Coastal Waterbird Surveys, Jan. 12th, 2020

Cowichan Bay, southside.

I forgot to send out a reminder last week and everyone else forgot to check the calendar at www.naturecowichan.net, so only Linda Hill and I were there to do the count without a telescope.  It was chilly and overcast, but the sea was perfectly still, reflecting the sky and the mountains, e were accompanied on our walk along the shore by two river otters.  We saw:

71 Bufflehead; 11 Common Goldeneye;  2 Hooded Merganser; 20 duck sp.;  1 Western Grebe;14 Gull sp.; 5 Double-crested Cormorant; 1 Belted Kingfisher; 1 Northwestern Crow; 28 Rock Dove.

John Scull

With choppy water in Saanich Inlet Bryon Thompson observed the following waterbirds in the Verdier Point area:

American wigeon, 31; Bufflehead, 20; Common goldeneye, 8; Barrow’s goldeneye, 6; Red-breasted merganser, 9; horned grebe, 40; Glaucous-winged gull, 5; Gull sp., 1; Common loon, 1; Brandt’s cormorant, 1; Pelagic cormorant, 1.

In still choppy Mill Bay:

Mute swan, 1; Mallard, 8; Surf scoter, 24; Bufflehead, 51; Common goldeneye, 26; Barrow’s goldeneye, 1; Hooded merganser, 4; Glaucous-winged gull, 22; Brandt’s cormorant, 2; Double-crested cormorant, 4

Jim Wisnia