We’re still having fun!  (See what I did there?)

I think Bank Swallows must be in cahoots with Great Gray Owls.  There have been a few sightings in the past week at Swan Lake, but despite spending several sunsets and a couple of early mornings there, I have yet to see (or hear) one well enough to be sure I wasn’t looking at something else.  Swallows have been gathering in great numbers around Victoria, prepping for their trip south.  When you’re immersed in flocks of hundreds of Barn Swallows, it’s hard to believe that this species is on the threatened list in Canada.  It is still common, but therein lies the problem.  When we see large flocks or see individuals every day, we miss the fact that this population has declined 76% between the 1970s and 2009.  That’s huge and worrisome!

Rare bird reports have picked up a little this week, so I’ve been doing a fair amount of chasing.  After getting the Wandering Tattler at Long Beach, Mary Robichaud found one closer to home at the Ogden Point Breakwater.  It took me two trips to refind it (I was there on the wrong tide the first time), but I can now show you much nicer photos of a Wandering Tattler.

There were also about two dozen Black Turnstones feeding, resting and bathing along the inside wall of the breakwater.

A Rock Wren was reported at Stocking Creek in Ladysmith. I’ve seen a few Rock Wrens, and the location at a creek was suspicious.  Normally these wrens are in bare or sparsely vegetated habitats. In Victoria, I’ve seen them on Christmas Hill, Island View Beach, and Harling Point.  The Island View bird was first reported by Stuart Clarke. I received a very cool gift from Stu this week.  He is a wildlife photographer and has just put out what I’m calling a “big year” mug.  He said that my big year was an inspiration for the mug, so he gave me one!  Thanks, Stu!

The description of the Rock Wren that was posted to eBird included seeing the bird doing “knee bends” which is something a Rock Wren definitely does.  But so does an American Dipper.  I’d never been to Stocking Creek, though, so it was worth a trip.

Dave Baird joined me and we walked the trails of this 13-acre park, just a little off the TransCanada Highway south of Ladysmith.  It’s a very pretty spot with a sandstone-bottomed creek and a small waterfall. Sure enough, we found an American Dipper not too far from the waterfall.

I headed to Rocky Point to do a census on Friday. Each day, we walk the same route starting an hour after sunrise, and count all of the birds we see and hear.  Sometimes a rarity or two turns up.  Not this week. I did manage a couple of interesting photos, though.
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Most of my other chases this week were for the Bank Swallow–until yesterday.  I was just about out the door to go to a surprise birthday party for my friend Tammy Ruffolo, when Geoffrey and David Newell posted that they had found a Stilt Sandpiper at Witty’s Lagoon.  The good news was that it wasn’t far from where the birthday party was being held.  The bad news — surprise!– was that I wasn’t going to be there for Tammy’s grand entrance.

I admit to being directionally challenged, so when the report read that the bird was at the north side of the Lagoon Trail, that meant nothing to me.  I knew how to get onto the Lagoon Trail and so I did–apparently at the south end.  The crew from the RPBO banding site at Witty’s Lagoon were making their trek up the long hill with the gear.  I urged them all to join me in the quest, but only Cheryl Hoyle took me up on it.  Eventually, we found Mary Robichaud along the trail and after making our way to the north side, met up with the Newells and Daniel Donnecke.  All of us got great looks at the Stilt Sandpiper, the first one I’ve seen here in about ten years.  A great addition to the list.  Before we left, the flock of peeps with the Stilt Sandpiper in tow, headed across the lagoon–right to where I had started out.

I got to the birthday party in time for cake.  Happy Early Birthday to Tammy, and to her mom, Penny, whose birthday in a couple of days was the ruse that kept Tammy in the dark about her surprise party.

I ended the day with another trip to Swan Lake.  It’s beautiful there, even without Bank Swallows.

Here are some bonus shots from my week.