above photo - A pair of Bald Eagles on Parksville Beach discussing the excitement of the upcoming herring spawn.
Feb. 28 - Pre-spawn Activity
The stage is set. The cast of characters has been assmbling. The large patches of white on the sandbars and spits are not snow drifts. They are rapidly multiplying flocks of gulls. If you go down to Parksville Park at the right time, the huge field will be wall-to-wall gulls. Hundreds of Bald Eagles are adorning every treetop snag along the waterfront. Scattered pods of ravenous sea lions are lounging slightly offshore, signaling their readiness by waving their flippers in the air. The huge rafts of scoters, scaups, goldeneyes, and many other ducks are growing bigger every day. The migrating flocks of Brant are increasing steadily every day. The pulse of human activity has also increased. Fishermen are frantically readying their skiffs and nets while the mounting numbers of tourists, birders, and photographers anxiously patrol the shorelines.
Meanwhile, somewhere offshore schools of herring are nearing breeding maturity. When they are ready, they will inundate the shallows and the waters will turn a milky blue with the milt of life to fertilize the billions of eggs laid by the female herring. There will be pandemonium as the sea lions and seal slash into the dense schools of herring and gorge themselves until they are too full to move. Gulls and eagles will be swooping in to snatch up anything that the larger mammals miss. The herring roe is supposed to be laid on seaweed where it adheres until maturity, but I supect that there is not enough seaweed for the roe, and much of the roe is loose or dislodged by waves and currents to become fodder for the waiting gulls and ducks.
Unfortunately, with the declining stocks of herring, it is becoming a question of "if" and not "when." The lessons of the devastated east coast cod fishery may have fallen on deaf ears. Will fishermen keep demanding an increased quota and the right to fish until the stocks are depleted? It is human nature to make the quick buck instead of planning for the future. Right now the quotas are set at 10% of the estimated stock, but remember, 10% of nothing is nothing. As a keystone species, the decline in herring stocks has already had a devastating, snowballing effect on many other forms of wildlife from salmon to birds. When the herring are gone, it will have a domino effect that will likely eliminate many other aquatic and avian species.
If there were a moratorium on the herring fishery for a few years, who knows? Maybe there will be a much healthier, more lucrative controlled fishery for the future. Maybe the wild salmon and fishery will recover to its glory days. And maybe all other dependent aquatic and avian life forms will flourish again.
Did you know that nature and wildlife watching is the THIRD LARGEST INDUSTRY in Texas? It adds hundreds of millions of dollars to the state economy every year. It is a clean, safe, and hugely profitable industry. Not bad for a state that had the stereotype of shooting eveything in sight. B.C. had the same potential, but much of it has now disappeared. Thousands of tourists stop every year just to look at the old growth trees at Cathedral Grove, but most of our old growth is gone. Thousands jam the creekside at Goldstream Park just to watch the salmon spawn, but most of our salmon are gone and most spawning creeks are devoid of any life. Tourists from all over the world fly in just to catch a glimpse of a grizzly bear or killer whale, but how many of these are left? Thousands also enjoy annual Pacific Herring spawn, but that has now been reduced to small sections of the Island and destined to go the way of the east coast cod. Until governments and industry view nature and wildlife as a natural resource with a huge potential for economic gain instead of an impediment to development, they will continue to destroy the natural fabric of our province.
There are more Glaucous Gulls in the area for the herring spawn than at any other time of the year. Most tend to be first winter birds, but the first one I saw this year at Parksville Park was a third winter gull.
The gull seemed to be a veteran at panhandling. It had no qualms about approaching vehicles looking for a possible handout.
If there were no handouts available, it was time to check out what was available on the beach.
Life goes on even without the spawn. I enjoyed watching this juvenile Common Goldenye diving for food in French Creek.
I didn't see it catch anything big, but it always seemed to be nibbling on something.
There was a pair of Hooded Mergansers close by. They each caught a crab at the same time.
The crabs were a delicacy, but they were a prey that could fight back.
Notice the head shaking. I think it was a method of detaching the crab claws with centrifugal force.
Once the crab claws were removed, it was easy to digest.
Greater Scaup are among the many ducks waiting for the herring spawn.
The Brant depend a lot on the eel grass and sea lettuce, but they were also waiting for the herring roe.
Gulls are everywhere, and the fun will be in finding the occasional rarity like an Iceland or Slaty-backed.
A gull still has to eat before the spawn. I'm guessing that this is maybe a hybrid Western - Glaucous-winged heading for the parking lot to drop its clam on the pavement.
American Wigeons are another species that will soon be dining on the roe.
There are plenty of American Wigeons, but where are the Eurasians? I've seen fewer Eurasian Wigeons this year than past years. It's probably a case of being in the right place at the wrong time.
Here's a few more Brant foraging at the tide line at Parksville Bay.
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Backup Photos - I usually take all my pictures with my D200 and 300-800 mm lens. If I have time, I try to take backups with my handheld D80 and 50-500 lens. For the recent Northern Goshawk and American Bittern shoots, I did take backup shots. I finally unloaded my card from the D80 and here are some of the results.
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Bird Poster
My posters are on display at: Victoria - Swan Lake Nature House; Nanoose Bay - Credit Union; Courtenay - Graham's Jewellers
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