Saturday Birding Highlights

Hoorah! It's stopped raining (for now, at least).
Jenny and I headed out for a wander down to Jack Point. This is Jenny's favourite spot in the Cedar / Nanaimo area for a nice ramble, and I have to say it's one of mine too. It's never especially birdie, but it's a good trek with a nice mixture of habitat to check.
The tide was way out, looking more like Morecambe Bay than the Nanaimo River estuary and it seemed strange to scan over a large expanse of mudflats and not see a single shorebird. There were good numbers of green-winged teal and American wigeon dabbling away at the water's edge but little else.
In the deeper areas, further offshore there were greater scaup, bufflehead, common goldeneye and common loon. Other birds seen included pigeon guillemot, bald eagle, surf scoter and pintail.
We also got great looks at a 3 Steller's sealions, and the usual harbour seals.
On our way back, we dropped in at Holden Creek.
Highlights here included a northern shrike, and 5 greater white-fronted geese in among the Canadas.

Later, I headed out to the Nanaimo River estuary, and I was surprised to find I had the place to myself. Perhaps the recently created plethora of potholes all along Raines Road have put some people off from bringing their vehicles down?!

Anyhoo, I perched up on the observation platform and soon noticed a female northern harrier. Within a couple of minutes a short-eared owl came into view and it hunted close by, giving excellent views (pictured here, complete with badly placed twig in front of its face). At one point a raven came in an started to mob the owl, and amazingly the harrier flew over and started to mob the corvid in return! The raven soon tired of this and flew off, leaving the owl to continue its hunt. Meanwhile the harrier returned to perch up on the log from which it came. Very odd.
Another harrier, the smaller juvenile bird, also appeared briefly.

A young bald eagle sat upon one of the raptor posts was too posing too nicely to ignore, hence the shot here. A merlin whizzed through, causing a stir among the local northern flickers. 
Passerines-wise is wasn't too exciting with just the usual golden-crowned sparrows and such and three brilliantly bright male yellow-rumped warblers - all Audubons.
Before calling it a day, I paid a visit to Quennell Lake where the hirundines now numbered somewhere around 130+. I could only see violet-green and tree swallows among them.
The American kestrel was hunting from the overhead wires and another couple of yellow-rumped warbler were flitting around.
Northern shoveler numbers seem to picking up with 14 birds present. Otherwise, it was pretty quiet with just small numbers of the common duck species seen.

 

Sunday service

Jenny joined me for my Coastal Bird Survey jaunt down to Jack Point, on the eastern edge of the Nanaimo River estuary this morning.
The weather was kind, bright and just a little cool. There weren't too many birds to count, unfortunately. Perhaps the usual rafts of dabbling ducks that I've seen off here were safely feeding around the estuary edges and in the creeks now that the shooting is over. As a result, the count was restricted to a few greater scaup, red-breasted mergansers, common goldeneye, buffleheads, loons, horned grebes and the like.

Later, I took a stroll down to Hemer Park. On my way along Hemer Road a dazzling male evening grosbeak flew across the road in front of me, only to disappear into so trees. I heard it, or another grosbeak, call a couple of times but I was unable to relocate it. There were good numbers of juncos also flitting backward and forwards, so presumably it was visiting neighbourhood feeders with other common garden birds. Having had a couple of grosbeaks fly over my yard about 3 weeks ago, and noticing that there was mention of a local sighting on the Nanaimo bird forum recently, it was good to know that there are some hanging around the Cedar area. Thus far, they've stubbornly refused to visit my feeders...
There wasn't much going on in Hemer itself. On the pool, there were 26 trumpeter swans, plus several ring-necked ducks, and hooded and common mergansers.
While there, I had a chat with a couple who mentioned a large number of swans in nearby fields. Cue, a leisurely walk home followed by a dash to Adshead Road is search of said Cygnus.

I soon found the swans in question, not too tricky given that there were approximately 300 of them in a roadside field. I pulled into the farm driveway and positioned myself so that I could comfortably check through them all (tundra swans and ringed/collared trumpeters on my mind...).
Unfortunately, within a few seconds a pair of boisterous hounds appeared, either by unfortunate coincidence or mean-spirited design. Anyhoo, the result was the same; a swan exodus ensued. And, while the sight of multiple airborne birds can be thrilling, it was bloody irritating in this particular instance. Among the large white throng, was a flock of 26 greater white-fronted geese. Oh, and a cock pheasant did its customary panicky dance running for cover to a nearby hedgerow. 

I returned home via Quennel Lake. Not too much out on the main body of water - the usual common mergansers, buffleheads, common goldneye and lesser scaup were all present and correct.

Scanning through the dabbling duckies, of which the majority were pintail, I noticed my old friend the intergrade drake green-winged/Eurasian teal. Then I noticed another, curious teal with no white vertical stripe and only the faintest hint of a horizontal stripe (both birds together, right, in the pic). And then I saw a pure, classic drake common (Eurasian) teal, complete with striking face pattern (also pictured).
Nice!
The ABA doesn't recognize this form as a 'species', but the BOU does. And I know which one I side with...!
With that I headed off home, reasonably pleased with the day's events.
Birding; it's not always exactly amazing, but it's always rewarding and a couple of surprises are often waiting to be discovered.

A Tale of Two Teal

Jenny joined me for my Coastal Bird Survey on Sunday (a week after it should have been, but better later than never, eh?) and we enjoyed the unforecasted sunshine as we trundled to Jack Point, counting as we went.
Bird-wise, it was bit on the quiet side and highlights were few. Just 3 greater scaup, 1 common loon, 3 horned grebe, 6 red-breasted merganser and 8 surf scoter were seen among the much more numerous common goldeneye and bufflehead.
Passerines were thin on the ground too, with just a few kinglets, chickadees and such to divert us from our oceanic gaze.

Later, I headed out to see what, if anything, was kicking around Quennell Lake. It wasn't much birdier there than offshore at Jack Point. A single American coot, a few shoveler, ring-necked duck, lesser scaup, mallard, American wigeon, common merganser and pintail were all seen, as were a few green-winged teal, along with the bird pictured here. It appears to be something on an intermediate between common teal and green-winged. Or is that vertical white stripe within the variable characteristics of green-winged?
Please offer any opinion, I'd love to know what others think.
A lone cackling goose was with the mass of usual Canadas and there 28 trumpeter swans present.

I headed off to the Nanaimo River estuary for the last hour and a half of daylight. A couple of hunters were returning empty-handed, and I was soon alone with what few birds were still around.
The male (pictured) and a juv female northern harrier were hunting over the marsh, but no short-eared owls emerged. 40+ trumpeter swan were out on the water's edge.

Whole Lotta Shootin' Goin' On

The morning was crisp and bright, and I headed down to the Nanaimo River estuary to see what was about. 3 trucks in the parking area suggested hunters, and sure enough there were camou-clad men out on the marsh.
I headed along the path running parallel to the long hedge. There were few passerines in the hawthorns; juncos, song sparrows, towhees, etc. I spotted a northern shrike hunting from a small tree some distance away but there was little else activity. 
On a flooded section of marsh there were hundreds of dabbling duck - mainly mallard and pintail with smaller numbers of American wigeon and gadwall. Approximately 30 trumpeter swans were in the area.

I headed toward the viewing tower for a general 'scope over the site. A juv northern harrier was hunting on the north side of the estuary.
Yet more hunters arrived.
Scanning the open water I could see rafts of common wildfowl, plus a few greater scaup and a couple of horned grebe.
I decided to check the estuary mouth and the shrubbery nearby but despite finding a sizable flock of golden-crowned sparrows, I couldn't dig anything more interesting than a fox sparrow out from among them. A short-eared owl cruised by, having been flushed from the marsh by dog-walkers, and headed for the relative peace afforded by the north side of the river.
Increasingly frustrated by the growing levels of disturbance, I left the area and took off toward Holden Creek.

Upon arrival, I could see a group of swans, geese and ducks feeding in the wet fields.
A single cackling goose and 5 greater white-fronted geese were among the Canadas. I scoped through the 360ish American wigeon dabbling in the partially flooded field but was disappointed, and a bit surprised, that no Eurasian wigeons were among them. I did find a hybrid drake, which sported features of both species.

Along the path, I was greeted by the sight of a hermit thrush and up to 30 American robins were searching for worms and such in the field by the farm.
Further out on the marsh, there were lots of green-winged teal and mallard, several gadwall (pictured) and more wigeon.
A peregrine passed through, clutching some hapless bird in its talons. Two red-tailed hawks were kicking around.
A couple of walkers crossed the far fields and headed along the creek embankment, flushing the swans, geese and ducks - just as three hunters appeared at the rear of the marsh and proceeded to shoot at the birds, bringing some down. I didn't see any attempt to retrieve the dead ducks.
Decidedly irked, I called it a day.

Later, Jenny and I took a walk down to Jack Point. The tide was quite low, so seabirds were pretty absent. Large rafts of disturbed wildfowl were sat just off the estuary, while several hunters still held territory on the marsh.
At the point, single black-bellied plover and black turnstone fed alongside 3 dunlin. Surf and white-winged scoter were seen offshore, as were common and Pacific loons.
A merlin was bombing up and down, and stopped briefly on a telegraph pole before a loud gunshot sent it off on its way.

New Year, new year list.

My first bird of 2011 was dark-eyed junco. Not too surprising, given their continual attendance at my feeders...
Jenny and I took off to Biggs Park for a walk to Jack Point. The sun was bright, there was no wind and visibility was excellent.
Offshore there were large rafts of mallard, plus scattered bufflehead, horned grebe, common loon, both goldeneye species and a few greater scaup.
There weren't too many passerines seen or heard along the way but a hermit thrush was a nice, unexpected find. Occasional chickadee flocks were encountered, often with accompanying Bewick's wren, red-breasted nuthatch or golden-crowned kinglet.
Off the point, there were several surf scoter, plus a river otter, numerous harbor seals and a sealion. 
After stopping off at home for a very welcome mug of hot-chocolate, we went for a walk to Hemer Park. 
It was fairly quiet here too. A group of hooded merganser were on the main lake while a number of American wigeon, 2 ring-necked duck and yet more mallard were on the mostly frozen pool. There were 22 trumpeter swan and a belted kingfisher here also. A pileated woodpecker called from within the forest. Pacific wrens seemed to be all over the place!
On our way out, we were somewhat surprised to see what was, presumably, the same white robin we came across in the same spot earlier in the year.

Out For The Count

Sunday, I was blessed with dry weather for my Coastal Waterbirds Survey.

Before I really kicked off, I scoped toward the Nanaimo estuary from the path just by the tunnel exit, and could see at least 2 short-eared owls and a northern harrier hunting over the flooded marsh.
The survey itself, was pretty uneventful but continued, at least, to remain rain-free as I walked down to Jack Point and back.
Highlights included 7 horned grebe, 4 common loon, 1 surf scoter, 1 harlequin duck and a Brandt's cormorant. The most plentiful birds were bufflehead and common goldeneye, with reasonable numbers of red-breasted merganser and greater scaup also present.

I made a quick stop at Holden Creek on my way back. The actual marsh was birdless (no doubt helped by the fact that a couple of local gunmen were creeping around at the back), but the wet fields contained approximately 1400 American wigeon plus several hundred green-winged teal and reasonable numbers of pintail and mallard. A peregrine bombed through, attempted a strike at the wildfowl but left empty-handed. Or empty-taloned, I suppose...
5 greater white-fronted geese were still hanging around with the Canadas.
 

Ducks and geese and swans, oh my!

Didn't really get any time to do any serious birding today, but have binoculars, will travel...

Jenny and I walked down to Jack Point, enjoying the relative warmth and bright skies. We saw good numbers of waterbirds along the way including horned grebe, common loon, both goldeneye species, bufflehead, greater scaup, white-winged scoter and so on.
The woodland was alive with dark-eyed juncos, chestnut-backed chickadees and golden-crowned kinglets. We also came across Bewick's and Pacific wrens, and a couple of ruby-crowned kinglets.  
A single dunlin was roosting on the rocks near the Duke Point ferry terminal.

It was late afternoon by the time we came away and we made a small detour to check Quennell Lake. There were fewer swans than were here yesterday when we arrived, but small parties arrived from the south intermittently. After yesterday's wigeon-fest, I was surprised not to see a single bird. In fact, other than 8 shoveler and a ring-necked duck the only ducks present on the flooded fields were hundreds of mallard.
On the lake proper, I couldn't see the ruddy duck - just lots of common and hooded mergansers.
A single juv greater white-fronted goose was among the Canadas feeding in the fields (pictured). You can make out the beginnings of its white blaze at the base of the bill, though it still retains much of its black nail.
A lone cackling goose arrived in a large flock of Canada geese, again coming in from wherever they'd been feeding to the south.

Eurasian wigeon joins yanks

Jenny and I took a stroll down to Jack Point late morning.
We didn't see too much in the way of birds, but out on the water I saw my first buffleheads and horned grebes of the season plus good numbers of red-breasted mergansers, several common loons, and one Pacific loon.

We dropped by at Holden Creek on the way back.
The greater white-fronted and cackling geese were still in the fields. A scan through the 300, or so, green-winged teal revealed just a handful of mallard, pintail and American wigeon. Given how few wigeon were present, I was surprised to find a drake Eurasian wigeon. I wonder if there are more among the 500+ American wigeon out on the estuary?
A greater yellowlegs flew in.
The American kestrel was hunting in the fields, as was a northern shrike. Two northern harriers were quartering the marsh. A pair of belted kingfishers were charging noisily around the area.

Later I stopped off at Quennel Lake. Not too much going on, just a couple of lesser scaup, a drake Barrow's goldeneye and my first post-breeding American coot. The soon-to-be flooded fields at the northern end of the lake had attracted a pair of trumpeter swans, plus a small flock of white-fronted geese.

...it's not all birds y'know

There's been a little bit of 'new' activity around the house the past couple of days with chipping sparrows appearing in the yard, plus a Steller's jay noisily checking out the feeders.

Today, Jenny and I took a walk to Jack Point and enjoyed the sunshine. The place was alive with butterflies and stuff, including the delightful Lorquin's admiral pictured here.
An bright metallic green Alice In Wonderland-esque beetle took a shine to Jen's leg, so it too joined the gallery. See below.
We also encountered a very drab grasshopper/cricket/locust thing that exploded into dazzling lemon yellow when flushed. Rather lovely!

I've also included a picture of a harbour seal that we came across yesterday in Nanaimo, just by the crab fishing pier.
Well, it was too bonny to ignore...




And I've also put a pic here of some weird starfish like creature.

Later, I headed down to Holden Creek for a check on progress...
Not too much had changed since yesterday, a slight increase in the number of least sandpipers with around 80 present.
I managed to find 3 westerns and 2 semi-palmated sands amongst them and 3 pectoral sandpipers - including a stately male, still resplendent in his summer finery. I'm afraid the pic here does him little justice!

A pair of silent dowitcher were feeding on the back pool, I'm pretty sure they were long-billed.

Of course, the usual supporting cast included cowbirds, yellow warbler, the regular swallows, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, bald eagle, great-blue heron, etc.

A mute Point

Jenny and I took a walk down to Jack Point this evening. The tide was well in, and looking over toward the Nanaimo River estuary, I could see a mute swan in among the Canada geese. Where did that come from?!
Also, cruising around the estuary mouth were a couple of Caspian terns.
Didn't see much along the walk, a few Bewick's wrens, juncos, robins, golden-crowned warblers, etc and just pelagic and double-crested cormorants offshore.
Several seals, an otter and a sealion were also spotted.

Of interest, there was something of an influx of crossbills around the yard this morning, and I even noticed a couple in Nanaimo on my lunchtime stroll. Has there been a bit of a post-breeding movement across the island or were these just very local birds on a wander?

A visit to Holden Creek yesterday evening was pretty unrewarding - for me at least, however the mosquitos had a great time and enjoyed me long after I'd gone...

Bad Friday becomes Reasonably Good Friday

Vile weather today. We were desperate to show Jenny's sister Chrissie why we chose to move half way across the world to live here (difficult under the circumstances; packed ferries from Vancouver to Duke Point, that we couldn't get on, and had to catch one to Victoria then drive up island in the rain and dark, a night of violent storms, the whole morning with no electricty, etc), so we elected to go for a walk to Jack Point. At least, we thought, we might have a little shelter there... and we did. The birding was crap however, with nothing of particular note taking shelter from the wind and rain.

Having enjoyed a leisurely, late lunch at the Crow & Gate pub, I'm still toying with the idea of a soggy, breezy, visit to the estuary. We'll see... *see below

So, in the meantime let's look at the mystery bird. Didn't fool anyone with that one, did I?
100% of participants, were in favour of what was quite clearly an American robin - until a last minute vote for spotted towhee fudged the figure. I assume it was some wag, having a laugh? Very good, have an extra point for that. If you genuinely thought it was a towhee - you really need to stop wasting your time looking at blogs like this, and more time reading your field guides.
So, to your left is the new one. Let's see what you make of this... enjoy!

*Late breaking news... 

Well, I succumbed to the call and headed of to the Nanaimo River estuary early evening. Dodging the wind-felled trees along Raines Road, I noticed a bunch of herons once again feeding in a field. One of these days I'll have to figure out just what it is these birds are eating. Oh, and someone's buckled, twisted trampoline was also in the field, having 'flown' in from somewhere...

Anyhoo - it was cold, wet and windy and I only found a single yellow-rumped warbler in half an hour's searching along the long hedge. I went over to the riverside and while I was scanning through the tree and violet-green swallows I heard a sound that made my brain yell 'greenshank' - my newly acquired bit of Canadian grey matter immediately corrected 30 odd years of Euro-doctrination and replied 'yellowlegs'! I looked round, and here they came; 5 greater yellowlegs, swiftly followed by another 4. Lovely.

By 7pm, I decided to head for a quick check of Holden Creek. A soggy juv. peregrine was sat up in a dead tree and a red-tailed hawk was cruising the fields. Another red-tailed was having a minor conflict with a female northern harrier over the marsh.
Checking through the Canada geese in the fields, I noticed 3 white-fronted geese among them. A drake Eurasian wigeon was dabbling with approximately 140 American wigeon and a handful of pintail out in the flooded fields.

When I got home I noticed my newly erected hummer feeder had a pair of rufous hummingbirds tending to it. My first of the year!