Dear Birders Four D’s and a E, it is possible that these were my grades when I left school back in England many moons ago, but no, these are the first initials of the participants in this weeks survey. While 2 D’s and an E kept watch for birds, two D’s were doing a crossword;…
Hi Birders Not sure what we have done to deserve the weather we have been subjected to this week, wind, rain, even a bit of sunshine, but nothing stops the swan and goose counters. Five hardy souls set out from the dog park and it was not long before we started counting geese with over…
Hi Birders Talk about Rag, Tag and Bobtail, that was the swan and goose counters this week. I arrived at the dog park with just Daryl waiting, after few minutes Bob turned up to let us know that he would meet us half way round later on. So into the car the two of us…
Hi Birders There are times when one wishes they had stayed at home instead of going out birding in such horrible weather, but not so for those hardy counters who join us each week. Having said that one less than hardy counter did not want to get out of her car, she fumbled with her…
Dear Birders And this is why you should never let Swan & Goose counters go out for four hours un-supervised: Derrick PS. well done counters a record number of swans for the season. On 22nd February four stalwart birders set off swanning around the Cowichan Valley with a borrowed scope. The sky was blue, the…
Hi This week I put into the weather forecasters for some nice skies and boy did we get some, according to the square box the Cowichan Valley was the warmest place in Canada. Seven counters got under way and it was not long before we found our first swans at the rest stop beside Somenos…
Hi This week I had great expectations of some large numbers having gone up island and seen a big flock of swans at Quist’s Farm on Sunday. Things don’t always happen the way you think as was the case as we started our count, Somenos Marsh had 27 swans near the rest stop on the…
Hi all naturalists This weeks count was attended by 6 counters and the weather gods smiled upon us today with clear skies and moderately nice temperatures. The count this week saw numbers similar to last weeks with a rise in Canada Geese and amazingly the same number of immature Trumpeters. We counted the geese around…
Hello Birders The day started with 7 birders meeting at the dog park, one was sent packing as he had a nasty cold, didn’t want him contaminating the van. With senior Derrick away counting Zebras and Hippopotami, Peggy had the honors of driving us around our route and what a wonderful job she made of…
Hi Birders Due to the winter falling on a Wednesday again this year the count was canceled. Winter came on the 12th last year, so take it from me that winter is late this year. It is time for reflection with our count, the Raptor count has got off to a good start although the…
Hi Birders This week saw a major infusion of birds but a lack of counters. The day started at the dog park with just me and Daryl, so 10:00am came around and we started to pull out just as Sheila was pulling in. The three of us then left and started the count with a…
Hi Birders It had to happen sooner or later, weather wise and today we were hit with the worst rain of the winter. It came at us from all angles but my quote from last weeks report must have been noted as most counters wandered out of the vehicles this week. Things were slow and…
Hi Birders The weather played a big part in the count this year, with atrocious conditions, no snow, rain, wind or cold temperatures. Birders were seen coming into the roundup with smiles on their faces, something we are not used to on the Duncan count. No whining or complaining was heard, just jokes and laughter….
Hi Naturalists This past Wednesdays count was attended by 6 counters so we all squirmed into one vehicle which did help with keeping everyone warm, not that we needed it with a balmy 10c outside. My day started with a nice cuddle in the carpark, I knew then that this was going to be a…
Hi All Seven eager counters turned up on this lovely sunny day and things couldn’t be better, two cars left the dog park and it was not long before we were counting Geese on the school playing fields on Beverly, another group of geese caused a bit of a discussion at the golf driving range…