A lovely male Anna's hummingbird was singing away in the Mafeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo, early afternoon today. And a song sparrow was having a tuneful mutter too, just to contradict my recent post about there being no songbirds down there - although I did predict their imminent arrival. Hardly makes me Nostradamus, I know...
Bufflehead, goldeneye, harlequin, double-crested cormorant etc on the water.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Snow business like goose business
The paths were busy-ish and, being early afternoon, bird activity was at a minimum. We heard crossbills, red-breasted nuthatch and Steller's jay, saw a few chestnut-backed chickadees, a downy 'pecker and a bald eagle but it wasn't really birdy at all. Which suited Jenny.
Something of a surprise though, was a juvenile snow goose in with a group of Canadas at the north end of the lake. I think I'm right in saying that this is the first time I've seen the species on the island, and this really wasn't the sort of place I expected to find one...
The attached pic, which is terrible even by my usually low standards, was taken by holding my camera up to my binocular eyepiece, so under the circumstances I think it's pretty good! Mike Yip, Ralph Hocken et al, can all rest easy...
Other wildfowl present on the lake included common mergansers and buffleheads.
We left Westwood and headed for the relative peace and quiet of the Nanaimo River Regional Park. Again, it wasn't very birdy, but the place has a good feel and I reckon it should be pretty productive once spring really gets going. We'll see.
Also pictured: the spooky northern end of Westwood Lake and Jenny inspects the Nanaimo River.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
A slight hint of spring
I awoke to be thrilled by the beautiful, calm, bright morning - seems a while since I've seen any blue sky...
As per usual, dropped Jenny off at work then headed off to the Nanaimo River Estuary for a dig around.
Once again, I arrived to find that I had the place to myself and I set off toward the big oak with something of a spring in my step, thanks to the sound of birdsong in the air.
House finches, Bewick's wrens and song sparrows were all being motivated to give their lungs a good blast in the sunshine.
The 'big' flock was in and around the brambles just by the tree, and I soon picked up the white-throated sparrow feeding on the ground with some golden-crowneds. The sound of a Western meadowlark drew my attention away and I noticed 3 birds close by, with a small group of starlings.
As I looked up I noticed that Ralph Hocken had arrived and was taking pics of the meadowlarks from the path up from the parking area.
I headed off down the long hedge for a while but it was pretty quiet. A lone Northern shrike and a bunch of flickers were the only things of note.
I could hear the lovely sound of a singing meadowlark and looking round, noticed the three birds in a hawthorn in the adjacent field.
I headed back and caught up with Ralph, who had got some great shots of the 'larks. He hadn't seen the WT sparrow though, so we decided to try and find it again. Unfortunately, a concerted effort failed to come up with the goods and despite grilling the flock, the target bird remained elusive. We did, at least, get views of the Lincoln's sparrow.
Out on the marsh, the trumpeter swans numbered fewer than 30 birds though, like last week, they had pretty much all cleared out by midday.
As usual, the majority of wildfowl consisted of American wigeon, pintail and green-winged teal with smaller numbers of gadwall and mallard. The drake Eurasian wigeon was present and a few bufflehead, greater scaup, common merganser, common goldeneye and gaggle of Canada geese completed the set of web-footed wonders.
A pair of amorous red-tailed hawks were having fun in the distance and a couple of peregrine zipped through.
26 great blue heron were hanging out on the marsh and a belted kingfisher was on the river.
Early afternoon, I made my customary pre-Jenny-pick-up, stop at Buttertubs Marsh but it was pretty unremarkable. Still a dozen or so ring-necked duck and a few hooded merganser, plus 3 pied-billed grebe on the water. Very little in the way of notable passerines - just a couple of varied thrush, a brown creeper, ruby-crowned kinglet and some singing red-winged blackbirds.
A Cooper's hawk nearly took my head off though...
Later, on our way back to Cedar, a merlin flew over the road just south of Nanaimo.
Late afternoon we took a stroll around Hemer Park.
Five trumpeter swans were still on the pool, along with a few hooded mergs, couple of bufflehead, 3 RN duck and a common merganser. A pileated woodpecker was making a racket up in the trees, but I didn't see it. A hairy woodpecker put in a, silent, appearance.
I had a real sense of the coming spring out there today, and although I realise it's only just into February and things could still get very wintry yet, the feeling that things were about to change was really overwhelming. For a newcomer like me, it's going to be absolutely thrilling (and doubtless mind-boggling) to witness a first full Vancouver Island spring. Bring it on...!
As per usual, dropped Jenny off at work then headed off to the Nanaimo River Estuary for a dig around.
Once again, I arrived to find that I had the place to myself and I set off toward the big oak with something of a spring in my step, thanks to the sound of birdsong in the air.
House finches, Bewick's wrens and song sparrows were all being motivated to give their lungs a good blast in the sunshine.
The 'big' flock was in and around the brambles just by the tree, and I soon picked up the white-throated sparrow feeding on the ground with some golden-crowneds. The sound of a Western meadowlark drew my attention away and I noticed 3 birds close by, with a small group of starlings.
As I looked up I noticed that Ralph Hocken had arrived and was taking pics of the meadowlarks from the path up from the parking area.
I headed off down the long hedge for a while but it was pretty quiet. A lone Northern shrike and a bunch of flickers were the only things of note.
I could hear the lovely sound of a singing meadowlark and looking round, noticed the three birds in a hawthorn in the adjacent field.
I headed back and caught up with Ralph, who had got some great shots of the 'larks. He hadn't seen the WT sparrow though, so we decided to try and find it again. Unfortunately, a concerted effort failed to come up with the goods and despite grilling the flock, the target bird remained elusive. We did, at least, get views of the Lincoln's sparrow.
Out on the marsh, the trumpeter swans numbered fewer than 30 birds though, like last week, they had pretty much all cleared out by midday.
As usual, the majority of wildfowl consisted of American wigeon, pintail and green-winged teal with smaller numbers of gadwall and mallard. The drake Eurasian wigeon was present and a few bufflehead, greater scaup, common merganser, common goldeneye and gaggle of Canada geese completed the set of web-footed wonders.
A pair of amorous red-tailed hawks were having fun in the distance and a couple of peregrine zipped through.
26 great blue heron were hanging out on the marsh and a belted kingfisher was on the river.
Early afternoon, I made my customary pre-Jenny-pick-up, stop at Buttertubs Marsh but it was pretty unremarkable. Still a dozen or so ring-necked duck and a few hooded merganser, plus 3 pied-billed grebe on the water. Very little in the way of notable passerines - just a couple of varied thrush, a brown creeper, ruby-crowned kinglet and some singing red-winged blackbirds.
A Cooper's hawk nearly took my head off though...
Later, on our way back to Cedar, a merlin flew over the road just south of Nanaimo.
Late afternoon we took a stroll around Hemer Park.
Five trumpeter swans were still on the pool, along with a few hooded mergs, couple of bufflehead, 3 RN duck and a common merganser. A pileated woodpecker was making a racket up in the trees, but I didn't see it. A hairy woodpecker put in a, silent, appearance.
I had a real sense of the coming spring out there today, and although I realise it's only just into February and things could still get very wintry yet, the feeling that things were about to change was really overwhelming. For a newcomer like me, it's going to be absolutely thrilling (and doubtless mind-boggling) to witness a first full Vancouver Island spring. Bring it on...!
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Birdless in Nanaimo
While I was taking my lunchtime stroll down to the water front today, I realised just how quiet the downtown Nanaimo and area it is, as far as songbirds are concerned.
In any reasonable UK town you'd be seeing or hearing a blackbird, song thrush, dunnock, robin, wren, goldfinch, greenfinch, starling, house sparrows, collared dove, blue tit, pied wagtail, etc. or, at least a selection of those and/or others.
Today, I didn't see or hear a single passerine.
At least yesterday, in a moment of Hitchcockian paranoia, I noticed a bunch of around 20 Northwestern crows hanging around menacingly, in a tree outside the office. Oh, and there are always the scabby pigeons kicking around, of course.
But on the whole, the bushes, lawns and skies of Nanaimo are bereft of smaller birds. Thank goodness for the gulls and seaducks to scan through once I get to the seafront.
I'm sure it'll all change soon, and I'll be sifting through hungry grounded migrants as they flit around any small piece of vegetation they come across. I hope..!
Talking of small birds, have a go at the mystery bird thing on the left - it's just for fun, and no-one has any way of knowing who votes for what, so your secret's safe if you get it woefully wrong. All pics will be of birds I have seen on Vancouver Island. Though that probably doesn't help.
Depending on the response to this one, I intend to do one every couple of weeks. Believe me I have LOTS of terrible photos of birds I can stick on there.
In any reasonable UK town you'd be seeing or hearing a blackbird, song thrush, dunnock, robin, wren, goldfinch, greenfinch, starling, house sparrows, collared dove, blue tit, pied wagtail, etc. or, at least a selection of those and/or others.
Today, I didn't see or hear a single passerine.
At least yesterday, in a moment of Hitchcockian paranoia, I noticed a bunch of around 20 Northwestern crows hanging around menacingly, in a tree outside the office. Oh, and there are always the scabby pigeons kicking around, of course.
But on the whole, the bushes, lawns and skies of Nanaimo are bereft of smaller birds. Thank goodness for the gulls and seaducks to scan through once I get to the seafront.
I'm sure it'll all change soon, and I'll be sifting through hungry grounded migrants as they flit around any small piece of vegetation they come across. I hope..!
Talking of small birds, have a go at the mystery bird thing on the left - it's just for fun, and no-one has any way of knowing who votes for what, so your secret's safe if you get it woefully wrong. All pics will be of birds I have seen on Vancouver Island. Though that probably doesn't help.
Depending on the response to this one, I intend to do one every couple of weeks. Believe me I have LOTS of terrible photos of birds I can stick on there.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Birding on a Sunday afternoon
Spent much of the afternoon down at the Nanaimo River Estuary today. Again, it was fairly undisturbed and in 3 1/2 hours fewer than 10 other people were seen. Just the way I like it!
Checking out over the water, the usual hundreds of pintail, American wigeon and green-winged teal were present with smaller numbers of mallard and gadwall. There were also common and red-breasted merganser, bufflehead, common goldeneye, a flotilla of greater scaup, a common loon and a sealion!
A couple of California gulls were amongst the large numbers of glaucous-winged.
A peregrine was sat on a snag out near the water's edge. Even at 3 times the distance of that falcon I saw in oldtown last week this was soooooo clearly a peregrine. The white cheeks were clearly visible, even through bins, as was the contrast between the upper and underparts. The wings were obviously equal in length to the tail and even though this was a big female-type, it was nowhere near as immense a creature as the Nanaimo bird...
The juv northern harrier made several appearances, hunting extensively over the various bits of the marsh.
Good to see a northern shrike was back on territory, hunting from scattered shrubs around the marsh.
Oddly, the trumpeter swans all cleared out during the afternoon going from around 50 birds to just 6 by the time I left. I imagine they were going off to feed somewhere more exciting. They left intermittently, in small parties, and all headed off toward Cedar - Quennel Lake?
I trawled the long hedge but it was hard work. The most exciting thing I came across was a downy woodpecker, which says it all. I keep scouring the exceedingly long-eared-owl-friendly hawthorn/willow scrub but have yet to discover one alive...
Saturday, 30 January 2010
No gun salute
It was a bit grizzly out there this morning. Misty and grey with a lot of moisture in the air and occasional showers to add to the fun. Nonetheless, it was OK weather for birding and I had the Nanaimo River estuary to myself for almost 3 hours. Not a hunter in sight.
As I arrived, I did meet a birder who was coming away from the area, he'd not seen too much though he did mention a peregrine.
Undeterred I headed out and opted to 'do' the long hedge first. As it turned out it wasn't such a bad idea as I soon found a mixed flock and almost immediately saw the white-throated sparrow. Once again the majority of birds here were golden-crowned sparrow (c.20) and dark-eyed junco (c.40) plus a few song sparrows and towhees thrown in for good measure.
A juv northern harrier then drifted in from out on the estuary, hunted briefly over the marsh then went and alighted on a dead tree in the fields, where it remained for a couple of hours or so. A red-tailed hawk was also sat up on a snag nearby.
4 Western meadowlark were sat up in a tree out in the fields - the first I've seen here in a while.
Up to 60 trumpeter swans were on the marsh along with some 'newly' arrived Canada geese (do they know the hunting season's over?) and a small group of American wigeon.
I eventually came across another mixed group of passerines and hoped that this was the flock with the American tree sparrows. Despite my best efforts I couldn't see or hear any, although a very smart Lincoln's sparrow was amongst them.
I headed back down along the hedgerow, but with the exception of the resident flickers and a gang of red-winged blackbirds it was pretty uneventful.
From the viewing platform I could see that the majority of the ducks were out on the water - it was low tide and they were quite some distance. Scoping through them, I picked out a lone Eurasian wigeon amongst the many American wigeon (ironically, back in Lancashire, many of my old birding chums have been heading out to see an American wigeon in with a load of common Europeans - quite a rarity!). As usual the bulk of the wildfowl comprised of pintail, A. wigeon, green-winged teal and mallard. Gadwall numbers were up with around 40 birds present. Buffleheads, common mergansers and common goldeneye were also seen.
A rather impressive 22 great blue herons were on the marsh, and of course bald eagles were a constant presence.
I came across the big flock again, near the platform, and once more saw the white-throated sparrow in with them but, as usual, it eluded being photographed. The ruby-crowned kinglet was with them again.
I walked out to river mouth a short way and was delighted to flush a short-eared owl, which then proceeded to hunt briefly over the marsh before taking to ground again. Whether the owl was as delighted as I was, is up for debate...
On my way to collect Jenny from work in the early afternoon, I made a quick stop at Buttertubs Marsh which was rather unremarkable. Apart from the return of the mallards, a dozen ring-necked duck, 2 hooded merganser and a pair of pied-billed grebe it was somewhat on the quiet side.
As I arrived, I did meet a birder who was coming away from the area, he'd not seen too much though he did mention a peregrine.
Undeterred I headed out and opted to 'do' the long hedge first. As it turned out it wasn't such a bad idea as I soon found a mixed flock and almost immediately saw the white-throated sparrow. Once again the majority of birds here were golden-crowned sparrow (c.20) and dark-eyed junco (c.40) plus a few song sparrows and towhees thrown in for good measure.
A juv northern harrier then drifted in from out on the estuary, hunted briefly over the marsh then went and alighted on a dead tree in the fields, where it remained for a couple of hours or so. A red-tailed hawk was also sat up on a snag nearby.
4 Western meadowlark were sat up in a tree out in the fields - the first I've seen here in a while.
Up to 60 trumpeter swans were on the marsh along with some 'newly' arrived Canada geese (do they know the hunting season's over?) and a small group of American wigeon.
I eventually came across another mixed group of passerines and hoped that this was the flock with the American tree sparrows. Despite my best efforts I couldn't see or hear any, although a very smart Lincoln's sparrow was amongst them.
I headed back down along the hedgerow, but with the exception of the resident flickers and a gang of red-winged blackbirds it was pretty uneventful.
From the viewing platform I could see that the majority of the ducks were out on the water - it was low tide and they were quite some distance. Scoping through them, I picked out a lone Eurasian wigeon amongst the many American wigeon (ironically, back in Lancashire, many of my old birding chums have been heading out to see an American wigeon in with a load of common Europeans - quite a rarity!). As usual the bulk of the wildfowl comprised of pintail, A. wigeon, green-winged teal and mallard. Gadwall numbers were up with around 40 birds present. Buffleheads, common mergansers and common goldeneye were also seen.
A rather impressive 22 great blue herons were on the marsh, and of course bald eagles were a constant presence.
I came across the big flock again, near the platform, and once more saw the white-throated sparrow in with them but, as usual, it eluded being photographed. The ruby-crowned kinglet was with them again.
I walked out to river mouth a short way and was delighted to flush a short-eared owl, which then proceeded to hunt briefly over the marsh before taking to ground again. Whether the owl was as delighted as I was, is up for debate...
On my way to collect Jenny from work in the early afternoon, I made a quick stop at Buttertubs Marsh which was rather unremarkable. Apart from the return of the mallards, a dozen ring-necked duck, 2 hooded merganser and a pair of pied-billed grebe it was somewhat on the quiet side.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Grrrrrrrr-falcon
I don't know, what with all this working for a living, my Brit Birder in BC claims are looking a bit weak in the absence of any recent posts...
Well, the most exciting thing that happened, bird-wise, this week was also (without doubt) the most frustrating thing, bird-wise, that has happened since I got here in October.
I nipped out the deli in my afternoon break for some much needed Batchelor's Marrowfat peas (sad, I know, but we were having hot-pot for dinner and you can't have hot-pot without processed peas... I'm a Lancashire lad, I should know) and I looked up to see a very bulky raptor sat on the top of a nearby church. Now, the first thing I thought was 'bloody hell, that's a big peregrine!'. I looked at it again. Seemed pretty uniform colour-wise, except for glaring pale undertail coverts and very lower belly. And it looked way too long tailed for a peregrine... surely not a gyr? In oldtown Nanaimo?
Unfortunately, they're pretty strict about breaks at work and I had to race back to the office with every combination of what it could be going round in my head. Back at work, I managed to quickly leg it to a window with my bins (always keep 'em with me, just in case...). I could see the bird about 200 yards away. It really was big - pretty much buteo sized. Very hunched stature, and seemingly con-colourus and I couldn't discern any moustache. Admittedly the light was crap, it was getting on for 4pm, but even still surely a peregrine looks extremely contrasty at that range in poor light!
Anyway, the upshot is that I think it probably was a gyr, but I can't confirm that, so...
While we're on the subject of raptors, a juv Cooper's hawk was scaring the starlings in the car park on Wednesday and a (ordinary sized) peregrine has put up the numerous pigeons a couple of times this week.
I've obviously been keeping my eye out for any huge falcons as I go on my lunchtime walks but to no avail, so far. It's not too bad though, as I get to see harlequin ducks, buffleheads, Barrow's goldeneyes, bald eagles and such on a daily basis.
Well, it's Saturday tomorrow so I should be able to squeeze in a visit down the estuary at some point. Be interesting to see how it is post-hunting season.
Well, the most exciting thing that happened, bird-wise, this week was also (without doubt) the most frustrating thing, bird-wise, that has happened since I got here in October.
I nipped out the deli in my afternoon break for some much needed Batchelor's Marrowfat peas (sad, I know, but we were having hot-pot for dinner and you can't have hot-pot without processed peas... I'm a Lancashire lad, I should know) and I looked up to see a very bulky raptor sat on the top of a nearby church. Now, the first thing I thought was 'bloody hell, that's a big peregrine!'. I looked at it again. Seemed pretty uniform colour-wise, except for glaring pale undertail coverts and very lower belly. And it looked way too long tailed for a peregrine... surely not a gyr? In oldtown Nanaimo?
Unfortunately, they're pretty strict about breaks at work and I had to race back to the office with every combination of what it could be going round in my head. Back at work, I managed to quickly leg it to a window with my bins (always keep 'em with me, just in case...). I could see the bird about 200 yards away. It really was big - pretty much buteo sized. Very hunched stature, and seemingly con-colourus and I couldn't discern any moustache. Admittedly the light was crap, it was getting on for 4pm, but even still surely a peregrine looks extremely contrasty at that range in poor light!
Anyway, the upshot is that I think it probably was a gyr, but I can't confirm that, so...
While we're on the subject of raptors, a juv Cooper's hawk was scaring the starlings in the car park on Wednesday and a (ordinary sized) peregrine has put up the numerous pigeons a couple of times this week.
I've obviously been keeping my eye out for any huge falcons as I go on my lunchtime walks but to no avail, so far. It's not too bad though, as I get to see harlequin ducks, buffleheads, Barrow's goldeneyes, bald eagles and such on a daily basis.
Well, it's Saturday tomorrow so I should be able to squeeze in a visit down the estuary at some point. Be interesting to see how it is post-hunting season.
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