Change of Scenery

Jenny's sister Chrissie arrived in BC last weekend, with her partner Andy and their two boys Louie and Laurie.
As they were having a week on the mainland before coming over to the island, we went over to join them for a camping trip to Squamish - a place we hadn't been to for several years.
I didn't get much birding in, but we had a great time exploring Alice Lake, Shannon Falls and ascending the impressive Stawamus Chief (pictured).

The only birds worth mentioning include a food-carrying Swainson's thrush, a warbling vireo feeding fledged young, and a lone cackling goose (pictured) that was being decidedly picked on by the local Canada geese at Alice Lake.
It was fully winged and could fly, so what on earth it was doing here in August I have no idea...
Incidentally, the ferry journey each way was utterly unremarkable, birds-wise.

Panama Flats Falls Flat

This afternoon, I spent a couple of hours trawling around the increasingly waterless Panama Flats.
As far as shorebirds were concerned, there were only 20 least sandpiper, 7 western sandpiper and a single greater yellowlegs present on the diminishing pools when I arrived. However, 5 green-winged teal had dropped in.
A check of the muddy creeks only added 3 more least sandpipers, a single killdeer and 2 spotted sandpiper.

Canada Dry... an increasingly waterless Panama Flats

As I returned to the 'pools' a group of 8 western sandpiper flew in, soon joined by a further 58, bringing the total to 73.
Just goes to show that anything could drop in at any time of the day!
Mind you, without any rain forecast I suspect it might be a while before we have much to see down there.
But, as I say, you just never know...
To get an idea of how much the water levels have dropped, just compare the pic here with the one in the post below - taken from roughly the same spot last week.

On my way home I made a short detour to Clover Point. A couple of red-necked phalarope were bobbing around offshore as were the usual murres and auklets, plus a marbled murrelet.       

Chilly Tuesday

Tuesday's lunchtime walk was a touch milder than yesterday's - but when facing the onshore breeze, that windchill certainly made itself known.

Both pelagic and double-crested cormorants were present in numbers around the float-plane jetties, and a group of 19 Barrow's goldeneye were paddling around the crab fishing pier.
A single cackling goose was among the regular Canadas and the high pitched honking of a greater white-fronted goose drew may attention to a flyover adult.
3 common goldeneye, several bufflehead plus 4 common and 2 red-breasted merganser were offshore by Mafeo Sutton park.
These nice icicles (nicicles?) were pretty impressive...

Raptor raptures

The forecast wind and rain was pretty much over and done with by the time I raised my head from the pillow this morning, so after a bit of essential domesticity, I headed down to Holden Creek for the dropping tide.

The place was teeming with green-winged teal, plus small numbers of American wigeon, mallard and pintail. There were far more wigeon there at this time last year. Equally, there were good numbers of long-billed dowitchers present into November, while today just one was on the creek. 
The mixed goose flock was in the far field and, once again partly obscured by the hedge, and accurate count wasn't possible. I could see at least 48 cackling geese and 54 white-fronted geese.

A nice surprise came in the form of a male American kestrel, hunting along the fence-posts (pictured, typically poorly) - I think this is a pretty late date for this species, though I believe small number do over-winter on the island.
Other raptors in the area included a juv northern harrier, juv peregrine, 3 red-tailed hawks and several bald eagles.
The call of a pectoral sandpiper alerted me to a single bird overhead. It did several circuits of the marsh and creek, before deciding to carry on south.

Calm before the storm

Started off the morning at Holden Creek. Looking at the forecast, this might be my best chance to get any decent birding in before it gets all nasty...

I was pleased to see that the white-fronted goose and cackling goose flock was still in the near field. The lone snow goose present last week had moved on..
There were approximately 90 whitefronts and 60 cacklers; the viewing angle, and the birds' proclivity for feeding just behind the hedge, made an accurate count impossible.
Up to 300 green-winged teal were feeding out on the water-logged marsh. A handful of American wigeon and mallard were also there.

After a while, I took off to see what was happening round at the Raines Road end.
There was nothing notable among the mass of glaucous-winged gulls on the river, just a handful of mew gulls and the odd Thayers.
Both the juvenile and the male northern harriers were showing well, hunting over the marsh.

I could hear a northern shrike, chattering from the small trees in the meadow, but I couldn't see the secretive little blighter...
A single Wilson's snipe flew over.
Nothing much in the way of passerines around, just the usual juncos, song, golden-crowned and white-crowned sparrows etc. Although, a flock of cedar waxwings that briefly dropped in were the first I've seen here in quite some time.
Still no sign or sound of meadowlarks.
Checking last year's records, the first short-eared owls weren't seen on the estuary until November 1. So, I guess they could turn up any time in the next couple of weeks, depending to some degree on weather.

Golden Holden

On the way home from work, Jenny and I stopped off at the Chase River Estuary park trail - a lovely wee spot, probably not too bad for birds at the right time of day/year...

Anyhoo, I dropped the missus off and legged it down to Holden Creek.
Quite an increase in the number of least sandpiper this evening with approx. 60 birds scattered around the marsh. The killdeer have 'lost' two of their chicks. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one is unfortunate, to lose two, looks like carelessness...
A single greater yellowlegs and 2 spotted sandpiper were on the main creek.

Up to 8 American pipit were feeding on the marsh, and a couple showed on the muddy creek edge briefly (pic left). Got chance to have really good look at these spanking birds - absolutely gorgeous, far better than silly bluebirds or flashy warblers.
No sign of the semi-p plovers.
3 cackling geese and 4 white-fronted geese had dropped in and joined the 'resident' Canadas.
All the swallows were showing really well in the glorious golden evening sunlight, including the cliff swallows which were gathering mud again on the creek.

Popped by the boggy area on Gordon Road to have a listen for rails but there was nothing doing. A pair of common yellowthroat were nest building and the drake wood duck was there again - where's the female gone? In a hole somewhere nearby?

Oh, forgot to mention yesterday - had my first house wren of the spring down at the Nanaimo River Estuary.

Quintessential Quennel

Headed over to Quennell Lake this evening for a spot of post-work spotting. And what a lovely evening it was. Jenny even joined me, though chose to sit in the car doing a sudoku...

The frogs were croaking, the Brewer's and red-winged blackbirds were making their funny noises, and the mosquitos were emerging.

Approximately 400 Canada geese were feeding around the lake, and a single cackling goose was among them. As the geese left the lake area in small, noisy, gaggles the group containing the cackling goose passed overhead. Pretty easy to spot which one it is from the photo, huh? Any Brit readers, who have never seen this species, may well be surprised just how small it is!
Honestly, I haven't been at the Photoshop... nor is it actually a Canada goose just 50 feet further away...

Anyhoo, the usual small numbers of American wigeon, green-winged teal and mallard were around. Pintail numbers have gone down a bit, as have bufflehead.
I counted a total of 72 shoveler. About a dozen common merganser, 4 ring-necked duck and 22 lesser scaup were also present. 5 American coot were feeding along the weedy edges.
A belted kingfisher was sat on a snag.
A pair of killdeer were along the water's edge - the first I've seen here. Local returning breeders, or on passage?

(No) Power to the people

Went for my usual stroll around the waterfront in Nanaimo at lunchtime today.
Two pigeon guillemots were fishing around the place, as were a couple of pelagic cormorants - now resplendent with their white flank-patches.
The male Anna's hummingbird was keeping watch, as usual.
The sound of a bunch of birds in an ornamental conifer caught my attention, and a mixed flock containing 2 Bewick's wren, 3 juncos, 2 siskin and a ruby-crowned kinglet were all feeding in amongst the branches. It took quite some time to even figure out those from within the dense foliage, and I suddenly realised (to my horror) that on a good day, with a decent fall of birds I could easily use up my entire lunch break seeking inconspicuous birds quietly feeding in such vegetation... looks like I'll have to start having bigger breakfasts.

A post-work visit to Quennell Lake was met with a sodden downpour. On the plus side, the juv snow goose was back, and at least 2 cackling geese were present amongst the Canadas. Only 30 or so shovelers were visible, but that lake sure has a lot of hiding places. Up to 30 hirundines were feeding over the lake, but what with the rain and poor light, I really couldn't see anything more than silhouettes.
Got home to find the place without any power. In fact the whole town was out, and by 7.30pm we were starting to feel a touch hungry. We headed out in search of food and found ourselves at the first illuminated eatery we could find, a place called Smithy's.
I doubt we'll do that again.

Good weather for ducks...

We abandoned our loosely planned trek down the coast to Maple and Genoa Bays today, and ended up just taking a walk to Hemer Park, in the drizzle.
It was pretty quiet down there, though we did spot the neighbourhood emus (I don't think they're tickable...) en route.
There was little on the pool, just a couple of ring-necked ducks and 4 hooded mergs.
The lake had good numbers of common merganser plus a few more ring-necked ducks and a pied-billed grebe, plus the regular buffleheads.
Siskins provided the soundtrack to our walk, along with the other expected common species.

Later, I felt the need to take a peek over at Quennell Lake.
The shoveler count was now at 94. A single cackling goose remained with the c250 Canadas still present.
A few American wigeon, mallard, bufflehead, pintail and green-winged teal were around, as were 5 lesser scaup and a single ring-necked duck. 4 American coot were present, and a belted kingfisher was sat, soggily, on a snag. There were no hirundines to be seen.

Oh yeah, just to confuse my readers from merry old England (and associated countries) the clocks went forward this weekend - so you're only 7 hours ahead of us for a couple of weeks... The good news is, it means I can enough light to get out for some decent birding after work!
 

Hard work, but worth it.

Blimey, it was hard work down the Nanaimo River estuary this morning. Quiet? Not half!
There was a very low tide, and as such all the wildfowl and gulls were miles out. The hedgerows were uncannily bereft of birds, no finch/sparrow flocks, at all... just the odd house finch, towhee and song sparrow.
I could hear a western meadowlark singing in the fields somewhere, but couldn't locate it.
There was a bit of activity overhead, with numerous bald eagles kicking around. Up to 5 were soaring together at one point, plus a couple of red-tailed hawks were busy hunting around the area - much to the chagrin of the local ravens.
A northern shrike showed up, and posed beautifully while I rattled off a couple of crap shots. See attached.
Only 2 trumpeter swans were out on the marsh, and a further 4 were on the river.

Deciding that I wasn't likely to stumble across much more, I headed to Holden Creek to see what was there.
Just a few dabbling green-winged teal were on the wet marsh. A couple of bufflehead were in the creek. 10 trumpeter swans were in the fields, along with the regular Canada geese and mallards. A pair of killdeer were back in the field, the first time I've seen them here for a while.
Another northern shrike was hunting along the hedgerow at the back of the marsh.

Checking my watch, I noticed that I could just about squeeze in a quick check at Quennell Lake before going and collecting Jenny from work...
There was no sign of the juv snow goose amongst the depleted number of Canadas, though at least 1 cackling goose was still present. A rather impressive 62 northern shoveler were counted. A few pintail, GW teal, and mallard were around as was a pair of lesser scaup and 3 American coot.
Best of all though, were the 40ish hirundines that were feeding high over the lake. The ones that I was able to positively identify, were all tree swallows. Spring! Whoo-hoo!  

Adding to the feeling that things were definitely on the move, we had a turkey vulture over the highway near Jinglepot.

Withdrawal pays out

With the exception of my old chum, the male Anna's hummer in Nanaimo's Mafeo-Sutton Park, I've not really seen much this week...
I was having some serious withdrawal symptoms, and so I dashed off down to Quennell Lake after work this evening, for a quick scout around.
There were still in the region of 750 Canada geese grazing around the lake edges and amongst them was a juv snow goose and at least 2 cackling geese.
Please observe the magnificent photo of said snow goose on the left... or is it a white plastic bag blowing past?
A family party of 5 trumpeter swans were on the water, as were up to 50 common merganser. Several American wigeon were present, as were bufflehead, mallard, green-winged teal, pintail and a minimum of 18 shoveler.

Of note: I suspect that there may be a heronry in the woodland by Cedar/Quennell Road, as at least 30 birds were 'flushed' out of it. They flew low around the tree tops in circles, before dropping back down out of sight.