Sunday 20 February 2011

Band-tailed On The Run

Following incredibly unextraordinary visits to Quennel Lake and Holden Creek this morning, I opted for a stroll down to Hemer Park for a root about.
The only bird of note at Quennel was the male American kestrel. Wildfowl numbers were very low with no sign of any teal and only a handful of pintail, plus a few bufflehead and common mergansers.
Holden was equally duckless, but a couple of red-tailed hawks and a female northern harrier did their best to give me something to look at. A belted kingfisher and solitary trumpeter swan were also here.
On way to Hemer Park this afternoon I saw a band-tailed pigeon - another year tick. I assume it's way too early for a long-distance migrant, so is it more likely a hitherto unseen bird that has over-wintered locally, or a short-range migrant?
The usual suspects were encountered in the park; brown creeper, both species of kinglet, chestnut-backed chickadees, pileated woodpecker, Pacific wren, etc.
On the pool there were several trumpeter swans. ring-necked ducks, hooded and common mergansers, bufflehead, mallard and 1 lesser scaup. An adult bald eagle was cruising around and a pair of marsh wrens showed well below the viewing platform.
Walking back along the Colliery Trail to 'downtown' Cedar (no sniggering...) a barred owl betrayed its presence by hooting loudly.  

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