Tuesday 20 April 2010

More martins

Despite the unhelpful wind-direction, the overnight rain inspired me enough to pay a pre-work visit to the Nanaimo River estuary this morning.
4 California quail were along Raines Road.
There seemed to have been a bit of a fall of yellow-rumped warblers, with around 20 birds in the area. The majority were males and, surprisingly, all but 3 were 'Myrtles'. A handful of orange-crowned warblers were also flitting around.

Good numbers of tree and violet-green swallows were zipping about, and a pair of purple martin flew through. They landed briefly on a telegraph pole by the parking area (see pic).
The adult female northern harrier was hunting over the marsh.
Just 1 greater yellowlegs was on the river.
A single western meadowlark was feeding in the long grass by the big oak.
Other birds seen included belted kingfisher, red crossbill, pine siskin, golden-crowned & white-crowned sparrows and such...

I made a post-work visit to Holden Creek. Tell you what, it was hard to believe standing there in the chilly evening breeze, that it was 20c at the same time yesterday!
A female American kestrel was in one of the dead tress near the farm. Nearby, the 12 white-fronted geese were still present.
On the creek, 3 greater yellowlegs and a Wilson's snipe were the only representatives of the wader clan, with the exception of the resident killdeer.  

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