Lincoln's Day

Left the we(s)t coast and its traditional rain mid morning, heading east back to Nanaimo. The weather was a bit drier from Port Alberni onward, and by the time we got to Parksville it was blue skies and sunshine!

By 1.30pm  I was itching to go down to the Nanaimo River estuary for a scout around, and I drove down to the patch while the rest of Cedar's residents were apparently sat watching some 'important' sporting event, or other.
Despite the sunny, Sunday afternoon, the parking area at the end of Raines Road was bereft of vehicles, and I spent the next couple of hours trudging around an eerily quiet estuary. There weren't too many birds around either - I expect they were as blissfully unaware of the Olympic hockey game as I was... I realise that mid-afternoon is probably the least productive time of day to go birding, but if given the choice of a couple of hours of crap birding or none at all, well, I think you know what I'd choose every time.
21 trumpeter swans were on the marsh and the usual large numbers of American wigeon, pintail, green-winged teal and mallard were dabbling around the water's edge. Good numbers of gadwall, bufflehead and common goldeneye were also present while further out there were a few red-breasted mergansers and greater scaup.
Gulls numbers continue to build, and many California gulls were amongst the numerous glaucous-winged.
A northern shrike was hunting from an isolated small hawthorn.
Passerines were thin on the ground, and it took quite a while to find 'the' finch/sparrow flock. The number of golden-crowneds had dropped to single figures, while there were no white-crowned sparrows amongst the group at all. Even the juncos numbered only 20 or so, and there was no sign of the white-throated sparrow. The Lincoln's sparrow put in rare sustained appearance, and I finally managed to get a couple of shots of the wee fella, as you'll see above.        

Ucluelet tsunami warning

Finished work early Friday and hit the road west, out to Ucluelet, for the weekend.
Couldn't really believe just how birdless the drive was, not even a Steller's jay flew across the road. Ravens, ravens and some more ravens, plus the occasional bald eagle and a lone merlin, were pretty much all we encountered en route.

We got up this morning (Saturday), to be told of a tsunami warning that was in place locally, an aftermath of the serious earthquake in Chile. Hmm, could turn out to be an interesting weekend away...

Keeping the tsunami evacuation advice firmly in mind, we headed out for a hike along the Wild Pacific Trail, which to be honest, was also quite birdless. Beautiful, stunning, evocative etc, but birdless.
Offshore, there were the expected seabirds; highlights included Brandt's cormorant and a rhinoceros auklet, while several black oystercatchers were noisily peeping around.

One particularly interesting thing we came across was a singing winter wren - currently, 'technically' the same species as the one we get in Europe, though not for long, - whose song was so utterly unlike that of the form of troglodytes troglodytes that I am familiar with, that I didn't have a clue what it was that was singing until I saw it! Of course, this western wren is also much darker than those found in the UK, but that song alone should be cause enough for it be given specific status...

Anyway, back to the pending tsunami - despite making comforting sounds to Jenny, deep down I was ignoring the fears that come with hearing of such a crisis, and I couldn't help but think about the birding potential.
What if displaced South Pacific pelagic species were moving ahead of the waves...?
Was I about to be so fortunate as to be in 'the right place at the right time', and witness one of the most amazing events in ornithological history, talked about for years to come?
Was I to be one of the lucky few watching scores of albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels bouncing by the island's coast?

No. As it turned out, I wasn't.

In so many ways, I am deeply thankful that the Ucluelet tsunami amounted to very little more than some slightly boisterous waves.
From a birder's perspective however, it could have been a bit better. I did see two very distant birds that were almost certainly kittiwakes, but not even a fulmar sailed by. Even Jen was disappointed by the lack of spectacular seascape - not to say that the sea here isn't spectacular, it is - but we both anticipated more.
That said, we did see a pair of whales, presumably greys, moving slowly north offshore, so it wasn't a total wash-out!
So, natural disasters aside, we've had a wonderful day and there's always tomorrow, if any unfeasibly rare birds wish to come my way.

Pictured above: Jenny sports my hat, the 'tsunami' as we saw it...

Everything damp but my spirits

Well, it was back to normal today with customary grey skies and rain. I took a soggy wander down to the seafront in Nanaimo for a spot of lunchtime birding, where a fine breeding plumage pigeon guillemot was paddling around near the float plane jetty.
Otherwise it was pretty quiet, with the usual common goldeneyes, buffeheads & double-crested cormorants  on the water. A handful of mew and glaucous-winged gulls were kicking around.
Several American robins and dark-eyed juncos were feeding together on the grassed areas - passing through?

Regular readers of this blog may recall my moaning about how Virginia rails were failing to behave properly at Buttertubs Marsh, when it was flooded, and then frozen over recently. To put things into perspective, the attached pic, taken by one of my chums back on my old patch back in Blighty, demonstrates clearly just how they should go about their business. The photo, for those who don't know, shows a European water rail (Rallus aquaticus). 

Check out the Aldcliffe blog, in the links on the bottom of the sidebar to the left of this page, to see more pics of these, usually, secretive birds.    

owls about that...

Thought I'd have a scout around, or more appropriately a listen, at Hemer Park this evening and chose dusk to see if any emerging owls were being vocally territorial.
The signs were good, there were no cars in the parking area and the skies were clear as could be - the half moon was helpfully bright. Unfortunately the two dogs that reside at the house down there, spotted me lurking about and decided to kick of a chorus of barks and yelps, which in turn enticed every other canine in hearing distance to join in. Great. After a few minutes of this I crept off and hid behind a tree, which did the trick and they soon stopped their protests.
Meanwhile no owls were calling.
Then, I was overjoyed as a truck being barely controlled by a young halfwit, came screeching down the road. I think he was a bit upset at my being there, as I imagine he and his hillbilly girlfriend had romance on their mind. He displayed his displeasure by revving his silly truck very loudly and screeching off at what seemed to me to be rather inappropriate speed. He cleverly emphasised his frustration further by stopping, revving loudly again and once more launching off with the sound of screeching tyres and gravel ringing in his ears. After a couple more versions of this pointless exercise, even he got bored and sped off toward some other dark spot, to seduce the soon-to-be-mother-of-his-child.
After this little incident, I decided that I'd go home and think about where I could go owling next time...        

Spring-like day punctuated by comma...

Jenny and I walked to Hemer Park this afternoon, once again in glorious sunshine.
The woods were alive with the sounds of nuthatches, chickadees and kinglets. Flickers and hairy woodpeckers were drumming (the former, on the metal junction box of a telegraph pole) and robins were gathering nest material. A winter-soon-to-be-Pacific wren was singing and juncos were chasing each other around the shrubbery.
On the marshy pool, the trumpeter swans had gone, and just a few birds were present including hooded and common merganser, ring-necked duck, bufflehead and mallard.
We came across our first butterfly of the year, a comma of some sort... (green comma?) I don't yet have a butterfly guide for this part of the world, that's another thing I need to buy! If anyone reading this can identify it from the above pic, I'd be very grateful.
On Hemer Lake, a pair each of trumpeter and mute swans were present, as were good number of common mergansers and ring-necked ducks plus smaller numbers of lesser scaup, bufflehead and a pair of Barrow's goldeneye.
We left Hemer via the Morden Colliery trail back into Cedar. En route, we noticed a couple of dozen very excited ravens, and a couple of eagles, feasting on the corpse of some unfortunate, sizeable creature, by a small farm. Benevolent farmer helping out his local corvids? Poisoned bait? Who knows...
A red-tailed hawk was perched up by the path as we neared the town.
The best bird of the day, however, was feeding on the front lawn when we got home - a slate-coloured, dark-eyed junco. Very nice!

Here comes the sun

Westwood Ho!
After picking up Jen from work at 2pm, we headed off to take a leisurely hike up Westwood Ridge. It's a great walk up through mainly conifer forest, before opening out into mossy bluffs with mixed woodland, predominantly oak and arbutus. Some amazing views to be had, particularly on a day like today.
The major highlight for me though, less so for Jenny, was the finding of a Hutton's vireo! I heard an unfamiliar call (not too unusual in itself...) from amongst a group of chickadees, so I commenced with some finely tuned pishing. Within a couple of seconds a bird caught my eye and as soon as I had my bins on it, I knew what it was. Now, I realise that this is a common bird, but nonetheless it was a tick! having scrutinised countless ruby-crowned kinglets in earnest, here was the real deal. And despite what the books tell you, it's not so much like the kinglet that it isn't immediately obvious what it is, when you're looking at it.
The jizz is totally different, and those thick blue-grey legs coupled with its overall stockiness and fat bill are surprisingly apparent. Other, less diverting, aves included red-breasted nuthatch, red crossbill, pine siskin, brown creeper, golden-crowned kinglet, et al.

The pic above shows the view looking over Westwood Lake, beyond Nanaimo and toward the coastal mountains on the mainland. If you get a chance, do this walk!

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Down the estuary

Despite having to de-ice the windscreen before taking Jenny to work, the morning turned out to be quite stunning. I soon found myself bathed in sunshine and there was, as Phil Collins would so irritatingly put it, no jacket required.
Down at the Nanaimo River estuary, the birds weren't quite so convinced by this spring-like weather and most, rather than expending valuable energy showing off and singing, were mindful of the night's freezing temperatures and were busily seeking out food.
The usual mixed finch/sparrow group was immediately apparent, between the big oak and the platform. Practically the first bird I noticed was the white-throated sparrow, looking glorious in the bright sunlight.  
The other typical species were here such as juncos, song sparrows, white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows, towhees, a Bewick's wren and a fox sparrow.
A western meadowlark was singing from the hawthorns in the fields.
An minor influx of American robins was apparent, I'd noticed small groups all along Raines Road too.
A walk up the 'long hedge' proved quiet, with the exception of the juv northern harrier (pictured) and the usual norther flickers, though 3 pine siskin feeding in the hawthorns was something of a surprise.
All the trumpeter swans had gone, except for one lone bird. Maybe this is the 'resident' swan that was here when I first arrived back in October - a couple of local dogwalkers tell me that it stayed all summer.
A red-tailed hawk was sat up in an arbutus tree and other than the regulation bald eagles, it was uneventful on the raptor front.
The bulk of the wildfowl was out on the water and scoping through them it appeared to be as normal - pintail, American wigeon, green-winged teal, mallard, gadwall, bufflehead, common goldeneye, greater scaup, common and red-breasted merganser.
Trampling back to the viewing platform, the WT sparrow showed again. It's become quite an obliging bird of late, I'll miss it when it goes!
Although it is very spring-like here today, I imagine that the chance of early migrants has been seriously hampered by the very wintry conditions in the US. I doubt any north-bound birds are going to want to pass through, or over, that just yet...

Nanaimo River estuary

Popped by the Nanaimo River estuary on my way home from work this evening - ever optimistic...
My enthusiasm was a little more founded today at least, and I soon had sight of the juvenile northern harrier perched on a dead tree stump up by the 'long hedge'. It soon took off, and hunted briefly over the fields in the fading light.
A quick scan from the viewing platform revealed little - although I did notice that the tide was very low and  as a result all the silhouetted birds were way, way off. A couple of hundred gulls came over from somewhere inland, and settled to roost out on the mudflats.
Then a short-eared owl appeared. It was hunting along the river's edge on the opposite bank.

I left as a rather lovely sunset was taking over the landscape...

Cygnus olor-dy...

With almost the same amount of excitement that was solicited by the sight of that dazzling pheasant last week, I noticed a magnificent mute swan dabbling around the Nanaimo harbour at lunchtime today. Be still, my trembling heart...
The male Anna's hummer was again keeping watch from his favourite tree in the nearby park.

Mystery solved...

Okay, here it is folks. The result of the first ever, bad bird photo identification quiz.

So, where to start. It’s obviously a sparrow; no one fell for my pathetic attempt to mislead by throwing redpoll in there. Well done! Hurdle one accomplished.

Now, one of the obvious things about it is that it has unstreaked flanks, thus ruling out the likes of song sparrow, fox sparrow, Lincoln’s sparrow and, er, savannah sparrow. So, two down, two remaining.

Staying with the underparts, they appear dull and concolourous, suggestive of either of the two remaining species.  Okay, how about the wings? There is certainly one clear wing bar, and maybe the hint of a second. Again, it could indicate either white-crowned or American tree sparrow. How about the head patter, or at least what’s visible?  Rusty cap, and a dark eye stripe. Hmm, very suggestive of tree, but far from conclusive.

But what about that bill? Very pale orangey colour… on BOTH upper and lower mandible. Ah! That means it has to be white-crowned right? Right. In my limited experience, tree sparrow is a much brighter, paler bird but that's not always easy to detect from a rubbish photo...

So, there we have it. Quite a surprising result! It’s a first winter white-crowned sparrow.  So, congratulations to 31% of you! And thanks for having a go – to be honest, as a relative novice at American bird ID, this has been very instructive for me. I hope it has been for others too.

Results: Savannah Sparrow 18% | White-crowned Sparrow 31% | American Tree Sparrow 50%

I've made the next one a bit less problematic - maybe... it was taken during one my 'pre-residence' visits to BC about 4 years ago.

Incidentally, a male Anna's hummingbird was again in Sutton-Mafeo Park in Nanaimo when I took my daily lunchtime stroll down there. Not much else to get excited about... I even dropped by the Nanaimo River Estuary on my way home from work, as it was almost still light. Thought something crepuscular might be out and about but it was rather quiet.     

Saltspring Spring

As correctly predicted by those, doubtless bearded, boffins at the Canadian equivalent of the Met Office, today was glorious. It was warm and sunny and still. Jenny and I headed out for a trundle around Saltspring Island.
We had a rather lovely day even if the birding was a bit on the dull side. A few bits and pieces were singing away, some of which I was able to identify. Problem is, I've not been here long enough to have learnt a lot of Canadian birds' songs, but I'm hoping that the coming spring will be something of an education. Listening to the Stokes CDs is great, but out of context it's hard to commit any but the most simple songs to memory. Having visited this part of the world a couple of times in the past, during the spring and early summer, I've got a bit of a grasp of some of the commoner ones but I've got a loooong way to go before I can step out into the field with anything like confidence. That said, even back in Britain I had iritatingly bad aural retention where birds were concerned. Funny, seeing as I can identify any Clash song from the first 2 notes...
Anyhoo - highlights from out Saltspring visit included a fine breeding plumaged pigeon guillemot and good numbers of Barrow's and common goldeneyes, surf scoters, American wigeons, horned grebes and frankly, not much else to get excited about.

Seeing as it's Valentine's Day I've stuck a pic of Jen and myself lurking around on a wee jetty at Fernwood Point.