Last things first. Shortly after I arrived back in Victoria this evening, I got a text from Jeremy Gatten asking if we were safe. “We” included several members of the island’s birding community who had gone to Tofino for the weekend to take a late-season pelagic trip. The weather has been awesome lately, and finally, one of the small-boat trips to the continental shelf was a “go”. The reason for Jeremy’s concern was breaking news of a whale watching boat from Tofino sinking with confirmation of lives lost.
The boat in the incident was the Leviathan, the very boat that helped me get the Tufted Puffin in July for my big year. It’s shocking to hear of the loss and realizing just how easily something like this could happen. My thoughts are with the families, passengers and crew of today’s trip.
Going back to last weekend, I had two more opportunities to track down the Brown Booby and other pelagic species. A group of birders from Vancouver: birdergirl Melissa Hafting, BC Big Year birder Peter Candido, Vancouver Big Year birder Ilya Povalyaev, Carlo Giovanella, and Michael Klotz were joined by Vancouver Island birders Guy Monty, Kim Beardmore and me to seek out that elusive booby. Two fishing charter boats were hired and the search was on. We scoured the Juan de Fuca Strait from Sooke Harbour to Otter Point, back and forth across the water, picking up great looks at Northern Fulmars and Pink-footed Shearwaters among other birds but with no luck on the booby. Back on shore at the end of the trip, we went to Whiffin Spit to have another look at the Black-throated Sparrow and its new friend, Lapland Longspur.
After a late lunch, we headed to Esquimalt Lagoon in hopes of seeing the Rock Wren and resighting the Tropical Kingbird. While the Vancouver folks and Guy headed to Fort Rodd Hill for the wren, I ran into more Victoria birders at the lagoon. As I left, Daniel and Leo Donnecke were still scoping the ocean, turning up what Daniel thought might be a Clark’s Grebe!
Sunday morning was the second of two Victoria Natural History Society “mini-pelagics” aboard the Fantasea II. We convinced the captain to take a different route to Race Rocks this time around, heading straight to the US border in hopes that the Dungeness booby might venture our way for a feeding session. We built up a great gull following, luring Pink-footed Shearwaters close to the boat. Red-necked Phalaropes and Humpback Whales were highlights. Although the fog was heavy near Race Rocks, it lifted just enough for people to see, as well as smell, the sea lions and seals in the ecological reserve.
During the trip, Jeremy Gatten texted that he had relocated Daniel’s Clark’s Grebe so we convinced Godfrey to take the boat in as close as possible as we passed the lagoon. We found the grebes, but the distance prevented us from getting close enough for ID with binoculars. There was also a credible report of a Red-throated Pipit at Martindale Flats. Great! Two needed birds on opposite sides of town and only a few hours of light available to search.
When we landed, several of us headed to Martindale Flats to try to find the pipit. Talk about your needle in a haystack! When Neil Hughes reported the bird, it was in a flock of 400 plus. We could barely find a dozen in the area. It wasn’t long before we abandoned our search in favour of the Clark’s Grebe.
Fortunately, we were luckier at Esquimalt Lagoon. The bird was still too far out for decent photos, but we could see the distinctive field marks in our scopes. #259 on the books!
Later that evening, when we all got a chance to review our photos, it turned out that several of us had indeed captured the grebe from the deck of the Fantasea!
Rarities were coming fast and furious when a photo of a Red-naped Sapsucker were submitted to eBird on Sunday night; Monday morning, I was camped on the doorstep of the home where the photo was taken. Ted and Marilyn Down were very gracious bird hosts. I waited, sometimes in pouring rain, but no sapsucker. I wandered the neighbourhood for an hour without any better luck. I went back and waited again. Still nothing. Maybe it was gone. I went home for lunch and moved on.
In the afternoon, I went back to look for the pipit and ran into Mike McGrenere and Daniel Donnecke, also seeking the bird. Again, the number of pipits was low, and considerable looking still failed to turn up any other than the standard American Pipits. An adult Northern Shrike put in an appearance, but there was little else to keep our attention. An alert about three Western Bluebird at the top of Little Saanich Mountain drew Mike and Daniel away, while I continued to look for the pipit. Eventually, just as I was giving up, I got a call from Mike. They had located the birds! I wasn’t sure I could get there in time, as the gate closes at 6 pm, but I squeaked in, made it up the hill and saw the birds for about one minute in fading sunlight.
You might be thinking, “Don’t you already have Western Bluebirds?” Why yes, I do! But they are among my “dirty” birds–ones that some individuals might object to me counting since they were reintroduced to Vancouver Island. The Observatory Hill birds had no bands, so are not part of the reintroduction.
When it rains, it pours, and a report of a juvenile King Eider in Parksville was posted. I was speaking to a class at Camosun College at 1:30 on Tuesday. Could I get to Parksville, look for the bird, and make it back to town by 1? Well, I could–if I headed up before daybreak. I met Guy Monty in Parksville at 8 am. Christopher Stephens joined us in the search, but we didn’t locate the eider. i had to leave around 10:30; Guy continued on until 1 pm without luck.
Meanwhile, back in Victoria…
My presentation to the Camosun students went well. I think this is about the fifth year that Annette Dehalt has invited me to her class. I was just leaving the classroom when my phone rang. Daniel had seen the Red-Naped Sapsucker! The location was less than 10 minutes from my place. Unfortunately, I was more than 30 minutes from there. I made it there in good time, but of course, the bird wasn’t there. However, patience paid off, and I managed to briefly see it twice over the next two hours. 260!
Wednesday, Jeremy Gatten and I made a road trip to Duncan, ust to see what we could see. Truth be told, we were hoping to spot a Redhead on Quamichan Lake, but we’re still a bit early, Visiting Cowichan Bay, we found two Heermann’s Gulls. It wasn’t until later when we heard from Derrick Marven, that we realized that this species is exceedingly rare in the Cowichan Valley. We also saw a good number of Ring-billed Gulls, both at Cowichan Bay and Quamichan Lake.
We didn’t find a Redhead on Quamichan Lake, but we did find a Barrow’s Goldeneye, Trumpeter Swan and a Bufflehead. We hit a few other points of interest around Duncan, including Drinkwater Rd, where an abundance of apples had been left by the side of the road.
A stop by the sewage ponds was a must.
A Canvasback, 25 Bonaparte’s Gulls, and a Peregrine Falcon were among the highlights at the sewage treatment centre. We ended the road trip with 85 species. Not too shabby for a short day.
Oh yeah. I almost forgot. I had another first on Wednesday. After 9 1/2 months of almost daily birding, I had my first bird-poop incident. My car has been hit several times, but I’ve managed to avoid anointment–until last Wednesday.
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With nothing specific to chase on Thursday, I finally had the chance to check out a raft of Surf Scoters off Glencoe Cove Park in Gordon Head. The neighbourhood has sure changed a lot since I lived nearby in the 90s.
I estimated 700 Surf Scoters, along with a small number of White-winged Scoters. The light was perfect. I couldn’t turn any of them into eiders.
The surprise bird for me was a late Osprey overhead. Normally these leave by the end of September, but there are occasional holdovers.
I was just about to head back to Martindale for another try at the pipit when Paul Deneuverville called, asking if I still needed a Harris’s Sparrow. If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I made at least a half dozen trips looking for a Harris’s at the Nanaimo Estuary last fall without luck. I wasn’t going to let the bird that Paul found in Jordan River slip away, even though it meant I had to brave the Westshore’s rush hour traffic again.
En route, I called Cathy Carlson. She lives near Jordan River and headed out with an offering of seed in hand. When I arrived almost two hours after getting Paul’s call, there she was, in the parking lot, pointing at the Harris’s Sparrow!
The parking lot was full to overflowing with cars, people and dogs. I counted 75 surfers at one point. Yet this uncommon bird was busy going about its business.
Friday was a travel day. The Donnecke family, Mike and Barb McGrenere, Mark Yunker, Guy Monty, Reid Hildebrand and I were all descending on Tofino for a weekend pelagic. Finally, on the fourth try, things were looking good for getting out. Several of us met at Amphitrite Point, where birds were scarce, and the swell was still larger than expected. While the Donneckes visited with family in Ucluelet, the rest of us met up for dinner at Jamie’s Rainforest Inn. I order the seafood chowder. It was excellent!
In the morning we headed to the Whale Centre, suited up and got into a tiny Boston Whaler. Our destination was the continental shelf, and although we started out in pretty calm waters, the farther we went, the bumpier things got. The skipper warned us ahead of time that anyone sitting at the back of the boat would probably get wet, so it was just as well that we didn’t fill the boat.
Cassin’s Auklets were numerous, and soon Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters were putting on a show. A mostly white bird got the attention of those sitting up front, but despite chasing it, we couldn’t refind it for an identification. By now some of the waves were breaking and spraying me with a lot of water. I was glad for the survival suit. A few Buller’s Shearwaters flew close to the boat. I was happy about this, because although I had the species for my year already, it was checked with a crappy look. This time I really “saw” the birds.
Just about the time we saw our first Black-footed Albatrosses of the trip, the skipper said it was time to go. The signs in the clouds and the stiffening wind all pointed to a significant weather change. Although we might have been fine staying out a little longer, we had a two-hour trek back to shore, and with worsening conditions, that could have been a problem. Reluctantly, we said goodbye to our chances of spotting the birds we were hoping for and headed home.
While I had gotten wet on the trip out, it was nothing compared to what happened to Guy and the others up front on the way back. The wind pushed many waves right over the side of the boat and into them. They were cold and wet by the time we reached calmer waters off Vargas and Cleland Islands where we looked for Sea Otters, Gray Whales and shorebirds. It was safe to take the cameras out again.
On our return, Guy, and Mark headed home, Reid headed to Victoria, and the rest of us met up for dinner at Jamie’s Restaurant. The food was excellent again. It turns out the chef is a winner of the reality program Chopped Canada.
At dawn, the mud flats behind Jamie’s provided a spectacular sunrise.
The birds were all usual suspects, but the views were spectacular. The Donneckes were going surfing, the McGreneres were headed to the airport and Wickaninnish Beach, and I was soon also on my way.
I stopped briefly by the airport and found several Wilson’s Snipe and a couple of tree frogs. No Red-throated Pipits or other rarities.
I was all the way to Nanaimo when I realized I’d left some stuff at the hotel. Thank goodness the Donneckes were still in Tofino and Susan had her new cell phone! They were able to pick up my stuff and save me an extra five hours of driving.
I made it back to Central Saanich just in time to catch the last minutes of RPBO’s end of the season party when I got the text from Jeremy. Tonight, my thoughts are very much with the folks in Tofino and all those associated with Jamie’s enterprises there. At the time I finished this blog post, five people are confirmed dead, two are in critical condition and one is still missing. A large boat in relatively calm waters gone in a flash in waters where we had passed just a bit more than 24 hours earlier. Pretty sobering turn of events and a reminder of just how quickly good times can turn bad. My condolences to all involved.