And by snow, I mean SNOW Buntings, SNOWy Owls, and why not just throw in a SNOWy Egret for good measure?

Despite almost daily birding and lots of help from other birders, in the last ten days, I haven’t managed to add a single new bird to my list.  This is a little frustrating for this time of year, as this is often the time that strange birds will show up.  Let’s hope that December swings back the other way.

I’ve visited a lot of places since I last wrote. An early morning trip to Maber Flats with Jeremy Gatten, Nathan Hentze and Stephen Roias in search of a Red-throated Pipit provided some great scenery, and a massive number of birds, but no pipit.

 

A trip to Whiffin Spit with Kim Beardmore looking for a Snow Bunting produced a Lapland Longspur.  Sadly, the Snow Bunting was being seen at Island View Beach all the way across town–but I didn’t know until much later in the afternoon. I continued on to do a seawatch at Sheringham Point.

 

The birds were distant, and although I saw some shearwaters, I wasn’t able to determine if they were Sooty or Short-tailed.  I also heard some shorebirds fly by that matched the calls of Red Phalarope, but without photos, witnesses, or a solid look at them, I’m not adding them to the list.

The next day, I scoured  Island View Beach and Saanichton Spit for four hours to find the bunting but came away empty-handed.

A trip to Port Renfrew a couple of days after a pretty good windstorm which resulted in some decent waves didn’t produce new birds.  Earlier in the year, locals suggested that Brown Pelicans often came into the bay after storms, but such was not the case this time around.  It was a gorgeous day, though, and that made the visit quite pleasant.

When I went to the pub to grab a bite to eat, I was able to access wifi and found out that two Snow Buntings had been seen on the Dock Road in Cowichan Bay. My GPS said that I couldn’t make it before dark, but I had to try!

I arrived at Dock Road with a bit of light left, but the gate was locked, meaning that there was about a 15 minute walk to where the birds had been seen.  I headed out as quickly as I could, spotting a Short-eared Owl hunting in the estuary as I went.  That added one bird to my Cowichan and Victoria Checklist list.   The owl wasn’t the only one hunting.  As the light dwindled, shots were fired into the estuary.  It was a little unnerving walking in the dark when guns were being fired.  I don’t know how the hunters could have possibly picked up their ducks in that light!

Not surprisingly, no Snow Buntings materialized. I found out later that birders that arrived less than an hour after the word was put out didn’t find the birds either.  I don’t give up easily though, and was back first thing in the morning. Fellow birder, Christine Cuthill and I walked along the restricted roadway to the office, to ask permission to search the parking area where the birds had been seen.  We got permission–and news that the office staff had seen the birds several days earlier right in front of the office!  They took pictures, but didn’t know what the birds were.  There were a lot of gulls parked on the parking lot, but we couldn’t find a bunting.

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The rain and windstorm on Tuesday provided me with a much needed day at home.  Lots of things planned–until the power went out at 10 am.  Fortunately, some of the things I needed to do were entirely analog and I was able to make a little bit of progress on my agenda.  Things started to crawl though when the power was still out several hours later.  Despite a forecast of an 8 pm return to the light, the electricity wasn’t actually restored until almost 5 am — 19 hours later.  I got up  and got ready to head to Goose Spit in Courtenay Comox in the hopes of finding something new.

That morning, there was a very bad accident on the Malahat.  I was on the mountain when an ambulance screamed by.  The radio said that southbound traffic was shut down, but a minute before I reached the accident scene, northbound traffic was also stopped.  When the word got out that it would be several hours, I turned around, heading to Esquimalt Lagoon and Portage inlet before joining up with birders Michael Simmons and Daniel Donnecke to check out the birds in Oak Bay. Small numbers of expected birds were present at all my stops, but nothing outstanding.  That is, until Rick Schortinghuis called from Esquimalt Lagoon with both an Iceland Gull and a Black-legged Kittiwake in the very spot I’d been birding three hours earlier.  Daniel, Michael and I crossed town and arrived at the lagoon to find that the birds had been abducted by aliens–vanished without a trace, despite three birders watching them at the scene.  These are birds that are already on my list, but not on my Victoria list, so would have been good adds.  It was not to be!

I finally made my way to Courtenay-Comox the next day, and despite a beautiful sunny day, Goose Spit did not produce anything unexpected.

I was just about to move along to an area where I could scope a raft of birds more easily when I got a note from Tracy Anderson, who was visiting from Hawaii. Her mentor and close friend, Maj Birch, founder of the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society, had passed away the previous night. I picked up Tracy and we birded around the area, but did not find any of my “missing” birds.

 

Friday and Saturday were occupied with more local birding: Maber Flats, Martindale Flats, Victoria Airport, Observatory Hill, Viaduct Flats, Outerbridge Park, Victoria airport.  All great birding places, but no new species.  On Saturday, I took a couple of visitors from Texas for a quick spin to look for Sky Larks, but we couldn’t even raise one of those.  Fortunately, both Mike Perkins and Nic Costanzo did manage to get a few life birds on their whirlwind trip.  They’ll be back for the Sky Larks another time!

 

To wrap up the week, I went on the Victoria Natural History Society’s Coho crossing field trip. In other years, they have turned up Short-tailed Shearwater and Red Phalarope, and I had high hopes for Brown Pelican and maybe even Brown Booby (one was seen in Port Angeles last week).  It was a nice calm day on the water.  We passed through a large gull flock  as we left Victoria, but just as it has been everywhere else this week, all of the birds are already on my list.

Let’s hope the next week is a little more exciting!

 

It was inevitable.  I knew by going to Texas, I would miss some birds that showed up on Vancouver Island last week.  I didn’t expect Victoria birders would turn up two species on my first day out of town, and follow that up with three more before I was back on the ground in Victoria. Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Snow Bunting, Geoffrey Newell’s Gray-crowned Rosy-finch–later to become Oriental Greenfinch, –a potential Canada first if accepted by reviewers, Glaucous Gull and American Tree Sparrow, were all waiting around to be refound on my return, right?  There were also two Victoria birds that I wanted for my lists: Rough-legged Hawk and Harris’s Sparrow.

The Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival was awesome as usual, and having four other Victoria birders there made it all the better.  Mary Robichaud, Daniel Donnecke, Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart and I were joined by Megan Lyden and Lou Ann Harris, and ran into Rhys Harrison and his wife as well.  The island was definitely represented!  I will very likely be doing this trip again next year.  If anyone is interested, drop me a note for information.

At sunrise Tuesday, I was heading to Saanichton Spit to look for a Snow Bunting that Jody Wells left there on Monday afternoon. There was dense fog as I left my house, but I was determined to find the bird!

 

After 90 minutes of a fruitless search (except for a lone Horned Lark), it was time to move on to the Gray-crowned Rosy-finch.  Randy Dzenkiw had two pass through the Government House groundswith other finches early in the morning, heading southeast.  I went to Anderson Hill Park and had not even gotten out of the car when I got a text from Carl Hughes who was looking at the American Tree Sparrow at Panama Flats.  I felt I needed to make at least a quick look around for the Rosy-finches before heading to Panama, but they were not there.

Driving back across town, Mary and Carl were already at Panama Flats when I arrived.  Sadly, the bird hadn’t been well seen for quite some time.  Rick Schortinghuis was also looking for it, but we could not relocate the bird. There were lots of ducks, and several Swamp Sparrows, but no American Tree Sparrow.  I decided to go for something a little less subtle, the Glaucous Gull at Goldstream.

Thankfully, this bird was a little more cooperative and was quickly found by Warren Drinnan, who, along with Kim Beardmore, had joined the quest.  One out of four species was not great, but better than none out of four.

 

While I was at Goldstream, a report came in from Kathleen Ward that her sister had a Harris’s Sparrow coming to her feeder in Fairfield.  You may recall that early in the year, I spend many hours searching for a Harris’s at the Nanaimo estuary.  Now that I had one from Jordan River, they were popping up everywhere.  Aziza found one near the Tuesday morning birders’ meeting spot between Bowker and Somass in Oak Bay, John Woods had one on Uganda in Esquimalt, and now there was one in Fairfield!

Alerting Mary and Marie O’Shaughnessy, our next stop was near Beacon Hill Park, where we didn’t seee the sparrow.  1 out of 5. This was an ominous start to my return to big year birding.  Mary and I decided to go for the Rough-legged Hawk.  When I got to Martindale, she had it lined up in her scope, Daniel Donnecke and a couple of other birders were also checking it out.  I wasn’t finding birds for my year list, but at least I was getting some for my regional lists!

Since we were so close, Mary and i headed to Saanichton Spit for one more try for the bunting, but again came up empty.  I’m not worried about that one–yet. Let’s hope it’s not a repeat of the Western Kingbird scenario!

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I have bad photos of a possible Thick-billed Murre, but even I have to say “inconclusive” when I review them.  That’s the biggest problem of ferry pelagics–the captain simply refuses to stop the ship for a good bird!

 

My best sighting of the week, though, was a common bird in an uncommon situation.  As we were leaving Victoria Harbour yesterday, I saw a large bird splashing in the water.  Pelican, I hoped.  But no, it was an adult Bald Eagle, swimming methodically towards the shore.

The eagle was swept away from the rock in the photo, sometimes almost submerging as it moved steadily towards the shore.

 

As the ferry pulled away, though, I saw it land and get up on a nearby rock.  It would take a while to dry out, I’m sure, but at least it made a safe landing.

So far, no one has relocated the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, the Oriental Greenfinch or even Randy’s Rosy-finches.  These could well have been birds I would have missed even if I was in town when they were spotted (as I was for Randy’s).  I’m still looking!

This last week involved a lot of travelling—and that is continuing as I write.  Despite my best intentions to get a blog written before my departure, I’m writing on the plane to Houston!

Fall migration has the potential to make or break my goal of 275. I will admit that although it is mathematically possible, as each day passes without a new species, the likelihood of reaching that target drops. The number was somewhat arbitrary, though, so not reaching it will not be any kind of failure. I am absolutely happy with the adventures I have had this year.

On Tuesday, I headed towards the Chemainus estuary, one of the most underbirded areas on the south island. I made it as far as the refueling station in Duncan (yes, Tim Hortons) but hadn’t even gotten out of the car when my phone rang.  It was Aziza Cooper, and she was looking at a Rusty Blackbird behind the Red Barn Market on West Saanich Rd—10 minutes from my house. She asked me to post it on the BCVIBIRDS Yahoo group, which I did, then grabbed a tea and headed back to Victoria. Two hours of driving, and twice over the Malahat to find a bird that was just a hop, skip and a jump from my home.  Thankfully, several of the Tuesday morning birders’ group were still there, and within a few minutes, I had bird number 262 for my list.  This was an important pickup as I had missed the Rusty Blackbird at Swan Lake in January and the one at Martindale Flats in October. Some years, they stay put for months, but as with many species this year, this bird moved on within a day of being spotted.

I really wanted a whole day for the estuary, so I had to revise my day plans. A quick stop on Observatory Hill didn’t turn up the bluebirds, but a call from Colin Franks got me to go to Swan Lake where I saw an American Bittern flying around and Mallard building their pair bond (thanks, David Bird!) well before little ducklings were on the horizon.

After that, I headed out to Sooke instead, to explore an area I hadn’t visited before.

Most birders in Victoria have made many trips to Whiffin Spit. This year, with the Black-throated Sparrow on hand, I’ve made many more than usual, but I have rarely ventured beyond the spit. However, during one of the offshore searches for the Brown Booby, I noticed some very steep cliffs west of the spit, and our skipper said that there was a park along the bluff.  It was time to check it out!  By turning right on Deerlepe before you get to the spit, you head into a fairly new residential area, and the promised cliff-top park. There are also stairs to the beach below, but I opted to take the high road for this trip.  The cliffs overlook a major kelp bed and provide views across the strait. Surely if there was a booby out there, I should be able to see it from these cliffs! Lots of cormorants and gulls were sitting on the kelp, but nothing new for my list.  The neighbourhood, with its proximity to Whiffin Spit and well-maintained exotic gardens shows a lot of potential for winter rarities.  I’ll be back!

Wednesday started out with drizzle, but the radar image suggested that it should clear within an hour, so I headed towards the Chemainus estuary again.  Dave Baird had mentioned a park near Crofton that I hadn’t visited, so I headed towards town to check it out.  The road to Shoal Island takes you to Mill Point Park, providing great views out to the open Georgia Strait, while also giving good looks of the sheltered waters of the estuary.  There was a great variety of ducks and a few shorebirds in the area. The shrubbery turned up sparrows, quail and a Red-breasted Sapsucker.  After spending a while at Mill Point, I headed to Swallowfield Rd and the entrance to the estuary trails.  It was very birdy, but as usual, almost devoid of people. In the seven hours I spent at the estuary, I think I saw only about 8 people and even more surprising, not a single Canada Goose. With 40 species at Mill Point and 45 at Swallowfield, I think I finished the day with about 60 for the area, but no new ones for my list.

During the last couple of months of months of my big year, I really need to try to get out birding every day to increase the chances of stumbling across something new.  I may need to change the focus to more residential areas where rarities might be coming to feeders.  For now, though, I’m still checking out new spots, even though some of them are fairly close to home. I headed west on Thursday to explore more beach accesses in Sooke. Heading to the water from Ella Rd, there were plenty of seabirds close to shore.

I had hoped to scramble to the spit behind the marina on Westcoast Rd.  I was warned off by several danger and no trespassing signs.  Heading back towards Whiffin Spit, the beach was not an easy walk.  It’s a true cobblestone beach, and must sound incredible during storms, but it’s not ideal for making good headway.  There were old campfire remains, so the beach must get its share of visitors, but there were none that day besides me.  I thought there might be a trail up towards the sewage treatment plant, and indeed I found an entrance to a good dirt road at an outfall sign. Although the sign said it was a private road, I decided to chance a quick walk back to the highway.  I was making my way discretely along the road when a dog on a neighbouring farm objected to my passing and sounded the alarm.  Thankfully, no one came to chase me away. I wonder, though, if this might actually be a gazetted road, which would mean that it should be open for public access.

The mist had turned to drizzle with occasional showers, so I decided it would be a good time to head back to town.  Sooke is in a state of transportation confusion right now with several  road construction projects and detours. I headed inland which took me along a congested road near a school.

Several people have told me that they are living vicariously through my big year adventures, but on Thursday, I had one adventure that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.  As I made my way down the street, opposing most of the traffic from the school, suddenly a skateboarder came out between two vehicles and was directly in front of me, just about a car length away. I hit the brakes hard as I could at which point he turned to see me coming straight at him. There was no way for us to avoid a collision. He had almost made it across the street, but our paths intersected and he slid up on the hood of my car, hitting the windshield and putting a fist-sized break in the corner. He went out of my sight for just a second, then popped up saying he was fine, as if to wave me on. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. The next hour was spent with police, ambulance and lots of people.  The happy outcome was that other than a bruise on the back of the boy’s hand and my broken windshield, no harm was done.  I think we both were pretty lucky in that regard.  Take this as a reminder that school and park zone speed limits are wise to obey and that in heavy traffic, it is really not a good idea to stop and let kids cross the streets away from the crosswalks (as the driver on the other side of the road apparently did.)

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The wind was coming up, though, and it did not put in an appearance.  Then it was off to a good-bye lunch for RPBO intern Jeff Costa who was leaving town early Saturday. I had a few errands to run, but still managed to stop by Clover and Cattle Points, but the wind was keeping the birds and the birders away.

A planned trip to Chemainus with the VNHS Saturday birders was washed out by heavy rains, giving me a chance to do some more RPBO stuff, then head out to Kemp Lake for a scan before heading to Rocky point for owl banding. I kept hoping for Redhead, but my best bird was a late Osprey, the third one I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. A brief stop at Whiffin Spit gave good looks a a lot of gulls working the surf close in, but no Black-throated Sparrow or other rarities.

October 31 was the last night of our owl season, and it was an on and off affair as the rains and wind made trouble. At one point, my text messages came in (cell reception is lousy at Rocky Point), and it turns out there was a Willet in town!  Marie O’Shaughnessy spotted it with other shorebirds off the Oak Bay Golf Course.

First thing Sunday morning, Mary Robichaud and I were on the golf course trying to refind the bird.  There were hundreds of shorebirds, mostly Black-bellied Plovers, on Little Trial Island and some of the other small islands off of Oak Bay.  The distance was long and the lighting was bad–not really ideal locations for quickly finding the Willet. I was short on time as we were shutting down the banding stations for the season and most of the gear comes home with me. I had to be at Rocky Point at 9:30.  I was grateful for the “rollback” of daylight savings time, but it sure didn’t feel like an extra hour of sleep that night. After two hours of looking, I had to be on my way, but I went back later in the afternoon.  The late shift included Kathleen Ward and Marie O’Shaughnessy, but we did not find the Willet.  We did witness life red in tooth and claw, though.  Well, beak and claw.

A Bald Eagle grabbed one of the many gulls in the area and brought it to an island right in front of us.  Although it was very clear that the gull didn’t have a chance, it wasn’t going down without a fight.  With the eagle’s talons firmly grasping it by the breast, the gull bit and pecked at the eagle’s leg for several minutes.  The eagle flew up and bashed the gull against the rocks several times eventually making the kill.  It was impressive how long the gull fought, considering there was never really any chance it was going to get away.

On Monday, I took a considered risk by heading south to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.  This is one of two events that I identified right at the beginning of the year that would take me away from the island.  In my humble opinion, this is the best birding festival that I have attended, and this year, Mary Robichaud, Daniel Donnecke, Megan Lyden, and Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart have joined in.  It’s going to be an awesome week.

Of course, Big Year protocol would dictate that the birder not leave their count area, especially during migration.  Who knows what you might miss?? Last year, while I was in Texas, both the Acorn Woodpecker and Cattle Egret showed up in Victoria.  But I weighed my options.  I could miss a couple of birds in the week that I was away, and that could make or break my 275 goal. Or I could miss the festival and potentially pick up a couple of birds, but miss a fantastic time with people who are important in my life.  I thought about how I’d feel about the outcomes either way.  In the end, I decided that I would regret missing the opportunity to spend time with my friends more than I would regret missing a couple of species for my list.  I can hope that anything that does show up in my absence will stick around until  I get back.

So here I am in Texas.  I won’t report birds I see here on this blog, so as not to confuse which birds I saw on or off the island, but I will submit a few reports on Facebook and eBird.  I’ll also turn my SPOT on in case anyone is following the “Where’s Ann” link and is curious about where I am on this trip.

 

PS: By the time I added the photos, I found out that two new “year” birds (Snow Bunting and Blue-grey Gnatcatcher) were spotted on Vancouver Island while I was travelling to Houston.  I have asked that they be invited to stay around until after I return!  Let’s hope that’s it for the week!