above photo - Mar. 9 - After several days of bone-freezing 10 below wind chill, the wind gods relented and Parksville Bay was a bathtub replete with ducks, gulls, Brant, and Bald Eagles. Like little rubber duckies several flotillas of ducks gently bobbed in the middle of the Bay. As usual it was the Greater Scaup flock that foraged closest to the beachwhile the scoters lurked in the background.
Mar. 9 - "Brantastic" Parksville
To borrow a phrase from Sandra Gray,"Brantastic" Parksville Bay has truly lived up to its reputation as the centre of the Brant universe on Vancouver Island. Perhaps it was the ideal herring spawn and tidal action that pushed the herring roe into the bay, or the fact that there wasn't much spawn anywhere else. Whatever the reason, up to 2,000 Brant have been arriving like clockwork near high tide time to feed on the floating herring roe. It was the perfect time for close-up observation and photography as the activity was close to shore. In fact, it was even perfect for flight shots as the flocks would fly in from the stait and land within decent telephoto range. The only frustration was the oblivious beach walkers who would walk along the shoreline and flush the geese out. There were also a number of point and shoot photographers who walked to the edge to try to get closer photos. They were not aware that the best way to get close shots was to let the geese come in close to shore.
As you can see from the photos, it isn't just Brant that is available. Thousands and thousands of gulls and ducks have also been on the scene feasting on the annual bounty of roe. Although the gulls may all look the same, there are many different species and a few rarities in the mix. Mike Ashbee located an exotic Slat-backed Gull at Deep Bay while Guy Monty picked out a much-desired Iceland Gull at Admiral's Lagoon.
Most of the gulls were the common Glaucous-wingeds, Californians, Thayer's, and Mews, but there were probably a few rare ones in the mix.
Even if you couldn't find a rare gull, there was always the potential for a few interesting shots.
Ring-billed Gulls are expected but only in small numbers.
The Ring-billeds are among the smaller gulls but quite recognizable with their distinctive ringed bills and bright yellow legs.
Here they come - The stars of the show are the Pacific Black Brant.
Out of the Mist - It's always an exciting event to see the squadrons of Brant materializing out of the hazy horizon from the Strait of Georgia and winging their way to the shallow shoreline of the bay.
A Perfect Two-point Landing - If you wait for high tide a lot of the action happens right next to the top of the beach.
Where's the Roe? - After the landing it's time to find the herring roe.
Bellying up to the Sushi Bar - Once the best concentration of floating roe is located, it's time to chow down.
Eagle Coming! - Disturbing migrating birds is against the law, but it doesn't apply to eagles. Human and dog disturbance has been minimized thanks to the exhaustive effort to educate the public and the constant vigilance of students in the VIU Resource Management Program. The Brant took flight at the first sign of any eagle, but most eagles just seemed to be passing by.
Eagle Gone - Once the eagle has passed the Brant usually return to resume their feeding. The eagles are more interested in the flavor of the day which is Pacific herring.
Small But Nutritious - The herring roe is miniscule but packed with protein, fat, and vitamins for the Brant. The fat isn't good for you or I , but it's high energy fuel for the birds. Notice the tiny translucent roe at the tip of the Brant's bill.
Roe x 3 - Roe magnified by about 3 times.
Dangerous Catch - The Eagles were more interested in the catching herring than they were in the Brant, ducks, or gulls. Unfortunately, the eagle caught a couple of herring that were intertwined with fish net from the recent herring fishery. One herring is in the talon while the other is dangling from the netting.
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What Else? -It's just not the Brant that make life interesting at this time of the year. Sea lions and Bald Eagles are still numerous as they continue to feast on spawning herring. The best place for eagles and seal lions was from Bowser to Deep Bay where hundreds of eagles lined the beaches in the company of thousands of gulls.
The sea lions seem docile and harmless when they are lazing around in their pods, but in reality they ferocious and voracious feeding machines that devour tons of fish.
Eagles Everywhere - The scene between Bowser and Deep Bay was impressive with hundreds of eagles lined up like statues at the water's edge in between the large flocks of gulls. It was the idyllic scene of peaceful co-existence between the eagles and gulls. The eagles were content with all the fish they were catching and the gulls were busy filling themselves with herring roe.
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Mar. 12 - A Dipper Break
Thanks to a book order from Munro's I had an excuse to visit Victoria again. I made uneventful Clover Point and Swan Lake stops, but my tatget for the day was the Goldstream American Dipper.
Where's the Dipper? - A brisk walk from the parking lot downstream yielded nothing but a couple of distant Varied Thrushes.
Most of the stream was in the sunlight, but there was no dipper. I decided to check the shadowy part of the stream above the bridge, and that's where I found the dipper was lurking.
I think the dipper was worried about skin cancer the way it stayed in the shadows.
With the shadowy conditions I had to up the ISO to 1250 which accounts for the low quality.
Just when I changed the ISO to 800, the Dipper caught its lunch - another excuse for the motion error.
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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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