10 hours and hadn’t even picked up 10 species in the last four hours.

My day was not fully “green” in that I took the van over to the Coburg Peninsula (grabbing a late lunch at Tim’s on the way) and took a much needed nap. When I woke up, I walked the lagoon side again, finally picking up a Common Loon and Belted Kingfisher.

I had hoped that the robins would reveal both Barred and Great Horned Owl at Royal Roads, but that hadn’t happened.  As the light faded, I headed back over to the campus and most likely spots to find the owls.  Unfortunately, neither the owls or their arch enemies, the robins, were going to give me any more checks for my list.  I finished the day with 74 species at 9 pm.

I intend to keep my perpetual promise to be better organized next year, so I’m going to start now.  If you are interested in joining the  Rocky Point Bird Obsevatory Baillie Birdathon team in 2016, send me a note now (or later).  That will put the pressure on me and potentially we could plan some cool events around the birdathon.  We’d love to have more participants, and of course, sponsors are also welcome.  This year’s team included Emma and Rebecca Reader-Lee. It’s not too late to sponsor any of us.  Just follow this link.