Tuesday, 6 March 2012

All Work and No Birding Makes Jon A Dull(er) Boy

I haven't really had much time for dedicated birding just lately, so my sightings have been limited to the things that I've casually spotted here and there.
My daily lunchtime ramble around the southwestern shore of Langford Lake hasn't been without its highlights. The red crossbill pair have continued to show periodically, and even treated me to killer views as they came down to drink just feet away from me.
On the water it's been the usual hooded and common mergansers, ring-necked ducks, buffleheads, pied-billed grebes, and so on.
A couple of turkey vultures came through yesterday - my first of the spring - while red-tailed and Cooper's hawks, merlin and bald eagles put in appearances here and there.

Jenny and I spent the weekend in Seattle being tourists. It at least gave me chance top do a bit of turbo-seabirding from the Clipper, but I didn't see anything that I wouldn't have if I were stood on Clover Point for half an hour.
Pigeon guillemots, common murres, rhinoceros auklets and marbled murrelets were seen along with the expected loons, grebes and seaducks.

Once back on Canadian soil, I squeezed a quick visit in to Government House just to see what was happening. The place was positively jumping with American robins, many of which were fighting over the few remaining berries on a couple of cotoneasters. A single varied thrush joined in the mayhem.
Dark-eyed juncos were singing, as were house finches, golden-crowned sparrows and Anna's hummingbirds, while chestnut-backed chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, ruby-crowned kinglets, Pacific wrens, downy woodpeckers, bushtits and brown creepers (pictured) busily foraged away.
On my way out, I came across a small flock of pine siskin feeding high up in the trees near the gate. I scanned through but alas, no redpolls were to be found among them.

It's A Mystery

As you may have noticed, I have uploaded a new Mystery Bird (top right) - I'll post the results and identity of the previous one here soon. In the meantime, this one shouldn't divide participants quite so much as the last one did...

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