Birding Points of Interest

I actually found some time for a little local birding today. The day was calm, clear and cold and I headed out for Harling Point and the Chinese Cemetery for a scout about (or scoot aboot in Canadian).
Offshore it was business as usual, although certain species are increasing notably, such as bufflehead which are now all over the place.
Red-necked and horned grebes, common loon, surf scoter, the 3 cormorants, hooded and red-breasted mergansers, harlequin ducks and the like were all present in varying numbers. A few marbled murrelets and pigeon guillemots were seen as were a handful of rhinoceros auklets.
On the rocks there were 26 surfbirds, a couple of black turnstone and a black-bellied plover.
I couldn't find anything interesting passerine-wise scrabbling about in the tideline, just a lone 1st winter white-crowned sparrow.
Nearby Trafalgar Park was quiet, so I headed along to McMicking Point. There wasn't too much to get excited about here, just more of the same stuff really.
Next stop, Cattle Point. The high tide resulted in there being barely any exposed rocks for foraging shorebirds and as such there was little here, with the exception of single black oystercatcher and black turnstone. 
The usual seaducks, alcids and gulls were present, plus a few American wigeon. I thought I'd check out the Uplands Park area on the other side of the road - it looks good for a shrike (or maybe something like a displaced tropical kingbird kicked off Cattle Point by dogwalkers?). Not today Josephine. Other than the common sparrows (golden-crowned, white-crowned, fox & song), juncos, towhees, downy woodpeckers and what-have-you it wasn't exactly jumping. I did see my second 'yellow-shafted' northern flicker of the fall though, and came face-to-face with a roosting barred owl. 

I headed back toward home, making a detour to Clover Point en route. Again, the birds on the water were much the same as I'd seen at various places along the coast. Around 20 dunlin (pictured) were feeding around the area, alongside a few black-bellied plover, black turnstone, oystercatchers and surfbirds.

Snow Show for Owl on Trial

For those reading this back in the UK, today is Remembrance Day here in Canada and a 'stat' holiday. So, with Jenny working I decided I might as well do my Coastal Waterbird Survey.
It had been pouring down all night, though by late morning it was starting to ease off considerably. To compensate, the wind was picking up and gusting like a good 'un.
As I went about counting the various waterbirds off and onshore, I kept scanning Trial Island in the hope of picking up the snowy owl that was present out there all day yesterday. To be honest, had I been a snowy owl I would have been hunkered down in the long grass, or in a sheltered crevice somewhere rather than sat out in the open in those conditions.
Other than spotting a white plastic bucket nestled among some logs, I wasn't able to see anything Hedwig-like. A bald eagle was doing its best to keep upright, facing into the wind.
The survey was unremarkable, despite the howling winds and choppy seas. Alcids were notably few, with just a handful of pigeon guillemots and rhinoceros auklets seen while seaducks were equally unimpressive in number. A feeding group of 97 American wigeon alongside a dozen buffleheads were seeking relative shelter in the bay between McMicking and Harling Points.

Later, I took a wander around the Govt House grounds where I saw and heard very little. A few juncos, golden-crowned sparrows and golden-crowned kinglets were about the only passerines encountered.
Not quite in the league as its Arctic cousin, a barred owl was seen and snapped.

Right, it's about time I gave the answer to the last Mystery Bird. 

Only one vote each was cast in favour of Tennessee warbler and common yellowthroat.
3 votes went for orange-crowned warbler while a further 4 participants chose northern waterthrush.
However 65% of the votes supported palm warbler. And indeed that's what it is. The photo shows an eastern 'yellow' bird, which I thought might throw some of you... maybe it did.

I've posted a new one - enjoy!

Owls About That Then

An early scout (6.45-8.30am) around the Government House woodlands this morning wasn't without its rewards.
The area was positively buzzing with the sound of birdsong and even a few migrants had dropped in to brighten things up a bit.
As well as the 'resident' species, there were several yellow-rumped warblers (all Audubon's) around plus a number of what appeared to be 'new' ruby-crowned kinglets.
A savannah sparrow popped up and I came across two Lincoln's sparrows.
A pair of noisy red-breasted nuthatch led me to discover a roosting barred owl (pic).

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.  

Owls well that ends well.

Jen and I elected to take an evening stroll to Hemer Park when we got home from work today. It was lovely, and the outskirts of the wood were alive with comma butterflies (not sure which species - we only have one back home, I'll try and look it up...)
The forest was quiet, until we arrived on the east side of the pool, where the sun was still hitting the trees. Varied thrush still singing, plus brown creepers, red-breasted nuthatch and so on.
We stood on the platform and watched 3 beavers for 20 minutes - great! A pair of wood duck were on the pool fringes.
Then a barred owl called from our side of the pool, soon followed by another deep into the woods on the other side. This carried on for a while and when we eventually set off back we heard an agitated robin - hmm - and there were a couple of anxious chickadees and a Pacific-slope flycatcher... ah, there it is! A barred owl was sat on a low branch poking out from the side of a cedar. We had a good look at it, then left it to its own devices.  

The Lake Late Show

Despite, or probably because of, the rain, decided to have a look around Quennell Lake this evening.
Not too much really to report, though there was an apparent increase in lesser scaup. I counted 56.
Also, around 60 common merganser were also there. Still approximately 60 or so shoveler, plus 30ish bufflehead and a few green-winged teal, pintail, mallard and American wigeon.
Good numbers of both tree and violet-green swallow were feeding over the lake and a bald eagle was cruising up and down.
As usual there were great-blue herons all over the place... oh, and best of all a beaver swan across! Forgive me, but I doubt I'll ever tire of seeing those...

Yesterday evening, Jenny and I walked to Hemer Park. Not excessively birdy, but it was great hearing the melancholic varied thrushes' haunting whistles throughout the forest.
A couple of ring-necked duck were on the pool along with pied-billed grebes, hooded mergansers and, er, mallard. A very loud barred owl was barking away from the depths of the forest, and kindly totally took no notice whatsoever of my crappy efforts to imitate it. On the way back home, a Cooper's hawk flew past us.
Incidentally, on my way home from work yesterday, a sharp-shinned hawk was being harried by a northwestern crow near the dump, and a turkey vulture drifted over the road at Cedar. Oh, and a pair of 'doves' flew across the road near the Co-Op gas station near the Cedar Rd junction. They looked like collared doves from the brief view I got...

And I'm starting to think that the current mystery bird is wwwwaaaayyyy too easy..!