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.

Not-so-great-blue heron

My only window of birding opportunity today coincided with the onset of rain, early afternoon.
I headed first to Holden Creek.
Among 300ish American wigeon dabbling in the wet fields by the farm was a single drake Eurasian wigeon. A small group of 7 trumpeter swans were also here along with several Canada geese. Further out in the fields were more wigeon and a couple of hundred green-winged teal. I couldn't locate any common teal among them.
Other than a handful of gadwall, the only birds out on the flooded marsh were a few mallard and pintail. Then I noticed an American coot on the creek - certainly the first I've seen here.

The Nanaimo River estuary was calling, so I headed down to Raines Road.
A couple of brace of dogless hunters were out on the marsh, but there was little actual shooting going on, just one failed attempt at bringing down a passing bufflehead.

Late blue heron

A more convincing dead bird concerned a deceased great blue heron (pictured), strangely found under a small tree.
It was a fairly fresh corpse, and there were no obvious signs of cause of death. It did appear to rather emaciated, so perhaps it had starved?   
The estuary was pretty quiet, and I trudged around vainly in search of interesting birds.
A single female northern harrier made a brief, and most welcome, appearance.
I spent a fair bit of time scrutinising both the large dark-eyed junco and golden-crowned sparrow flocks, but I couldn't find anything of note in with them. Just the attendant song sparrows, towhees and a couple of chickadees added some variety.
 

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!

Spring has sprung a leak

Having been seduced by last weekend's spring-like weather, it was a bit of let down to go out this morning in such cold and soggy conditions. What a blunt and unwelcome reminder that it is still winter...  The birds didn't seem too pleased either and, for the most part, kept a pretty low profile.
Things started off well though, and within minutes of arriving at the Nanaimo River Estuary I noticed the golden-crowned sparrow/junco flock around the viewing platform. Within a few seconds the white-throated sparrow was showing well and a very weak sun even managed to puncture the greyness for a moment. I added 'non-indiginous-rabbit' to my estuary mammal list.
The next couple of hours were somewhat less productive, and the only other significant bird was a drake Eurasian wigeon. Up to 60 trumpeter swans were again present on the marsh (pictured) plus there were plenty of pintail, American wigeon and green-winged teal around. Out on the river mouth, there was a group of gadwall, common goldeneye, common merganser, mallard and yet more wigeon.
Along the 'long hedge', I came across a 60+ flock of dark-eyed junco but there appeared to little else with them other than the expected song sparrows and  spotted towhees.
Gull numbers appear to building up nicely, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary amongst the distant groups.

Up the Creek
I then spent a short time at Holden Creek, which was quiet. A group of around 200 Canada geese were feeding in the nearby fields, but there was nothing of note among them.

What a cock!
By now (early afternoon), the rain had become somewhat more persistent so I took a leisurely drive around Quennel Lake, primarily on the lookout for wildfowl on the move.
As I approached the lake, a movement caught my eye in a nearby field and I smirked at the sight of a cock ring-necked pheasant picking through some long grass. Now, I know that these birds are quite sought after by many Vancouver Island birders, but I have to say it will a cold day in Hell before I get excited by seeing one - outside of their native range, that is.
Just 1 swan was on the lake, and relatively few Canada geese were present. 7 American coot were the first I'd seen for a while and a flotilla of 11 lesser scaup made for a pleasant sight.
A bedraggled 1stw northern shrike was hunting from nearby fenceposts.
I was rather surprised to find a soggy red crossbill singing away from the exposed branches of a small fruit tree by the roadside.

With the forecast looking better for the majority of the week, perhaps we can get back to convincing ourselves that spring really is around the corner..!

Don't forget to have a go at guessing (or studying and making and educated assessment, if you'd rather) the Mystery Bird on the left - only a short time left remains before I reveal the answer. And, of course there will be a new pic for you all to scratch your heads (or not) over.