Return To Sandy Island

One of my favorite birding sites in the Vancouver Island region, has always been Sandy Island Provincial Park, or as it is known now, Jáji7em and Kw’ulh Marine Provincial Park. I have great memories of dozens of day trips and overnight camping trips to this large, partially wooded sand spit off the northern tip of Denman Island. Oddly enough, I hadn't been there in about 5 years. Difficulty in accessing this site, being the chief reason. In the past, one either had to own a boat, or do a moderately long hike in from Denman Island. Given the rising BC Ferries ticket prices, even getting to Denman Island has become expensive. A new, and slightly more affordable option was discovered by Sandy McRuer recently. We chartered a water taxi out of the Comox Marina, with a company called Scubashark. With 5 people, the cost was about $55 per person. Although the landing and departures at the island could stand some improvement (jumping off the bow into the water and wading ashore) it worked quite well, and I would highly recommend Scubashark to other birders looking for a way to access this excellent birding site.

http://www.scubashark.com/Water_Taxi.html

We (Sandy, Don, Shelley, John and I) left the Comox Marina at about 8:40, and by 9:00 we were already birding. We spent the next 6 hours walking around Sandy Island, sometimes as a group, and sometimes by ourselves. We didn't bird all that intensively, and spent more time enjoying the looks at what we did discover, rather than rushing around looking for new ticks. With the leisurely pace, we were only able to explore one of the three Seal Islets, which would have undoubtedly increased the number of species seen. Still though, a completely enjoyable day out with some wonderful folks, and a few really great looks at birds one doesn't encounter here all that often. For me, the highlight of the day was a juvenile Pacific Golden-Plover that circled us and almost landed at our feet. The close up views of this bird in flight were spectacular, and although I've seen many of these birds in the past, this was the most amazing viewing I have ever experienced. This is the type of thing I look forward to at Sandy Island. We ended up recording 56 species on Sandy Island, and another 6 from the boat, for a 62 species day.

Species Recorded from Sandy Island: 56

Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Common loon
Horned grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Merlin
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Pacific Golden-Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Black Turnstone
Sanderling
Wetsern Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Pigeon Guillemot
Band-tailed Pigeon
Vaux's Swift
Hairy Woodpecker
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Barn Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch

Additional species recorded from boat: 5

Pacific Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Red-necked Phalarope
Common Murre
Bonaparte's Gull
Northwestern Crow

Northern Bobwhite

Although never as exciting as finding a "real" rarity, coming across a seriously out of range bird that is surely an escapee from someones aviary, is nonetheless interesting, and worth noting. Using the example of the Silver Pheasant population in Nanaimo, BC, one never knows when introduced exotics will begin breeding on their own in the wild, and perhaps even establish a lasting population.

While driving to a survey site on Kamp Rd, East of Agassiz, BC on the morning of May 13, 2014, I spotted an unusual bird running alongside the road. With one quick view, I had no idea what it was so I stopped and hopped out with a camera. The bird then emerged atop a pile of sawdust in a blueberry field about 50 feet off the road. Now having a clear view of the bird, I was even more surprised. A Northern Bobwhite! Really? This is an eastern species, that does not wander much out of its range. And although there are a couple of small populations east of Ontario, there are none that I know of anywhere close to the upper Fraser Valley, although there was apparently a small population of introduced birds on the Fraser Delta at some point, but they were supposed to have died out many decades ago.

So, where did this bird come from? Generally, birds like this originate from a person who keeps exotic birds as pets, breeds them for sale, or for use in the training of hunting dogs. I have seen many Chukar over the years on Vancouver Island that were lost by dog trainers, but a Northern Bobwhite in BC is a first for me.  

Hiking On Gerald Island

Yesterday I rowed out to Gerald Island, here in Nanoose. It is about 1 km out to the Gerald Island  shoreline, and takes me about 10 minutes of easy rowing in calm seas, and about 20 minutes of hard rowing in choppy seas with a contrary wind. Yesterday was fairly easy, with winds generally less than 1 knot. 

One the way out I saw all three species of cormorants and a few Harlequin Ducks on the large rock at the mouth of First Bay, here in Moorecroft Regional Park. A bit further out, was a single Western Grebe. A fly-by Rhinoceros Auklet was the only other bird of interest on the trip out, or for that matter, on the trip back. The large numbers of Pacific Loons and gulls that have been present the past few days, appeared to have moved on. Other than a few Mew, California, and Glaucous-winged Gulls feeding locally, gull numbers were way down. 

The first bird I noticed upon landing on Gerald Island, was am immature Sharp-shinned Hawk. It was in pursuit of a small flock of Pine Siskins. After giving up on catching one of these tiny finches, it flew directly to the shoreline of Vancouver Island, entering the forests of Moorecroft, somewhat below the canopy. I would see two more of this species do the exact same thing over the next two hours. I do not know how they got to Gerald Island, but I suspect they were using the Texada to Ballenas to Gerald route. The other bird of interest I spotted on Gerald Island, was a Northern Shrike, quite contentedly catching grasshoppers along the NW shore of the island. In many Octobers, the grasshoppers would be long gone by the time this migrant from the far north arrives.

Walking on Gerald is interesting. The island is only lightly forested with Douglas firs, red cedars, grand firs, arbutus and trembling aspen. An odd forest composition anywhere in BC. There is also some Rocky Mountain juniper, Saskatoon, ocean spray and Pacific crab apple in the shrub layer, which is places, is impenetrable. Rare coastal plants such as prickly pear cactus and coastal wood fern grow in fair abundance on parts of the island. For the most part though, much of the island is rock which is covered by thin grasses or lichen and moss. A small wetland dominated by red-osier dogwood sits in the center of the island, but because the vegetation is so thick, only the presence of wetland plant species and numerous mosquitos convinces one that there is any water at all on this otherwise dry and rocky island. Most of the shoreline is either sheer rock and short cliffs, or hills of steep rock, making hiking into the interior of the island difficult. There are three places to land a small boat on the island, which lead to routes to reach the center of the island, with varying degrees of difficulty. At it's highest point, it is about 175 meters high, and offers some great views of Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the surrounding Salish Sea. There is one active Bald Eagle nest on the island. I have read undocumented reports of Peregrine Falcons nesting on Gerald Island as well. I have seen no evidence of this, and decent cliff ledges are in short supply here. Turkey Vultures do nest on the island, on the ground in dense vegetation. The island is well known as a major roost site for Northwestern Crows in the winter. The actual number of crows nesting here can vary quite a bit from day to day through the winter though. With the large amount of open ground and bare rock and grass on the island, it does appear to be an attractive migration stop for the more open country species.

The only presence of mammals on the island, are the numerous runways through the grass, and scat piles from River Otters. Harbor seals and both California and Steller's Sea Lions feed in the waters around the island, but do not appear to haul out here with any regularity. Probably because there are other more appropriate haul out spots nearby.   

List of birds noted from Gerald Island on 7 October 2012:

Harlequin Duck: 8
Surf Scoter: 5
Red-breasted Merganser: 2
Common Merganser: 2
Pacific Loon: 32
Common Loon: 2
Red-necked Grebe: 1
Western Grebe: 1
Brandt's Cormorant: 5
Double-crested Cormorant: 11
Pelagic Cormorant: 9
Mew Gull: 22
California Gull: 10
Glaucous-winged Gull: 18
Northern Flicker: 5
Northern Shrike: 1
Northwestern Crow: 3
Chestnut-backed Chickadee: 11
Red-breasted Nuthatch: 5
Brown Creeper: 4
Bewick's Wren: 3
Pacific Wren: 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet: 23
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 4
American Robin: 12
Varied thrush: 1
American Pipit: 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler: 6
Spotted Towhee: 11
Savannah Sparrow: 14
Fox Sparrow: 9
Song Sparrow: 26
White-crowned Sparrow: 5
Golden-crowned Sparrow: 22
Purple Finch: 4
Pine Siskin: 123

Moorecroft Census

Today I did a complete census at Moorecroft Regional Park, in Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, BC. New birds for the 2012 list in the park were Common Terns, Parasitic Jaegers, and Rock Pigeon. All expected, but only seen for the first time today. Passerine migration continues to be exceedingly slow, but the number of Dark-eyed Juncos has increased substantially in the past few days. The number of Red-breasted Nuthatches locally continues to astonish. I have never seen so many in my 17 years on Vancouver Island.

Canada Goose: 3
Northern Pintail: 18
Surf Scoter: 6
Red-breasted Merganser: 2
Common Loon: 5
Brandt's Cormorant: 1
Double-crested Cormorant: 7
Pelagic Cormorant: 4
Great Blue Heron: 2
Turkey Vulture: 18
Bald Eagle: 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 2
Cooper's Hawk: 1
Parasitic Jaeger: 2
Bonaparte's Gull: 47
Heerman's Gull: 1
Mew Gull: 2
California Gull: 16
Glaucous-winged Gull: 31
Common Tern: 5
Rock Pigeon: 1
Barred Owl: 2
Rufous Hummingbird: 1
Anna's Hummingbird: 2
Belted Kingfisher: 2
Downy Woodpecker: 3
Hairy Woodpecker: 4
Northern Flicker: 12
Pileated Woodpecker: 4
Hutton's Vireo: 3
Common Raven: 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee: 27
Red-breasted Nuthatch: 41
Brown Creeper: 10
Bewick's Wren: 3
Winter wren: 8
Golden-crowned Kinglet: 19
Varied Thrush: 6
American Robin: 15
American Pipit: 3
Orange-crowned Warbler: 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler: 5
Spotted Towhee: 8
Song Sparrow: 4
Dark-eyed Junco: 79
Red Crossbill: 60
Pine Siskin: 43

Varied Thrush

It would seem that summer is over. This morning there were Varied Thrush all over Moorecroft Regional Park. A sure sign that fall is on it's way.

Weekend Shorebirding:

Least Sandpiper

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer

Western Sandpiper

Summer shorebirding on the east coast of Vancouver Island is a frustrating game. There are rarely large numbers present, the diversity can be somewhat low, and it can be downright impossible to find something other than a Killdeer or Black Oystercatcher outside of the two hours a day either side of the high tide. There is though, just enough chance of a rarity being out there in that flock of Least Sandpipers, to keep a person searching. And if one does not search really hard and put in the hours, you will never find them. Besides, I love shorebiridng more than any other birding I do here, and even if all I end up seeing are a few small flocks of Least and Western Sandpipers, I still have fun. Thus, I find myself continually drawn back to the estuaries along the east coast of Vancouver Island, standing in the blazing sun for hours at a time, squinting into the heat haze at a distant single peep, waiting for the tide to bring in more birds. This weekend was much of the same. I birded the Englishman River Estuary at the high tide on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, and enjoyed it immensely, but in terms of startling discoveries or massive numbers of birds, it was a bit thin. It is though, always exciting when the tide seeps slowly forward, and the muddy flats near the end of San Malo Crescent in Parksville become smaller and smaller, and more and more peeps appear out of nowhere. Note to self for next time; Remember sunscreen!

Shorebirds recorded at the Englishman River estuary and adjacent marine areas on 21/22 August 2011:

Black-bellied Plover: 21/19

Semipalmated Plover: 10/7

Killdeer: 26/31

Black Oystercatcher: 8/10

Greater Yellowlegs: 1/3

Spotted Sandpiper: 3/4

Black Turnstone: 59/11

Sanderling: 1/0

Semipalmated Sandpiper: 1/1

Western Sandpiper: 52/63

Least Sandpiper: 70/71

Baird's Sandpiper: 1/0

Short-billed Dowitcher: 1/0

Red-necked Phalarope: 18/0

Oyster Bay Birding

Today Donna and I took a long overdue drive up to Oyster Bay, south of Campbell River. This has always been one of my favorite summer birding spots on Vancouver Island, and it didn't disappoint today! Migrant shorebirds were present in good numbers, as were locally breeding birds such as Purple Martins, Merlin, and Marbled Murrelets. The big excitement came when a Merlin blasted into a flock of peeps and came rocketing back up into the air with a limp, dead, Western Sandpiper. Barely seconds into the air again, it reached down with it's bill and in one swift motion, decapitated the sandpiper, letting the head fall into Oyster Bay. All the while a flock of Purple Martins was in hot pursuit, screeching in protest.

Birds seen today at Oyster Bay:

Canada Goose: 5

Harlequin Duck" 18

Surf Scoter: 6

White-winged Scoter: 11

Common Merganser: 3

Common Loon: 4

Red-necked Grebe: 3

Double-crested Cormorant: 5

Pelagic Cormorant: 2

Great Blue Heron: 2

Turkey Vulture: 2

Bald Eagle: 1

Merlin: 2

Black-bellied Plover: 41

Pacific Golden-Plover: 1

Semipalmated Plover: 6

Killdeer: 4

Greater Yellowlegs: 1

Black Turnstone: 2

Semipalmated Sandpiper: 1

Western Sandpiper: 136

Least Sandpiper: 40

Red-necked Phalarope: 23

Bonaparte's Gull: 52

Heermann's Gull: 1

Mew Gull: 11

Ring-billed Gull: 1

California Gull: 28

Glaucous-winged Gull: 13

Caspian Tern: 6

Common Murre: 2

Pigeon Guillemot: 12

Marbled Murrelet: 8

Band-tailed Pigeon: 3

Common Nighthawk: 3

Belted Kingfisher: 1

Purple Martin: 28

Barn Swallow: 6

Cedar Waxwing: 5

Glaucous-winged Gull X Western Gull Hybrid

This hybrid combination is all too common most of the year here on the shores of the Salish Sea. We see fewer of them during the breeding season, but they rest of the year, they outnumber "pure" Glaucous-winged Gulls in many locations. The individual above is a fairly typical example of birds that appear to be more Glaucous-winged than Western, and may well represent second generation hybrids. This bird shows a mantle shade only slightly darker than the typical Glaucous-winged Gull, but the primaries are darker yet. The bill does suggest Western Gull, being fairly heavy and showing a pronounced gonys.

Non Motorized Transportation Big Year Update

Since 2009,

I have been primarily birding by bicycle. It seemed to me the height of hypocrisy to be continually complaining about biodiversity loss, at the same time I was driving an internal combustion vehicle all over the place chasing birds. So sometime near the end of 2008, I decided to keep the car parked as much as possible, and use the bike and my hiking boots to go search for birds. Being a typical birder, I thought I might as well add a listing component, so I started what I called, a Non-Motorized Big Year, or NMT Big Year, for short. Essentially, I would try and see how many species of birds I could find without using a motorized vehicle. In 2009 I saw 215 species, and went on some very long rides to Victoria and Port Alberni, amongst other insane hair brained schemes. I ended up birding 289 kilometres by foot, and 2371 kilometres by bike that year. In 2010, I decided to just bird within the Parksville-Qualicum Checklist Area, and I ended up with 193 species, covering 120 kilometres by foot, and 2672 by bike. Interestingly, after announcing my plan on a local bird chat group, others joined in. By 2010, the idea had spread to the mainland, the southern interior, and as far east as Manitoba. There are now dozens of birders across Canada doing their own versions of an NMT Big Year. And many of them are doing far better at it than I am. A birder in Victoria last year rode over 10,000 kilometers and saw well over 200 species. Incredible! Others have crossed the coast range, tallying large numbers of birds by seeing both coastal and interior birds in the process.

So far this year, I just haven't had the time to put into it like I did in previous years. The unusually poor weather hasn't helped, nor has my work schedule. But I am planning to ramp it up a notch here in the next few weeks. I love birding from my bike, and I can't imagine going back to driving all over the country chasing birds again. Yuck.

Today Donna and I did a 19 km ride down to the Englishman River Estuary and back. Although it was blowing a gale and bitterly cold (headache and burning lungs type cold) I did manage to see a new species for the year. While we were standing on the banks of the Englishman admiring the river, a pair of Barred Owls started calling in the forest just behind us. These birds have been in this forest for years now, and although I generally don't have much problem finding this species ;locally, this was the first sighting for me in 2011. They were both up in a cedar about 10 metres apart, trying to sit perfectly still, but every now and then peeking around a branch to see what we were up to.

Totalling up my list when I got home, I see that I have now seen 90 species for the year, and walked 18 kilometres and ridden 176 kilometres in the process. Hopefully, with the improving weather, the coming herring extravaganza, and northbound migrants moving in, I should start seeing some more new species. I can't wait.


Species: Recorded in 2011 So Far:

Brant
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Yellow-billed Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Black Turnstone
Dunlin
Mew Gull
California Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous Gull
Common Murre
Ancient Murrelet
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Not counted)
Barred Owl
Anna's Humminbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Shrike
Steller's Jay
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
American Dipper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow

Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)

Who says common birds are boring?

Greetings Gyrfunkers!

Welcome to my blog.

I guess I'm a little late jumping on this blogging bandwagon, but I've been busy. There have been birds to see, habitat to save, dragons to slay, twangers to plunk, and occasionally I have to work. I've also used up a considerable portion of the last ten years trying to maintain an online bird chat group for Vancouver Island. Ha! Never again. The Internet seems to make rational people hostile, and hostile people, well, more hostile. I'm all done with that world. No desire to stop birding. Just completely done with being part of the pissing match/humiliate your peers/make yourself feel better about yourself by crapping on others/freak show that seems to be the bane of birding all over the planet. Not that the great majority of birders are like that. Not at all. But there are a few. Jesus Quintana, are there ever.....

But I don't intend for this blog to just be about birds though. Birds and birding are but one aspect of my life.

I have an interesting family that generally tolerates me

I have worked as a wildlife consultant, specializing in field ornithology for the past 15 years

I have the wittiest, if not the smartest, friends this side of Humptulips

I like hiking and backpacking, especially if it leads to birding

I like biking, and spend quite a bit of time birding from my bikes

I'm involved with a number of community groups, including the British Columbia Field Ornithologists

I read a lot, and I write occasionally

I play around with radios and am studying for my Canadian Basic Amateur Radio License

I have an interest in a language called Chinook Jargon, which although not really spoken any longer, has provided many words to conversational British Columbian English

I am maybe too passionate about politics. Well, maybe not

I cook, fairly well

I eat, far too much, or rather I did. Now I'm on a fairly strict diet which is utterly depressing

I spend a lot of time thinking about how to solve unsolvable problems

I sometimes hurl insults at strangers who deserve it

I am occasionally nostalgic for Puget Sound in the 80's

I once helped Abbie Hoffman get laid

I can't play the accordion, but there is still time

And doggone it, a couple of people like me

So there it is. My first blog post at Gyrfunken. Wish me luck.