Spent the last hour and a bit of light at Holden Creek this evening. How depressing - it was getting dark by 7.15pm...
Anyhoo, there were a load of green-winged teal and a couple of pintail on the creek as I arrived. A considered check through failed to reveal anything else of note.
Newly arrived were around 40 Brewer's blackbirds, in with the starlings around the farm. Otherwise, there were very few songbirds, other than a couple of golden-crowned sparrows mucking about in the undergrowth.
Taking up my position on the viewing area (you guessed it, the tide was too high to allow a crossing - in fact I even tried to see if the 'winter' route was clear yet but the brambles are still too dense to get through, so I'll have to carry on crossing at low tide for the foreseeable future) I scanned over the marsh. A tight bundle of shorebirds were busy in a small muddy pool. I counted 34 long-billed dowitcher, and single greater yellowlegs and western sandpiper with them. They were quite a way out, but I got a bit of footage of the sewing-machinesque feeding frenzy. As you can see below.
A red-tailed hawk was keeping vigil in one of the dead trees and a lone pileated woodpecker came through.
The Canada geese were feeding in the furthest field, behind the hedge, thus preventing me from seeing whether the whitefronts were still around. While I was scanning through the waders, the steady honk of some Canadas implied a few were taking off, then I heard the lovely call of the white-fronted geese as they joined the airborne flock. I got quite nostalgic at the sound - used, as I am, to the calls of multitudes of grey geese. Lovely. The family party of five, headed out toward the estuary though I suspect they might well be back in the fields tomorrow.
Friday, 17 September 2010
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Late nighthawk, early...
No birding, as such, today but I did see a single common nighthawk flying over the office in downtown Nanaimo around 4.45pm. Presumably a late migrant, it wasn't feeding but heading determinedly south.
Oh, and a red-necked grebe again, down by Mafeo-Sutton Park at lunchtime.
Oh, and a red-necked grebe again, down by Mafeo-Sutton Park at lunchtime.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
What's Good for the Goose...
Managed a quick 40 minutes down at Holden Creek en route home this evening.
The creek adjacent to the main footpath was teeming with green-winged teal. Approximately 80 birds in total, plus a pair of pintail. I couldn't find anything else among them, but when they flew I picked up a female/eclipse/juv type blue-winged or cinnamon in among them. Unfortunately they flew out onto the marsh, after a couple of spirals, and I was unable to locate the bird from the viewing point. Darn it.
There were no waders to be seen.
A family party (2 ads, 3 juvs) of white-fronted geese (pictured) were in the cattle field, where just under 100 Canadas were also feeding.
The brush was quiet as far as passerine migrants were concerned though a flock of some 50 American pipits came in high from behind me, dropping eventually into the ploughed field.
The juv northern harrier was hunting out at the back of the marsh, and fields.
A hairy woodpecker was kicking around.
The creek adjacent to the main footpath was teeming with green-winged teal. Approximately 80 birds in total, plus a pair of pintail. I couldn't find anything else among them, but when they flew I picked up a female/eclipse/juv type blue-winged or cinnamon in among them. Unfortunately they flew out onto the marsh, after a couple of spirals, and I was unable to locate the bird from the viewing point. Darn it.
There were no waders to be seen.
The brush was quiet as far as passerine migrants were concerned though a flock of some 50 American pipits came in high from behind me, dropping eventually into the ploughed field.
The juv northern harrier was hunting out at the back of the marsh, and fields.
A hairy woodpecker was kicking around.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
What a Difference a Day Makes...
Quite a bit quieter down at the Nanaimo River estuary this evening.
No American goldfinches, and just a handful of savannah sparrows - quite a contrast from yesterday.
Still good numbers of white-crowned sparrows, with a few golden-crowned, and a couple of Lincoln's sparrows around the large oak and platform areas.
Just the northern harrier (juv) and a merlin, raptor-wise. A single orange-crowned warbler was in the hawthorns, plus a couple of purple finches. Of course, northern flicker, spotted towhees, song sparrows, Bewick's wren and such were also seen, as usual.
A lesser yellowlegs and a belted kingfisher were on the river.
No American goldfinches, and just a handful of savannah sparrows - quite a contrast from yesterday.
Still good numbers of white-crowned sparrows, with a few golden-crowned, and a couple of Lincoln's sparrows around the large oak and platform areas.
Just the northern harrier (juv) and a merlin, raptor-wise. A single orange-crowned warbler was in the hawthorns, plus a couple of purple finches. Of course, northern flicker, spotted towhees, song sparrows, Bewick's wren and such were also seen, as usual.
A lesser yellowlegs and a belted kingfisher were on the river.
Monday, 13 September 2010
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Calls of the Wild
The most notable thing about my morning trawl around the Nanaimo River estuary, was coming to the grim conclusion that, as utterly thrilling as autumn birding may be, it can also be extremely frustrating. In particular, as a relative newcomer to Vancouver Island, the unidentifiable calls of overhead passerines was really galling. No more meadow pipits and wagtails for me, now it's all, well, I don't know!
Despite my frantically scribing poorly rendered vocalisations in my notebook, I came out with nothing. God only knows what was flying over my head...
Equally frustrating was the golden plover sp. that I could clearly hear, but couldn't locate - it was obviously flying but could I find it? No. No, I couldn't.
Okay, now to the birds that kindly showed themselves to me.
A flock of 7 long-billed dowitcher were flushed from the river by a marauding sharp-shinned hawk, and a further pair were roosting on the marsh.
A single orange-crowned warbler, the first I've seen for ages, was in the bushes around the platform. Around 60-70 savannah sparrows were in the area.
The juv northern harrier, an osprey and a merlin were also kicking around, and numerous turkey vultures were moving through.
A cloud of barn swallows, incidentally heading north (huh?), contained a pair of late violet-green swallows.
Hoping that the tide would have dropped enough to allow access to the marsh, I headed for Holden Creek. The shrubbery along the path was quite lively - at least 2 Lincoln's sparrows and my first golden-crowned sparrow of the fall were among a group of savannah and white-crowned. A couple of common yellowthroat, several chestnut-backed chickadees, a Bewick's wren, northern flickers, red-breasted nuthatches and song sparrows were also in the 'hood.
A female pintail was with a pair of mallard on the creek. Out on the marsh a couple of large wet German shepherds were running around proving either that they'd already flushed everything, or that there was nothing much to flush. 8 green-winged teal were the only things that spooked.
The farmer's fields appeared to be alive with loads of sparrows and such, but the creek was still too high to cross and the dogs were slightly off-putting too, to be honest...
* Oh, I forgot to mention - there seemed to be Steller's jays all over the place today. It seemed like everywhere I went, I was seeing ones and twos.
Despite my frantically scribing poorly rendered vocalisations in my notebook, I came out with nothing. God only knows what was flying over my head...
Equally frustrating was the golden plover sp. that I could clearly hear, but couldn't locate - it was obviously flying but could I find it? No. No, I couldn't.
Okay, now to the birds that kindly showed themselves to me.
A flock of 7 long-billed dowitcher were flushed from the river by a marauding sharp-shinned hawk, and a further pair were roosting on the marsh.
A single orange-crowned warbler, the first I've seen for ages, was in the bushes around the platform. Around 60-70 savannah sparrows were in the area.
The juv northern harrier, an osprey and a merlin were also kicking around, and numerous turkey vultures were moving through.
A cloud of barn swallows, incidentally heading north (huh?), contained a pair of late violet-green swallows.
Hoping that the tide would have dropped enough to allow access to the marsh, I headed for Holden Creek. The shrubbery along the path was quite lively - at least 2 Lincoln's sparrows and my first golden-crowned sparrow of the fall were among a group of savannah and white-crowned. A couple of common yellowthroat, several chestnut-backed chickadees, a Bewick's wren, northern flickers, red-breasted nuthatches and song sparrows were also in the 'hood.
A female pintail was with a pair of mallard on the creek. Out on the marsh a couple of large wet German shepherds were running around proving either that they'd already flushed everything, or that there was nothing much to flush. 8 green-winged teal were the only things that spooked.
The farmer's fields appeared to be alive with loads of sparrows and such, but the creek was still too high to cross and the dogs were slightly off-putting too, to be honest...
* Oh, I forgot to mention - there seemed to be Steller's jays all over the place today. It seemed like everywhere I went, I was seeing ones and twos.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Morning Glory
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 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...
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
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.
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
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.
Thursday, 2 September 2010
The Baird's Necessities Of Life Will Come To Me
Bit of a weird tide this evening - at its lowest it was still pretty high, making creek-crossing a rather tricky affair.
In fact, I couldn't get over when I first arrived at Holden Creek around 6pm, so I decided to scan from the raised viewing area. A willow flycatcher and common yellowthroat were mucking around in the vegetation and good numbers of American goldfinch were whizzing around.
At first, it looked pretty dead out there until a small flock of waders flew in. Eventually, they landed on the wet mud and I was able to determine that the group was made up of 12 least and 9 western sandpipers.
Scanning over the marsh, it seemed pretty birdless. Then I noticed a couple of shorebirds some 250 metres, or so, away. One was probably a least, but the other was larger... and feeding very slowly and deliberately. It was facing me head-on, appeared short legged and quite 'oval' bodied, but with the sun behind it and at that range, I couldn't really be sure what it was. Could it be the Baird's I've been hoping for?
After a while it turned to present its profile. It looked pretty long winged - surely a Baird's? That feeding behaviour, and profile all pointed to it.
Thinking 'Sod the water, I'm going to get closer.' I cautiously waded through the creek, the rank water about half an inch from the top of my wellies... then had to cross another equally deep channel before arriving, dry on the other side.
Creeping around the edge of the marsh, I finally got the sun behind me and relocated the bird. Bingo! At last! Juvenile Baird's sandpiper. What a cracking bird too.
In fact, I couldn't get over when I first arrived at Holden Creek around 6pm, so I decided to scan from the raised viewing area. A willow flycatcher and common yellowthroat were mucking around in the vegetation and good numbers of American goldfinch were whizzing around.
At first, it looked pretty dead out there until a small flock of waders flew in. Eventually, they landed on the wet mud and I was able to determine that the group was made up of 12 least and 9 western sandpipers.
Scanning over the marsh, it seemed pretty birdless. Then I noticed a couple of shorebirds some 250 metres, or so, away. One was probably a least, but the other was larger... and feeding very slowly and deliberately. It was facing me head-on, appeared short legged and quite 'oval' bodied, but with the sun behind it and at that range, I couldn't really be sure what it was. Could it be the Baird's I've been hoping for?
Thinking 'Sod the water, I'm going to get closer.' I cautiously waded through the creek, the rank water about half an inch from the top of my wellies... then had to cross another equally deep channel before arriving, dry on the other side.
Creeping around the edge of the marsh, I finally got the sun behind me and relocated the bird. Bingo! At last! Juvenile Baird's sandpiper. What a cracking bird too.
Plenty of birds, too little time.
I dropped by at the Nanaimo River estuary (Raines Road) briefly on my home yesterday evening (Wed).
The juvenile northern harrier was hunting over the marsh, and a merlin was patrolling the long hedge. An adult bald eagle was cruising up and down the river. A couple of hooded merganser were on the water.
There were willow flycatchers feeding by the large oak, and again near the viewing platform. A common yellowthroat was lurking around in the brambles.
A flock of 28 pintail came over.
At 6.20pm, a common nighthawk flopped low over my head, and soon there were 6 hawking over the area.
Unfortunately, I was on a short leash and had to leave, but it certainly feels like autumn down there. Be interesting to see what movers through in the next few weeks.
* Again, a black swift was over Cedar later in the evening.
The juvenile northern harrier was hunting over the marsh, and a merlin was patrolling the long hedge. An adult bald eagle was cruising up and down the river. A couple of hooded merganser were on the water.
There were willow flycatchers feeding by the large oak, and again near the viewing platform. A common yellowthroat was lurking around in the brambles.
A flock of 28 pintail came over.
At 6.20pm, a common nighthawk flopped low over my head, and soon there were 6 hawking over the area.
Unfortunately, I was on a short leash and had to leave, but it certainly feels like autumn down there. Be interesting to see what movers through in the next few weeks.
* Again, a black swift was over Cedar later in the evening.
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