South Side: Birders: Gail Mitchell, Robin Lawson, Christina Cutbill, Linda Hill, John Scull, Myra and Pat Micek. It was raining at the beginning but it soon cleared and we were treated to a beautiful display of clouds, mist, and sun. We saw 1 Horned Grebe 4 Red-necked Grebes 11 Double-crested Cormorants 82 Buffleheads 2 Common…
Hi Birders We got this seasons count off to a roaring start with 6 participants in two vehicles and we have to thank Kurlene and Eric for doing a wonderful job of driving. Deb took over the duties of keeping our records and other than a few corrections made a great job of the numbers….
From the north side: Kurlene Wen, Bob Nation, and Daryl Johnson did the Coastal Waterbird Survery on Oct. 12th, 2014. Overcast skies, and calm seas made the birding fairly easy on Sunday morning. Birds seen: Double-crested Cormorant 7 Horned Grebe 2 Great Blue Heron 2 Trumpeter Swan 2 Mute Swan 35 Mallard 52 American Wigeon…
Hi With word flowing around the Vancouver Island birding community of a massive influx of Heermann’s Gulls to the east side of the island into the Salish Sea, myself and senior Derrick “he don’t like being called old anymore” decided to do a big gull search around the Cowichan Valley on Saturday. There has only…
It was a very quiet morning. Only one counter. The weather was clear; seas were calm; and there was moderate human activity – 3 powerboats, 2 kayakers, 8 walkers, 5 dogs. Start time was 09:30. Finish 10:30. The tide was high and still rising. I only observed seven species of birds: Double-crested cormorants: 7 Great…
Bob and Helen Nation, Kurlene Wenberg, and Daryl Johnson spent a beautiful one and a half hours with the birds on a sunny, calm morning in the bay. We saw thirteen species of birds: D.C. Cormorant 2 Great Blue Heron 3 Canada Goose 37 Mute Swan 34 Trumpeter Swan 1 American Wigeon 8 Mallard 36…
Hi Naturalists It has been a while since I put fingers to keys and thought that as surveys are about to start that I would enlighten you on what this birding duffer has seen this late summer. The shorebirds have been the best for many years, but numbers are still low for what was once…
Kurleen Wenburg, Daryl Johnson and Carol Hartwig conducted a Coastal Waterbird Survey on Cowichan Estuary North-Khenipsen Road Sunday, April 13, 2014 from 5:37 to 6:30 PM during high tide. Visibility was good but there was glare on the rippled surface. A total of 13 species were observed including 100 Bufflehead, 69 unidentified Gull, 45 Mew…
Spring is here and the migrants are starting to pour in, many new species have been recorded including Black-throated Gray, Orange-crowned and Townsends Warbler, Pacific-slope and Hammond’s Flycatcher. Brightly colored male American Goldfinch are starting to appear at feeders and the shorebirds are being seen in Cowichan Bay with good numbers of Greater Yellowlegs and…
Four eager counters appeared for this our last count of the season and little did we know what wonders were in store for us on this lovely spring day. We started off with a few Canada Geese here and there and some swans flying off to the north-west, migrating possibly? Tree Swallows sat and flew…
I did it again a lovely day of sunshine although the wind still had a bite to it, you could tell this draft was having some affect on the ladies as some feared to remove themselves from the vehicles. Two carloads set out with 8 people, our good friend Genevieve turning out to see what…
Thanks to Dave Aldcroft and Derrick Marven for leading the March 13 birding trip to Parksville. They each took credit for the balmy morning sunshine while dodging the blame for the rapidly chilling afternoon. Still, it was a fine day overall for the 15 participants: David Aldcroft, Stephen Aldcroft, Jenny Carter, Christina Cutbill, Daryl Johnson…
Oh weren’t we the lucky ones, the sun shone and the head of the Golden Eagle lit up and birds were everywhere. This week saw some new swans come into our area as the birds slowly make their way north. 5 Tundra’s and 8 Greater White-fronted Geese were had as well, lot’s of eagles. Only…
With the Swan and Goose count cancelled because of weather conditions I had decided to do a bit of birding from the window, alas my better half had other ideas and I was given the task of cleaning the house. I flitted here and there like a Bushtit at a suet feeder and it was…
You know it’s a good day when you arrive at the dog park and there are smiling faces there to greet you, noone hiding in their cars away from the weather, yes once again we had incredible conditions. It was one of those days for hanging your washing on the line and drying your smalls….