Precipitation anticipation deflation.

Stomping around the marshes, cold and wet in the persistent rain, reminded me of being back in England in August. Except there are fewer birds here.

My customary optimism was once again, unrewarded this morning at Holden Creek - I was confident that the overnight downpour would have dropped something interesting, and of course fill the dry pools with some much needed water to attract passing waders.
Sadly the birds, as is their wont, did what they wanted and ignored my 'expert' predictions. Bloody birds.
So, what was the result of my extremely thorough trawl around the boggy estuary today, other than getting an absolute soaking?
Somewhere in the region of 45 least sandpiper (juv pictured), 2 killdeer and 5 lesser yellowlegs.
The supporting cast was nothing to write home about - red-tailed hawks, bald eagle, barn swallows, orange-crowned warblers, bushtit, house finch, cowbird etc. The Canada goose flock has now tipped the 300 mark.

Let Osprey...

Well, it was really, really quiet when I arrived at the Nanaimo River estuary this evening. Took me ages to find anything to look at, a female northern harrier was a welcome sight when it finally showed up.
Passerines were startlingly quiet, it was as if someone had been down there with a big bird hoover...
As I was trundling back along the hedge, having decided on abandoning play (approx 6.50pm), I glanced round (as I do from time to time) and I spotted an interesting looking bird, quite high up, heading toward the marsh from the south east. An osprey - my first of the year. Lovely, that'll do to save the day! It carried on, determined but unhurried, over Nanaimo and on northward.

Perked up by this, I headed round to Holden Creek for a peek. A couple of killdeer were out on the marsh, but other than a few bufflehead, a heron, and a red-tailed hawk (pic above), it was pretty unremarkable. Good sunset, though.

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?

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.