All day, I was looking forward to a post work visit to Nanaimo's Holden Creek, convinced that last night's and today's rain would have dropped, and held, some waders.
Things looked relatively promising as I arrived, noting a group of 14 least sandpiper feeding in the channel. A quick scan along the creek however, suggested otherwise. Other than a juvenile great blue heron it was birdless. It's hard to believe that this site was once one of Vancouver Island's premier birding sites, as far as migrant waders are concerned. Perhaps it's just a particularly quiet year, or maybe the habitat management simply hasn't benefitted passage shorebirds.
I crossed the channel and made my way along the flood bank, scanning the empty marsh. The rain had done little to raise the levels in the dry pools and other than a fly-through pintail, there were no birds of note to be seen.
Of interest, was a large flock of 20ish white-crowned sparrows of mixed ages, along with a single very recently fledged cowbird among them. Later, I encountered similar numbers of savannah sparrows. A couple of common yellowthroat were in the brambles.
Other than a small group of 5 least sandpiper at the upper end of the creek, there were no other shorebirds on site.
Back on the channel later, a merlin came through with intent, scattering the sandpipers.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Poor Peep Show
A check of the marsh and channels in the Holden Creek area at low tide today revealed little of note.
Highlights included 12 western and 1 semi-palmated sandpiper among 26 least sandpipers. A single killdeer was over the marsh.
A Lincoln's sparrow was in brambles along the raised flood bank.
Sunday
Once again I headed down to the estuary to see if any 'new' shorebirds had dropped in at Holden Creek. The same problem persists at his site, as it has during the whole shorebird migration period, where few tides are significant enough, in height, to fill the dried up pools on the marsh. Obviously, the ongoing lack of rainfall only adds to the issue.
Consequently, there seems to be little to attract passing waders, other than the tidal creeks. Today's paltry mud dwellers consisted of just 37 least sandpipers and 6 western sandpipers.
Still quite a few juvenile cowbirds hanging around the cattle.
* 2 black swift were over the house, in Cedar, at 7.50pm
Friday, 27 August 2010
Thursday, 26 August 2010
That's the wader do it...
There were plenty of shorebirds on and around Holden Creek this evening, but once again, with the incoming tide I was marooned on the higher ground - the blackberries and other dense vegetation along the sluiced channel bank is way too thick to get through at the moment, so a muddy crossing at low tide is the still the only option for access to the marsh. Maybe I should get myself a kayak...?
Even at distance, and looking into sun, I could make out at least 100 calidrids feeding in the mud. They seemed to be all least and western sandpipers - a ratio of 60/40 respectively.
I couldn't see any semi-palmated sandpipers amongst them, though I suspect better viewing conditions would have revealed one or two.
There were certainly no other larger species with them, although at one point I heard a greater yellowlegs calling from somewhere - presumably out at the back of the marsh.
Scanning over the marsh in search of any nighthawks I picked up a distant flying wader, which eventually turned out to be my first Wilson's snipe of the autumn.
Even at distance, and looking into sun, I could make out at least 100 calidrids feeding in the mud. They seemed to be all least and western sandpipers - a ratio of 60/40 respectively.
I couldn't see any semi-palmated sandpipers amongst them, though I suspect better viewing conditions would have revealed one or two.
There were certainly no other larger species with them, although at one point I heard a greater yellowlegs calling from somewhere - presumably out at the back of the marsh.
Scanning over the marsh in search of any nighthawks I picked up a distant flying wader, which eventually turned out to be my first Wilson's snipe of the autumn.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Hump day 'hawks
Made a brief stop at Holden Creek this evening, just to see if anything was being pushed out by the rising tide.
One of the resident red-tailed hawks was sat in its usual spot as I arrived, and I flushed a Cooper's hawk from the small trees, by the sluice.
On the creek a mixed flock of least and western sandpipers were feeding on the fast vanishing muddy edges. Probably 50 birds in total with around a dozen being westerns.
Swallows were notable by their relative absence - just a handful of birds around the barns.
A merlin came through, and had a go at tackling a couple of starlings, to no avail. A bald eagle was sat out on the telegraph poles (or hydro poles, or whatever they're called over here).
At around 6.30pm I noticed a few common nighthawks feeding over the estuary - a quick count revealed 30 or so. Before long they had been joined by more, and as I watched, nighthawks came pouring in until they peaked at around 200 birds.
They would occasionally break up, with flocks passing over me and heading off toward Cedar, while others headed out over Raines Road, before returning 5 or 6 six minutes later, and again swarming in one big flock over the marsh. Great stuff.
Impossible to photograph though, with a compact digital camera (see accompanying evidence).
It's times like this that I really miss my 35mm cameras... I must invest in a digital SLR one of these days.
One of the resident red-tailed hawks was sat in its usual spot as I arrived, and I flushed a Cooper's hawk from the small trees, by the sluice.
On the creek a mixed flock of least and western sandpipers were feeding on the fast vanishing muddy edges. Probably 50 birds in total with around a dozen being westerns.
Swallows were notable by their relative absence - just a handful of birds around the barns.
A merlin came through, and had a go at tackling a couple of starlings, to no avail. A bald eagle was sat out on the telegraph poles (or hydro poles, or whatever they're called over here).
They would occasionally break up, with flocks passing over me and heading off toward Cedar, while others headed out over Raines Road, before returning 5 or 6 six minutes later, and again swarming in one big flock over the marsh. Great stuff.
Impossible to photograph though, with a compact digital camera (see accompanying evidence).
It's times like this that I really miss my 35mm cameras... I must invest in a digital SLR one of these days.
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.
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.
Saturday, 21 August 2010
The One That Got Away...
Very few waders on Nanaimo's Holden Creek at low tide this morning, just a scattering of least sandpipers. One group of leasts, that kept getting up from the marsh and flying around contained a considerably bigger bird. Unfortunately, every time they landed on any of the small dried pools among the pickle weed, they in effect, disappeared. I tried for ages to get a view of this distinctly larger calidrid, but to no avail. It was either a pectoral, or Baird's, sandpiper. Probably, the latter.
I realise that pec's a bit bigger, but it's quite hard to judge actual size when its the only larger bird among many smaller individuals. This is especially frustrating, as Baird's sandpiper is, by far, the commonest nearctic shorebird that I've never actually seen. Oh well, such are the delights of birding.
The bog-of-eternal-stench was still hosting the yellowlegs convention, with 7 lessers and the single greater present, plus just 3 least sandpiper. 4 green-winged teal were nearby.
A large influx of some 40-50 cowbirds had taken place, and they were feeding with starlings among the cattle. Otherwise, it was business as usual.
I realise that pec's a bit bigger, but it's quite hard to judge actual size when its the only larger bird among many smaller individuals. This is especially frustrating, as Baird's sandpiper is, by far, the commonest nearctic shorebird that I've never actually seen. Oh well, such are the delights of birding.
The bog-of-eternal-stench was still hosting the yellowlegs convention, with 7 lessers and the single greater present, plus just 3 least sandpiper. 4 green-winged teal were nearby.
A large influx of some 40-50 cowbirds had taken place, and they were feeding with starlings among the cattle. Otherwise, it was business as usual.
Friday, 20 August 2010
Thank Some Deity Or Other It's Friday
Despite the high tide, I checked out Holden Creek after work today. After what seemed like a really, really, long week I was ready for a bit of meditative birding.
A party of 8 western sandpiper were feeding on a small pool on the marsh, viewable from the raised area. A flock of some 20 least sandpiper occasionally whizzed around, flushed variously by merlin, northern harrier and red-tailed hawk. They were apparently feeding at the back pool. Other than a pair of green-winged teal, the marsh was seemingly quiet.
A belted kingfisher and 3 great-blue heron were hunting around the flooded creek edges.
Mucking around in the shrubbery were a family group of common yellowthroat, numerous house finches and white-crowned sparrows as well as both Pacific-slope and willow flycatchers.
Mystery Revealed
Given the nature of the picture, I'm not going to go into finer identification criteria with this one...
So, the most popular vote was in favour of merlin, eh? I'm delighted to say after weeks of most people getting the mystery birds irritatingly right... it's not merlin!
Spotted sandpiper was next most voted. Guess what? Nope, it' not spotted sandpiper.
Equal votes went to marbled murrelet and Anna's hummingbird... and I'm delighted to reveal that the honours go to the hummer!
Phew - well, now that that's done, we'll get back to normal. I'll post a new challenge for you all in the next day or so. But I promise I'll go a little easier on you all... Watch this space.
A party of 8 western sandpiper were feeding on a small pool on the marsh, viewable from the raised area. A flock of some 20 least sandpiper occasionally whizzed around, flushed variously by merlin, northern harrier and red-tailed hawk. They were apparently feeding at the back pool. Other than a pair of green-winged teal, the marsh was seemingly quiet.
A belted kingfisher and 3 great-blue heron were hunting around the flooded creek edges.
Mucking around in the shrubbery were a family group of common yellowthroat, numerous house finches and white-crowned sparrows as well as both Pacific-slope and willow flycatchers.
Mystery Revealed
So, the most popular vote was in favour of merlin, eh? I'm delighted to say after weeks of most people getting the mystery birds irritatingly right... it's not merlin!
Spotted sandpiper was next most voted. Guess what? Nope, it' not spotted sandpiper.
Equal votes went to marbled murrelet and Anna's hummingbird... and I'm delighted to reveal that the honours go to the hummer!
Phew - well, now that that's done, we'll get back to normal. I'll post a new challenge for you all in the next day or so. But I promise I'll go a little easier on you all... Watch this space.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
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.
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.
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).
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.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Vancouver Island Pelagic Birding Trip - what a weekend!
All Aboard!
I've been itching for a chance to get offshore since I moved out here, and I finally arranged to join a pelagic trip with Just Birding out of Tofino on Saturday. I'd managed to talk Rich Mooney into coming along (didn't take much, to be honest) and we headed west in the early hours, having had about 2 hours sleep...
We arrived in Tofino at 6am, and after a bit of
general farting around, we took off toward the continental shelf on board a small boat with just half a dozen other paying customers, the skipper and on-board bird-guide, Adrian Dorst.
The conditions were immaculate. Visibility was excellent and the ocean was flat calm - even 35 miles from shore!
This calmness may have been a contributing factor in the relative small numbers of birds we encountered, but the lack of large fishing vessels was the main reason we didn't locate any big flocks.
Nonetheless, we did find some great stuff, and the whole experience was well worth the effort.
I did get 4 lifers, which was good enough for me!
These included tufted puffin, of which we had at least 7 sighting - all superb adults in full breeding regalia. The attached pic was taken by Rich.
Cassin's auklet was another new bird for me, and we saw lots of these diminutive alcids and had great opportunities to observe them at close quarters and in flight.
One of the birds I was expecting, and really looking forward to seeing, was fork-tailed storm-petrel - I wasn't disappointed, we came across many and got ace views. Thanks to Adrian for the attached pic.
The final tick, was a species I really hoped we'd bump into, but given the absence of fishing boats, I wasn't too optimistic about our finding one. Thankfully Rich picked it up, as a black-footed albatross came in from the horizon. We didn't get great views, but it was a relief to get on one in the bag, so to speak.
Other stuff we saw on the 6 hour trip included common loon, harlequin ducks, good numbers of both sooty and pink-footed shearwaters, plenty of fulmars (the majority of which were dark-phase birds), couple of wandering tattlers, black turnstones, surfbirds, and both red-necked and red (or grey, to UK readers) phalaropes, large numbers of Heerman's gulls, common murres, pigeon guillemots, marbled murrelets and rhinoceros auklets.
Unfortunate omissions included Sabine's gull, and jaegers (ie skuas, dear Brits), terns, Buller's shearwaters and Leach's petrels, never mind any of the scarcer stuff. A pair of distant silhouettes were almost certainly South Polar skuas, but we got onto them too late to be sure. Dagnabit.
On top of the ace birding,we also had unbelievable views of several humpback whales. Again, thanks to Adrian for the shots. (ps that's a pink-footed shearwater to the right of the whale.) Harbour porpoise and harbour seals were also spotted, as was a family of sea otters, lurking in the kelp beds, as to be expected.
Back to land and normality...
Jenny joined me on my BC Coastal Waterbird Survey at high tide, late morning today (Sunday). It was pretty unremarkable, as to be expected in August. But, it was a lovely day, and we enjoyed the walk down to Jack Point.
I headed down to Holden Creek after the tide subsided, and was delighted to see that the high water levels had replenished the dry pools with lovely bird-attracting water!
On the creek were a dozen least sandpipers and a pair of dowitchers (pic of one here). I was inclined toward short-billed, but I'd be interested to hear what others might think. If only they'd called!
The back pool was hosting 3 lesser yellowlegs and a pair of green-winged teal. The now watery, bog-of-eternal-stench had a further 8 lesser yellowlegs, 1 greater yellowlegs, 1 long-billed dowitcher, 6 least, 1 semi-palmated & 3 western sandpiper.
I've been itching for a chance to get offshore since I moved out here, and I finally arranged to join a pelagic trip with Just Birding out of Tofino on Saturday. I'd managed to talk Rich Mooney into coming along (didn't take much, to be honest) and we headed west in the early hours, having had about 2 hours sleep...
 |
| Me and Rich (left) relaxing onboard... |
general farting around, we took off toward the continental shelf on board a small boat with just half a dozen other paying customers, the skipper and on-board bird-guide, Adrian Dorst.
The conditions were immaculate. Visibility was excellent and the ocean was flat calm - even 35 miles from shore!
This calmness may have been a contributing factor in the relative small numbers of birds we encountered, but the lack of large fishing vessels was the main reason we didn't locate any big flocks.
Nonetheless, we did find some great stuff, and the whole experience was well worth the effort.
I did get 4 lifers, which was good enough for me!
 |
| Tufted puffin by Rich |
Cassin's auklet was another new bird for me, and we saw lots of these diminutive alcids and had great opportunities to observe them at close quarters and in flight.
One of the birds I was expecting, and really looking forward to seeing, was fork-tailed storm-petrel - I wasn't disappointed, we came across many and got ace views. Thanks to Adrian for the attached pic.
 |
| Fork-tailed storm-petrel by Adrian Dorst |
The final tick, was a species I really hoped we'd bump into, but given the absence of fishing boats, I wasn't too optimistic about our finding one. Thankfully Rich picked it up, as a black-footed albatross came in from the horizon. We didn't get great views, but it was a relief to get on one in the bag, so to speak.
Other stuff we saw on the 6 hour trip included common loon, harlequin ducks, good numbers of both sooty and pink-footed shearwaters, plenty of fulmars (the majority of which were dark-phase birds), couple of wandering tattlers, black turnstones, surfbirds, and both red-necked and red (or grey, to UK readers) phalaropes, large numbers of Heerman's gulls, common murres, pigeon guillemots, marbled murrelets and rhinoceros auklets.
Unfortunate omissions included Sabine's gull, and jaegers (ie skuas, dear Brits), terns, Buller's shearwaters and Leach's petrels, never mind any of the scarcer stuff. A pair of distant silhouettes were almost certainly South Polar skuas, but we got onto them too late to be sure. Dagnabit.
 |
| Humpback whale & pink-footed shearwater by Adrian Dorst |
Back to land and normality...
Jenny joined me on my BC Coastal Waterbird Survey at high tide, late morning today (Sunday). It was pretty unremarkable, as to be expected in August. But, it was a lovely day, and we enjoyed the walk down to Jack Point.
I headed down to Holden Creek after the tide subsided, and was delighted to see that the high water levels had replenished the dry pools with lovely bird-attracting water!
The back pool was hosting 3 lesser yellowlegs and a pair of green-winged teal. The now watery, bog-of-eternal-stench had a further 8 lesser yellowlegs, 1 greater yellowlegs, 1 long-billed dowitcher, 6 least, 1 semi-palmated & 3 western sandpiper.
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