All At Sea

Pigeon guillemot

Once again, I felt the need to get out of the house early evening and headed down to Victoria's Clover Point.
And, once again, it was fairly quiet on the bird front. The wind seemed to have switched more to the south west, and while it seemed pretty choppy out there it wasn't really so lively as to force anything in. In fact, there were fewer birds out there than on any recent visits. A few rhino auklets were seen but that was about it, other than a few glaucous-winged and California gulls.
After about 45 minutes of staring at waves I decided to move along the coast a bit and see if anything was seeking shelter off Oak Bay.

Rhinoceros auklet

Scanning from Turkey Head, just by the marina, there were good numbers of pigeon guillemot actively fishing.
The considerably calmer waters allowed for a few pics to taken, even though the birds were some way out.
Good luck to any Brit birders who fancy claiming one of these in UK waters... how you'd separate one from black guillemot at sea I really don't know. While long-billed and ancient murrelets, Pacific loons, tufted puffin and glaucous-winged gull (plus a first-summer drake white-winged scoter is also currently entertaining twitchers in Scotland) have all been recorded around the British coast in recent years, I don't see this one making it onto the list anytime soon!

A handful of rhinoceros auklet were also present and, again, the flat sea meant that I was able to get some slightly better shots (pair pictured). A flotilla of harlequin ducks too, were seen.
Clamorous black oystercatchers made their presence felt, as they careened about the place in noisy packs.
Lounging around on exposed rocky islets offshore, were several blubbery seals.

Clover and Out

I put in another hour, or so, seawatching early evening today down at Clover Point, Victoria.
The number of rhinoceros auklets seemed considerably diminished compared to yesterday, although they were still relatively plentiful. Again, there were a few pigeon guillemots further out and a lone common murre, moulting into winter plumage was just off the point.
A pair of Caspian terns came through, and the number of California gulls was seemingly greater than yesterday, and even an adult bird was present.
A couple of bald eagles kept the roosting gulls and foraging crows active, as did numerous rock-hopping humans. 

(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.

Everything damp but my spirits

Well, it was back to normal today with customary grey skies and rain. I took a soggy wander down to the seafront in Nanaimo for a spot of lunchtime birding, where a fine breeding plumage pigeon guillemot was paddling around near the float plane jetty.
Otherwise it was pretty quiet, with the usual common goldeneyes, buffeheads & double-crested cormorants  on the water. A handful of mew and glaucous-winged gulls were kicking around.
Several American robins and dark-eyed juncos were feeding together on the grassed areas - passing through?

Regular readers of this blog may recall my moaning about how Virginia rails were failing to behave properly at Buttertubs Marsh, when it was flooded, and then frozen over recently. To put things into perspective, the attached pic, taken by one of my chums back on my old patch back in Blighty, demonstrates clearly just how they should go about their business. The photo, for those who don't know, shows a European water rail (Rallus aquaticus). 

Check out the Aldcliffe blog, in the links on the bottom of the sidebar to the left of this page, to see more pics of these, usually, secretive birds.    

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.