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….
This week I was once again surrounded by women, I don’t know how I do it, but there you are, some of us have it and some don’t. Four of us took off from the dog park and it was not long before the numbers started to grow. Goose numbers this week dropped drastically and…
Hi This afternoonI witnessed one of the most amazing and sad birding sights I have ever seen. I had just been out to feed the birds as I usually do about 2:45pm each day, Icame back in and sat down ready to jot down my sightings when I noticed I had not filled up the…
It was one of those days which you could never have predicted, I personally thought it was going to be wet and totally lacking in birds, in fact it was totally the opposite. Big numbers of raptors and waterfowl included, Bald Eagle, Coopers, Sharp-shinned and Red-tailed Hawks, Merlin and Peregrine Falcons, mega number of Canada…
This week 4 participants headed out for the count and it was not long before we hit some good numbers of swans and geese. The DU pond at the Forest Museum had 7 Mute Swans and then Somenos Lake had just over 80 Trumpeter Swans and just under 100 Canada Geese. The lake was virtually…
This week 4 participants headed out for the count and it was not long before we hit some good numbers of swans and geese. The DU pond at the Forest Museum had 7 Mute Swans and then Somenos Lake had just over 80 Trumpeter Swans and just under 100 Canada Geese. The lake was virtually…
Today started out with myself getting a reality check, the holiday credit card bill came through the door, who spent all this money I ask? It was off to the S&G count feeling a little low, heh but I arrived at the dog park to be denied access, workers were doing the footpaths, you know…
Four observers, Daryl Johnson, Kurleen Wen, Jennifer Lawson and Carol Hartwig (and Bob Down for a portion of the count) conducted a Coastal Bird Survey on Cowichan Estuary North-Khenipsen Road Sunday, January 12 from Noon to 1:30 PM. Visibility was good during the high tide with a rippled surface. A total of 18 species were…
Hi It finally caught up with us, no not the holiday blues, but the weather, the rain that was forecast got us good, but in good counting style it did not sway us from the job at hand. Would you believe it, on our worst weather day of the season we had near record numbers,…
Hi Birders I have crunched the numbers and it was not as bad as i thought, most species were at or near our count average and there were a few that made star rating. Here are the main figures: Individules: 26,484 High Counts Anna’s Hummingbird 169 up from 143 last year Eurasian-collared Dove 92 up…
This week we were reduced to just 5 counters and so we squeezed into one vehicle which was admirably handled by Kurlene although the participants in the back seat were doing a lot of groping, it appears that the seat-belts were trying to get into the wrong receptacles. This week saw a new high for…
Hi There are times when us as birders encounter incredible sights, as was the case this Wednesday when we saw trees loaded with eagles down off of Sahilton and Boy’s Roads. Incredible numbers in just one tree left us in awe at what nature had to offer. Although we tried to count most on Sahilton…