I Do Like To Bird Beside The Seaside...

Double-crested & pelagic cormorant

It was blowing a hoolie overnight Friday, and so Saturday I set off to the waterfront with seabirds on my mind. A wonderful theory perhaps, but once I got out I realised that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction to be of much use... oh well, I decided I might as well see what was about anyway.
I kicked off at a very gusty Clover Point. A couple of hundred mew gulls were taking shelter, roosting on the exposed rocks while the more robust glaucous-winged gulls were hunkered down on the main grassy area. They all went up when an adult bald eagle came in to inspect the tideline. A couple of Thayer's gulls graced the point with their presence, but no 'white-wingers' were to be found. Hundreds more mew gulls were feeding distantly offshore.
Shorebirds were thin on the ground; just 2 dunlin and 15 black turnstones were feeding along the kelp strewn rocks while a couple of black oystercatchers peeped noisily around the area. 
On the water, the usual harlequins, buffleheads and surf scoters were present along with smaller numbers of long-tailed duck, red-breasted merganser and a drake white-winged scoter.
Common and Pacific loons were also fishing out on the water, joined by the regular red-necked and horned grebes. Pigeon guillemots, in various stages of moult, peppered the seascape while common murres blasted around in small, tight packs further out.
Next stop, Harling Point for more of the same. I did manage to add a couple of marbled murrelets here, and common merganser to the list of birds seen. The rocks were bereft of shorebirds.
There was a little more going at McMicking Point, but not much. Harlequins, hooded mergansers and buffleheads were taking shelter from the wind in the shallow bays while a few double-crested and pelagic cormorants were roosting on the exposed rocks (pic). Despite the availability of suitable habitat, I didn't find a single turnstone or surfbird. Maybe the low tide just meant that they had lots of places to feed, and were choosing more secluded spots away from the prying eyes of a Brit birder...

Ist year drake white-winged scoter

A quick stop at Oak Bay Marina was notable for adding a pair of greater yellowlegs to the daylist. Scanning through another sizable roost of mew gulls, I couldn't dig anything unusual out. A 1st year drake white-winged scoter was fishing just off the marina mouth (pic).
I wound up at Cattle Point where the story much remained the same. Other than the small cluster of American wigeons dabbling around near the slipway, it was pretty much a repeat of the birds seen thus far along the coast.
Perhaps if I keep trawling this stretch, I WILL find a rock sandpiper eventually. 

Christmas Gives Birding The Bird

All this Christmas stuff has really impacted on my birding... in fact I can't remember ever having so much time off work and yet finding so little time to get out in search of ornithological diversions. Oh well, the excessive gluttony just about compensated.
It wasn't all gout-inducing revelry though, I did manage to squeeze a few local walks in; binoculars at the ready. 
I checked out life in the Government House grounds a couple of times. There wasn't too much going on. The regular common birds were much in evidence, both ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, brown creepers, downy woodpeckers, chestnut-backed chickadees, northern flickers, dark-eyed juncos, Pacific wrens, etc, etc.

Ross Bay

I managed to fit in quick visits to Ross Bay and Clover Point too. Offshore the usual species were seen in varying numbers including red-necked and horned grebes, common goldeneye, surf scoters, a single greater scaup, all three mergansers, pigeon guillemot, common loon, harlequins and buffleheads, pelagic and double-crested cormorants. Shorebirds were thin on the ground, thanks to the very high tides. I only noted a couple of dunlin along with a handful each of black turnstone and surfbird.

On Saturday morning I had a good stroll around Beacon Hill Park, primarily looking for bushtit/chickadee flocks. Maybe I would find a wintering warbler of some kind - or even the elusive blue-gray gnatcatcher seen there a few weeks ago? No reason why it shouldn't still be around. As it happens, I struggled to locate any decent sized flocks and those few birds I did encounter weren't harbouring any exciting waifs or strays.
Nice to see varied thrushes (always a favourite) mingled in with the many American robins and a few small sparrow flocks gave me something to scrutinize, albeit briefly. 
I spotted at least 4 Eurasian wigeon (3 drakes, 1 duck) among the many American wigeon present on the park pools. A couple of northern shoveler and a small number of ring-necked duck were also on the ponds, along with a billion mallard.

A short and soggy trundle to Harling Point today (Tuesday) revealed a pair of smart long-tailed duck close offshore and a gang of some 15 black-bellied plover but little else of note.

So, it's back to work tomorrow and my near-daily lunchtime dashes to Langford Lake will resume in earnest. I haven't yet seen anything too thrilling there, but it seems to attract a reasonably diverse range of birds from time to time. There have been good numbers of pine siskins there in recent weeks and red crossbills are tolerably frequent. On the water there are usually a few species of wildfowl to be seen and both mew and glaucous-winged gulls come in regularly to bathe. And I have never seen quite as many pied-billed grebes in any one location.

I hope everyone reading this had a jolly old Christmas, and here's to a bird-filled New Year ahead!

 

The Calm After The Storm

The rain overnight, and throughout the early part of the morning, had the desired effect and Clover Point was relatively people/dog-free when I got down there. 
Even so, the birding was pretty unremarkable. There were no shorebirds bar a lone black turnstone around the rocks and gulls were thin on the ground. The water was where the action was, and scanning around I could see good numbers of common murre, pigeon guillemot, harlequin duck and surf scoter. Scattered among the more numerous species were several red-necked and horned grebes, marbled murrelets, bufflehead, rhinoceros auklet, common and Pacific loon, a pair of white-winged scoter and my first long-tailed duck of the autumn.

Moving along the coast, my next stop was at Harling Point and the Chinese Cemetery. Here things were even quiter disturbance-wise, and as a result there were good numbers of shorebirds present.
On the nearby rocks were 28 surfbirds, 22 black-bellied plover (pictured) and 11 black turnstone, plus a couple of black oystercatchers.
Offshore, it was much the same as from Clover Point. A flotilla of some 14 Pacific loons in various state of moult was a lovely sight.
I made the short stroll round to Trafalgar Park, but it was pretty quiet. The same waterbirds could be seen and a peregrine was sat out on Trial Island.
The total absence of Bonaparte's gulls was notable and I only picked up 3 or 4 Heermann's gulls along the whole stretch of shore.

McMicking Point was my next, and final, port of call. Once again, the birds offshore were much the same as seen from elsewhere. A group of cormorants roosting up on the rocks behind the golf course contained all three common species: Brandt's, pelagic and double-crested (pictured).

Early afternoon, I went to the Government House grounds in search of feeding sparrow or bushtit flocks. There were few juncos and sparrows around, but I did locate a very active group of golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets. Among the throng were the expected chestnut-backed chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, brown creepers and a downy woodpecker but nothing out of the ordinary.

'Owls of Delight...

Well, this working 5 days a week is certainly having an effect on my birding life... No time to get out in the mornings and none in the evenings, makes the weekends extra special.
Though, I have been grabbing a few short lunch breaks around Langford Lake, near my workplace and I've clocked up some decentish birds in the last couple of weeks.
Highlights so far have included common loon, pied-billed grebe, lesser scaup, American coot, opsrey, merlin, bald eagle, varied thrush, hermit thrush, belted kingfisher, Townend's warbler, fox sparrow, and the like.
If I can manage a couple of visits a week it'll at least stop me from going completely mad.

Friday night, it absolutely pelted down and I woke on Saturday morning, expecting a thoroughly rainy day. As it turned out, it brightened up early on and in between occasional showers, it stayed reasonable for most of the day.

A minor herd of black-tailed deer had wandered round the back of the house and were nibbling away at some shrubbery in the grounds of Craigdarroch Castle that seemed to appeal to them. The buck was a particularly handsome beast, as you can see in the snap taken from our back door.
I dropped Jenny off at work and headed first to Clover Point. The previous night's wet weather had obviously kept many people indoors, and although it was bright and dry the Point was uncharacteristically quiet, people-wise.
Consequently, there were 14 surfbirds feeding on the rocks, along with around 10 black turnstone and a couple of black oystercatchers. A handful of Bonaparte's gulls were feeding over the water, and a couple Heermann's gulls were also present.
Offshore.all the usual suspects were seen; common loon, common murre, marbled murrelet, rhinoceros auklet, pigeon guillemot, horned grebe, harlequin duck, surf scoter, pelagic and double-crested cormorants, and good numbers of red-necked grebe. I saw my first drake buffleheads of the autumn too.
A couple of savannah sparrows were the only passerines of note.

I then headed along to the Chinese Cemetery and Harling Point. Here it was much the same, with the usual species seen offshore in varying numbers. As I was looking out to sea, I spotted the Victoria Natural History Society mini-pelagic crowd aboard the 'Fantasea' - it looked like a good turnout despite the potentially wet conditions!

White-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows were feeding on the shoreline with a few savannah and song sparrows.

A change of scenery beckoned, and I headed inland to Swan Lake. A few evenings ago, I had made a brief stop here on my way home and had seen an American bittern flying around the floating bridge.
This time, I'd take my camera and see if I could get a snap of one. Ian Cruikshank was pretty certain that there were 3 birds present recently, so you never know, I might just be lucky...

As it turned out a bittern was showing very well, right by the bridge - as the accompanying photos testify. Chris Saunders and I also saw another bird flying by, confirming the presence of at least two bitterns on the reserve.
While at Swan Lake we were treated to the sight of an adult peregrine piling in and driving a northern flicker into the water, which it casually plucked from the lake and took up into a large oak to devour. A second peregrine struck at a starling flock, but failed to emerge with lunch.
There wasn't much on the lake bar a few American coots, a couple of ring-necked duck, and some snoozing ruddy ducks. 
A few yellow-rumped warblers were seen, along with common sparrows species, red-winged blackbirds, cedar waxwings, downy woodpecker, etc.

On Sunday morning, I took a stroll around the Government House grounds. It was pretty quiet overall, with fewer juncos and sparrows around than on my last visit. I didn't even see or hear any kinglets. A couple of Pacific wrens were notable, but there was little to keep me there for long.
I then headed out to Cattle Point. There were at least 30 surfbirds here, along with smaller numbers of black turnstone. Offshore it was business as usual, although the Bonaparte's gulls here numbered somewhere in the region of 70 birds, certainly the highest concentration of the species along the coast from Clover Point to here.
I stopped off at Oak Bay, where there were 3 greater yellowlegs, a couple of black-bellied plover and 3 killdeer. Just off Bowker rocks there were around 100 American wigeon, plus a few hooded mergansers.
A quick look around Harling Point concluded my day's birding (other 'important' things to do...). Again, it was pretty much as expected, with the usual stuff seen. A juvenile peregrine passed over, but that was the only thing of note.
 

The undoubted highlight of my weekend was finally seeing a northern saw-whet owl. This diminutive owl has been hovering in the upper reaches of my 'wants' list for years, and I was absolutely delighted to catch up with one at last.
Located in a daytime roost, the owl was being lightly mobbed by local passerines but seemed relatively unperturbed by the minor commotion.
A truly stunning creature, this gorgeous bird was my second world-lifer this month! As you can see, I even managed to get a pic of it.
What will November bring?