This week was birding by couch and mostly wearing pj’s haha! With all the snow we spent most of the week hunkered down, or shoveling, as I assume many other birders did. It was fun to see the ebird lists from backyards and random addresses instead of the usual ebird hotspots. Many birders are used to being out every day birding and many had to be content to put in checklists of Juncos and House Sparrows. The 14-17 weekend is the Annual Great Backyard Birding Count where birders are encouraged to count their local birds, this year I think it has literally meant “your backyard” for those of us in Southern Ontario. All the snow means the birds are pushed to the feeders as it is more and more difficult to get through the snow to food sources.
Jerry and I still use shovels and muscle to dig ourselves out. Our neighbours all have tractors or mini-plows and will sometimes help us out if the snow is really bad but we still “enjoy” being able to get out and shovel. On Thursday a neighbour just cleaned out the plow snow at the end of the driveway for us which really helped but the accumulation over the last week means our double driveway is more like a single now. Spring can’t be too far away, right?
ThursdaySunday
We also had some meetings to finalize Babi staying in the memory care place where she is beginning to be more accepting of being there. Most days she thinks she has just arrived there having walked from her apartment and we cannot, nor try, to dissuade her of that idea. More and more we now have to meet her where she is as her reality slips away. We look forward to being able to get her out a bit as the weather gets better and get family and friends in to visit her. We also managed to pack up a bit more at the condo. We have made a very small dent. PSA to those younger than 50 – stop buying STUFF! Think about living a minimalist life. To those over 50 – start giving your STUFF away NOW! Don’t leave it for your kids to do!
And now back to birding…
We live on 1.5 acres of land with a large pond/wetland taking up maybe a tenth. We left a lot of scrubby trees (Manitoba Maples) to grow and planted lots of Carolinian Forest species of trees and shrubs. We planted ecograss that can be left uncut or cut like a regular lawn and we planted Tall Grass Prairie species as well. We have a couple of feeding areas for the birds that are visible from our windows. For the safety of birds it is best to have feeders either super close to windows or very far away. All our windows have the Feather Friendly dots on them and so we very rarely have a window hit now. I purposely took the pics showing the dots but often when you are looking out depending on the angle you actually do not see the dots. We feed with black oil sunflower seeds in the shell, niger seeds, suet, and a mixed seed in the winter. Jerry will also treat them to peanuts. In the summer instead of suet we put out mealworms for adults feeding their young and, of course, nectar for the hummingbirds.
Close south feedersDistant east feedersSouth view to the pond/wetland
We have seen 135 species of birds in or flying over our backyard in the 19 years we have been here. Leaving most of the land to do its own thing has allowed it to become a neighbourhood mecca for the birds with trees, shrubs, grasses and weeds all helping to attract a variety of birds. All around us are flat expanses of mowed grass with a few trees around the other houses. The pond and a land-locked conservation area of evergreens help increase the kinds of birds we have in our yard.
Blue JaysNorthern CardinalCarolina Wren
This week we put in 7-8 checklists for our backyard and we saw between 12-16 species each time with a total of 60-80 individual birds on each checklist. For the most part they are common species for our yard but the Carolina Wrens we have visiting this year are not as common. Most of the time the checklists were for 1-2 hours of time. I hoped all week that a Sharp-shinned Hawk would fly through looking for dinner, or a Red-shouldered Hawk would check out the pond area as has happened the last 6 years but sadly while I was looking nothing happened other than the regular common birds coming to feed.
We spent a couple of days really hashing out our summer trip to BC and now have the drive out planned, booked and a Tofino boat trip and hotel booked. I’ll be booking a few more things over the next months once I research some more spots we need to bird.
And so this week 7 ends with no change to the count. Last year this would have been unacceptable, stressful. But this year I am calm, cool, and collected. I know there is lots of time, in better weather to increase the birds I’ve seen and so this forced hiatus has been somewhat rejuvenating. It has also allowed us to catch up on pictures in the Gallery on the home page under Canada 2025 so be sure to check that out.
And finally, what was I doing 35 years ago on this day Feb 16? Giving birth, my son Devin was born during an ice storm back in 1990. Crap, I am getting old! Happy Birthday Bud! I Love you!
Week 7 no new species added 161 species E, 162 species J
Monday we were expecting to wake up to snow and maybe have to hang around the hotel part of the day but there was nothing on the ground in Richmond. It was -8 though. We decided to head out to try for a lifer Gyrfalcon. These are a sensitive species so I cannot see reports on ebird but I had some information from birders of a few spots to check. Unfortunately, I took us to an older location by mistake that was an hour away from the area we wanted to go to. Ugggh – it happens when we have so many things to do in the evening and we are tired and I just don’t recheck all my information. The area had received snow and lots of it – we felt like we were in Northern Ontario complete with roads that were not plowed AT ALL! We finally got to the right destination and started driving blocks of fields. It was similar to looking for a Snowy Owl, drive slow, stare at fields, look for lumps beside bushes, up on posts etc. The wind was vicious and the few birds we saw were being battered about. We did this for 2 hours and no Gyrfalcon. But the consolation was our 150th bird of the year – a Western Meadowlark.
Our next destination was a Wetland area where a Black Phoebe, a southern Arizona/Texas bird was hanging. Last week when we arrived we would have had a lovely walk/saunter on gravel paths to get the bird but I had made the decision to head to the Island first. Today things were quite different – and we were wearing running shoes.
It was a heavy slog in, we got turned around figuring out the area the bird was in having never been there before, and started nagging on each other. This tends to happen when things are not going our way, LOL. We finally found the area and hung out checking out the few birds around. No Black Phoebe. There was a Northern Shrike (Butcher Bird) in a tree right at the same area. I watched it for a bit and realized that it was eating something. Uh-oh! but a quick look with my bins showed a mouse impaled upside down on a branch with its little pink legs sticking up in the air.
Northern ShrikeNorthern Shrike Mouse Dinner!
Sad, but at least it was not the Phoebe. We spent over an hour scouring the brambles, watching along the water edge, our feet were wet and cold, we were discouraged and though we knew the bird was most likely still there and close by we just knew we could not stay any longer.
Its always tough when you get a day like this when things just don’t go well. But we try to hold onto the things that do go well. On the road outside the wetland we had two Varied Thrushes land beside our car for even better pics than the other day. They as such a gorgeous bird.
Varied Thrush
We headed to our next stop for a Marbled Godwit and again faced vicious winds and cold made worse by our socks that were still wet. And no Marbled Godwit. Three dips in one day. Sigh!
The last stop of the day was for Owls – Short-eared and Barn. I had info of where the two species hunted and we arrived around 4:20. Ten minutes later two Short-eared Owls flew over the field and entertained us for the next 30 minutes often coming very close to where we were standing on the road. It was awesome! We already have Short-eared on our list and have a picture but it was still nice to have the experience.
Short-eared Owl
We wanted the Barn Owl for our year list. It is not an easy bird to add. We waited there for 1.5 hours going back and forth to sitting in the car to stay warm until dark fully descended – no Barn Owl. Four birds, four dips. Yikes, this happened just a few weeks back on our Toronto trip. Hope it’s not going to become the norm!
We ordered pizza, headed back to the hotel to hot showers and planned what we should do tomorrow with more snow and frigid temperatures forecast.
Tuesday we woke up to snow in Richmond, where it rarely snows, apparently. We decided we still needed to get out there with only two days left so we had to figure out a way to keep our feet dry. We used garbage bags the hotel kindly provided and put them over our socks, tucked into the top of our socks and then our pant legs over top of them. You end up with damp sweaty feet but better than ice cold wet ones.
Garbage bag boots
We headed to Blackie Spit in the morning hoping to track down those Marbled Godwits but they were still not around where we could see them. We did manage to find some small sandpipers and added Western and Least to our year list.
Western SandpiperLeast Sandpiper
Next we headed to an area where Barn Owls are known to roost. It was a lovely walk with 40 or so Bald Eagles sitting in trees and not very skittish when you walked close by. It was awesome to have an adult fly directly down the path towards me and over my head! We also got up close looks at Eagles building a nest. The video is below. We walked around, checking all the evergreens and the tangles but did not find a Barn Owl.
Bald Eagle
With snow still very much in evidence we opted to head up to Stanley Park and see about adding a Barrow’s Goldeneye. We had put one in as a hybrid earlier and wanted to make sure we saw the “real” thing this time. Stanley Park is a gem, and never disappoints us as far as birding goes. It was the first time we had seen it in snow!
Stanley Park
We went out to the beach and immediately saw a number of Barrow’s Goldeneyes. Jerry took pics, we confirmed that they were true Barrow’s and just like that something else was off the list.
Barrow’s Goldeneye
We walked the Lost Lagoon Path because Jerry needed a picture of a Bushtit and half way around we saw a dozen Bushtits flying through the Rhododendron bushes. It was a challenge to get a picture as they are super fast and small and the bushes were thick with leaves and snow.
Wood DuckGreat Blue HeronBushtit
Eventually Jerry thought he had enough that one would be good and we finished up the walk and then headed back down to Boundary Bay for another Owl watch at dusk.
We walked the Dyke path and there were already Short-eared Owls out hunting along with Northern Harriers. We saw a Harrier grab a duck from a small pond and land heavily with its dinner. A coyote came up the side of the dyke and casually wandered towards us a bit and then headed back down the other side.
Coyote with a bit of Mange
We chatted with a couple of photographers that had shown up and they offered up the location of the celebrity Northern Hawk Owl that we had heard about last week. I was hesitant to see it as I had read that the crowds were huge and we try and avoid those situations with Owls. But, it was the end of the day so we took a quick drive over to hear that it was no longer being seen. We headed back to the hotel and went out for Indian food and plotted how we would spend our last day. A Ruff was reported close to Blackie Spit and so we had 6 birds still on our list to get: Gyrfalcon, Barn Owl, Ruff, Black Phoebe, Marbled Godwit, Northern Hawk Owl. The problem was we had one day and not really one full day because of the cold most birds were staying hunkered down till it warmed up around noon. We had to make some decisions as to what we went for. Luckily they all were located in the southern area but with more than an hour between some spots.
We started Wednesday with a quick stop where the Ruff had been seen and found Long-billed Dowitchers that it had been seen with but they were all tucked in and nothing looked different. We opted to head to the Hawk Owl spot next even though it was back-tracking because it made more sense the Owl would be out rather than the Phoebe or shorebirds. Are you still following? LOL When we arrived at the Owl site there were only about 5-6 photographers and all of them were standing around. That was not a good sign. But as we left our car and walked down the path people started running. That is a good sign and sure enough we could see the owl on a hydro wire above the road. What a strange place for this little owl to end up in. Homes, industry, a busy road and just a few small fields to hunt in. We took pictures and a few videos and left in 11 minutes including the walk from the car and back.
Northern Hawk Owl
Next stop was almost an hour away, second try for the Black Phoebe. It had not been reported since Feb 2 and we had been there on the 3rd and not seen it. This time we had our “plastic bag boots” on our socks and thankfully the snow was tamped down by various dog walkers so that we were not completely covered by the time we got to the area. There was open water where there had been snow and ice two days ago so we were optimistic that if the bird was alive it would appear. We waited an hour. No Phoebe. I hope it survived the storm but it seemed unlikely that it would not have needed to feed during the time we were there.
From a time perspective we knew we would have to let the hope for Gyrfalcon go. It was another 30 minutes further away and then to drive for a few hours hoping you catch it flying was a long shot. We opted instead to head back for the Ruff and Marbled Godwits, taking quantity (YEAR BIRDS) over quality (LIFER). We headed back to Elgin Heritage Park and searched again for the Ruff. The Dowitchers were around and actively feeding so we started to feel hopeful that the bird was around. A few other birders arrived and we learned that the Ruff had been seen in the morning at Blackie Spit!, on the grass! near the gate! Ugggh! we were there yesterday morning and opted not to go this morning but we were 5 minutes away at Elgin! I’m not on the BC What’s App network but I think I might have to for the summer. I then met Roger Foxall, a birding legend, who at 83 has so many cool stories to tell of birding exploits! I could listen to him for hours! He has the most lifetime birds in Canada at 565. We have seen 440 species in Canada.
We searched for the Ruff together and nothing. We opted to head to Blackie Spit to try for the Godwits again and Roger said he would join us. We got to the Spit and Jerry saw the Godwits far out on the sand as the tide was out but at least we had another bird – 2 out of the 6. Roger never arrived but we figured he had opted to head home instead. We then headed back to Elgin park again for one last look for the Ruff. We pulled into a different parking lot by accident and noticed a couple of cars and then pulled out and headed to the area where the Ruff had been yesterday. We had a quick look – no birders, no birds. At that point we decided to call it a day.
When I sat down to a glass of wine at the pub an hour later all my emails updated and there was a message, “Ruff here right now”! It was from 3:42 and Melissa, the reviewer, had sent it to me. Roger had asked her to let me know and he had driven back to the Spit to try and find us to let us know that the Ruff was near the second parking lot (the one we turned into accidentally)! OMG! So close…yet sooooo far!!!! I felt so bad for Roger driving around trying to find us and I felt so bad that I did not check my email! The Ruff is not a lifer, and it is a bird that does shows up in Ontario but it is a big rarity anywhere in Canada and would have been nice to add it to the list so early in the year.
We flew home Thursday happy with what we had accomplished, 61 birds added to our year list. We missed 5 birds that I had on my “wish” list. A couple of these might still be found on our summer trip out here but certainly they are less likely. We stayed at the Steveston Cafe and Hotel in Richmond because it was central to the airport, ferry and most of the birding spots. We like finding places that are local, have some history or community behind them and this fit the bill. Established in 1895 it featured the hotel rooms upstairs with a cafe that served a delicious breakfast included in the price, a liquor store open till 11 every night and seniors discount on Tuesdays and a pub, The Buck and Ear that featured happy hour specials every day. Everything we needed within steps of our room. We will stay here again on our summer trip.
I switched off my notifications for British Columbia and switched the Ontario notifications back on and right away I saw King Eider in Hamilton! You will remember that I have said I would not go back to Tommy Thompson for a 3rd attempt at the Eider that continues to be seen there, so I know where we will be heading on Friday.
After visiting Babi at memory care we headed off to Jones Rd on the lake with some optimism but we knew it was windy and cold and the lake was likely to be choppy. Sure enough, viewing was not very good. There were 6 other birders that came and went while we were there and no one could confirm either the female or the male that had been seen over the last three days. Jerry and I both thought we saw it but because of them diving for food and the waves and wind we were just not able to feel comfortable enough to confirm and add it to our list. The forecast for Saturday was little wind which generally means a still lake but we also wanted to see our kids and grandkids.
Saturday morning we headed out to watch 2 of the grandkids at swimming lessons and instead of heading for the Eider as we planned we went home because I was not feeling well with stomach issues. An hour later a report came in that indeed, the lake was like glass and the male Eider was being seen. I dragged myself up from the couch and heating pad and we set out for Jones Road. We had enough time to try for the Eider and still make it to our grandson’s hockey game.
We scoped while birders doing a lake count scoped beside us. it took maybe 10 minutes for me to find the female Eider and get everyone on it and confirm that it was indeed the female. Jerry managed a poor picture as she was a long way out. Maria and Carolyn showed up and we searched for the male Eider as the female had moved behind the point. Maria found it and we all got on it and had good scope views but pictures were darn near impossible for Jerry’s camera. I guess that would be the advantage of going to the Toronto bird. We headed to the hockey game (they won 5-4) and headed home to make soup and rest. Sunday was spent catching up on blogs, pictures, lists and plans for the year ahead because of a snow storm. Jerry went out to shovel and had a Sharp-shinned Hawk fly over so he is officially 1 bird ahead of me this week! Although, there was no picture to confirm…highly sus, as my granddaughter Evie would say.
Week 6 12 more species added. Species seen 161 Ellen 162 Jerry
Thursday we started with an Ocean Watch at Cattle Point at Oak Bay. It was a calm morning and easy to view the waterfowl that was there, unfortunately there was not much to see but we scoped and checked out all along the rocks for those Turnstones and Surfbirds. Suddenly I saw a blob on a far away rock near shore and zoomed in for a better look at our lifer Black Turnstone! Yes, we had them! and then as more birds moved around the rocks it was apparent that there were some Surfbirds as well. We quickly looked at google maps to see if we could get access to the shore closer to the rocks the birds were on and started to walk but a local we asked suggested we drive so we hopped in the car and drove along to another public beach access and ended up right across from the rocks. We both had ok scope views of the birds, Jerry took some pics and then they flew back to where we had come from. We drove back and found them even closer on the rocks there, more pics and video. We then went to another spot along the coast and added a Marbled Murrelet but it was at such a distance that we just had a scope view with no chance at a picture. Jerry did manage to get a better picture of a Rhinoceros Auklet at that spot and we picked up a Eurasian-collared Dove on the wires above.
We then decided to drive along the coast and head to Whiffen Spit Point hoping to find a Western Gull, our new target on the list. The path winds between two bodies of water allowing great views of ducks, seals and sometimes whales. We were more enthralled with the fact there were 36 Black Turnstones foraging along the beach right beside us! All that driving for better views this morning and taking “better” pictures was erased as we had these little birds so close we could almost touch them. It never seems to fail that once you see a bird for the first time, suddenly you see them everywhere! The reason why they are called “Turnstones” is that they actually TURN STONES over in search of food! I got a video of them doing just that.
How cool is that? I was enthralled with these little guys and took way too many videos and pictures of them turning stones! And they could send those stones quite a distance!
We then went to the Esquimalt Lagoons to try our luck there for a Western Gull. There were a lot of gulls around, unfortunately most of them hybrids and no Western in sight. We did have great views of Northern Pintails acting like park Mallards and just sitting and standing waiting for a handout and there were Brewer Blackbird’s to add to our year list. Someone had spent a lot of time fashioning these birds out of driftwood and placing them along the beach.
Northern Pintail
We called it a day and met our nephew, who is at the University, for a yummy Japanese dinner. I forgot to take pictures I was sooo hungry! The food was delicious.
With just a couple of birds left to chase on the island and those up near Nanaimo we decided to leave Victoria a day early. The forecast was for rain on Friday and snow arriving Sunday/Monday so we changed plans a bit in the hopes to still maximize our time. It made sense to spend time driving while it rained. Friday morning we took a quick detour back to the lagoons but still no Western Gull. The difficulty is that most of the gulls are hybrids of Western and Glaucous-winged gulls so it is very hard to find a pure Western Gull. This might be one of the species we miss.
We headed up to Parksville and did a quick stop at Rathtrevor Park where Yellow-billed Loons have been seen. It was still raining on and off but we did a bit of a scan and walk before heading further north to Deep Bay to chase a Rock Sandpiper that had been reported. It was cold, windy and wet on and off. We scanned a bit of the beach, drove to the end of the road and scanned there and nothing. We returned to the original spot and I saw some Turnstones with my bins. We got out of the car and went out on the beach and scanned but could see nothing different. When the Turnstones flew we sort of followed and as we moved down the beach behind houses we realized there were a few hundred birds feeding on the rocky beach. We were now thinking the bird had to be there but, again it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I scoped, I moved, I thought I had it and was super excited only for Jerry to realize that it was a Surfbird not the Sandpiper. The colouring is similar but the Sandpiper is smaller and has a longer, down-curved beak. I was so cold I was ready to give up, but I didn’t want to, I felt sure the bird was still there. We had been out there almost 2 hours at this point.
Jerry watched some Turnstones fly even further down the beach and he suggested we follow them. I lagged behind, set up my scope and got a couple of Turnstones in my scope and then suddenly there was a beautiful little sandpiper with a long down-curved bill!!! My heart stopped!!! I was excited, but also freaked that I was seeing another Surfbird, that it was not the bird. We took pics, we compared pictures with ebird. Yes it definitely was a Rock Sandpiper – another lifer! A local birder, Mark, came along just then and confirmed that it was indeed the bird so I could at least rest easy that we had that ID right.
Rock Sandpiper
We chatted and enjoyed watching the bird for a bit and then headed to the spot where a Yellow-billed Loon has been reported somewhat regularly. It was still windy and the waves made it difficult to ID birds that were far out. We scoped for over an hour hoping for views of a large brownish loon with an ivory/yellow bill but did not see anything. It had been a long day and we were cold and hungry so we drove the 10 minutes to our hotel, checked in and headed across the street to a restaurant with an ocean view. So we could keep looking for the loon LOL. And yes, I drink my red wine with ice, waters it down a bit so it lasts longer…
Saturday we were back at the Qualicum Estuary looking for the Yellow-billed Loon and Ancient Murrelets. In the morning the water is usually calm and it is less windy making for better viewing conditions. We were pretty sure we had seen the Murrelets on Friday but after looking at pictures we were unsure and wanted to make a positive ID. It was a pretty unsatisfactory lifer because all you could do is see them in a scope waaaaay out. They are tiny birds that fly very fast and have dark backs and heads. Once we figured out the sizing and ID of the other birds flying out there the Murrelets were easier to ID. Another lifer! Then we concentrated on looking through loons. There were many close up but almost all were Common. There were hundreds, maybe a thousand Pacific Loons waaaay out and we were trying to scope through them looking for one a bit different. It was difficult, I want to say impossible, but many birders do know how to pick it out from the group, we are not that good or lucky. We spent an hour or so and then decided to take a break and go for an American Dipper ten minutes away. Barking sea lions were a nice consolation.
Almost all our time has been spent looking at water since most of the birds we came out for are waterbirds so it was a nice change to head into a bit of forest for a change of scenery. The moss!, the ferns!, the freshness of the greenery was so nice after the dullness of our winter.
We hiked in to a waterfall on a creek and looked around for the small bird that loves the water. The American Dipper is a boring pale grey/brown but it is anything but boring. It dives, jumps into streams to walk/swim in the water looking for small invertebrates to eat. It took us a few minutes to find him even though he was singing loudly, we just could not “see” where he was for a bit. We had been looking in the low trees as the sound seemed to be coming from there but he was right near the water using the metal pipe to amplify his song.
How crazy are those flashing eyelids? At first most people think it is the nictitating membrane that all birds have to protect the eye but it is an eyelid covered in white feathers and when it blinks it appears to have flashing lights going off. We do not know what the purpose is although some suggest it helps communicate in the loud environment of waterfalls and rushing streams. Oh and it also has a really cool “dance” it does. American Dipper, one of my top fav birds!
We added Red Crossbill and Pine Siskin to our year list having heard both these species on the way in and on the way back out we were actively looking for a Varied Thrush since they can be more difficult to see in the summer. I saw a small bird fly at the edge of the stream and so we moved over to see about finding it and Jerry saw another bird across the stream and realized it was the bird we had been hoping to get – a Varied Thrush. We both managed to see bits of it as it foraged in the leaf litter tucking in among the tree roots and then realized there were two. Jerry managed a few pictures for an ID and we waited around hoping they would pop out in the open but after 20 minutes we gave up and headed out.
We headed back to the Estuary for one more try for the Loon but by this time I had resigned myself to not getting it for this year. Unless the loon was super allowing us to clearly see it in our scope there was no way we were going to ID it from tiny specks in our scope that might look a bit different. Better birders probably can easily do it, BC birders in particular probably have no problem but we just cannot do it with our limited knowledge of the loon. We spent another hour or so and then accepted the failure and headed down the coast to try some other birding spots. On the way I saw two birds fly out on the sidewalk and shouted “Varied Thrush”! Of course! again, all that time spent trying to see them in the forest and here were two out on the sidewalk a few hours later. Jerry turned the car, got out and got his pics.
Varied Thrush
We stopped at Springwood Park for a short walk and saw Pine Siskins but didn’t see anything else to add. We then headed to Parksville Community Park because Snow Geese had been reported there. When we drove in there were 17 Snow Geese just browsing on the grass right beside the road. We rarely get to be this close to them in Ontario so it was a treat to get video and nice pictures of them. Jerry got a better pic of a Eurasian Wigeon too.
Snow Goose
We had originally planned on taking the ferry from Nanaimo into northern Vancouver on Sunday but with a fair amount of snow forecast we opted to change plans again and head back down to Victoria and across to Tsawwassen where we were only 20 minutes from our hotel. There was snow on the ground Sunday morning but the road was not too bad until we hit the small mountain area before Victoria where they were forcing all trucks to stop and put chains on. Uh-oh! It was slow going but Jerry did a great job keeping us on the road in low gear and we made it down safely. By the time we got to Victoria it was sunny and the snow was melting. We stopped at Island View Beach and enjoyed a nice long walk before catching the ferry at noon. By the time we arrived in Vancouver the snow had melted away and so we stopped at Boundary Bay Park for a short scan of shorebirds. The tide was out so the birds were a long way out. We will be checking these spots again over the next couple of days as we move into Week 6 with 3 more days in Vancouver and hopefully more birds to add.
We can never take a decent selfie! LOL
Week 5 ends with 51 species added! including 6 lifers 149 species J&E
I’m having some problems with adding video and pictures so I’ve opted to make this part 1 of the week and hopefully once I get it sorted out I’ll post Part 2.
Housekeeping – We are working hard to add pictures to the gallery but it has not happened yet. Maybe by the end of next week. My bird count has been adjusted because the Red-shouldered Hawk I heard with two other birders was not accepted. Blue Jays can mimic the call and so we were asked to remove it from our lists to keep ebird as scientifically accurate as possible so I am even with Jerry. We also “lost” an Ontario bird once we saw it in BC – the House Finch. House Finch in Ontario are still listed as Exotic but countable, then once we saw it in BC where it is considered introduced it took the exotic off the list and added the BC sighting as our first sighting this year. All this to say that my list was messed up number wise so I have redone the whole thing so it corresponds with my ebird list. None of you probably care about this but years from now when I read my blog posts and see that the numbers in the weekly stories do not jive with the list perhaps I will come across this note to remember why…
We flew out to Vancouver on Tuesday and arrived late afternoon with the intention of finding some winter species that we will likely not get in the summer. This is our one and only flight planned for this year. We flew Porter airlines for the first time and we are way too cheap to pay $45 each for an assigned seat so we ended up with the last 2 seats in the plane assigned to us but the stewardesses suggested they would like to move us and so we happily ended up in row 7 instead of 33! with way more leg room and no one behind us and for $0! Thanks Porter! and free beer and wine!
We hoped to have a bit of sunlight left to try for a California Scrub-Jay but we had barely 30 minutes of light when we arrived and we did not see one at their usual spot. We will try again in the morning. We did add three common birds to our year list, our first American Robins, White-crowned Sparrow, and a Lincoln’s Sparrow.
Wednesday was a frosty morning and as we did not eat much on Tuesday we opted to take the time for a complimentary breakfast from our hotel. It was yummy! And yes, I got two servings of meat since Jerry eats vegetarian! Got a bonus bacon sandwich to take for lunch! Made sure I got well fed.
Breakie at the Steveston Cafe
We stopped just after 8 at the Scrub-Jay spot again but not optimistic we would see them as it was frosty and cold. We spent some time checking out the sparrows back in the fields and found the Fox Sparrow we thought we had last night but then second-guessed ourselves. We added Savannah Sparrow too. We wanted to get to the ferry in time to bird the jetty so we needed to leave and just as we were driving out I spotted the Jays in the tree next to the driveway! We got out and both had great views and managed some video and pics of this newly established species in British Columbia. Even better this was a lifer for us. My 775th species in the world. Apologies for the shaky video but it was cold and the Jay was quite a distance from me.
California Scrub-Jay
We then headed to the Tsawwasen Ferry to Victoria but stopped part way up the jetty to scope the sides for ducks and hopefully a few lifers – Black Turnstones and Surfbirds. We dipped on the lifers but we managed to add the rarer ducks we look for in Ontario, with relative ease. Harlequin, Barrow’s Goldeneye and Eurasian Wigeon offered us great scope and bin views and gave Jerry the chance to get decent pictures too. We ended up adding 9 species at the jetty including the beautiful Black Oystercatcher. The video was taken with my Iphone as I had left my camera in the car.
Black Oystercatcher
We boarded the ferry and discussed our strategy for birding during the 1.5 hour trip in cold and windy conditions. We opted to stay on a lower deck and move from one side to another through the warmth of the ferry checking both sides often for seabirds on the water. People sitting comfortably in the cabin areas must have thought us loony as they watched us come in and out and in and out. When we got too cold to stay out for much time we stood by the doors looking out the windows until we saw a black speck in the water and then rushed out to get bins and camera on the speck. I do not know how Jerry manages to get the pics he does in these circumstances – they are not great pics but they allow us to confirm our identifications. We have only seen most of these birds one or two times before and so we are far from adept at the ID and we have not seen them in winter plumage so there was a lot of checking of Ibird Pro and Sibleys to confirm what we had seen. At the end of the ferry ride we had seen most of the expected species, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, and Brandt’s Cormorant. We missed seeing Murrelets but will hopefully catch up with them on our ocean watches the next few days.
Our first stop in Victoria was our favourite park, Beacon Hill Park. It sits at Mile 0 of the Trans Canada highway and is 740,000 square meters of parkland. It is filled with meandering paths, ponds and gardens and different habitat for birds and wildlife. There has been a Green-tailed Towhee staying there for awhile this winter and it would be a great bird to add to our list. The Towhee summers in the western US and is rare to Canada. We have seen them in Arizona and Texas. We parked near the trail where it has been hanging about and I was not optimistic with the size of the park that we would find the bird but we walked down the path to a scrubby area where there were birds flying about and there was the Green-tailed Towhee! People have been leaving seed for the birds at this spot so it was full of birds taking advantage. We also saw our first Golden-crowned Sparrows and the common Spotted Towhee.
Green-tailed Towhee
After getting our fill of pictures and video we headed down into the park to a favourite forest area to see what else we could find. There are ducks around the ponds, including American Wigeons by the dozen. i even managed great photos with my iphone they were so close. People feed the small songbirds too so Jerry found a few seeds in his pocket and we fed the Chestnut-backed Chickadees that were plentiful in the area.
American Wigeon taken with IphoneChestnut-backed Chickadee
They have a small petting farm in the park and they have Indian Peafowl (Peacock) wandering around. While they are not countable as a species as they are not “free” I had to take some pictures because the sun on their feathers is beautiful.
Indian Peafowl IphoneIndian Peafowl P900
We added a few other species on our walk through the park and then headed to a quick ocean watch before dusk but there was nothing new and only a few birds in the water. We checked into our favourite hotel in Victoria, the Helms Inn which is right beside Beacon Hill Park and then walked over to a market to purchase a few things for a quick dinner.
Helm’s Inn Victoria – love it!
Just outside the market I saw three small birds fly into a tree and yelled out “Bushtit”! Yes, that is the name of a tiny nondescript grey/brown bird. We did not have bins or camera with us so we took a few unfortunate silhouette pics since it was almost dark. We were super excited to end our day with an added bird giving us a total of 31 birds added on the trip so far.
Oops! Not so fast! We got a note from the ebird reviewer after dinner that our Barrow’s Goldeneye is actually a hybrid between a Barrow’s Goldeneye and a Common Goldeneye so sadly not countable. So make that 30 species so far.
A bone-chilling cold arrived this week with temps at -18 with a wind chill of -28. On Monday we just had time to do a drive locally through the fields on Paris Plains Church Road. It is a winter home to hundreds of Snow Buntings and usually there are a few Lapland Longspurs hanging with them. We found only a few Horned Larks with one Snow Bunting in a group. Jerry got his better pictures of a Snow Bunting and that was it.
Horned LarkSnow Bunting
On Tuesday we headed back to Toronto, I know, I know, I was NEVER going to bird that way again. BUT, the King Eider and Ross’s Goose were still being seen, a Common Eider was still hanging out near Peterborough and we had a location of an OWL! So I convinced myself to try again, it would be different this time and an OWL! It was the only day we would have available and it was, of course, cold and windy. We got to Tommy Thompson Park at 7:30 and trudged the 4 kms in the bitter cold, on the slippery, rough road. Did I mention it was BITTER COLD!? When we got out to the side with the lake the winds were gale force strength and trying to see anything while holding the scope somewhat stable was a ridiculous task. Not to mention my eye freezing from the onslaught of the wind. It is in these moments that my thoughts go to “what the F are we doing this for?” The ducks were reasonably close to shore and we scanned, and scoped, and scanned again. We moved from Pen D to the Pen C area where it had been reported. We took a break on the warmer path out of the wind, then went back out again. NO EIDER! Grrrrr! It was happening again just like last Tuesday. When we could not take the wind any longer we glumly gave up and trudged back to the car. There is nothing you can do to change the fact that the bird is not where you hoped it would be. One hour later a birder we met coming in when we left found the Eider in Pen B a further walk into the park! UGGGGG!
Our next stop was a newer location for the Ross’s Goose in a field instead of the lake and as we pulled up we could see the field was full of Canada Geese. We were looking for the small white goose among them. More scanning, more driving slowly the length of the field. The field was not flat so we knew there were hills that the small goose could be hidden from us but we tried our best to hit all the angles. Then a helicopter flew over and every bird took flight. Our job was easier as we quickly scanned through hundreds of geese looking for something white. NOTHING! Sigh! We were again dipping on the Ross’s Goose too, just like last week. Time was flying by and we still had two destinations so we opted to leave hoping to re-check the field late in the day. The Common Eider is a bird that is, well, common out East, so we will see this bird and I definitely do not need to chase it for this year but it is a great addition to our Ontario Life List and apparently it is the northern subspecies which is different than the eastern species. All that too say, birders can rationalize chasing any bird, LOL. We arrived at the Common Eider spot, pulled off the road, looked across the river with bins and saw a large duck in front of the yellow house as had been reported over a number of days. Jerry took pictures for two minutes, I scoped the bird to confirm and we were back in the car and driving off in 6 minutes. The one bird of the day I did not need and of course we got it. Why oh why could the King Eider not have been so predictable and stayed in one place?
The view from the carCommon Eider
The final stop was for an owl. I’m not even going to say what species it is. Birders can and will deduce what I am talking about. Owl locations are guarded and kept very quiet in the birding communities especially for the sensitive species. But, one person tells one person and they tell a friend and eventually two weeks later a whole lot of people know about the owl. We try to keep these locations on the down-low to protect the owl. I hope to get this species of owl out west in the summer but when you are counting birds you should take the opportunity when you get it, so we went. On the way we saw a woman taking a pic from the side of the road and stopped and saw a beautiful Barred Owl perched just off the road. Jerry got a couple of pics and we left. Barred Owls are plentiful and not on the sensitive species list. We have already seen a Barred Owl this year but Jerry got a great picture of this one.
Barred Owl
We got to the location for the other owl and joined a couple of other birders hoping for a glimpse…and an hour later, NOTHING! BIGGER, LONGER SIGH! We left to give ourselves time to get back to the field for one final check on the Ross’s. There were even more geese, probably 600 or more and just at dusk a helicopter went over again so all the geese lifted up with most leaving and no white goose was seen. So last Tuesday we were 0 of 4 and this Tuesday 1 of 4! That is dismal birding my friends, DISMAL! The drive home was quiet but at least the traffic, for once was good and we got home by 7. I swear to all of you right now that I am absolutely NOT making another attempt on that King Eider at Tommy Thompson. I can only hope that another appears anywhere else at year end.
Wednesday morning we had a meeting with the staff at Memory Care and then we headed up to Kitchener for the annual Snowy Owl hunt. I was a tad nervous that the bad karma from Tuesday would carry over but we went anyway. Last year it was very difficult to find a Snowy anywhere in Ontario as they did not move down from the Arctic but this year they are back in some abundance and there had been a number of reports from the Linwood area. Hunting for Snowy’s involves driving up and down gravel roads looking at fields covered in snow for a lump of white with black “bits”. It was still windy so we were also dealing with blowing snow. There were many false stops for buckets, bags, snow covered rocks that looked like owls. There were a couple of other cars driving around and we stopped and shared info. No one had seen any. I had 3-4 spots that had been reported on ebird and we know the regular roads to find them. At the end of the second area I saw a lump near a fence, lifted my bins, and it was a Snowy! Yes! the curse had been lifted!
Can you see the Snowy?Snowy Owl
I was also scouting for Jude who was on his way to try for Snowy’s too so I quickly sent him the pin and pics hoping the owl would remain in that spot a bit longer. We continued up the road and turned onto the main road and both of us saw another lump in the first field. Sure enough, a second snowy minutes after the first! Things were looking up.
I was happy with seeing two and after sending Jude the second location we headed home. A Short-eared Owl had been seen in Brant County the last couple of nights 10 minutes from home so we wanted to try for that at dusk. We headed out at 4:30 and went up Paris Plains Road first and had a flock of about 150 Snow Buntings fly out of the field around our car and then back into the field. It happened too quick for photos but what an awesome sight those birds make. A bit further along the road we saw this strange bird flying low over the field, it had a strange lob-sided flight and the shape and size were strange to us. We both said “what was that?” and I quickly turned the car around to follow after the bird. It landed in a tree, we got bins on it to realize it was a Northern Shrike with a dead Junco! That was why it looked so strange in flight. It pecked at its dinner a few times, perhaps the death blow, and then hopped down into the thicket with its dinner. Jerry got out and walked over hoping for a pic and the Shrike popped up and sat for a minute and Jerry got some nice pics of it before it dropped back down and we left it to enjoy its meal. This bird is known as the Butcher Bird as it preys on small birds, lizards and frogs and it often impales its victims on thorns or barbed wire to keep for later and I assume making it easier to eat.
Northern Shrike with feather from Junco dinnerLook at that deadly beak!
We then stopped to chat with a birder that had seen the Short-eared Owl the night before and got the exact location and Jude arrived, having gotten the Snowy and decided to join us in the Short-eared hunt. We headed down to show him the Shrike and he got pics of that. Jude has been going full speed this year and the Snowy and Shrike were year birds for him. He says he is not doing a Big Year but I think he will end up doing one by default. He is already in the number one spot. We headed over to Watts Pond Road where the owl was seen the last few nights and waited. I was nervous about where we were parked, it didn’t give very good “long” views and the evening before it was seen farther down the road. We drove down and back and then around 5:20 we drove down again. On the way back up the road we stopped at an open area near the beginning of a large berm. Jerry said wait here, it has good views and 30 seconds later a Short-eared Owl flew right out and near our car before turning back and moving through the field. I quickly honked for the guys further down the road and they moved down to see it. Jerry got pics, I watched the owl and a few more people arrived. We have always known there were Short-eared Owls in Brant County but we have never had consistent reports from one location. Perhaps this area might become that spot where they are reliable each winter.
Short-eared Owl
We were all cold, hungry and happy to have seen the owl and we were happy to have seen two owls added to our list. The Short-eared owl was Judes 130th bird of the year! We headed home and as we turned off West River road we saw a bird up on the wire above the road. It was dark by this time and hard to see but we could tell by the shape and tufts that it was an Eastern Screech Owl! A three owl species day! and it put me at 100 birds for the year. Jerry took some pics in the dark and we continued the short drive home. What a difference from the day before. From low, low to high, high. And I guess that is why we do this – always a mystery as to what will happen, and what you will or won’t see…
Eastern Screech Owl
The next few days we had things to do for Babi and to organize for our BC trip next week. We needed to buy a tripod that we could fit in our carry on bag as we hate to check luggage when we fly and had to head to a store in London to get it. On Sunday we took a few short local hikes and went out to see a Greater White-fronted Goose in Brant Waterworks Park. Last week we had driven to Simcoe to see one for our list and of course this week one showed up 20 minutes from home. It is a Brant County Life bird for me though so worth the walk in beautiful sunshine and warmer temperatures.
Week 4 4 species added Ellen 100 species Jerry 99 species
