Here’s a little video to get you in the mood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5H7fJSw-nY

With only two days left in the year, my best bet for a new species was on the water. Despite many hours of searching, I was still missing Brown Pelican and Red Phalarope (among others) for my year list, and Yellow-billed Loon and Black Scoter for my Victoria Checklist list.

But there was still that lingering American Tree Sparrow at Panama Flats.  Although it hadn’t been seen for weeks, I thought I would give it one last try.  The flats looked very different than the last time I’d been through.  Although the days have been bright and sunny here since Monday, the overnight temperatures were quite low.  The ducks didn’t seem to know what to do with the solid water.

I checked the mixed flock of sparrows at the Carey Rd gate and even left an offering in hopes of attracting more for my return after checking the last place it was seen, but American Tree Sparrow was not to be!

I headed to town for a whale watching trip from Victoria’s Inner Harbour. As I arrived, I got a call from Rick Schortinghuis. He had an “interesting” gull all the way across town. Cathy Reader and her daughters, Emma and Rebecca, were at Tower Point, too, and the four of them were not sure if they had a really, really, good bird or just an “in between” stage of something more common.  I had to decide whether to throw away my non-refundable reservation for the tour and chase the bird, or continue as planned.  It would have taken me the better part of an hour to reach Tower Point, and I had seen pelicans just two days earlier in Port Angeles….  I decided to stay the course.

It was a nice day, with not much wind, but it was cold.  By the time I had four layers and a survival suit on, I could barely move!

Visitors from Mexico and Belgium joined the Canadians in the Zodiac and off we went, first east to the Chain Islets then out past Discovery. No whales (or pelicans), but some amazing scenery.

 

By this time, there was a light chop on the water, occasionally sending spray into the boat. It was clear that the camera was going to have to be put away in my dry bag, but where could I put it to make sure it didn’t take the pounding we were already getting?  In the end, I balanced it on my upturned feet, making me feel a lot like a King Penguin guarding its egg!  I hoped my body and boots would provide enough shock absorption to keep my gear operational.

Whale watching boats are built for speed, and Gary sure knew how to manage this one.  As we turned and headed west, the pressure of the air going by us threatened to strip off hats and gloves. Eventually, the insulating hats had to go.  I was sure glad I was wearing a hoodie!

We took a tour around Race Rocks, then headed out past East Sooke Park with still no whales or pelicans.  A Black-legged Kittiwake flew alongside the boat for a little while, but I think I was the only one who fully appreciated the moment.  Gary’s track record for finding whales had been pretty good all year, and he was not one to go down easily to defeat.  He asked all on board if we should go for another 20 minutes–and we did, almost all the way to Sheringham Point.

With no whales in sight, and the sun threatening to set before we got back, Gary put the pedal to  the metal and back we headed, full speed.  By this time, the chop had gotten heavier and with the sun descending, the air had gotten cooler.  We pounded our way back to Victoria.  They warn people with back issues not to take these Zodiac trips.  I could see why!  We arrived back before the sun was down, warmed up with hot chocolate, and for those who could try again, picked up rainchecks, a standard procedure if no whales are found.  Interestingly, six boats went out on Wednesday and none found whales.  I wonder if this was a side effect of the previous night’s earthquake.

It was definitely nice to get home and into a hot bath!  I went to check the Spot track for the day and…  Nothing.  I will say more about this in another post or a review, but let’s just say that I didn’t get my full year’s worth of service.  So, I have made my own maps for the last two days of the year.  They won’t be as accurate as the Spot maps, but they’ll give you an idea of our route.

 

Thursday was the final day of my big year and I enlisted the help of Rick Schortinghuis and Ian Cruickshank to do a north to south blitz of the Victoria Checklist area.

We started at dawn in Ladysmith (which, of course, meant we had to leave Victoria well before dawn).

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Surely there must be Black Scoters or Yellow-billed Loons out there somewhere!

Most stops along the way were decidedly un-birdy.  We made stops in Saltair, Chemainus, Mill Point, Crofton, and Maple Bay  before we came across Princess Holly near Quamichan Lake. The property owner allowed us to check his holly farm for the thrushes and waxwings we could hear from the road, but nothing out of the ordinary turned up.

There were lots of ducks at Quamichan Lake, but they mostly clung along the very farthest shore. Why does this always seem to be the way?

 

After a couple of stops on the lake, we headed to look for sparrows on Richard’s Trail and a couple of other spots, hit Somenos Lake and Tim Hortons, then went on to the prime destination: the Duncan sewage ponds.  Barrow’s Goldeneyes joined the regulars–Wood Ducks, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks and others, along with several gull species, but no Redhead, no Tufted Duck and no Iceland Gull.

As the light started to fade, we headed to Cowichan Bay, Dougan Lake, and Cherry Point.

Finally, we spotted something interesting.  A pale-billed loon was a couple of hundred metres away from shore.  As loons do, it kept diving just as soon as we could get our scopes on it. The bill was held at a slight upward tilt, the colour was paler than the Common Loons nearby, the face was whiter and the colour transition gentler than on the Commons.  Could this be a Yellow-billed Loon?  Could it?

 

We studied it for about 30 minutes as the light got dimmer and dimmer.  By the time we left, we were about 90% certain that this bird was good for Yellow-billed Loon, which wouldn’t change my year total, but would set a new record for the Victoria Checklist area.  I’ve sent the photos to a few other records committee types to get their evaluation.

A quick,  post sunset trip along the waterfront in Mill Bay didn’t turn up anything new.  And then it was over.

This has been an incredible year.  I ended 2015 with 268 species on and around Vancouver Island, a total that would not have been possible without considerable help and support from the birding community on the island.  If I start to name names here, I’m sure that I would miss someone, but their names and contributions are peppered liberally through this blog.  I hope to get the chance to thank each and every one of them in person in 2016.

The quest may be over, but the blog isn’t quite yet.  Over the next week or two, I’ll be writing a few more posts–a post-game analysis, thoughts on strategy, things I’ve taken away from this wonderful adventure.  I’ll also update everyone on the funds raised in support of Rocky Point Bird Observatory.

At the beginning of the year, my friend Dave Irons said that this would likely be my first–and last–big year.  Don’t bet on it!

And to all of you who have been following my travels, thank you for your interest.  I hope you have been entertained and maybe even inspired by my adventures. May you all have your own wonderful year in 2016!