Spring seems a long way, away...

Jenny tires of bird talk and legs it - Hemer Park

Jenny and I managed to coincide a walk to Hemer Park with the wettest part of the day (how marvelous). Despite the cold, sleety rain it was still great to get out for some much needed fresh air, especially following the previous night's efforts to imbibe several gallons of Philips Brewery's finest with our pals David and Susan.
The birding wasn't much to write home about - the usual forest denizens were in attendance; Pacific wren, golden-crowned kinglet, brown creeper, chestnut-backed chickadees, and so on.
On our way to Hemer we'd noticed what appeared to be something of an influx of Steller's jays, and also an increase in the number of American robins around the Cedar neighborhood.
The pool was pretty quiet with just a handful of ring-necked duck, a couple of bufflehead and a few mallard. 8 trumpeter swan were on Holden Lake, and a couple of drake wood duck were here too - the first I've seen for some time.
Of note: There were 2 varied thrush, and a slate-coloured junco among the dozen or so dark-eyed juncos at the feeder this morning.

Later, once I'd dried out, I headed down to have a wee root around at the Nanaimo River estuary. Once again, my timing was impeccable as the heavens opened and I spent a good hour trampling around in the cold rain. Of course, having spent most of my life birding in Lancashire, this was nothing new.
I tried to find something interesting among the golden-crowned sparrows but sadly didn't. There seemed to be more song sparrows around today, yet a considerable dearth of juncos.
Just as the rain ceased at about 4pm, a western meadowlark started to sing and I was soon looking at a flock of 10 of these soggy, supreme songsters.

The female northern harrier soon appeared, cruising over the marsh. I headed to the riverside, accidentally flushing a Cooper's hawk on the way.
A dapper Lincoln's sparrow popped up and gave excellent views for a couple of minutes before diving for dense cover.
Scanning the western side of the river, I spotted a hunting short-eared owl. As I watched it, another owl appeared and crossed the river passing in front of me and then actively hunting, much to the irritation of a loudly protesting belted kingfisher.
I headed back and just as I was leaving I noticed that one of the short-eareds was perched up on a post, and beside it was the female harrier.
By now it had started to rain a little again, and the birds were quite a way away, hence the accompanying photo being even worse then my usual efforts! But, I decided it was worth posting in as much as it's an interesting sight...

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.  

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.

No Business, Like Snow Business

Woke up this morning to a winter wonderland - there was snow all over the place.
This was not met with much joy in the Jon and Jenny household, given that we had to drive the hire car (pictured here, draped in the white stuff) back up to Parksville.
We had called to see whether we could return this Budget (surely a misnomer, given the hire rate) car to the depot in Nanaimo, thus saving us the half hour drive each way in the icy and snowy conditions.
Yes, of course we could, they said. For the small fee of $75. A bargain, I'm sure you'll agree.
We decided to risk life and limb on the roads instead.
Jen's employer, meanwhile, had kindly offered to lend us a car while our defunct money pit sits up in Parksville awaiting a replacement engine, so we dropped by to collect it before heading to Parksville in two car convoy.
I noticed, while we were there that the Eurasian collared dove I have seen kicking about has been joined by another, and some serious lovey-dovey stuff was going on between them.
Their continued expansion in the Nanaimo area seems assured.

Later in the day, we took a walk to Hemer Park, in Cedar. This is a great place for a stroll and is conveniently located within short walking distance from home.
The blue skies, low winter sun and snowy vista made for a lovely walk. While in the forest, the melting snow cascaded down from the trees, creating the impression of continual fine rain, while the damp ground and sodden logs steamed in the sunlight. Quite beautiful.
On the mainly frozen pool, a herd of 16 trumpeter swans were just about the only birds present, save for a couple of mallard and hooded mergansers.

Varied thrushes, golden-crowned kinglets, chestnut-backed chickadees, Pacific wrens and brown creepers accompanied us along the paths and the resident, almost entirely white, American robin was with a small group of its more typical congeners near the park entrance.

New Year, new year list.

My first bird of 2011 was dark-eyed junco. Not too surprising, given their continual attendance at my feeders...
Jenny and I took off to Biggs Park for a walk to Jack Point. The sun was bright, there was no wind and visibility was excellent.
Offshore there were large rafts of mallard, plus scattered bufflehead, horned grebe, common loon, both goldeneye species and a few greater scaup.
There weren't too many passerines seen or heard along the way but a hermit thrush was a nice, unexpected find. Occasional chickadee flocks were encountered, often with accompanying Bewick's wren, red-breasted nuthatch or golden-crowned kinglet.
Off the point, there were several surf scoter, plus a river otter, numerous harbor seals and a sealion. 
After stopping off at home for a very welcome mug of hot-chocolate, we went for a walk to Hemer Park. 
It was fairly quiet here too. A group of hooded merganser were on the main lake while a number of American wigeon, 2 ring-necked duck and yet more mallard were on the mostly frozen pool. There were 22 trumpeter swan and a belted kingfisher here also. A pileated woodpecker called from within the forest. Pacific wrens seemed to be all over the place!
On our way out, we were somewhat surprised to see what was, presumably, the same white robin we came across in the same spot earlier in the year.

Weekend round-up

Been without broadband for a couple of days, for some reason, so here's around-up of events since Friday... 

An early morning pre-work amble around the estuary on Friday in search of migrant waifs and strays proved, sadly, fruitless.

The most noticeable thing was the arrival, en masse, of dark-eyed juncos, several of which had joined the sparrow flocks. Conversely, the continued departure of savannah sparrows continues, with just a handful being seen in the area. Lincoln’s sparrows are still very much in evidence, with at least 5 seen, while the white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrow numbers seem to have dropped off a bit with some having presumably just moved through. The only warbler I saw was a single yellow-rumped.

Common mergansers have built up to the 20ish mark, and 3 hooded merganser were also on the Nanaimo River.

A Cooper’s hawk was working the long hedge, must to the concern of the purple finches and towhees. The male American kestrel put in appearance, and was briefly mobbed by one of the local ravens.

Unfortunately, I had limited time for birding on Saturday, due to other commitments, and I decided to dedicate what time I had, to the estuary (just for a change). It was, perhaps, the worst idea I’d had for a while. I’d briefly toyed with the idea of a trip to Buttertubs Marsh (inspired partly, by local bird photographers Steve Large’s recent sighting of a green heron there). With hindsight, I should have done that...  

The estuary was super-quiet. There were very few passerines around, and I had to work hard to even find any significant numbers of sparrows.  Either the couple with two large dogs touring the area, or the Cooper’s hawk and merlin patrolling the hedgerow had contributed…

On the river there were around 40 common mergansers and a small group of turkey vultures and ravens feasting on the discarded skin of a butchered deer. Yum yum.

A single long-billed dowitcher flew over, calling, headed in the direction of Holden Creek. With that in mind, I took off there, dreams of ducks and waders on my ever-optimistic mind.

A group of 48 dowitchers were feeding on the sluiced creek, just by the path. Several flighty green-winged teal were also here, but no sign of the cinnamon. The marsh, and other creek areas were pretty quiet, though the family of white-fronted geese were still in the fields, despite the total absence of the usually omnipresent Canada geese. 

Sunday, Jenny and I took a stroll around Hemer. All the action seemed to be outside the park, with good numbers of American robins seen around the Cedar area, including another albinistic bird. This one was almost entirely white, with just a few dalmation spots. A pair of red-breasted sapsuckers showed well, and several Steller's jays were mucking around.

Later, I headed for Holden Creek for a post-tide amble. On arrival I met some remnants of the Nanaimo Birdstore Sunday Bird Walk crowd who mentioned that they had been watching a pair of short-billed dowitchers among the long-billed on the creek. 

Short-billed dowitcher - Holden Creek

Later, I saw these same birds, both juveniles, and got a few snaps of the brighter of the two, as you can see here. Now, I may well have overlooked these over the past few visits to the creek, or they may just dropped in. I counted a total of 54 long-billeds in total.

There were no other waders anywhere out on the marsh, and the only wildfowl were green-winged teal and a couple of mallard. A large sparrow flock was feeding in the newly ploughed field, though I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary with them. A flock of 20+ American pipits dropped in and started feeding in the fields. 

Out at the back of the marsh, 3 yellow-rumped warbler were in the hedgerow along wit yet more robins. 

Playing catch-up

Just a brief round-up of the very few birds I've seen in the past couple of days or so...

Sunday: went out to Englishman River Falls with Jenny. Pretty birdless out there, but a really great spot nonetheless. Dropped by at Rathtrevor on our way back, and it was good to see numerous Bonaparte's gulls - we just don't see them in any numbers down in Nanaimo. Also, mew and California gulls, and a handful of least and 2 western sandpipers here.

Monday: A post-work visit to the Nanaimo River estuary was notable only for the mosquitoes. 3 cedar waxwings flew through, a merlin was hunting along the big hedge and 9 least sandpipers were dashing around over the marsh. Just 2 killdeer and a mute swan on the river itself.

Tuesday: Jen and I did our walk around Hemer Park in the evening. It seems many of the breeding migrants have totally cleared out now, we hardly heard or saw a thing.
My first post-breeding American wigeon of the autumn were seen, with 3 birds dropping in from high, onto the pool. Two adults and a juv.

Up and at 'em

I headed down to Holden Creek this morning for a pre-work scout around. It was cool and bright initially, though the temperature soon got up by 7.30am.
It was all quiet on the main creek bordering the fields, with just 3 least sandpiper, a great blue heron and a bunch of garrulous Canada geese present.

The marsh too, was fairly bereft of birds, with the exception of another 7 least sandpiper.
On the back pool I found another bunch of 12 least sandpipers along with 1 each of western and semi-palmated sandpipers. 
The bog-of-eternal-stench was again where the action was, and here there were 6 lesser yellowlegs & 1 greater yellowlegs, 1 long-billed dowitcher, 2 spotted sandpiper and another 4 leasts.
I spent half an hour checking the bushes and what-not for passerines near the viewing area, and I was rewarded with a nice Lincoln's sparrow. Also present were a family of Pacific-slope flycatcher, a hairy woodpecker, 2 juv common yellowthroats, and a singing Bewick's wren (pictured).

In the evening Jenny and I took a stroll around Hemer Park, where I photographed this obliging young bullfrog. Maybe I should have killed it, rather than capturing its portrait, but there are zillions of them down there and frankly, it's not in my nature to do that!
We spotted a couple of beavers at the pool but other than a bald eagle and the resident wood ducks and mallards it was quiet.

 

Landlocked landlubber

Holden Creek, Nanaimo.
I was hoping that the tide would have dropped enough by 7am to allow me to get out onto the marsh this morning, but it wasn't to be. In fact, the channel was only just about crossable, with caution, when I left at 8.30am.
So, landlocked, I decided to just sit it out and see what came in and out.
First good bird was a McGillivray's warbler, feeding with a mixed group of orange-crowned warblers and white-crowned sparrows along the gravel pathway. A couple of groups of American goldfinch were buzzing about and a downy woodpecker came down and showed well.
A cedar waxwing and willow flycatcher were feeding in the small mixed trees by the viewing area.
The first returning green-winged teal were out on the marsh pools - a flock of 10, all in eclipse plumage, and 4 mallard were also present.
A group of 5 lesser yellowlegs (presumably the same as have been present for several days) were mobile, feeding on the marsh and creek while only a dozen or so least sandpiper whizzed around, uncertain as to where to settle.
A pileated woodpecker flew in to the tall trees and a Cooper's hawk made an appearance, unnerving the hirundines. A female belted kingfisher rattled through.

Post-work, Jenny and I took a stroll down to Hemer Park. It was good to see young black-headed grosbeaks in the area where I've been seeing and hearing adults all summer. Other stuff we came across included, a western tanager, pileated woodpecker, red-breasted sapsucker, northern flicker etc.
A pied-billed grebe was on the pool, along with the usual wood ducks and mallards. Plenty of red-winged blackbirds here too.  

A Specific Wren...

After yesterday's rather pointless dash around Holden Creek, I took things a little easier this evening and walked to, and around, Hemer Park.
It was initially pretty quiet with just a couple of Pacific-slope flycatchers and a few American robins to keep me company. Then I removed Pacific wren from 'armchair tick' status, by tracking one down as it called from the forest undergrowth. My first 'official' sighting of a Pacific wren, despite having seen tons of 'em. How very odd.
Things picked up slightly around the pool with red-breasted nuthatches and chestnut-backed chickadees calling away from the conifers. Still good numbers of wood ducks and mallard on the water, plus a pair of beavers.
At the small pond, near the ranger's hut, there were good numbers of cedar waxwing (a pair bred here) - mixed adults and young. There were also recently fledged Swainson's thrush, and a willow flycatcher here. An orange-crowned warbler was feeding in the wet vegetation and a golden-crowned kinglet was being followed by a very young brown-headed cowbird, though I didn't see any feeding going on. 
As I walked home, I came across yet more waxwings, both adults and young. Seems they've had a good year.

There were plenty of dragonflies around, including those ace eight-spotted skimmers, western pondhawks and blue dashers (pictured: female top, male below).  

Oh - one last thing (my Columbo impression, again...) it seems that the reference I made in yesterday's post of American scoter was erroneous and "the AOU made an error in the final draft of the supplement, and meant to say the North American species (Melanitta americana) will be called Black Scoter and the Eurasian species (Melanitta nigra) will be called Common Scoter. 
This retains the usual common names on either side of the Atlantic, though creates a bit of a disconnect with the scientific names. 
This error will be apparently corrected in the next issue of the Auk."

Thanks to Dick Cannings for clearing that up.

A corpse in the forest

Didn't manage too much in the way of birding today, the only bird of note seen on my lunchtime stroll was a caspian tern down at Nanaimo waterfront, by Mafeo Sutton Park.

After work, Jen and I took an evening constitutional down to Hemer Park.
Didn't see too much to get excited about, the merlin family were seen, and heard, en route again.
A couple of bald eagles were keeping the wood ducks on edge, but there was little else around the pool bar the usual common yellowthroats, red-winged blackbirds, etc.

The most interesting thing about our wander was the discovery of the plant shown in the photograph here.
I'm sure that most Vancouver Island locals will be familiar with it, but a few UK readers might like to know what it is.
It's a flowering plant called an Indian-pipe (also known, appropriately, as ice plant, corpse plant and ghost flower) and grows in gloomy coniferous forests. It totally lacks chlorophyll, hence its weird appearance and obtains its nutrients from nearby tree roots via a complex relationship with fungi in the earth - so my book says! Freaky eh?

Curiously, on our walk home, a flock of 20 white-winged scoter flew over, heading toward the coast.
A bit early for post/failed-breeding birds? Do they over-summer in small numbers locally?
   

Independence Day delights

Jen and I had a stroll around Hemer Park today, as we regularly do.
On the way, we came across a clan of merlin, 5 birds in total - not too sure whether it was 4 young and one adult, or a pair with 3 nippers. One thing for sure though, they were jolly noisy little blighters.
At the park, it was pretty quiet, as expected. Particularly so, when a peregrine passed through and sent the smaller falcons into something of a frenzy.
There were loads of smart looking dragonflies around, I'll be trying to ID them later...
The forest was alive with the sound of Pacific-slope flycatchers, plus the occasional western tanager and what-have-you.
The two broods of wood duck now number 4 and 7, and they're growing well. An osprey was roosting up by the pool.

Later, headed down to Holden Creek for a check on the waders. Least sandpiper numbers were down a bit with 49 birds present. Only 3 western sandpipers were still there, but the semi-palmated sandpiper population had doubled to a mighty 4 birds!
Once again, I couldn't resist taking a snap. It's brilliant fun, having this opportunity to really scrutinize these shorebirds, in various stages of moult and wear. Having made such a mess of the initial aging of these sandpipers I'm now looking at every feather. Great stuff! After years of dunlin, red knot, curlews, green sandpipers etc it's really fabulous to be looking at a whole 'new' set of waders, through fresh eyes.  I can't wait to really mis-identify something major, very soon!
The only other thing of note, was pair of house wrens scolding me near the interpretation board.
 

Very birdy wander

Having finished work early and enduring the two bus journey back to Cedar, I decided to dodge the raindrops and go for a walk round Hemer Park. Now, I didn't expect to see anything particularly thrilling here but I was quite surprised by just how birdy it was today.
In fact, had I been a Brit birder, in BC for the first time, I would have been pretty overwhelmed!
Uncharacteristic as it is for me to do so on this blog, I will list every species I saw/heard on a relatively relaxed 2 hour-ish wander around the northern end of the park.

Canada goose, Wood duck (inc. fem with 10 ducklings), Mallard, Great blue heron, Turkey vulture, Osprey, Bald eagle, Glaucous-winged gull, Band-tailed pigeon, Rufous hummingbird, Pileated woodpecker, Willow flycatcher, Pacific-slope flycatcher, Northwestern crow, Raven, Tree swallow, Violet-green swallow, Chestnut-backed chickadee, Bushtit, Red-breasted nuthatch, Brown creeper, Bewick's wren, Winter wren, Marsh wren, Swainson's thrush, American robin, Starling, Cedar waxwing, Orange-crowned warbler, Yellow warbler, Western tanager, Spotted towhee, Chipping sparrow, Song sparrow, Dark-eyed junco, Red-winged blackbird, Brewer's blackbird, Purple finch, Red crossbill.

Of course, there are a few birds missing off that list that a more competent birder would have picked up on, but on the whole, it's a fair demonstration of the variety of birds that can be easily found on a brief  afternoon visit to Hemer.
The undoubted highlight for me, was the willow flycatcher - which was actually a tick! My previous visits to Vancouver Island have either been too early or late for this species, and I've not encountered them in their wintering grounds.

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.  

Not so quiet on the Western front

I really need to spread my wings, so to speak, if I'm gonna catch up with any other stuff than that which frequents the estuary - at this rate, I could go all year without seeing a whole bunch of island birds...

Anyhoo, off to the Nanaimo River estuary I trailed this morning, and despite a good scour around, I was unable to discover anything too exciting.
Highlights included watching a merlin mobbing the adult female northern harrier, and seeing another 4 purple martins (2m 2f) joining the other common swallows. Incidentally, all common species of hirundine were present, tree, barn, violet-green, northern rough-winged and cliff.
A group of 6 least sandpiper flew low over, heading toward the Holden Creek area.
8 white-fronted geese were seen flying back and forth a couple of times.
The mighty cock pheasant was singing his delightful song from the fields.

A check-in at Holden Creek was next, and things looked a bit bleak. A lone greater yellowlegs was still on the channel as were a pair of copulating killdeer. Then I noticed a small calidrid on the muddy edges of the creek. It was a lone western sandpiper - my first at this site, and hopefully the vanguard of more to come.

Before I went to gather Jenny from the world of Elvis costuming, I popped into Buttertubs Marsh for a quick peek. There were lots of yellow-rumped warblers around, all those seen were 'Myrtle'. Got great views of a couple of common yellowthroats too.
A pair of wood duck were kicking around.

Early evening, we took a wander around Hemer Park. Wildfowl included ring-necked duck, hooded mergs, bufflehead and 3 wood duck on the pool. 'Pacific' wrens were singing all over the forest, as were varied thrushes. We came across yet more YR warblers were in a large feeding group.  Oh, and we came across a fine looking green frog.

Round-up...

Well, it's Friday already and I haven't posted anything for a few days. Naughty me. To be honest, I've not seen a great deal so a quick summary:

Wednesday - The usual birds were in the Mafeo Sutton Park area on my lunchtime stroll, plus a black oystercatcher and 2 California gulls were with the glaucous-wingeds. Oh, and a pair of otters were engaged in some intense coital action on the beach by the Lighthouse Pub.
Jenny and I walked around Hemer Park in the evening. Not much doing, highlights included varied thrush and hairy woodpecker.

Thursday - my birthday! No birding as such today, but a mega highlight was a great-horned owl sat on wires by the road (near the dump) when we were coming home from Nanaimo, at approximately 11.45pm.

OK - today, and this evening. Went to Holden Creek first. It was fairly quiet with just 3 greater yellowlegs there plus red-tailed hawk, turkey vulture, GW teal, American wigeon etc.
Headed round to the Nanaimo River Estuary. Here, to things were quietish until a cracking male northern harrier appeared, soon joined by a female. The male, in particular, gave excellent views. I noticed a northern shrike - a bird passing through? I'd assumed the wintering birds had moved on... A lone adult white-fronted goose was flying around a bit, seemingly unsure as to what to do with itself.
At least 42 greater yellowlegs (pictured) were on the river.

I'll do a summary, and what-not, regarding the mystery bird over the weekend... looks like quiet a contentious one!

Snakes in the grass

Jenny and I took a leisurely walk to Hemer Park this afternoon, enjoying the sunshine.

There wasn't too much going on bird-wise, though I did come across my first orange-crowned warblers of the year (at last...).
Along the way we saw pileated woodpecker, rufous hummingbird, varied thrush, hooded merganser, ring-necked duck, lesser scaup, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, bald eagle, plus the usual other bits and bobs.
We got ace views of red-breasted nuthatch, which I never seem to tire of. Mind you, given that I spent several very, very cold hours trampling around Holkham, Norfolk, on New Years' Day 1990 for what turned out to be a 3 second look at one (still the only UK record), a good look at one is always most welcome. I was with my brother Dave (who also saw it, and my mate Adrian 'Ziggy' Dawson (who didn't - I suspect he will quietly rejoice when he finally adds this species to his life list on a forthcoming visit to Canada! 20 years is a long time...) Ziggy also has a blog, which sometimes includes birds (!) - exbirderincornwall.blogspot.com

One of the best things today was the number of garter snakes we encountered. I've never seen as many snakes, and the variety in colours was astonishing.
The attached pic shows, what I assume is a male (the smaller one) mating with a female - at least 3 other males of various sizes and colour were involved in this serpentine orgy.
The pair in flagrante seemed unconcerned by our attentions, while the 'onlookers' were somewhat cautious.
Fascinating stuff.

Later, I popped down to the estuary, which was very quiet.
The highlight was, at least 15 greater yellowlegs on the river. At one point they all took noisily to the air - quite impressive for a Brit Birder in BC!    

Friendly, neighbourhood web-slingers

It was absolutely lovely down on the Nanaimo River estuary this morning, with the early sunshine illuminating the hundreds of spider webs, low in the weedy vegetation and as far as the eye could see. Which, given the great light, was actually quite far.  
My theory about the savannah sparrows was totally unfounded - there were loads of of them, singing from every available twig, stump and bush. Presumably, they just shut up and go into hiding early in the evening.
A female northern harrier was preening on a snag out on the marsh, while a northern shrike was occupying the posts previously favoured by the bluebird.
There were a couple of singing white-crowned sparrows, while a few more were back in with the golden-crowned. The flock was scattered, and feeding on the ground this morning and difficult to go through, so I wasn't able to locate the white-throated.
7 greater yellowlegs were on the river. Then it was 8.30am and I had to go to work... p'ah.

At lunchtime, I clocked the male Anna's hummingbird at Mafeo Sutton Park, plus a singing yellow-rumped warbler was down there.

Jenny, Chrissie and I went for an early evening wander to Hemer Park, but it wasn't overly birdy. As usual, great to hear varied thrushes singing away from the depths of the forest. A pair of wood duck, 3 ring-necked duck and 4 hooded merganser were on the pool. On the walk back we got buzzed by a rufous hummer and a Cooper's hawk flew up onto the telegraph wires beside us (see pic). A little further along a merlin was sat up in a conifer near the house.

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!
 

owls about that...

Thought I'd have a scout around, or more appropriately a listen, at Hemer Park this evening and chose dusk to see if any emerging owls were being vocally territorial.
The signs were good, there were no cars in the parking area and the skies were clear as could be - the half moon was helpfully bright. Unfortunately the two dogs that reside at the house down there, spotted me lurking about and decided to kick of a chorus of barks and yelps, which in turn enticed every other canine in hearing distance to join in. Great. After a few minutes of this I crept off and hid behind a tree, which did the trick and they soon stopped their protests.
Meanwhile no owls were calling.
Then, I was overjoyed as a truck being barely controlled by a young halfwit, came screeching down the road. I think he was a bit upset at my being there, as I imagine he and his hillbilly girlfriend had romance on their mind. He displayed his displeasure by revving his silly truck very loudly and screeching off at what seemed to me to be rather inappropriate speed. He cleverly emphasised his frustration further by stopping, revving loudly again and once more launching off with the sound of screeching tyres and gravel ringing in his ears. After a couple more versions of this pointless exercise, even he got bored and sped off toward some other dark spot, to seduce the soon-to-be-mother-of-his-child.
After this little incident, I decided that I'd go home and think about where I could go owling next time...