The next survey will be at 9 am on Sunday, March 11. Cowichan Bay: Kathy Coster, Linda Hill, Gail Mitchell, Barry Hetchko, John Scull, and Leslie Hodgson were joined by Dorothy and Eric Marshall on a beautiful midday in Hecate Park to survey the south side of Cowichan Bay. 2 Mute swan; 2 Mallard; 9…
It was Wednesday and of course the weather was just perfect with sunny skies and great visibility. In spite of this Barry and I were left out in the cold on this Valentines day as we were the only counters to turn up. We had purchased Valentines day chocolates and cards for our…
Such lucky counters to be out on a day when the weather man said rain and it didn’t happen, just overcast, which is just how I like it for counting birds. Big crowd this week as 10 people showed up; the word as gone around that we are having to much fun with citizen science….
Oh! what a day as 6 counters headed out into the floods. Swans turned into Geese, Sealions headed inland, naturalists headed for higher ground and at North Cowichan headquarters councilors were seen doing the stop the rain dance. and the counters kept going, what a wonderful group they…
This year we had great weather with no rain or snow, the temperature early in the day was a little nippy but by mid-day had warmed up nicely. We had 118 species seen with some rare sightings. This is our highest species total since 2007. The Northern Mockingbird obliged by staying around for more than…
At the dog park there was much happiness and laughter, not sure if it was my return of the lovely sunny weather that came with me. 7 eager counters set out and 1 other joined us later. A few geese here and a few geese there…
South side of Cowichan Bay. Robin Lawson, Claude Lahaise, Kathy Coster, Richard Campbell, Gail and Steve Mitchell & Carol Milo were observers and saw: Mute Swan, 6; Bufflehead, 120; Common Goldeneye, 4; Hooded Merganser, 7; Horned Grebe, 4; Double-crested Cormorant, 11; Great Blue Heron, 2; Bald Eagle, 1; Mew Gull, 1; Iceland Gull (Thayer’s), 3;…
I was not able to attend today’s wet and woolly count due a very poorly back, so it was left up to my good buddies to bare the brunt of today’s good weather. The results were awesome with numbers mirroring last weeks totals and all this under terrible afternoon…
Cowichan Bay South: Seven determined birders –Eric Marshall, Carol Milo, Gail Mitchell, John Scull, Linda Hill, Wilma Harvie, and Christine Cutbill — peered into thick fog to try to identify waterbirds. Only those near shore could be seen. 4 glaucous-wing gulls obligingly landed in Hecate Park so they could be positively identified. The birds we…
Today was a real pain in the butt, literally, the rain that was forecast never happened, there were great birds all over and we hit a 5 year high for Trumpeter Swans. Back to this pain in the butt, I was suffering today with a terrible lower back pain…
Our first count of the new year was a little foggy but full of good birds and plenty of them with high numbers of Trumpeter Swans and good numbers of birds of prey. 8 people in two cars left the dog park with a new addition today as we…
Cowichan Bay Swans It was the week before Christmas and it was quiet, it was no wonder as all was white The sun was clear which made the birds disappear Our numbers were down which left me with a frown Dorothy and Eric had disappeared but Bob and Helen suddenly appeared…
Red-tailed hawk Today was one of those wonderful birding days that we dream of, the sun shone brightly all day, the birds put on a great show and so did the beasts. Counting on a day like this was a joy, with the birds all being mostly easy to see….
It was one of those days when you leave home and you think am i dressed properly, well for sure some of us weren’t as the wind and cold went right down to the bones. It was nice when the seven of us were riding around in the two vehicles with…
Cowichan Bay On the south side: Linda Hill reports that a new birder named Doug showed up valiantly in the pouring rain to hold a large umbrella over our heads as we quickly counted these birds: 28 gull species; 3 common goldeneye; 3 horned grebes; 90 Buffleheads; 6 Double crested Cormorants; 2 Hooded Mergansers; 1…