Bad weather - good birds

Well, it just about drizzled, rained and lashed it down all day Sunday.
But of course, that did little to deter me from getting out. Indeed, Jenny joined me as I did my almost birdless Coastal Waterbird Survey down to Jack Point. The only really notable waterbirds were a flock of 47 greater scaup which flew in and landed on the water.
Equally notable were the numerous yellow-rumped warblers moving through, along with a few orange-crowned warblers and many savannah sparrows, plus a few white-crowneds. A couple of barn swallows were keeping low to the path in the drizzle.

Later, I headed to Holden Creek for a soggy trundle. There had been something of an arrival of dowitchers, with a small group feeding on the near marsh, and latterly the creek (pictured) - all those I heard were long-billed, though one bird in the small flock looked like a short-billed.
Another group of 15 passed noisily over and later an impressive gaggle of at least 40 were flying high around over the marsh.
The only other shorebirds were a single lesser yellowlegs and 3 western sandpiper.
The juv northern harrier, a merlin and red-tailed hawk provided all the raptor excitement.
There were savannah sparrows everywhere - many hundreds in the area in total. Scanning the freshly ploughed field (thankfully sans hounds) there was a slowly moving carpet of savannahs, with good numbers of American pipits in there too. I couldn't find any Lapland longspurs / buntings or larks, though the field is pretty darned big and even the nearest birds were difficult to see well between the muddy furrows. A couple of Lincoln's and 2 golden-crowned sparrows were along the path, among 20+ white-crowned sparrows.

Today's news...

On my lunchtime stroll down to the waterfront I saw my first 'post-breeding' horned and red-necked grebes. Also a yellow warbler was with a handful of chestnut-backed chickadees in the park. 

I dropped in at the Nanaimo River estuary on my way home from work, pretty nice now that the rain and subsided. Again, there were heaps of savannah sparrows around plus good numbers of white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows. A flock of some 30 American goldfinch were feeding near the parking area. At least 2 Lincoln's sparrows were seen.
A party of 6 American pipit were feeding around the edge of the 'kidney pools'.
A few purple finch were feeding on blackberries alongside the house finches. The big oak held a party of noisy northern flickers.  
Raptors were well represented with the juv northern harrier, a juv Cooper's hawk, red-tailed hawk, merlin and an American kestrel was a great sight (my first here since spring passage).
A flock of peeps were flying around way out, and a lone lesser yellowlegs was on the river.

Morning Glory

Got up at first light this morning, and headed down to the Nanaimo River estuary for a bit of a migrant-seeking session. 
It took some doing to be honest; the birds weren't exactly coming thick and fast, and it didn't really get going until after 7am. The light was lovely, and the view to Mount Benson was pretty impressive (see pic).
The distinct call of yellow-rumped warbler alerted me to 4 birds as they dropped from the sky and landed in the long hedge. They didn't stay long as a Cooper's hawk soon came skimming along and send them flying.
A common yellowthroat was in among a group of savannah and white-crowned sparrows, plus a lone Lincoln's.
The juv northern harrier put in an appearance, and stayed around long enough to allow me grab a snap.

A second, large juvenile Cooper's hawk, came through and landed briefly on the viewing platform.
A greater yellowlegs was calling somewhere out on the estuary.
A pair of yellow warbler then dropped out of the blue and fed briefly in a small hawthorn before taking of again.
Another couple of Lincoln's sparrows were in the brambles below the platform with 4 purple finch and several WC sparrows. Another 3 were similarly, with WC & savannah sparrows beneath the big oak.
16 American wigeon flew over, heading roughly south and a belted kingfisher was rattling away on the river. All in all, there was a bit going on, but not quite as much as I'd hoped for. Oh well, there's plenty of autumn left...

After work, Jenny and I had a walk down to Hemer Park. There wasn't a great deal to see, though I counted 30 American wigeon and 3 pintail on the pool, along with the obligatory wood ducks, mallards and 3 green-winged teal. A pair of pied-billed grebe were on the big lake, and we came across this striking partial albino American robin. Quite a looker!
 

That Was The Weekend That Was

Crumbs - I've a bit of catching up to do...

So, Friday morning I headed off to the Nanaimo River estuary for a spot of pre-work spotting.
Arrived to find the place positively jumping with sparrows. I estimated around 100 birds in the area of the weedy field approaching the big oak, and the crab-apples and hawthorns beyond the tree. The majority were white-crowned and savannah, but I saw up to 8 Lincoln's too. There were also a couple of song sparrows and house finches loosely associating with them. By 8am, they'd all but melted away.
One each of willow and what looked like a Pacific-slope flycatcher were seen as were a number of cedar waxwings. A lone common yellowthroat also put in an appearance.
A number of mallard and a dozen or so green-winged teal were on the river, as were California, mew and glaucous-winged gulls.

Island Life

We headed over to Newcastle Island on Saturday, for a couple of days camping. Didn't really do a lot of birding but I did see my first 'fall' fox sparrow, and of course, plenty of black oystercatchers. Otherwise, I had to get excited about a lone black-throated grey warbler amongst a chickadee/nuthatch flock and not much else. I did, however, get a mammal tick. Black rat. Rattus rattus. Or roof rat, as I believe it is called in Canada. These things are pretty scarce these days in Britain, and only a few colonies on offshore islands guarantee sightings. I don't think they're very widespread in Canada, to be honest, and I was rather enchanted by this rodent. A lot prettier than the brown (Norwegian) rat, this fellow spent a good deal of time in our camp.

New Mooney On Monday

Popped down to Holden Creek after I returned from a damp Newcastle Island on Monday (a statutory holiday here in good old Canuckland). Bumped into Rich Mooney, who saved me the job of creeping out over the marsh, he himself having just done so. Cheers Rich! He hadn't seen a thing. Other than the handful of least and western sandpipers that were feeding in the sluiced creek right by the path. Well, that's not strictly true, he'd seen the usual merlin, red-tailed hawk etc.
So, we decided to head around to Raines Rd, and to check the estuary there.
It wasn't too birdy, but we had a decent trundle around in our search for avian thrills. Just as we arrived back near the big oak, we flushed a collared dove. Being naturally utterly unimpressed by this species, we didn't really look at it - just acknowledged its presence.
It landed in a weed-filled gravel area a short distance away, so while Rich went to photograph a Lincoln's sparrow in the hawthorns, I decided to check out the dove. With mentions by Guy Monty of hybrid dove species, I thought I might as well have a look at the thing, having only seen one collared dove at this site previously.
Unfortunately the bird flushed again, at distance. By the time I got my bins on it, it was almost over the river but I got the distinct impression of a scaley mantle and a diamond shaped tail. Buggar! Was this my first Vancouver Island mourning dove? I hadn't noticed whether it had dark primaries, or much else to be honest, and Rich couldn't recall noticing either when we first glanced at it with the naked eye. With mourning dove off my 'island radar', I didn't even consider it! That'll teach me for being sloppy... Good job it isn't a lifer.

Tuesday

A post-work wander revealed little this evening. The juv northern harrier was hunting over the flooded marsh, while up to a dozen great-blue herons searched for prey in the boggy channels. I didn't see a single shorebird.
I met another birder, by the name of Joyce, who was visiting the Nanaimo estuary for the first time. Hopefully, another pair of regular eyes down here will help add a few decent sightings in the coming weeks.         


 

A Change of Scenery

I decided to give the mosquitoes a night off, and allow my back and shoulders to return to something like normality, and not bother with the estuary this evening. Besides which, the tide times are crap...
So, after work I took a lovely sunny stroll around Buttertubs Marsh. Of course it was pretty dull bird-wise and even the dragonflies were a bit thin on the ground.
Maybe that had something to do with the merlin that was hunting them, hobby-like, over the water.
The only wildfowl present were the numerous young and eclipse-plumage adult mallards, wood ducks and hooded mergansers. There were also 3 pied-billed grebe - always a pleasant sight.
I was listening out in case any rails were squabbling in the reeds, but there wasn't a peep. I'd have thought that with young birds about there'd be a bit of aural conflict here and there, but no. 
There was very little going on songbird-wise, visibly or audibly and other than the odd red-winged blackbird, common yellowthroat and Anna's hummingbirds it was pretty quiet. I did see a mink swimming by - pity it wasn't eating bullfrogs. Back to Holden Creek for me, I think...

Another mystery revealed...

OK - it's a quiet news day, so let's do the mystery bird thing!

First up - savannah sparrow. There are a couple of features here that might suggest this species, such as the strong facial pattern and obvious breast spot on a white belly.  There even appears to be a hint of a median crown stripe. But, the fine, buffy colouring and dark streaking on the chest and obvious grey feathering above the eye-stripe should be enough to eliminate savannah alone.

Nobody went for American tree sparrow – no surprise really, that was pretty much the joker in the pack.
 

So, how about song sparrow? I’m surprised this didn’t get more votes to be honest. I apologise for under-estimating the abilities of my readers… Again the fine dark streaking, on the chest and the flanks tend to rule out this highly variable species, and the overall build of the bird seems rather delicate, and doesn’t seem quite robust enough for song sparrow. This individual’s dark breast spot obviously failed to fool too many of you.

We finally come to Lincoln’s sparrow – the obvious favourite with 72% of those taking part going for this species. Well, do you think I’ve mentioned the fine warm toned breast and fine dark streaking enough? They’re pretty useful pointers, as is the broad grey eye-stripe and, what can be seen of the buff-coloured sub-moustachial stripe. As alluded to above, the bird seems to be rather dainty, which certainly implies Lincoln’s. And indeed, that’s what it is. The fine bill and buffy eye-ring are clearly visible on the shot on the left, as is that striking facial pattern.

As promised, in retaliation for the quality of responses so far being far too good, I’m hoping to baffle you all with the new mystery bird on the right…  Good luck! 

Hot Hot Heat

Well, the tide was up when I got to Holden Creek this evening so there was no wandering around the marshes for me.
In fairness, I gave it my best shot but the creek was deeper than my wellies, so to speak.
So I had to content myself with staying in dry land and 'scoping the seemingly shorebird-free vista before me. Pah.
Although the place was waderless, as far as I was concerned, there was a bit of stuff going on to keep me  entertained for a while.
There were plenty of post-breeding gatherings - house and purple finches, mingling with the large starling flocks in the dead hawthorns, and quite a build-up of cowbirds with around 20 birds present.

The first belted kingfisher I've seen here for a while posed nicely, gasping for breath in the soaring temperatures.  
And I finally got a shot of the chaser-like dragonfly shown here - apparently a common whitetail. I've seen a few of these dazzling beasties, and several other wicked looking odanata, just lately.

Pec' 'pipers prove positive

The tide was encouragingly high this evening when I arrived at Holden Creek but my thoughts of hordes of refuge seeking shorebirds seemed dashed.
A check along the creek revealed the usual spotted sandpipers.
A combination of recent rain, and high tidal levels, meant that the marsh was at least wet and several of the flashes contained enough water to, hopefully, attract any passing waders over the next few days. Ever the optimist...
Scanning out across the marsh I spotted a large shorebird feeding on the very furthest pool. Great. 'Scoping it, it was as expected, a greater yellowlegs. However, some smaller waders were nearby and I just couldn't get enough on them as they weaved around in the grassy edges. Unfortunately, it wasn't only distance that was against me but the sun had decided to show up for the first time all day, and was liberally blasting down and creating lovely silhouettes.

I walked out onto the marsh and eventually positioned myself at the base of one of the pilings for the electricity poles.
Through bins, at this far better range, their identity was pretty well confirmed but a 'scoping made it certain. 4 pectoral sandpipers (2 of which are pictured, with customary lack of skill, left).
Not exactly what I'd have liked them to be, but beggars, as they say, can't be choosers and it was great to watch them feeding alongside the yellowlegs. I guess they're not particularly common birds on Vancouver Island in the spring?
Otherwise, 3 killdeer, 2 ospreys, common yellowthroat and the usual stuff kept me busy.
            

Black Friday

After seeing our guests off at 6.45am, I headed off to the Nanaimo River estuary for a spot of pre-work birding, despite the downpour.
As soon as I arrived at the parking area it stopped raining - wow, what luck!
The area around the big oak was jumping with yellow warblers, plus a couple of Wilson's. It became apparent however, that little had been dumped in the rain and my hopes of a kingbird, redstart, or such treasure, drained away along with the rain water.
As I was leaving however, a handful of black swifts appeared overhead and as I watched them, yet more  pass through - I estimated a total of around 70 birds. They continued to feed over the estuary and drifted toward Holden Creek.  

After work, I went to the aforementioned creek but it was just as quiet as yesterday, really. On the plus side, the spotted sandpiper numbers had crept up to an impressive 8 birds.

Up a creek...

It was grey, cool and very drizzly when I got home, and so I elected on a short trip to Holden Creek for a bit of wader searching...

The tide was well up and the creeks were mud-less, so the majority of shorebirds were out on the flashes. I counted approximately:

120 least sandpiper
12 western sandpiper
1 dunlin
2 greater yellowlegs
1 spotted sandpiper (pic)

There were still around 30 green-winged teal present, but other than a single feeding American pipit and a fly through female northern harrier, there wasn't much else doing.

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.

Birdless in Nanaimo

While I was taking my lunchtime stroll down to the water front today, I realised just how quiet the downtown Nanaimo and area it is, as far as songbirds are concerned.
In any reasonable UK town you'd be seeing or hearing a blackbird, song thrush, dunnock, robin, wren, goldfinch, greenfinch, starling, house sparrows, collared dove, blue tit, pied wagtail, etc. or, at least a selection of those and/or others.
Today, I didn't see or hear a single passerine.
At least yesterday, in a moment of Hitchcockian paranoia, I noticed a bunch of around 20 Northwestern crows hanging around menacingly, in a tree outside the office. Oh, and there are always the scabby pigeons kicking around, of course.
But on the whole, the bushes, lawns and skies of Nanaimo are bereft of smaller birds. Thank goodness for the gulls and seaducks to scan through once I get to the seafront.
I'm sure it'll all change soon, and I'll be sifting through hungry grounded migrants as they flit around any small piece of vegetation they come across. I hope..!

Talking of small birds, have a go at the mystery bird thing on the left - it's just for fun, and no-one has any way of knowing who votes for what, so your secret's safe if you get it woefully wrong. All pics will be of birds I have seen on Vancouver Island. Though that probably doesn't help. 

Depending on the response to this one, I intend to do one every couple of weeks. Believe me I have LOTS of terrible photos of birds I can stick on there.