Birding the Nanaimo River Estuary

We headed up to Nanaimo over the weekend for a spot of mid-island socialising and I managed to squeeze in stops on Saturday at Quennell Lake and the Nanaimo River estuary for a bit of birding.
The lake, and adjacent field, was absolutely alive with wildfowl. 
On the water I counted over 2,000 mallard. Scattered among them were smaller numbers of other species including northern shoveler, pintail, gadwall, lesser scaup, ring-necked duck, common merganser, hooded merganser, bufflehead, wood duck, American wigeon and common goldeneye.
Around 20 American coot were also present, but strangely not a single teal.

Trumpeter swans

A large herd of swans were roosting and feeding in the, as yet unflooded, field immediately north of the lake. A small number were on the lake itself. I counted approximately 230 trumpeter swans and found a single tundra swan among them. None were ringed, or bore neck collars. There were only 12 young birds among them... sign of a poor nesting season?
Also in the area were several hundred Canada geese (no Cackling geese found with them) and 14 greater white-fronted geese. An adult northern shrike was showing well and a juvenile northern harrier was quartering the fields between the lake and the Crow & Gate (where, incidentally we enjoyed a fine roast beef and Yorkshire pudding dinner on Saturday evening...).

We then moved on to the Nanaimo River estuary. I really miss birding at this place, and I was delighted to be back on my old local patch. Better still, I had the place to myself.
There were 4 trumpeter swans on the river and a further 6 flew in. Up near the bridge the annual arrival of Barrow's goldeneye had taken place with well over 50 birds present.
Down at the estuary, I scanned from the raised platform and soon found an adult female northern harrier sat up on a post. As I checked the area for other interesting birds I noticed a very late barn swallow flying over the marsh. I watched it for some timeas it actively flew up and down the water's edge.
As seems to be the case when the salmon are running, there were scores of bald eagles sat out around the the estuary.
After a short while, I walked out onto the marsh, (optimistic as ever, I was secretly hoping to relocate the Gabriola Island snowy owl...) and soon came across a single western meadowlark.

Scanning the distant posts I spotted a short-eared owl (pictured, with customary crapness) and within a couple of minutes was watching a second one as it hunted over the saltmarsh, occasionally drawing attention from the local ravens.  
I checked the hedgerows for sparrows and such, but it was relatively quiet. Among a group of dark-eyed juncos, I could only see song, golden-crowned and white-crowned sparrows.
A second adult female northern harrier appeared, and for a while both birds were hunting in the same area.
As I headed back to the car a short-eared owl sailed across in front of me - maybe it was one of the birds I'd seen earlier, but I suspect it was actually a third owl as it came in from a different direction.

Seeing as I mentioned snowy owl - are we seeing the first signs of an 'invasion' year? There have been three reports from different areas of Vancouver Island in the past week, and as with other tundra breeders, snowy owl populations are closely tied to lemming/vole cycles. Has this been a boom year for Arctic rodents? Might we see yet more snowy owls on the island in the coming months, and will other northern migrant predators be more plentiful too?

Time will tell...!   

Cinnamon Adds Spice

Despite the lack of activity on this blog during the last week I have been out and about but, to be honest, I've seen little worth reporting.
This all changed on Friday when Jenny and I were back up mid-island, primarily to attend the wedding of Rich Mooney and Lori Lynch at Quallicum on Saturday. We tied in a visit to our friends David and Susan in Nanaimo on Friday evening, but prior to that I managed to squeeze a few hours of birding in, while Jen attended to work matters.

I started off at Holden Creek. I was delighted to find some shorebirds upon arrival and over the course of the following hour or so I located approximately 100 least sandpiper and around 50 western sandpipers (pictured). A lone greater yellowlegs was the only other wader present - disappointingly, there were no spotted sandpipers in yet.

Among the Canada geese out in the fields were 8 greater white-fronted geese and in excess of 40 American pipit. Hirundines were here in force and good numbers of cliff swallow and a single northern rough-winged swallow were among the barn, violet-green and tree swallows. A couple of purple martins appeared overhead and then I noticed a flock of 11 sat in a small tree (pictured). 
Other birds seen here included common yellowthroat, American goldfinch, Audubon's yellow-rumped warblers and good numbers of white-crowned and savannah sparrows.
Next, I headed for the Nanaimo River estuary. The tide was way out, and the birding was hard, with little showing. I flushed a Wilson's snipe, and found a handful of yellow-rumped warblers (both Audubon's and myrtle) 2 Lincoln's sparrows and American goldfinch but little else of note.
Finally I checked out Quennell Lake, which was teeming with birds.

The flooded fields at the northern end were being drained and there was a huge amount of black sludgy porridge to attract hungry shorebirds. There were around 400 least sandpipers plus a few scattered westerns here and there busily feeding on the muddy edges. A pair of greater yellowlegs came into view, as did another Wilson's snipe, and a flock of 12 dowitchers were busy mud-probing on the far shore. It really looks good for a solitary sandpiper, or something of that ilk... if only it gets checked by birders.
Among the 146 green-winged teal and 58 northern shoveler were two pairs of cinnamon teal (drake pictured).
Once again, I couldn't help think about what great birds must pass through these sites, unseen and unrecorded... it could keep me awake at night worrying about such stuff!

Mid-Island Year-Tick Fest

Yesterday (Tuesday) Jenny had to go up to Nanaimo for much of the day for work purposes and so I decided to do the decent thing and keep her company. Of course this meant that I had to fill my day somehow, and I eventually chose to spend several hours on my old stomping grounds.
I started off at Holden Creek.
Although somewhat disappointing on the shorebird front with just a pair of least sandpiper and a couple of killdeer present, the wet fields had attracted a flock of c40 American pipit, and around 20 savannah sparrows. An American goldfinch was singing near the sluice, and a single northern rough-winged swallow came through, joined by barn and violet-green swallows.
An osprey circled over, and several turkey vultures cruised over the firs. A pair of greater white-fronted geese were among the Canadas in the fields.

I then headed along Gordon Road where I added common yellowthroat to my yearlist in the marshy area near Harmac Road. The ubiquitous red-winged blackbirds were here too, as was a showy, singing marsh wren.

Arriving at the Nanaimo River estuary, I noted a hefty and ominous cloud headed my way. Could be good, I thought... and indeed it was as a pair of purple martin preceded it and showed well above me for a few minutes.  Further hirundines came trickling through including my first cliff swallows of the year. No swifts materialised, but you can't have everything...
A female northern harrier was hunting over the marsh and a lone cackling goose was hanging around with 4 Canada geese on the river mouth. A handful of green-winged teal, American wigeon, pintail, bufflehead and common mergansers were also present. 
The tell-tale call of yellow-rumped warblers revealed a couple of males - one each myrtle and Audubon's. Since my last visit on 9th April, the number of savannah sparrows had gone through the roof and they were all over the place. White-crowned sparrows, having been absent all winter had replaced golden-crowneds with just on of the latter seen. A single Lincoln's sparrow was in the brambles by the big oak.

After grabbing some barely edible grub in Cedar, I went to see if anything was happening at Quennell Lake. Not much, as it happened. 12 northern shoveler, a few GW teal and lesser scaup were pretty much the best of the bunch. Tree, violet-green and barn swallows were all present in good numbers.

My next port of call was the airport where I hoped to see vesper sparrow. The first bird I saw as I stepped out of the car was however a lovely bright chipping sparrow, one of a pair present. I soon heard what I thought sounded right for a vesper singing and eventually located it sat in a distant bush.
It soon came a little closer but refused to stay still long enough to allow me to get a pic.
It then flew toward me and started feeding on the ground just about 6 feet away from where I was stood, scope and tripod at the ready. Way too close to focus, follow and photograph with my primitive set up... oh well, i got a really good look at it and even managed to read one of the numbers (2) on its metal ring! I probably could have seen more but for the fact that it was constantly moving, and favouring short grassy areas that obscured the ring somewhat.
It also sported darvic rings: orange over blue on the right, and a black over the ABA ring on the left. That should identify the individual - not sure who uses this info but if anyone reading this wishes to pass this on to the relevant person/people or let me know who to contact, I'd appreciate it.
I did get some nice sharp pics of it with its back to me, and the one here is the only one that shows its head. Not too sharp though... apologies.

After having my fill of this fine bird, I left it grubbing around in the dirt and headed off to Buttertubs Marsh before picking Jenny up. 
On my way, I noticed another osprey - adding sticks to a nest just by the highway south of College/5th. Noticing the time, I realised that my time at Buttertubs would be short and I barely had time to walk up to the platform. There were a handful of yellow-rumped warblers along the way, as well as downy woodpecker, Anna's hummingbird and marsh wrens blasting out from the rank vegetation. On the water there were just hooded mergansers and a pair of wigeon.

All in all a decent day's birding, and a reminder of why I love birding around estuaries.  

Cedar round-up

Early this morning, singles of both peregrine and Cooper's hawk were seen over the house.
After an essential visit down to Victoria this morning, we got back to Cedar mid afternoon.
Despite the persistent drizzle and grotty conditions, I found a couple of hours to go for a quick trawl around my favoured patches.
I started out at Holden Creek. Out in the fields, the usual party of 5 greater white-fronted geese were back with the gaggle of resident Canadas. Other than a few mallard, green-winged teal, common mergansers and a pair of bufflehead it was pretty quiet.
In the distance, a raven was mobbing a female northern harrier and a couple of juv. bald eagles were sat around, looking damp and bedraggled.
I then took off for the Nanaimo River estuary to see whether there were any decent soggy birds in residence. It was incredibly, incredibly quiet. The most interesting sighting concerned what was almost certainly the largest gadwall flock I've seen down here - 42 birds in total.  Otherwise, highlights included a Lincoln's sparrow among the golden-crowneds, 2 northern harriers (smart male included) and good numbers of violet-green swallows.
So, slightly dejected I headed for Quennell Lake for a spot of duck spotting. There were no unusual aythyas among the 40 or so lesser scaup on the main lake, the only other species being a couple of ring-necked ducks. In the shallower areas there were a few pintail, shoveler and a nice drake common teal among the numerous green-wingeds.
I couldn't locate any other species than violet-green and tree among the 100s of swallows feeding over the water. A northern shrike was hunting from fence-posts in the adjacent fields and a yellow-rumped warbler flitted through the nearby shrubbery.

Bluebird Of Happiness Returns...

Saturday: With just a small window of birding opportunity open to me today, I squeezed in a brief visit to Holden Creek and the Nanaimo River estuary.

The only thing of note at Holden was the group of 5 greater white-fronted geese in the fields and the large number of American robins in the general area.
At the estuary, I could find no sign of interesting passerine migrants, and so contented myself with picking through the large numbers of violet-green and tree swallows in search of other hirundine species. I didn't locate any.
The only new bird I came across was a female American kestrel, which was hunting distantly in the adjacent scrubby fields (pictured). A female northern harrier was cruising around the marsh, and good numbers of thermaling bald eagles and ravens were joined by a couple of red-tailed hawks.

Sunday: Once again, other commitments (and something of a fuzzy hangover) meant that my birding time was limited. And, once again, I headed for the estuary in search of avian goodies. However, it was absolutely dead down there, with no evidence of any passage birds.
After a good scan around, I eventually located a peregrine perched up on a stranded log, and a female northern harrier floated by.    
Disappointed, I decided to try Holden Creek. Just about the first bird seen here was a smart yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon's) - well, that was at least more encouraging!
Scanning the creek, I could only see a few green-winged teal and a couple of bufflehead. A couple of turkey vultures sailed by and a male northern harrier was circling high over the marsh.

Checking the fenceposts, I soon came across a distant blue shape flitting from post to ground and up again. A quick relocation with the 'scope proved it to be what I thought it was - a male mountain bluebird. Excellent. Four days earlier than my first one last year. Given the distance, I could only manage the shot here, but even still it's pretty unmistakable!

Before heading home we dropped by at Quennell Lake, passing the regular male American kestrel, sat on a telegraph pole, as we drove along.
The numbers of northern shoveler had gone up slightly and 18 birds were feeding in a frenzied huddle.
A flock of 62 lesser scaup and 2 ring-necked duck were on the main lake while a few mallard, teal and pintail were dabbling in the shallower vegetated edges. A Virginia rail called, but kept well hidden.
Well over 100 swallows were feeding out over the water and a northern shrike was hunting from fenceposts in the fields by the road.

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.

 

Swallows and Warblers and Owls, Oh My!

After a busy weekend, where are combination of other priorities and some grotty weather prevented me from doing any birding of note, other than my very unremarkable Coastal Waterbirds Survey, I was delighted to get out for a bit today.

Following a necessary morning visit to Victoria, Jenny and I stopped off at Quennell Lake upon our return to Cedar. High water levels had caused most the dabblers to clear out and just 3 shoveler were seen, other than a handful of mallard. Diving ducks were slightly better, with a large raft of lesser scaup and a few common mergansers and buffleheads out on the main lake.
The regular American kestrel was showing well (pictured) and then I noticed a group of 30 or so hirundines, containing both tree and violet-green swallows, hawking distantly over the water.

Once I'd dropped Jenny off at home I headed to Holden Creek.

A mass of dabblers were in the farm fields, the majority being green-winged teal and American wigeon. A drake Eurasian wigeon was among them (pictured). A sub-adult peregrine came barreling through, and attempted a strike, but emerged from the panicking throng duckless.
Scanning through the 320ish teal just one intermediate 'common' was found.
A female northern harrier was hunting at the back of the fields and a northern shrike was patrolling the hedgerow.

The rain had fully stopped by now, so I continued on to the Nanaimo River estuary.

The river was running high and as a result few birds were on the water, just a pair of gadwall and a few bufflehead.
A short-eared owl was seen from the observation platform (pictured) and a Cooper's hawk drew unwanted attention from a party of ravens.
Walking the length of the long hedge, I came across my first yellow-rumped warbler of the spring - a spanking male Audubon's, accompanying a small flock of dark-eyed juncos.
A turkey vulture drifted lazily north.
Well, it certainly felt a little more spring-like this afternoon. Hallelujah!

Distant ducks dismay

Yesterday evening I made a brief stop at Quennell Lake, but my arrival coincided with a hurricane and a freezing cold downpour. Nice.
Just before I abandoned all hope, however, I did see what appeared to be a couple of potential canvasbacks diving on the main lake. Just a little too distant to confirm, especially under the shitty conditions, and so I decided to get out there this morning in the hope of relocating the birds. After all, they could quite possibly have been lesser scaup, just giving the illusion of being whiter backed and longer billed...
Well, I scanned and scanned the lake, and found no canvasbacks... it's always frustrating when that happens. The regular male American kestrel showed and a ruddy duck was present, as were 2 drake shoveler. Once again the heavens opened and I headed off to work, slightly cheesed off and slightly damper than I'd started out.

After work this evening I took advantage of the brief dry, calm-ish spell and dropped by the Nanaimo River estuary. Immediately, 9 western meadowlark jumped up from the weedy field just in front of the parking area and flew up into the big oak.
Almost as quickly, 2 northern harriers glided into view; the regular tatty adult female and a 1st year bird. Well, they may not be canvasbacks, but very nice to see nonetheless.
After that, it went a bit quiet and, other than a few common bits and bobs, it was unremarkable until a short-eared owl showed up. After a brief attempt at hunting, the owl plopped down on a log and sat there looking decidedly unimpressed by the large black cloud rolling our way.
Yep, you guessed it - the wind picked up and the rain commenced. Again.
Anyway, below you can see a terrible video of the short-eared just before the monsoon commenced.

After 40 odd years on this planet, I really should have got used to the fact that the arrival of March doesn't necessarily mean lovely, warm spring days and brightly coloured birds singing in flowering hawthorns. It's still winter for a few weeks yet... I'd better not allow myself to forget it.

Early Migrants Make A Show

Popped over to Quennell Lake after work this evening, to see if anything was going on.
The place was notably devoid of the usual large gaggles of Canada geese; the collection of decoy birds behind the farm probably went some way to explaining why they might be avoiding the area...
Just 6 trumpeter swans were in the area and all the shovelers present a couple of days ago had moved out.
In fact, duck numbers were low all round with just a couple of ring-necked duck, common and hooded mergansers to be seen out on the lake. In the shallower waters there were a dozen pintail and 18 mallard.
The most notable thing was the singing of red-winged blackbirds, who were in fine voice. As I scanned briefly through them I noticed 6 brown-headed cowbirds, my first of the spring. Did I say spring? Hahaha... didn't bloody feel like it.

Quennell, it was cold...

With only a small window of birding opportunity available today, I opted for a check of Quennel Lake, Cedar.
With much of the water frozen the waterfowl was limited, but at least concentrated in the areas of open water.

A single juv trumpeter swan was swimming around forlornly.
Several lesser scaup were in the deeper water along with reasonable, if reduced, numbers of common merganser.
A dozen or so smart ring-necked duck (pictured) were in another area of unfrozen water. Seems silly now, but I remember twitching my first ring-necked duck at Stocks Reservoir in the Forest of Bowland, back in Britain in the mid 80s.
Pintail numbers were down considerably, as were green-winged teal with just 4 present, including one of the Eurasian/GW intergrades.
By contrast, the number of northern shoveler had gone up and around 20 birds were in the area.
The regular male American kestrel was hunting nearby.
A Wilson's snipe flew up from the edges of the nearer lake edge, and a typically garrulous killdeer made its presence felt, noisily.

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.  

Cedar Big Day

Although admittedly not the best time of the day for birding, I managed to spend most of the afternoon out at various local spots. It was a little breezy and cool, but gloriously bright and clear. 
I started out by trying to relocate the large swan flock that was by Adshead Road, Cedar last week but after driving around for a while it seemed apparent that they'd either moved on or were somewhere out of site.
I then made my way to Quennel Lake. A male American kestrel was hunting by the roadside (pictured) and before long an adult female northern harrier came by. The drake common teal was still present, as were the 2 intergrades, in among a few green-winged teal and pintail (the latter pictured below).
A flock of 96 lesser scaup were on the water, occasionally spooked by 2 gun-toting chaps in a boat who were patrolling the lake - I didn't see them actually shooting at anything, so heaven knows what their intended quarry was. Other wildfowl included common mergansers, bufflehead, hooded mergansers, ring-necked ducks and a couple of common goldeneye.

I then made a quick visit to Blue Heron Park at Yellowpoint. Remembering the reasonable seawatching that could be had from when I lived out there, I thought I'd see what was bobbing around on the sea.
As it happened, not much. A single common loon, and a handful of American wigeon were pretty much it. A pair of black oystercatcher were noisily interacting with one another on the rocks. The rather poor pic here shows the male.

My next port of call was Holden Creek. The highlights here were two northern shrikes, one hunting around the fields, the other along the hawthorns to the rear of the marsh. There were few ducks to see; the presence of 3 hunters at the back of the marsh soon explained that!
The Nanaimo River estuary beckoned and I headed to Raines Road. I was quietly pleased to see just one car parked up when I got there.
I first headed along the long hedge, scanning over the marsh as I went. Songbirds were notable only by their absence. A party of distant ravens, obviously mobbing something, drew my attention to a passing turkey vulture - my first of the spring!
I then noticed a short-eared owl hunting in the fields between the houses and the hedge. It gave brilliant views, and in fact showed frequently over the next couple of hours. A pair of northern harrier also showed well. At one point the pair were interacting, the male even attempting a food pass, but an irritated red-tailed hawk took exception and harassed them until they went their separate ways. I wonder if some harriers pair up on the wintering grounds before heading off to breeding sites?
A group of 8 western meadowlark added a welcome splash of colour to proceedings, unquestionably taking the award for best passerine of the day.
Two belted kingfisher, one each male and female, were hunting around the area. 
I walked out to the marsh edge and scanned through the wildfowl. Although greatly reduced in number, there were still plenty of American wigeon and green-winged teal, plus smaller numbers of mallard, gadwall, pintail, bufflehead and common goldeneye.
A very convincing western gull flew by and a party of 8 trumpeter swans were snoozing on the marsh. As always, several bald eagles were kicking around.
All in all, a pretty rewarding afternoon's birding.

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.

Ruddy ducks head the list

Back in Cedar after the excitement of the big city, I was itching to get down to the Nanaimo River estuary. I haven't been able to get down there for a couple of weeks, at least, and I was keen to see what was about. It was a bit later in the day, than I'd have liked (just before 1pm), but I thought that the dropping tide might prove interesting. 
As I arrived at the end of Raines Road it looked like Leighton Moss car park on a Sunday afternoon. And before I even got out of the car, I could see a short-eared owl hunting in the near field. Then I realised why the parking area was so full; sunny day = nice owl pictures.
I actually thought that Prince William and Kate whatserface must have been here to see the owls too, given the barrage of lenses on the marsh and field perimeter. I had a very quick scout along the river edge but, to be honest, I prefer the place when it's quieter people-wise, and I'm sure that with all those keen eyes out there, nothing interesting was going to go unfound for long.
Returning to the car, I noticed that there were at least 3 short-eareds hunting over the fields. Presumably the marsh was a bit too busy for their liking too.

So, off to Holden Creek I went, and soon found myself alone with the birds.
A scan through the ducks on the flooded marsh revealed at least 12 gadwall among the 230 or so green-winged teal. Despite my best efforts, no common teal were seen among them. There were no wigeon or pintail present and only 20+ mallard. A couple of bufflehead, common goldeneye and hooded mergansers were on the creek.
Out on the marsh I could see some trumpeter swans, I counted 30 as they were flushed by a small group of people with an inexplicably large gang of little dogs.
A couple of northern shrike were hunting various areas (1 pictured, badly as ever) and 2 juv northern harriers were also patrolling the rear of the marsh. A couple of red-tailed hawks were kicking about, as were the customary bald eagles and a merlin.
Other than a Bewick's wren, ruby-crowned kinglet, and a flyover purple finch, passerines were represented by the usual juncos, towhees, golden-crowned and song sparrows, etc.

I decided to make a quick detour and check out Quennell Lake on my way home. Very few swans were present, as now seems to be the norm.
Good numbers of ring-necked duck, lesser scaup and common merganser were on the lake, plus a pair of ruddy duck. Even though they were quite far out, I'm pretty sure that they were a male and female.
There were also 5 American coot present.
The American kestrel was hunting from the roadside wires.

 Eider known you were coming, I'd have baked a cake...

...and for those of you who aren't aware of the thread on BCVI Birds forum regarding yesterday's eider sighting. It turns out that common eider, while having been recorded off Vancouver Island in the past has yet to be recorded in the Victoria area.

Naturally, this troubles me. I really cannot begin to imagine what else it could have been! It looked like a female eider. I remember saying to Jenny, "Hey, female eider - that's the first I've seen on the island".
Problem is, I didn't really pay as much attention to it as perhaps I should have done, just casually remarking to Jenny that I wasn't sure about the status of the species in this part of the world, but I presumed they were reasonably frequent. Why else would I be seeing one? Anyway, I've made some notes on what I saw, and will submit them. As I write this I'm not aware of anyone relocating it. Or even looking for it, for that matter! (Though I'm sure someone will have done).
Anyway, having set something of a cat among the pigeons, here's a pic I took moments after seeing the duck, of a black turnstone among the pigeons.

Quennell birds

Howdy - hope everyone had a jolly old Christmas.
I haven't been able to get out to do any serious birding over the last few day, but I did manage a quick stop at Quennell Lake yesterday.
Christmas Bird Count participants, may wish to know that the American kestrel is still hanging around the northern end of the area, near Cedar. Also, a Cooper's hawk was hunting around the nearby cemetery.
Wildfowl numbers were unremarkable - just 24 trumpeter swans and the usual hordes of Canada geese. Ducks were thin on the ground, the majority being pintail, with smaller numbers of mallard and American wigeon present. A few common merganser were on the main lake, along with a handful of lesser scaup and ring-necked duck.

As you can see, I've finally updated the Mystery Bird. Thanks to Steve Large for the pic. I'll post the answer to last one soon...  and enjoy!

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.

My kind of birding

Suffering from severe withdrawals, I headed down to the Nanaimo River estuary at first light this morning. And what a glorious morning it was too - below freezing and awash with crisp white frost, but bright and clear.
A few Barrow's goldeneye, bufflehead and common mergansers were on the river, adjacent to Raines Road and a gathering of glaucous-winged gulls were assembled in the usual spot where the river splits.
A couple of varied thrush were in the big oak, and there were good numbers of American robins around the place.

A male northern harrier was perched up in a shrub out on the marsh, while a northern shrike similarly was keeping watch from a small tree nearby. The usual numerous bald eagles were much in evidence, and I even bothered to take a pic of one - as seen here.
Over the course of the next couple of hours I saw another 2 northern harriers (both juvs), a couple of belted kingfisher and just 3 western meadowlarks.
A trio of trumpeter swans were honking around the place, while a drake Eurasian wigeon was picked out from among a throng of American wigeon on the marsh.
Trying desperately to dig out something out-of-the-ordinary from the large junco and golden-crowned sparrow flocks I could only find 3 fox sparrows and 1 Lincoln's sparrow.
A flock of some 40 or so mobile red-winged blackbirds were kicking around throughout the morning. 
I located 3 roosting short-eared owls, and managed to observe them well at range without disturbing them.

Having exhausted this part of the estuary, I headed round to Holden Creek to see what was occurring there. 
I immediately spotted another northern shrike sat up in the large dead trees by the farm. A couple of killdeer were in the field, as were 7 greater white-fronted geese. Reasonable numbers of green-winged teal were out on the creek along with smaller numbers of American wigeon, mallard and pintail.
I was delighted to see that the American kestrel was still in residence, hunting from the fence posts out in the fields - at one point being mobbed by 6 western meadowlarks!
Other than a couple of red-tailed hawks, it was pretty quiet.

It was now nearly 11am and I figured I could easily squeeze a quick of Quennell Lake before making myself available for husbandly duties.
There were still 88 trumpeter swans by the flooded field and lake - much of the water was frozen here. Small numbers of northern shoveler, bufflehead, ring-necked duck, and common merganser were in the area as well as many American wigeon. A group of 47 American coot were sat in one small area of open water.
As I was 'scoping a pied-billed grebe a female ruddy duck swam through my field of view - perhaps that same returning bird I saw here in spring?

Later in the afternoon, as the sun and temperature were dropping, I headed back to Quennell with a half hour to spare. I was surprised to see another American kestrel sat on a telegraph pole just before I reached the lake. And a peregrine was sat up in a nearby conifer.
Checking through the significantly increased number of American wigeon on the flooded field, I found 3 Eurasian wigeon (one of which is pictured here, upper right). A few lesser scaup had joined the throng and the ruddy duck remained on the lake.
All in all, a really good day's birding, with some satisfying finds if nothing too extravagant!

Swan day wonders

I was limited to just a check at Quennell Lake today, birding-wise.
There had been something of a swan exodus, with a considerable reduction in the number of birds present.
Trumpeter swans were down to 118, and not a single tundra remained.
Ducks were represented by the usual multitude of mallard, 8 northern shoveler, several hooded and many common merganser, lesser scaup and ring-necked ducks plus a few wigeon. Notably, there were 3 American black duck. 
A single cackling goose was among the Canadas.

Swan fine day

Started off at Quennell Lake this morning, expecting more swans to be present. I wasn't wrong!
A couple of days ago, there were 28 trumpeters and 1 tundra.
Today, there were 178 trumpeter swans and at least 12 tundra swans on the flooded field.
One of the trumpeters was a collared bird.
The variation in the bill patterns of the tundra swans is quite remarkable, some have no yellow at all, while others have clear loral patches.
One bird in particular actually looked more like a Bewick's (see the photo below).
It was encouraging to see many young birds and family groups, of both species.

Otherwise, it was pretty unremarkable - no interesting aythyas among the ring-necked ducks and lesser scaups.
There were good numbers of American wigeon, loads of mallards and common mergansers, plus a handful of shovelers.

I then headed round to the Nanaimo River estuary.
A few trumpeter swans and Barrow's goldeneye were on the river. At the estuary, at least 2 juvs and an adult male northern harrier put on a good show. A northern shrike was hunting from the hawthorns on the marsh.
A male slate-coloured darke-eyed junco was among a flock of regular birds. Incidentally, an individual of this form was at my feeders this morning too.  

A drake Eurasian wigeon was among its commoner congeners on the kidney pools (see pic) while many hundreds more American wigeon and green-winged teal were out on the water - occasionally put to flight by a lone hunter.