Swan & Goose Count – March 19th, 2014

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 all the fuss was about. It didn’t take long to get her excited as we no longer had just stopped at Quists’s Farm than the Golden Eagle was doing a little dance in the mud out in the field, not sure if it loathed the mud or it was trying to gobble up earth worms, which ever way it put on a wonderful display before flying off over to the barns to join some youthful Bald Eagles.
A small group of Trumpeters were also found at this location, so this got us started on today’s count. Kerlene volunteered to do the tally sheet this week, but she had failed to bring an eraser, this entailed some close scrutiny of the results as I added up the days takings.
On we went and some more Trumpeters were found along Westholme Road, but then it was just a few Canada Geese along Richards Trail and some others at different locations back to Hwy 18 where we found a nice family group of swans. All went slow back to A&W, Eric dropped Genevieve back off at her car as she could no longer stand all the excitement and she went home to get on with some soothing paperwork.
Sahilton Road once again gave us our biggest flock of swans and an immature Tundra put in a show way over in the field, we spent some time here checking through the birds and time was getting late so Christina booted it away from the side of the field once again covering me in mud as I tried in vain to get the window up, this is the second time she has done this and she apologized profusely while giggling away.
Off to the west we went, but sadly Koksilah Road failed to increase our numbers, so we quickly went up Riverside Road where a modest number of swans were found. It was here that I was dumped out on the side of the road while the girls took off up the road, I must have looked forlorn as I held my thumb out working my way back down the road, but luck was with me as Eric stopped and offered me a ride, well both of us having got the same make of car I had never tried to get in the backseat and as I squeezed and pushed to get in, cramp set in and I lept back out and I was left to hobble down the road in pain, but then along came my ladies who showed mercy and picked me up. I promise never to pick on them again until next week.
Bench Road came next and a wonderful group of swans awaited us, but some were ways off and it took some scrutinizing to pick out the immatures who have now started to gain some adult plumage. The two furthest swans caught my attention and I was sure that one of these had a neck collar and through the haze pushed up by the sun we finally could see the ring around it’s neck, but way too far away to get the number. I think that this is 01UK who has been at this location couple of times this year.
Good numbers of geese were had at Dougan’s Flats and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks got it on as they circled over the highway, it was nice to see that the male who we had seen on many occasions had finally attracted a nice lady to keep him company.
Our next bit of excitement came at Jim’s Pond which is the pond adjacent to Cowichan Bay Road and Jim’s Crescent, a Ruddy Duck came floating by fast asleep, this is a very rare species to find here as they are usually only found on Somenos or Quamichan Lakes.
With our day nearly done a nice group of geese were at Dinsdales Farm to bolster our numbers which this week were down some, pointing to what I said last week about counting some twice as they moved back and forth between sites.
The last bit of good fortune was had on the Dock Road, Cowichan Bay where I found a penny, this tiny little brown job are hard to find these days and can only be found hanging out at some of the local banks.
Well that’s it until next week when we endeavor to make the last count of the season a biggy, much partying is expected as we wind up the count until the fall.

Cheers
Derrick