With three commitments on Thursday, I wasn’t expecting to get much birding in, but I had to follow up on Wednesday’s possible Clay-coloured Sparrow.  I got up early and headed back to Maber Flats, thankfully not too far from home.  It was a magnificent misty morning at the marsh, a scene that might not be possible for too much longer.As mentioned in a previous post, the water is being drained from half of the property and before long, the land might be tilled.  And that would be the “good” option.  Several months ago, there was an announcement that the property was under purchase negotiations by the Nature Conservancy (the other half to be used for stormwater storage by the municipality).  Sadly, those negotiations have not resulted in a sale.  It looks like a portion of the land could still end up with NCC, but there would be other adjacent owner, which would undoubtedly put pressure on the municipality to “maintain” a tidier property.

Common Yellowthroats were singing, but not being particulary cooperative as far as photography was concerned. This is such a beautiful little bird. I even remember the first time I saw one of these!

With no sign of the sparrow or even any new shorebirds, I had to head home for a teleconference for the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network.  We meet via phone every six weeks or so.

Following that, I was giving a presentation at the Westshore Seniors meeting.  I had hoped that I might have enough time to make a quick stop at Observatory Hill to look for a solitaire, but it was not to be. Thursday’s slideshow was a selection of photos we gathered for the Victoria Natural History Society’s Nature Guide to the Victoria Region.

This is a great publication that touches on most natural history categories from fungi to mammals.  Proceeds go to the Victoria Natural History Society and the Royal BC Museum.

I had remembered to turn my phone ringer off, which turned out to be a good thing, as while I was speaking I received two phone calls and four texts.  After my presentation, I was invited to stay for tea.  After seeing my phone notifications, I had to decline and take off.  A Sabine’s Gull had been found by Keith Taylor and it was still being seen at Clover Point!

Traffic was not my friend, and what would have taken thirty minutes most of the time, took 45 minutes on Thursday. When I arrived, Mary Robichaud and Christian Kelly were monitoring the gull. so it was a quick “tick”.  I had expected to see this species on one of the pelagic trips I’d be taking, but I am delighted to get it in Victoria now.  With the bird resting on the rocks, I’m sure I got a better look that I would from a rocking boat. There are a few previous records of this species being seen while a ship was at sea, but it’s decidedly rare for us to get to see one like this.  I watched it for the better part of an hour. The Sabine’s was a good one to get on my list, for sure!

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These birds are marine masters and are rarely seen on land.  Other birders had already come and gone, but several showed up while I was there.  That included Aziza Cooper and Ken Walker  who arrived in time to have a good look, but Warren Lee,  Jeff Gaskin, Liam Singh and Mike Ashbee arrived moments after the bird took off.  It was still in the scopes, but the view would result in what I call a “cheesy” tick. When Cathy Reader called to say she was on her way with Emma and Rebecca, our best suggestion for a good look was around the breakwater.

Indeed, that is exactly where the bird went, and eagle-eyed Emma relocated it right near the Dallas Road waterfront. Most, if not all of the people who had been at Clover Point got a second chance at a stunning look at this bird.  I would have like to have joined them, but by this time, though, I had to run with the rush hour traffic home to pick up things I needed for an evening RPBO board meeting —  and then turn around and go about 80% of the way back to where I was standing..

I am grateful for everyone who is calling me with interesting birds.  This is definitely “our” big year, not just mine!

 

 

 

 

Wednesday was a day of ever-changing plans.  I started out early, heading to the top of Observatory Hill to try again for the solitaire before heading to the Duncan area for the day.   On top of the hill, I had good looks at Pine Siskins feeding and Violet-green Swallows attempting to turn the main telescope housing into a giant bird house, but no solitaire.

These days, I try to stick pretty close to my phone for several reasons: I keep bird lists on it using BirdLog, I get hourly reports if anyone reports a bird I “need” anywhere on the island, and I get audible alerts if my birding friends send me an email or anyone posts to the BCVIBIRDS Yahoo group.  Needless to say, I was at a loss when I discovered that I had left my phone at home.  Definitely time to turn around!

When I got back to the house, I found out that my housemate, Mike, was going to be available to work with me to replace my van brake rotors a little later in the day, so I decided to stick a little closer to home.  I headed up Mt. Newton to John Dean Park.  No one had reported a solitaire there, but then again no one had reported that they’d looked and hadn’t found one.  In the winter, the summit is a long walk, but this time of year, you can drive almost to the top.  The hike up from there is still quite steep, but on a roadway and relatively short.

The summit of Mt. Newton holds the giant “soccer ball” that can be seen from many locations in Victoria area. This is a Doppler radar device used to generate the maps that you see on the news and online.  Environment Canada filters out the “noise” that we like to call “birds”,  but US weather radar leaves it in.

 

Other human artifacts you will find near the summit include the Coast Guard radar and the first survey marker for the North Saanich area.

 

Wildflowers, including the beautiful Calypso Orchid, grow throughout the area.

I found an extensive patch of miniscule white flowers.  I don’t know if these are wild or weed, but I’m hoping one of my botanist friends can enlighten me!

A Yellow-rumped Warbler was gathering nest material. During the BC Bird Atlas, I searched for signs of breeding Yellow-rumps without success, but now I know where they were hiding!
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John Dean Park has its share of visitors–hikers, dog walkers, and runners in particular.  The fellows in the photo below crossed my path a couple of times.  They asked what I was doing, so I told them about the birding quest, and that I hadn’t found the bird I was looking for. When I said  I hadn’t taken many pictures, they asked if I could take one of them and put it in my blog, so here it is, the half-naked running men of Mt. Newton!

 

With that done, it was time to head home for some van maintenance! From the time I purchased my first car (a 1964 Austin Cambridge), I did a few of the necessary repairs.  Manuals and friends were invaluable, but a lot of the work was pretty straightforward. Not so with newer computerized vehicles, but my van is older and replacing the front brake rotors isn’t a particularly onerous task. My friend, Mike, and I had the job done in just a couple of hours.

Wednesday evening I had planned to meet up with Michael Simmons, Christian Kelly and Warren Drinnan to stake out a barn with a known Barn Owl family inside.  First though, I thought I’d go to Maber Flats to look for shorebirds and a Sora.

As I arrived, an ambulance and fire truck went down Wallace Drive with sirens blazing.  When they were gone, I heard a “buzz-buzz” sound quite a way from where I was standing. It was faint and sounded quite mechanical, so I figured it must be an alarm related to the emergency vehicles.  As I looked for the birds, the sound continued until just before dark, it changed to a single longer buzz.  That got my attention!  What could possibly make that sound?  A Clay-coloured Sparrow, that’s what!  I had only ever heard one once before, but now it seemed so obvious!  I headed in the direction of the buzz, only to have it stop, never to return.

Here is where lack of proper preparation can come into play. Because I don’t know the calls of the rarities, it’s possible for me to fail to recognize a bird calling or even singing.  As confident as I am that I heard a Clay-coloured Sparrow, it won’t be added to my list unless it is relocated.  I know that my description is not sufficient to meet the standard of the local records committee, so it’s there but not counted–yet.

THe Barn Owls were considerably more attentive, and the four of us saw one of the adults return with dinner  to the nest!

The sparrow was a screwup on my part, but I think I learned some valuable lessons in the process.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday morning, the Friday Maber Flats crew met at Francis/King Park and had a new species for our lists before we even got fully out of the car.  A Cassin’s Vireo was singing loudly just across the road from the parking lot.

Further along the trail, both a Townsend’s Warbler and the first Pacific-slope Flycatcher (which Rick had detected fifteen minutes earlier) of the year also chimed in.  Apparently , this was the first Pacific-slope recorded on eBird this year north of Oregon!

This section of the park is heavily wooded including some incredibly big trees. Finding the birds was difficult; photographing them, impossible!

We spent about an hour in the forest and another birding under the powerlines. Very soon, this area will be buzzing with migrants, but it was a little quiet in terms of numbers on Tuesday.

Michael and Rick had work to do, but the rest of us carried on to Mt. Tolmie where Black-throated Grey Warblers had been reported.  It was only a matter of a minute or so before the first was seen.  A walk through “Warbler Woods”– the Garry Oak woods below the water reservoir–revealed a second, as well as many Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, and a  singing Chipping Sparrow.

Two male Downy Woodpeckers were duking it out for territory near the top of the hill.  They were chasing each other, displaying and jousting pretty much the whole time we were there, providing some interesting photo opportunities. I’ve been pecked by Downies before and know that their dainty bills can still do damage!

It was pretty active on Mt. Tolmie, even though it was approaching lunchtime.  A Brown Creeper stopped by to sing us a song and pose for a photo.

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Adding the Black-throated Grey gave me an incredible four new species for the day.  And I had just enough time to head up Mt. Doug to look for the elusive Townsend’s Solitaire before I headed to the Lodge at Broadmead where I was giving a slide show at the Veteran’s Health Centre.  I ran into birders Mike and Jo Motek at Mt. Doug but sadly, no solitaire by the time I had to leave.

After the slide show, my next stop was Panama Flats where Steven Roias had reported a Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers the previous evening.  I managed to find one Least Sandpiper, making Tuesday a five bird day!

Other birds at the flats included two Osprey and two American Pipits.

An outburst of hail sent me running for cover, but cleared up just enough to give me one last attempt at a solitaire on Observatory Hill.  No luck, but hey, five birds in one day isn’t going to happen too many more times this year!

 

 

 

 

Saturday was a birding day of a different kind.  I knew I’d be spending most of the day indoors with wood ducks, wood songbirds, wood owls and wood shorebirds.  It was time again for the Brant Festival carving competition.  I have served for a judge for this event for five or six years now.  Although I have a little experience carving, my reason for being there is to attest to the likeness to real birds.  Among the other judges, ornithologist Gary Kaiser shared the bird “authenticity” role.  Over the years, this event seems to be getting smaller and smaller.  I’d like to encourage anyone who is looking for a new hobby, or those of you who may already carve but are too shy to compete, to seriously consider it.  The carvers are divided up by experience, so novices do not compete against experts.  Believe me when I say that you needn’t be concerned that your beginning work won’t be good enough!

That said, some of the work is truly phenomenal.  Here are a few samples of the advanced and expert carvings.

 

I was keeping up with email alerts during the day, so knew that Cathy Reader had found a Whimbrel at Whiffin Spit. That was too far in distance and time by the time I was finished at the competition.  Then Kirsten Mills had one at Cattle Point. Decisions, decisions, decisions!  This species tends to be fairly reliable at the right time of year on the Victoria Golf Course.  Christian Kelly posted that he’d been unable to locate the Cattle Point bird, so I sent him a text suggesting that the golf course might be the destination. He was already checking the regular shorebird haunts and it wasn’t long before I got a call confirming two on the fairway!  And away I went.  Add Whimbrel to the year list!  Buoyed by our good luck, Christian and I headed to Mt. Doug to look for a Townsend’s Solitaire, but the wind came up and the rain came down, so that put an end to our late afternoon birding plans. Note that this is twice  I got rained out for this species on Mt. Doug and it had also happened to me on Observatory Hill.  A definite trend is developing!

Sunday started with a bird walk at Outerbridge Park.  Daniel and Leo Donnecke were the leaders.  We managed to find 31 species in a little over an hour. I predict this park is going to turn up something unusual in migration!  The plan was to meet up with Ian Cruickshank and Rick Schortinghuis a little later for a trip to Tower Point and Witty’s Lagoon.  I was halfway there when I got a call from Mike and Barb McGrenere.  Townsend’s Solitaire on Observatory Hill.  A u-turn  was in order and off I went to the hill.  Did I mention that it was Sunday?  The gate is locked on Sunday, so that meant a walk up the hill.  At a birder’s pace, that takes about 45 minutes, but I think I made it in about 25. Mike and Barb were still there–but the solitaire wasn’t.  Rick took an even steeper route up, but even with the four of us looking, we couldn’t relocate it.  Since I was already up there, I decided to stay a while longer to try to find it.  I didn’t find any solitaires, but I found about the rattiest ravens that I have ever seen! Normally birds molt after breeding, so I’m not sure what’s up with this pair. Raven molt can take months to complete.

I hung around  until it started to rain and hail. I took cover under an awning and found this cool nest on one of the supports.  I believe it’s a Spotted Towhee nest.  They usually nest on or just above the ground, but it sure looks like one.

 

When the weather broke, I ran for it, down the hill and out to meet up with Ian, Daniel and Rick.  The cars were there when I got to the Tower Point parking lot, but a brisk walk to the point only got me Harbour Seals, no birders.

 

By the time I got back to my car, theirs were gone.  Like solitaires–vanished without a trace! Cell service is sporadic at best in that area, so it took a while to catch up with them.  A couple of quick stops didn’t turn up anything out of the ordinary, and some people felt the need to get on with their lives.  I managed to persuade Daniel to meet me at Panama Flats to check for swallows and shorebirds.

At the flats, there were only Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer in the shorebird category, but the sky was filled with swallows! In the fading light, photographs were a challenge.  Daniel got a couple of good ones but I wanted to share a particularly bad one that I took.

Sometimes when people spot an unusual bird, this is about the quality of the photo that they are able to get.  Needless to say, they might be a little shy to share such a shot.  However, sometimes a picture like this is all that is needed to validate an identification.  Only one species of swallow in this area has the buffy rump, and that’s a Cliff Swallow (new year bird!)  So don’t be shy–take the best shot you can with whatever camera you can get your hands on–even a cell phone.  You may be able to get enough of a picture to document a rare bird sighting!

We had about a dozen Barn , a handful of Cliff  and good numbers of Tree and Violet-green Swallows swirling around us.  Thankfully, they set down a couple of times and posed for some photos.

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Along the dike, a Canada Goose bravely defended her nest. It is likely only a matter of time before these eggs are addled.  The Canada Goose population is out of control here, much as it is in many other places.  She wasn’t the bravest bird I met this week, though.

 

Monday was a bit like deja vu all over again. I had a meeting with some folks at Outerbridge Park to talk about future plans, and then I headed to Observatory Hill to try yet again for the solitaire. I wouldn’t get past the gate, though.

Apparently, a movie was being filmed on Monday, so no birders allowed!

I headed to Maber Flats to look for shorebirds when my phone rang.  It was Mary Robichaud, and she was looking at a Townsend’s Solitaire on Gonzales Hill (about as far away as you can get and still be in town!)  I rushed the scope back into the car and away I went.

As I pulled in to the parking lot, I could see that Jannaca Chick and Christian Kelly were also there.   Great!  Four sets of eyes!  But they weren’t focussed in one direction and that could only mean one thing–the bird was gone.  I said to Christian that we were going to find it. Those must have been the magic words because the wind came up and the rain started pelting down. We tried for about 10 minutes, but it became obvious that no bird in its right mind would be out in this.  Retreat to the cars!  I checked the weather radar and saw that a drier patch was coming so stuck around.

When the rain stopped, I continued my search.  I didn’t find a solitaire, but I found a robin that puzzled me. It had something on its breast, almost looking like it was oiled in three places.  It seemed kind of stressed, too, and even coughed up a bit of food.   But she was sitting well.  I took a few photos and continued up to the cairn and lookout tower.   It wasn’t until I looked at the photos later, I realized that the marks were not oil, but blood.  This poor robin had been attacked, probably by a hawk, and had managed to escape the clutch of the talons with three bad punctures.

I suspect her prognosis is not very good, but she wins the “bravest bird” award from me today.  She’s the thought behind the blog title today.

There were no solitaires on either side of the hill, but the view wasn’t bad.

Heading back towards home, I stopped at Cattle Point.  The Killdeer is still on her eggs in the vernal pool enclosure, and a river otter was sharing its meal with a very patient crow–whether it wanted to or not.

The rain and wind were back by the time I reached Mt. Doug, so I gave it a pass and headed to Maber Flats again.  Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer and Wilson’s Snipe.  Still waiting for peeps.  Any day now!

I ended the day with a nice look at a California Quail.  These birds have been scarce so far this year, but courting has begun in earnest.  Even though these are not native birds, they are still among my favourites!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I arrived at the French Beach campground shortly before sunset on Wednesday evening.   There were only a few other campers, and not much time before it would be dark.   Robins and Varied Thrushes were dominating the forest with only a few Pacific Wrens and a lone Northwestern Crow joining in the evening song.  I parked the van and headed straight to the beach.

It was a beautiful evening that only got better as the sun went down.

I gathered a few pieces of driftwood from the beach for a small campfire and went back to my site to write yesterday’s blog post.  The beauty of van travel is that everything is pretty much ready to go as soon as you arrive.  No need to spend a lot of time setting everything up. I had my tea, my fire and my laptop–the first time I’ve ever opened up a computer at a campsite.  Of course, I couldn’t send the blog until I was back in an internet-friendly zone last night.

After a good night’s sleep, the robins started up again around 6 am.  There were a few more birds in the chorus, but not really too many. The University of Washington’s weather radar is showing lots of bird movement–yes, all that blue is migrating birds–but only a few species are arriving in big numbers.

You can see the volume of birds moving, but of course, you can’t tell what birds they are until they come down.  The volume of robins, Orange-crowned Warblers and White-crowned Sparrows on the ground suggest they make up the majority of the movement.  This will change over the next few weeks.  I’ll take advantage of a rainy day soon to explain how to use radar to monitor bird migration.

 

Thursday morning, I had made arrangements to meet Cathy Carlson at Jordan River. She lives nearby and keeps an eye on the birds on this part of the island for everyone.   Sunrise at Jordan River was as stunning as sunset had been the previous evening.

Jordan River is a small logging community that is undergoing significant changes.  A good chunk of the property was recently acquired by the Capital Regional District.  They took over the oceanfront campground which had been threatened by development by the previous landowner.  Now they have closed it down as a safety precaution in case of a large earthquake that ruptures the dam on the Jordan River.  It’s a loss to the people that have been using the campground for years, but not as much as the loss that is going to be borne by riverside residents.  They are going to be removed from their homes, again as a precautionary measure.  Some residents have poured their hearts and souls (not to mention their money) into these properties for decades.

While I was waiting for Cathy, I birded the area.  The overgrown abandoned yards across the street from the beach have turned up some very interesting rarities over the years, so were well worth checking out. The usual suspects were present, but nothing unusual until I looked up t see a “whirlybird”, a small helicopter flying quite low overhead.I snapped a few photos before I realized that it was coming lower and lower.  A quick look around made me wonder if I was on the landing pad.  I scurried away, but it turns out the pad was just beyond the bushes I was investigating.  We learned later that this helicopter is used to take tree planters into the bush.

When Cathy arrived, we combed the beaches and shrubbery from the parking lot to the bridge.  At the bridge we found a couple of Violet-green Swallows and a single Northern Rough-winged Swallow–a new species for my year list!

As we crossed the bridge, one of the key players at Queesto, the company that is logging the forest, stopped to say “hi” to Cathy.  After a bit of discussion, she had secured permission for us to go up into the forest into a burned area to look for woodpeckers.   We picked up the gate key and headed back to Cathy’s to change vehicles.  Cathy’s husband Ted’s truck would be a much better choice for the logging roads.

After taking on a few provisions, we were off for an adventure of a different kind.  Once we were behind the locked gate, we didn’t have to worry about crossing paths with logging trucks, but we were definitely in an area that was new to both of us.  We had maps, GPS and my Spot, and had good directions to the burned area.  Thankfully, we didn’t get lost, and before long we found ourselves in the burn–and on the edge of a huge, colon-tightening, drop-off.  My Spot showed the area at 600m elevation when I checked the map later.

 

The view here was diverse to say the least, from clearcuts, to burned stumps, to dense forest, replanted areas and down the valley, Diversion Lake.

We looked and listened hard for birds, hoping for some high elevation species, but it was pretty quiet. At this point, we had only heard one Northern Flicker.

One thing we hadn’t considered in exploring this new terrain was how the heck we were going to turn around.  If we’d been in my Fit, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but we wouldn’t have made it up this far.  We moved the truck along the road until we found a wide spot.  From this photo, it looks like we had lots of room to turn around, but somehow, it didn’t seem like so much when a small mistake could send the truck –and the driver–hundreds of feet over the edge into the abyss!

We managed to work it around with only about an eight-point turn.  If we come up again, we’ll stop in a safer area!

We managed to find a few more species on the way down, including a Red-breasted Sapsucker, and even a butterfly–a Comma– stopped by for a visit.

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Last, but not least, we found a Gray Hairstreak butterfly that was amazingly cooperative and posed for a few photos.

By the end of the day, we’d walked more than seven miles and had a real adventure.  It was great to meet another local birder and see some new areas.

Friday started with the usual trip to Maber Flats.  Sadly, the current property owner has begun draining the fields, so it will soon be too dry for waterfowl or shorebirds.  A couple of years ago, Black-necked Stilts nested here.  The owner was gracious enough to leave the standing water until they’d left, but clearly he’s going to make sure that he doesn’t get that request again. With the water gone, the only birds likely to nest here are the Canada Geese–the very birds the farmers don’t want breeding.This property is under consideration for purchase by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.  I hope the purchase goes through, and the sooner, the better!

Friday afternoon, two calls came in.  Cathy Carlson was looking at a Caspian Tern at Esquimalt Lagoon, and Liam Singh got his lifer Townsend’s Solitaire below the summit of Mt. Doug.  Caspian Terns should arrive in good numbers soon, so I had to go for the solitaire!

There is a new parking lot on the Blenkinsop side of Mt. Doug. I parked there and hit the trail, which was amazingly steep and challenging for what I had assumed was the main route up.  I didn’t see Mary Egan’s car in the lot, so I thought they must have just left the area, but as I broke out of the forest, Liam and Mary were up the hill trying to relocate the solitaire.  I made my way up to them, but sadly, the bird was gone.  Liam and I looked for a while longer, but could see that rain clouds were on their way, so headed down.   I was surprised that the trail down seemed unfamiliar and quite a bit easier.  Turns out that the kinder, gentler trail (Mercer) can’t be accessed from the parking lot. The Blenkinsop Trail from the lot is much more difficult. Take it if you want a good workout with some scrambling, but I’ll be using the Mercer Trail the next time I have to go up from that side.

I stopped by Outerbridge Park to post signs about this Sunday’s Bird Walk (9 am- everyone welcome.  Meet at the parking lot.) and headed to Esquimalt Lagoon just in case the tern was still there.  Thankfully, the rain had stopped, but no tern.  Black Oystercatchers and Black Turnstones were among dozens of Mew Gulls, and Great Blue Herons were coming in to feed.

 

Many years ago, I counted 66 herons feeding in the lagoon all at once. These days, there are fewer, but they are always a joy to watch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am writing this in the dark of French Beach Provincial Park, listening to the surf on the cobble beach, and the (thankfully) quiet music of the campers a few sites away from me.  I guess I can’t complain given that I am using my preferred form of electronic entertainment as well.  It’s been a great few days with several additions to my year list. More importantly, there was a spectacle on Wednesday morning that I won’t soon forget!

I had promised myself that I could sleep in on Monday after RPBO’s intense bird banding workshop weekend, but that was not to be.  One of the participants, Kyran Power, had come all the way from Newfoundland for the workshop, and his flight home wasn’t until 7 pm.  Rick Schortinghuis had offered to show him some of the favourite birding sites around town, and Michael Simmons and I joined in.

To begin, a tour of the waterfront was in order, starting at Esquimalt Lagoon and working our way around town.  We visited Ogden Point, Clover Point, Turkey Head and Cattle Point picking up several lifer seabirds for Kyran and a few opportunities for photos for me! A Great Blue Heron was particularly photogenic at Ogden Point.

A brief walk along the breakwater revealed Pigeon Guillemots nesting in the openings under the cruise ship dock. This has been a regular nesting place for them for several years.

At Cattle Point we ran into the Reader-Lee family, who were out doing a little Big Day.  They got a few birds on Monday that I was still missing for my list!

Inside the vernal pool enclosure at Cattle Point, I was both happy and saddened to see a killdeer on her nest, with her mate standing by just in case he had to lure anyone away from his family. The fence kept all of the humans at enough distance to keep the bird safe, but still get some decent photos.  The male  didn’t need to distract us today, but I’m afraid that he is going to be very busy in the near future.  The fencing around those pools is a staging area for crows heading to roost.  This does not bode well if they should come in while mom is off the nest or when the young first hatch.

Heading to Central Saanich for Sky Lark, I managed to add one new species to my list.  Among the fliers over the field on Central Saanich Rd were swallows, and among the swallows was my first Barn Swallow for the year.

At that point, Michael had to return home.  From Michael’s  deck, Kyran got his lifer Barrow’s Goldeneye among the boats moored in Brentwood Bay.

Now down to three sets of eyes, we headed to Goldstream—where we dipped on the American Dipper.  Rick found two old nests under the bridge but there was no sign of recent activity.

After taking the scenic route along Humpback Rd and past the Latoria gravel pit, it was time for Kyran to get to the airport for his long flight home. A great long weekend for him with about 30 lifers!

Tuesday started a little later, but more vertical.  House Wrens had been reported on Observatory Hill, so up I went. Rick’s truck was in the lower parking lot when a non-birding friend and I arrived for the walk up, but a quick phone call revealed that he was already at the top and starting back down.  He had seen four House Wrens.  I only got two, but that was one more than I needed for another new species!

Although I already had Chipping Sparrow for my list, thanks to an out-of-season bird earlier in the year, it was nice to see one out in the open along the road edge.

Returning down the hill via the wooded path, we found a Barred Owl lurking in the woods. Let’s hope that he didn’t find and dispose of the Pygmy Owl heard on a previous trip!

From the mountain to the flats. I got dropped off near Maber Flats to check it out on my way home. There are perfect shorebird mudflats there right now. But unfortunately, no shorebirds to speak of—a killdeer or two, and the occasional Greater Yellowlegs. Then Rick called—he was looking at an odd duck at Viaduct. Lesson to be learned here. I was now without a vehicle, and the fastest I could get home and get my car was half an hour. That’s not too bad, but I’ll need to keep this in mind for future chases, especially during the peak of migration.

Rick still had the bird in his scope when I arrived. The bird was the size and shape of a female Hooded Merganser, certainly a member of the merganser family. Some years ago, Rick and RPBO’s bander in charge, Brian Pomfret had found a European duck, and this one bore some resemblance to that. This one had two white lines from the yellow eye down towards the neck.

I posted the information to BCVIBIRDS (Yahoo group) and it wasn’t long before an answer was revealed.  Jeremy Gatten identified the duck as a first winter male just going into breeding plumage. I don’t know if it was just wishful thinking for something exotic, but it had sure baffled Rick and me!

By this point, I saw a message that Mike and Barb McGrenere had seen a Townsend’s Solitaire on Mt. Doug.  I need one of those!  Thankfully, it was after noon, so I was able to drive to the top. The mountain is closed to automobiles in the morning, meaning that only the fit and free, with sufficient energy and time can bird there in the mornings. Of course, birding is generally better in the mornings, and by the time I arrived, the bird was gone. Vultures were soaring over the Blenkinsop Valley, providing some interesting photo opportunities.

I had planned to go west to Jordan River on Tuesday afternoon, but with all this running around, I missed the chance to empty my van’s holding tank. I opted instead for an early night at home and a very early trek up the Malahat in the hopes of finding Sooty Grouse and maybe Townsend’s Solitaire.

My alarm went off at 4 a.m. and I was out of the house by 4:30.  It was still dark when I reached the end of Goldstream Heights. Warren Drinnan had told me that you could hear Sooty Grouse hooting up there at the right time of the season.  The robins were going full bore when I arrived.  White-crowned Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats joined in.  I was surprised to hear the winnowing of Wilson’s Snipe, but later saw that there was a boggy area under the powerlines, so it made sense.  Then I heard it. I think.

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Or was it just the creek?  Or a tree?  No, I was pretty sure.  Listen between the Orange-crowned Warbler trills.  Then I heard the clucks of a female Sooty Grouse.  Check!

I knew that the nearby street had some amazing eastern views, so I decided to head up there to get some photos of the sunrise.  I was barely around the corner when I saw something on the road.  A raccoon?  A cat?  No!  It was a male Sooty Grouse in full on display mode!  I grabbed my camera for a few really bad pictures—in the dark, through the windshield.

I shut of the car and let him pass in peace, then parked and tried to get some better shots.  The light was still so low that everything was blurred, but I could hear another male hooting less than 100m away.

Then I saw one fly and land in a tree. It was the subject of their desire, a Sooty Grouse hen.  I was able to get close enough to her to get some decent shots in the rising sun.

Eventually, she made her choice.  Male number 1 was the winner, and she flew over to the tree he was sitting in. Needless to say, that got him pretty excited!

 

In all, I heard at least seven Sooty Grouse, more than I have ever heard in one place.  Hooting continued until after 9 a.m. There were dozens of Orange-crowned Warblers and White-crowned Sparrows, many Yellow-rumped Warblers and lots of other birds around as well.

 

 

I didn’t really want to leave, but eventually I pulled myself away. There were some dirty birds to be had in Duncan!

This was my second attempt to find Western Bluebirds where they had been seen going to nest boxes.  On Wednesday, they were exceptionally cooperative!

Are these “dirty” birds or not?  Western Bluebirds used to breed on southern Vancouver Island, but had been exterpated years ago. The Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team (GOERT) has been reintroducing this species in the Cowichan Valley for the last few years, bringing birds from Washington to Duncan.  The birds and their offspring are all colour-banded, so can be identified as individuals. So who is this happy couple?

Jemma Green of GOERT provided the following information.

The female fledged last August from a nest on the property across from/just past Henderson Rd. Her parents were translocated in April and released on the property, where they had two successful nests (they are back again this year, nesting in their former box). 

The male hatched on a property next to the NCC’s Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve in 2013. He returned last year but due to the biased sex ratio never found a mate.  

Both birds were conceived and hatched in the Cowichan Valley.  The male has returned for the past two years. By American Birding Association Rules, these birds are countable:

Per Recording Rule 3.B(vi), an individual of one of these species may be counted only if the population it belonged to had successfully hatched young in the wild prior to the encounter.

I know, though, that there are birders on the island that would not count these birds as their parents were physically brought to the area. For now, I’ll flag them as “dirty”, but I think they will be okay to count.

What a great day!  I swung by Cowichan Bay on the way home in case there were any surprised.  A Greater Yellowlegs strolled close to shore, but no other shorebirds were in sight.

Back in Victoria, I changed vehicles and headed west in the van for my next adventure.

 

The last several days have had precious little time for birding, even though there was a lot of time spent outside.  Each year, Rocky Point Bird Observatory holds a three-day introductory bird banding workshop.  I had several things to  prepare on Thursday, but not before I got some birding in!

Thursday morning, I met up with Ian Toews again, this time at Panama Flats.  The mud was perfect for shorebirds, but they hadn’t discovered that yet.   We heard one Greater Yellowlegs fly in, and reports over the last few days suggest that the word is getting out, with as many as nine being spotted there over the weekend.  However, my “target” for the day was Common Yellowthroat, and Panama did not disappoint.  Almost immediately, one singing male was evident, and by the time we left, we had heard and seen several.  I was hoping for one or two new swallows, but didn’t get them yet.

From the flats to the hills, we headed up Observatory Hill to see if any solitaires had arrived.  No solitaires, but the Turkey Vultures were putting on a show in the wind.

 

I guess we stood a little too still, because they came in for a closer look!  Several years ago, Ed Pellizzon and I found a nest on Observatory Hill, but the area is now closed to the public so we don’t know if it is still being used.  Given the number of vultures that stay around the area, I suspect there may be more than one active site on the hill.

Ian and I parted ways, and I headed west to look for a bird that should have been on my list by now-a Spotted Sandpiper.  Several of these birds overwinter in  Victoria, but our paths hadn’t crossed. I had seen some in previous years at Fleming Beach, so that seemed like a good place to check out. It had been a while since I visited Macaulay Point, too.

The sandpiper wasn’t there, but it was a beautiful afternoon by that point, so I wandered around for a while.  There was a small raft of Bufflehead in the bay- one male and several females.  I have seen several groups like this in the past month.  This is a litle surprising as Bufflehead are considered to be primarly monogamous, staying with the same mate for many years.  They are one of the duck species that uses nest cavities, primarily of those constructed by flickers. They’ll soon head north or to the interior of BC to breed, to return to Victoria in the fall.

Ducks were not the only things on the water on Thursday.

The medication helps to enhance blood flow while planned lovemaking session. viagra in india http://deeprootsmag.org/2015/07/14/south-dakota-puc-to-tribes-drop-dead/ All these herbs in right dosage offer effective cure for excessive precum, wet dreams or nightfall, nocturnal emissions, spermatorrhea, semen leakage in urine levitra samples deeprootsmag.org and premature ejaculation. You will be shocked to know that Kamagra is an FDA approved medication that non prescription viagra you can try here has passed over 3500 tests worldwide; proving beyond all doubt that it is indeed safe to use. For someone who is having erectile dysfunction, the medicinal tadalafil from cipla benefits outweigh the risk factors. It wasn’t especially birdy at Macaulay Point, but this spot can be very good at times.

Next was a brief interview on CBC radio to talk about things we can do to help bird populations.  This was prompted by a news release from the BC Ministry of Environment.  There is a lot more that can and should be done on a larger scale, of course, but I’m happy to see that this kind of advice is becoming mainstream news.

I headed to the Lochside Trail where the bluebirds were still being seen to try to get a few better photos and maybe see a Brown-headed Cowbird that Daniel Donnecke reported earlier in the morning, but the bluebirds kept their distance and the cowbird was a no-show.  Orange-crowned Warblers were singing from clusters of blossoms along the trail.

Meeting up with Daniel at Viaduct Flats next, we had a look at a Great Horned Owl nest with two ready-to-jump offspring.  I suspect these birds will be out by the time you read this blog.

 

Then it was time to go home and pull everything together for the banding worshop.  Most of the gear is stored at my home, and it needed to be sorted and packed for the class, lab, and field sessions.  Totes, boxes, bags  and odds and ends were all packed into my car, ready for the big event.

The workshop is one of the major sources of funding for RPBO banding activities, and also fulfills our public education mandate. We started offering these courses in 2003 and have been improving ever since. Eighteen students from as far away as California and Newfoundland enrolled in our course this year.  We pride ourselves on a very high volunteer to student ratio.  In fact, over the weekend, there are typically more volunteers than students.  For the field component, we have one experienced trainer for every three students.  The weather cooperated and a wonderful time was had by everyone.

During the lunch breaks,  Mary Robichaud, Margie Shepherd and I scurried out to find a couple of new birds for our year lists.  On Saturday, we finally located the Spotted Sandpiper  at Albert Head Lagoon, and on Sunday, Mary and I each finally saw an Osprey at the nest near the Belmont Park Fire Hall.  This puts my list at 164 for the year–or 162 if you don’t like the Glaucous and Kumlien’s Iceland Gull.

With the workshop over, it’s time to start up in earnest again.  Monday morning, a few of us are heading out for a day of birding. Migrants are coming in, and who knows, there might be a few surprises among the usual returnees!

 

Song title and attribution or personal comment?  Actually, both.

Monday morning was the rainiest day of my trip.  It’s one thing to listen to the pitter-patter of the drops during the night, and quite another to have to gear up for wind and rain while birding.  I was glad that Rick and Libby were able to take me out on Monday morning and we quickly picked up some common and not-so-common birds for my Alberni list.  A Band-tailed Pigeon was perched on a Douglas-fir just behind their house and we had several new county birds before we’d even left their neighbourhood.

Ring-necked Pheasant was a pleasant surprise and cleaned up one of my “dirty” birds.  Although it is clearly an introduced species, they are not currently being released in this area for hunting.

Just down the road was a particularly sad sight.

Many years ago, one of the locals was a victim of cat-dumping.  People were dropping cats off at his farm and making them his problem.  He fed and trapped them, had them neutered and released them back on his farm.  People would see that there were a number of cats there, and continued to dump their unwanted pets on his property. After huge personal expense, he could apparently no longer keep up with the spaying and neutering, and his place is now overrun with abandoned pets and their offspring.  This is not good for the landowner, and not good for the cats either.  Certainly not good for the wildlife.

Libby and Rick know all the best places to take visitors. We spent some time sifting through scaup at the sewage lagoons and  looked out over the local landfill. The rain kept coming with only a few breaks, so there aren’t any photos.  I know what water does to digital cameras!

Near McCoy Lake, I was able to get a shot of a grounded vulture.  I think it and its friends were picking up worms!

Time was ticking away, and I had a meetup planned in Duncan, so shortly before lunch, I was on my way back through the windy Alberni forests.

In Duncan, I met up with Derrick Marven and Ian Toews.  Ian is doing a documentary on Vancouver Island birders, so this meetup was essential!  While waiting, Derrick and I had great looks at a male Northern Harrier hunting in the fields.

We walked the Somenos Marsh boardwalk and got a bit of a history lesson on the area.  Every time we visit sites like these, we should remember that they exist because a few people had a vision for conservation and put their energy into turning it into a reality.  There are millions of good ideas out there, but it takes a person (or 10) to take one of those ideas and create something wonderful like the Somenos outdoor classroom!  It’s stunning how much difference one person can make!

Before we left the area, Ian and I checked out Duncan’s sewage lagoons and tried to find some bluebirds near Quamichan Lake.  No luck this time, but Mountain Bluebirds had been seen in an accessible location in Victoria.  They would have to wait (I hoped) until the morning.

Bright and early Tuesday, Ian and I met up on the Lochside Trail to try to reolcate the Mountain Bluebirds found on Monday by Mike McGrenere.  Mike has good history and good sense about a lot of birds and he had predicted he would find bluebirds after the weekend rain.  He was right AND they were still there!  Two female Mountain Bluebirds were on the “famous” fence that has hosted many rarities over the years.

 

Warren Lee came by on his way to work for a second look at these birds.

One who can prescribe online doctor viagra, UK without a problem. Nitric oxide helps in the production of cyclic guanosine monophosphate get interfered by PDE5 chemical then this leads to develop impotency as the proper shape of blood vessels could not be maintained after the restrictions imposed by http://amerikabulteni.com/2016/12/08/time-trumpa-seytan-boynuzu-mu-takti/ viagra online phosphodiesterase enzyme. This procedure allows seeing abnormalities in the upper gastrointestinal generic viagra online (GI) tract that may not be visible on X-rays. Some Facts About Chiropractic Although san francisco chiropractic treatments are common legally everywhere in the entire world, 99% involving adult men have to sildenafil without prescription have suffered with quick climaxing as well as regulate the immune system. Ian and I made a quick trip to Rithet’s Bog before I headed back up the peninsula for a non-birding (right!) walk around the Victoria Airport.

I left my camera at home and took only my emergency binoculars for a walk with Mike Nightingale around the airport footpath.  If I’d taken my camera, a two-hour walk would have easily turned into three!  I thought I might see some more bluebirds along the fences, but they didn’t appear, nor did any kestrels.  Several years ago, American Kestrels nested at the corner of the airport at Beacon Avenue,  but they’ve been less reliable lately. I heard only one Meadowlark, and after intense listening, one Sky Lark.  It was a good workout if not a good bird list!

While I was near the small cemetary (best spot for Sky Lark), Rick Schortinghuis called.  He had seen two Marbled Godwit at Esquimalt Lagoon.  That would be my afternoon destination!

By the time I got to Esquimalt Lagoon, others had seen the godwits and reported them on eBird.  Although I had this species for my year list, I did not have it for the Capital county.  The wind was howling, and it was pretty cold.  I looked on the ocean side.  I looked near the bridge.  I had just started to walk along the roadway when I saw a couple of tall waders making their way along the inside of the lagoon about 100m southwest of the bridge.  I snapped a few quick shots, then walked quite a bit ahead of them and sat down on the gravel beach as the approached.  Did I mention that it was cold?

Patience paid off, though, as the birds came fairly close before decided that a person on the beach was still a person and turned around.

Mary Robichaud was also there looking for them, and we were glad to get good looks on such a windy afternoon.  We decided to press our luck and go to Albert Head Lagoon to look for a Spotted Sandpiper.  This is a reasonably common bird, but neither of us had it for our year list.  We still don’t.

My evening plans included banding some nestling Barn Owls, but they have already flown the coop.  Instead, I spent some time along the Sidney waterfront, where a gull was having a seastar dinner.

I don’t know why they eat these things–they can’t have a lot of nutrition, and they must really hurt coming out!  This is about the fourth time I’ve seen this specific behaviour.  The gull gets two legs into its mouth, with three hanging out.  Eventually the seastar pulls those legs in and goes down the gull’s throat. If you look closely, you can see the wiggling tube feet of the seastar in this photo.  I think it’s an avian ploy.  The gull just sits there. The seastar must think it’s going into a safe dark crevice or something, when it’s actually entering the digestive system of a predator.  The calcium carbonate skeleton of the seastar must eventually break down inside the gull, but that must take a while. Hmm.. maybe seastars are the gull’s antacids!

As the sun set, I headed to an area near the abandoned Sandown Race Track, since I’d heard that there was a Barn Owl nest in the timing tower.

 

There are lots of signs about not trespassing here, but fortunately good views can still be had from public areas.

The sunset was gorgeous.

As the light just about disappeared, about 8:10, an owl flew by, not from the tower as expected, but just passing over the hedgerow.  I had a Barn Owl, and a new species as my last bird of March.

My big year is 1/4 done, and I have 162 birds on my list, including the two questionable gulls and the Beacon Hill Park Black Duck.  A good start no matter how you count!  The next few weeks should see a serious bump in the numbers.  My first pelagic trip is just over one month away!

 

The Cape Lazo RV Campground was pretty much wall-to-wall motor homes on this dark and stormy night.  After the empty campground the previous night, I was a little surprised. The park is under new  ownership who obviously take a lot of pride in the place.  My van, which seems as big as a tank to me, was dwarfed by the homes-on-wheels around me.   No matter–I tucked in and waited out the storm.

In the morning, I headed back to Kye Bay, and as hoped for, there were plenty of gulls to meditate with.  There must have been a small herring spawn somewhere nearby recently as there was fresh roe washing up onto the beach in spots.

A rarity, should it choose to appear, would be nice, but today was more about sitting among the gulls learning to appreciate the subtle and myriad variations that even the familiar species could have.  I took many photos of gulls that I found interesting, and I plan to spend some time going through them to confirm or deny that there was something special on the beach that day.  I should have the Howell and Dunn book badly dogeared by the end of this year!

Case in point is this pretty little gull. No, not a “Little Gull”, a little gull (which is why capitals are important on bird names!)

 

Okay, the field marks for this species include a medium gray mantle and wings, black wing-tips with large windows on the outer primaries, yellow legs and no marks on the bill. Do you see any of these features on this bird?  Granted, it’s an immature individual, but the only things that give this Mew Gull away are its size and shape. Gulls are hard!

Rosemary Bishop gave me the tip on where the gulls had gone, and I was pleased to meet her on the beach on Saturday.

Offshore, a decent raft of seaducks bobbed around in the waves. I looked through them several times to try to find an oddity, but they were mostly the expected Surf Scoters, Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Ducks and a few others. It took me several passes before I could even pull out a Black Scoter for the day, but eventually I found a few.

When you spend hours at the beach, occasionally you feel the need for, erm, some relief.  I have been continually amazed by the number of parks, rest stops and resorts that post signs like this:

but greet you only with locked gates and doors.  I guess people don’t need to use the washrooms in any season but the summer.  I can understand if they don’t want to do the full maintenance thing, but really, I think that public parks should at least have a porta-potty for the off season.  Score another point for the van!

Ian Cruickshank has given me another quest for the spring.  As you may know, Ian is a prolific recordist. There are some species which we only hear briefly in the spring before they head north.  Do you recognize this song?
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The advent of smartphones with voicerecorder apps has made capturing this kind of information so much easier than in the past.  I expect we’ll soon see an abundance of new files loaded onto sites like Xeno-canto.org and new identification tools developed. This is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  Ian is studying their song variations, and I’m sure would welcome samples from others as well.

From Kye Beach, my GPS suggested that nearby Airport Beach would be a good place to check out.  The management at CFB Comox suggested otherwise. Sunday afternoon before April 1?  I didn’t even try.  

 

In a past life, I drove an AMC Pacer.  It was such an unusual car that I had to behave myself as people could see me coming.  I feel the same way about the van–it’s hardly inconspicuous!  This sign has the phone numbers for permission, though, just in case you are planning a trip to this beach.  I opted for nearby Kin Beach instead.

At Kin Beach, there were a few people and a nice flock of shorebirds. Black-bellied Plovers were in various stages of molts, and a few Dunlin were among them to keep things interesting.

 

I tried, without success, to turn a plover or two into a Golden.

After a full day at the beach, it was time to move on.  My county list for Alberni-Clayquot was sadly missing many of the very common birds of the area, so I had decided to head west on my way home.

The Alberni Highway takes you through some incredibly scenic areas, but in my van, I have to say the road felt harrowing.  There are long stretches of winding roads and while the locals can take the curves at good speeds, I reluctantly admit I was one of those drivers you hate to get behind. Unlike the 101 in Washington, the BC highways have very few pullouts, and I am not familiar enough with the van yet to experiment with its stability.  I pulled over when I could, drove as fast as the engine would take me going uphill and eventually made it to Port Alberni for the night.  My plan had been to “camp” in the Wal-Mart parking lot, as they allow overnight parking for RVs, but I got a much better offer.  Libby and Rick Avis invited me for tea and let me camp in their driveway.

And then it rained.

My  four day excursion from Friday to Monday started with me realizing just how unprepared I was to take such an excursion!  My plans to be out of the house before 8 am ran about three hours late, and overall, I fell quite a bit short on the planning part of the plan. I figured I needed to spend some quality time with gulls, so what better place to go than Oceanside (Parksville and Qualicum). Just two short weeks ago, the beaches were rich with herring roe and birds eating it. I understood that a second feeding frenzy would take place when the eggs hatched, so I figured the window would be close to right.

I had managed to check eBird to see what birds I might want to pick up en route. As a way of keeping the energy levels high throughout the year, I’m also doing a “county” list for each of the regional districts on the island. eBird is pretty good at managing this except for the Comox and Strathcona regions which went their separate ways in 2008.  eBird is a little behind in that regard! I recently split my  list along the true “county” lines, so you’ll notice a new column on my species table. However, since I started the year with the two counties joined, I didn’t always eBird my lists if I didn’t pick up a new species, so I’m having to redo several species that I’m pretty sure I had for both Comox and Strathcona.

My van has been repaired, and it was overdue for a road trip, so off we went!  Keep in mind that I normally drive a Honda Fit, a sporty subcompact that sips gas.  My other vehicle is a 1997 Roadtrek 170. It’s a camper van/RV on a Dodge 2500 chassis. It feels like a monster truck in comparison, even though it’s technically a standard vehicle (i.e. will fit in a regular parking space at Tim Hortons!) I’m reasonably comfortable going forward in it—I have owned an even larger truck in the past—but backing up and curvy roads make me a little nervous still.

A stop in the Cowichan Valley was in order, and Somenos Marsh was the place. Lots of easy parking and some potential for good birds, too! Tree Swallows were definitely the birds of the day here, and they were busily pairing up and trying to find good homes. House Sparrows in some of the boxes had other ideas, though. I had to make a couple of other short stops to pick up a couple of other birds, and managed to bump my list up by a few.

In Nanaimo, I was stopped at a traffic light when I heard a loud crack. Loud cracks are seldom sounds you want to hear. It took me a few seconds to register what had happened—this:

 

Right in the centre of my windshield.  I have no idea where the rock came from. The “good” news is that this kind of damage can usually be fixed for about $50. I shouldn’t have to replace the whole windshield. My gas tank was ¼ full so I decided to top it up.  $115 later…

I had done the math earlier in the year.  I needed to stay away for at least two nights to justify using the van.  Otherwise, the Fit and a motel might actually be less expensive. A big year of pretty much any kind is apparently not for the faint of wallet! Compared to travelling off the island, however, staying on Vancouver Island is definitely a less expensive way to go, and I am getting to visit and explore some pretty cool places.

The day was wearing on, so I decided to go directly to the Little Qualicum Estuary, scene of a seaduck and gull frenzy the last time I was there.  (Just a question—why do people get so knotted about the use of the word seagull, but not seaduck? Many seaducks also spend time inland.) If there were seacrickets, you could have heard them chirping. There were almost no birds at all! I had noticed the same at Qualicum Beach as I drove by.  Where did the thousands of birds go??

I birded the neighbourhood around the estuary until the rain drove me inside. One of the nice things about having the van is that anyplace can be a good place for a nap!It was still raining when I left and time to figure out where I was going to stay for the night.  Since Qualicum was quiet, I thought I’d head to Parksville for Saturday morning. I stayed at an official RV park—the one with the mini-golf course and big shoe on Hwy 19A.  The streetside is anything but natural, but the other side overlooks Parksville Bay. There were only two big motorhomes and me at the park on Friday night. I left the windows open so I might hear owls (I didn’t), and was nice and cozy under several comforters for the night. Before I turned in for the night, I posted a message on the BCVIBIRDS Yahoo group to see if anyone knew where the gulls had gone.  One great thing about the birding community is that it can be a great source of current information!  In the morning, it was a little chilly.  The next good thing about the van—I can turn on the heater without getting out of bed! It was nice and toasty when I got up.

The rain had stopped and the tide was out. Dunlin and Greater Yellowlegs shared the beach with good numbers of Brant and gulls. I was happy!

Then I saw a man walking out towards the bird with something in his arms.  Was he a birder?  A photographer?  No, a father, with a small boy he set loose at the shore to chase all the birds!

I approached him and asked if he had to let his son do that. The conversation went something like this:
Him: He’s just a one-year old kid.  I can’t stop him from chasing the birds.  Besides, I’m a hunter.

Me: You were encouraging him to chase them.

Him: So what? Maybe I should just dig a pit here and shoot them.  They’ve been having a lot of trouble with geese around here.
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Me: You’re a hunter and you don’t know the difference between Brant and Canada Geese?

Him: Whatever. You’re just bugged because you didn’t get pictures of the geese.

Me: You’re a hunter and you don’t know the difference between a camera and a spotting scope? I’m looking at the gulls.

Him: Whatever.  I didn’t look that carefully.  If you want to waste your time on shithawks…

Me: Yep, respect for nature.  I hear you!

At which point he walked off.  This guy couldn’t have been a more stereotypical redneck if he tried.  Plaid shirt, broken front teeth and foul mouth.  He muttered something about his kid just eating sand.   I’m not a parent, but if I had a kid, I don’t think I’d be encouraging him to eat the sand just vacated by hundreds of geese and “shithawks”.

Fortunately, the day was saved by a sane couple (Kelsey and Connor) I met on the beach just enjoying the scene and  Dave Baird, who was coming from Nanaimo to join me in some birding. Dave and I met up and headed to the Parksville Wetlands. It was fairly birdy throughout the area, but the highlight was about 70 Evening Grosbeaks in several groups, mostly feeding in the flowers of maple trees. We also had a fleeting glimpse of a sapsucker that had us wondering if it might have been a Red-naped instead of the expected Red-breasted.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t relocate it.

From there, we headed to the Little Qualicum Fish Hatchery for great looks at American Dippers feeding, swimming and gathering materials for their nest on  a light under the roadway. Dippers have had a nest at this location for more than a decade.

 

There were also several Red-breasted Sapsuckers working the trees along the hatchery trails.

Our last stop of the day was at Moorecroft Regional Park, another new spot for me.  Guy and Donna Monty manage this park, but they were otherwise occupied while we were there.  It’s a former church campsite, now open to the public and well worth a visit.  It has oceanfront, wetlands and easily-walked forested trails.

 

It wasn’t particularly birdy when Dave and I were there, but it is definitely a spot worth another visit.  I’ll share more the next trip!

From Moorecroft, I headed north again, this time to Kye Bay, where Rosemary Bishop had provided a tip that the gulls were gathered there!  Sure enough, when I arrived just before sunset, there were good numbers on the beach.  The wind was coming up, though, and it was raining again, so I headed to the Cape Lazo RV Park for another stormy night.

To be continued…