Jan. 21/10 - A quiet spring morning on Deep Bay Spit - oops, what about winter? For those who don't live around here, it's averaged 10 - 12 degrees above zero for the past 2 weeks. Crocuses and Daffodils are starting to bloom. But, I digress. I should have started with a quiet winter morn at Deep Bay which is what I prefer because I often get the spit all to myself. Less activity and traffic means more chance of the ducks and other seabirds coming closer to shore. Even if they don't, the peace and beauty of Baynes Sound against the snow-clad mountains is always there to enjoy. Just look at the title photo and imagine what it's like.

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Jan. 15 - Oystercatcher I.Q.

Bird intelligence is a well-known phenomena. The use of sticks for tools by Caledonian Crows is a well-documented example. Oystercatchers also demonstrate a version of tool-utilization.

The recent winter storms have washed up a variety of clams on Qualicum beaches. I think this is a varnish clam.

Finding the clam was easy. The next task was to get inside the clam which meant finding the right configuration of rocks or sand that could hold the clam upright.

The Oystercatcher usually heads for the rocks, but in this case it lodged the shell in the sand against a stone. With the clam held firmly in the upright position, the Oystercatcher can insert its thin bill into the clam and snip the abductor muscle which holds the shell closed.

Once the shell is open, lunch is served.

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A Relaxing Cooper's

Jan. 18 - I was driving through downtown Lantzville when I saw a hawk dive off a fence into someone's yard. I made a quick U - turn and drove slowly around to the back of the house. The Cooper's was sitting on the backyard fence enjoying the warm January sun.

Distinguishing between a juvenile Cooper's and Sharp-shinned is a common topic on many bird chat-lines. I don't claim to be an expert, but there are several field marks that I look for.

The thin dark-brown chest stripes is usually enough to identify the Cooper's. The Sharpie's stripes are usually coarser and light brown. The Cooper's also has thicker legs and talons which is not surprising as it is generally a larger bird. A third feature is the closeness of the eyes to the bill or front of the head. On the Cooper's it is closer to the front. On the Sharpie it is about half way between the front and back.

On adult birds, the main difference is that the Cooper's has a dark cap wheras the Sharpie has more of a dark hood that covers the crown and back of the neck. Another field mark that you can't see on this picture is the rounded tail of the Cooper's. The central tail feathers are longer than the side ones which gives the tail a rounded shape. On the Sharpie, the tail feathers are the the same length which gives it a square shape.

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Yard Report

I have two seed feeders and one suet feeder on the go these days and a regualar cast of yard birds. Chestnut-backed Chickadees are common, and they love the sunflower seeds.

Not surprisingly, the Dark-eyed Juncos are my most abundant winter residents. I estimate about 40 - 50 helping themselves to the white millet.

The way the Red-breasted Nuthatches zip in and out of the feeders you might think there are a lot, but it's probably just 2 or 3 pairs. Other regular locals include Purple and House Finches, Spotted Towhees, Downy and Hair Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, and the occasional Cooper's.

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A Deep Bay Quickie

Jan. 21 - I know what you're thinking, but don't. It just so happened that I was on the way to North Island College to give a bird presentation to the Access to Education disabilities class. The sun was doing its best to peek through the clouds, and I had a half hour to spare. What would you do? Stop at the Bean Counter in Bowser for coffee? My choice was Deep Bay for a bird break.

As usual, Deep Bay was delicious. There were bird treats all around. I was too busy admiring the Long-tailed Ducks to notice the Deep bay Baldie soaring low over the water just in front of me. I managed one quick click before it was out of range.

The closest bird to me was a female Bufflehead. It occasionally paddled in front of me to volunteer its modeling services, and I had to oblige.

I wasn't surprised to see the flock of about 28 Long-taileds just out of camera range.

Usually if I have a couple of hours, they would eventually venture closer to shore, but as I mentioned earlier, this was a quickie.

When I post smaller pictures, you know I'm too far away.

There's always a variety of birds that fly past the spit. Cormorants are very common. Red-breasted Mergansers are less common but to be expected.

Conditions were excellent for photograpy. I hated to leave, but I had an appointment to keep.

On the way home from Courtenay I spotted the Shady Rest Baldie finishing off its lunch. I wish I were there 20 minutes earlier to see the whole fish.

It was down to the last bite when I arrived. Did I mention I was going to focus more on eagle pictures this year. Well, I am and this was a decent opportunity to start with.

It didn't take long for the Baldie to finish up. After that it flew back to the tall tree by the beach snack shack where it joined its partner.

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The Black Book

Jan. 22 - One of my rites of winter is to photograph the Black Scoters diving for varnish clams at Qualicum Beach. For some reason whenever I checked last year they were very skittish. I made 3 or 4 efforts but none were successful. Yesterday on my way to Courtenay I saw the scoters right by the seawall. I stopped and took a few pictures but didn't have time to stay. However, I made a mental note that the scoters were quite comfortable by the seawall despite the regular stream of traffic. When I awoke this morning and saw that the weather was decent, I had scoters on my mind.

I timed my arrival in Qualicum to be 9:30 just before the sun made it over the bluff and just before the 9:49 high tide. That would give the scoters time to get used to me. Just as I hoped, they were in the same spot as yesterday.

It was interesting that the scoters all seemed to congregate near the stairwell I was set up in. I would have preferred the next one about 30 m west because it was sunnier. In my location the sun was blocked out by the only fir tree on the bluff. That provided filtered sun, but I would have preferred direct sun not just for the photos but also to keep me warmer. It was 15 degrees in the sun but 5 degrees in the shade. Because of the high tide I had to stay in the stairwell of the seawall. It was a 4.9 m tide and the highest part of the beach was a foot under water.

There were spells of about 10 to 15 minutes where no one was around but me, and that's when the scoters came in. There must have been a clam bed right in front of me. The scoters were regularly digging them up.

A blue sky would have have been better, but I was having fun regardless. As I mentioned, I missed my session last winter.

I probably could have gotten all the pictures I wanted in 30 minutes, but every time I got going, someone would stop to ask what I was doing or what the ducks were. They couldn't figure out that I was busy trying to take pictures, and they couldn't see that their presence had just frightened the ducks again. I keep forgetting to make a sign to post on my back.

Fortunately, the ducks did keep coming back, and 2 hours seemed to pass quite quickly.

The female Black Scoters added a nice femine touch to the scene.

Out of the flock of 30 Black Scoters there were about 6 females. The rest were males, and there was also a male and female Surf Scoter.

Speak of the devil, and here he is. He stood out like clown.

He foraged three clams right in front of me then moved off to the east.

I don't know if this was the Surf's significant other, but she was the only female Surf in the bunch.

Just before I left the scoters a Common Loon cruised through the scoter flock.

After closing the black book, I stopped at French Creek. They're doing a major 4.3 million dollar marina expansion so birding might be a little disrupted this year. It was still fairly high tide so there weren't many birds close in except at the beach where a flock of about 300 Dunlin was swirling about.

They landed on the beach and foraged at the water's edge for awhile. I love catching them when they're marching. Next time I'll try for a lower angle.

After a feeding frenzy, it was siesta time. They all tried to fit on a small island of debris but there was only room for about 10%.

Last bird of the day - juvenile Gadwall at Craig's Bay.

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Closing Notes

1. Next presentation - Feb. 23 Sierra Club at Stan Hagen Theatre, North Island College. I have volunteered to be the guest presenter at their fund-raising event to support their efforts to protect the sensitive Courtenay River Estuary.

2. Birds in the News - I did manage to get the Rusty Blackbird in the Times-Colonist, but they didn't mention the ridiculous situation about COSEWIC declaring it to be a bird of concern while at the same time it has no protection under the Migratory Bird Act and can be shot as a pest. Typically Canadian, eh? Meanwhile, if you want to see a Rusty, it's still a regular at King's Pond.

3. Another rare bird that has broken all records (that I'm aware of) for longevity on V.I. is the Bowker Willet. It's been around since September.

4. Big bird News across the pond was the sighting of an Oriental Turtle Dove at Alaksen near Reifel. It was sighted for one day and photographed from a distance but never reappeared. There is no way of telling whether it was a mega-rarity or an escapee.

5. There's a good chance that the American Tree Sparrows and White-throated Sparrow are still around the Nanaimo Estuary at Raines Road. Jon Carter reported them again last weekend.

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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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PUBLICATIONS

VOLUME I & II BOOKS AVAILABLE AT

PARKSVILLE & QUALICUM - MULBERRYBUSH BOOKSTORES

NANAIMO - SAVE-ON FOODS (WOODGROVE),
SAVE-ON FOODS (COUNTRY CLUB), CHAPTERS, FALCONER BOOKS

PORT ALBERNI - CLOCKTOWER GALLERY

COURTENAY - GRAHAM'S JEWELLERS

SIDNEY - VICTORIAN BIRD HOUSE, TANNER'S BOOKSTORE

COMOX - BLUE HERON BOOKS

BOWSER - LIGHTHOUSE GIFTS

DEEP BAY - SHIP & SHORE

SAANICH - WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED

VICTORIA - BOLEN BOOKS, MUNRO'S, CROWN PUBLICATIONS, IVY'S

CAMPBELL RIVER - SAVE-ON FOODS, COHO BOOKS, CAMPBELL RIVER MUSEUM

DUNCAN - VOLUME 1 BOOKSTORE

CHEMAINUS - WILLOW"S WILD BIRD STORE

LADYSMITH - SALAMANDER BOOKS

NANOOSE - SCHOONER COVE MARINA

LAKE COWICHAN - GALLOPING MOON GALLERY

TOFINO - BOTANICAL GARDENS

QUADRA ISLAND - EXPLORE & BOOK BONANZA

LANGFORD - WILD BIRD CENTER

SOOKE - READING ROOM BOOKSTORE

SOOKE - MUSEUM

Port Hardy - MUSEUM

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