Mar. 4, 2010 - Herring Time

Herring time, Brant time, migration time ... It's a great time of the year especially when the weatherman is kind to us. The coastal waters from Comox to Neck Point started to transform to a milky turquoise on Feb. 25 and by Feb. 26 the roe herring fishery commenced. With herring stocks assessed btween 40,000 and 50,000 tons, the fishing quota was set at 20% or 8500 tons. The conditions were ideal: good weather and good concentrations of herring. The fishery was completed on Mar. 3.

Meanwhile, it was also soup time for sea lions, seals, larger fish, ducks, and gulls. It wasn't uncommon to see eagles swooping down to the milky green waters to snatch a herring; pods of sea lions were everywhere lounging around like stuffed pigs; seals popped up all over, often with a fish in the jaws; huge rafts of ducks and gulls floated around while they dined on the floating roe; and I'm sure there was a feeding frenzy below the surface with salmon, dogfish, and groundfish going crazy over the herring smorgasbord.

The spawn is now over for the season, but the after-spawn activity is just ramping up. Each female herring lays up to 20,000 sticky eggs that are glued onto seaweed and rocks on the sea bed, but many are dislodged by the tides and currents and float up to become food for other creatures. The nutrient rich roe is very durable and when it is plentiful it can continue to provide food for over 4 or 5 weeks.

Needless to say, it is a wonderful time for duck and gull watchers. Slaty-backed Gulls have showed up in 3 of the last 4 years, and it would be an ideal time for another rarity to show up. It is a good time for photography, and I hope to give you a hint of some of the possibilities available.

**************************************************************************************

Hear ye, hear ye! The spawn is on! Bald Eagles sang from every seaside tree as they watched for casulties from the herring fishery. A few minutes later the eagle swooped down for a little herring snack. Contented sea lions drifted around milky green waters feeling pleasantly plump from their herring buffet.

Got it! The eagle snagging a herring.

Hauling in the gold. Most of the skiffs I watched reached the podium with their full nets. Anyone know the price they got this year?

Like I said, it was soup time for everyone including the seals. This must have been a female herring in the middle of her spawning. It looks like herring roe dripping all over the seal.

The herring roe is also an important part of the Brant's diet.

About 2,000 Brant are currently in the area replenishing their fat reserves for the rest of their migration to their Arctic breeding grounds.

A herring egg might be a tiny meal but it is packed with energy.

Scramble! Every time the resident eagles flew out to sea or back, the Brant, gulls, and ducks took flight.

Meanwhile, away from the herring activity down at Kaye Road ... Birds of a feather flocked together - That was the case with 4 Cacklers and 1 Greater White-fronted at the Kaye Road Ponds. Wherever one went, the others followed. I didn't notice the Cacklers a few days earlier so either they were on some other ponds or they were new arrivals stopping for a rest on their migration north.

Meanwhile, the Snow Goose that Christopher first reported at Rascal Pond was now hanging out near the Kaye Road Settling Ponds.

Unlike the Greater White-fronted, the Snow Goose was fraternizing with the larger Canada Geese.

Mar. 5 - There was no groaning about the weather today. It was an absolutely wonderful sunny, windless morning as I headed towards Parksville. I had books to deliver in Qualicum which was perfect for checking out the after-spawn bird activity. As expected huge flocks of gulls covered every field and beach along the way just like the snow on Cypress Mountain. I promised Tim I'd check out the scoter situation at Qualicum, and just I expected the scoters had changed their menu from clam chowder to sushi. All the scoters had joined the massive flock of ducks just north of the viewing stand. The raft had to be almost a kilometer long and about 200 meters wide and they were enjoying the bounty of drifting herring roe.

Meanwhile, it was just after high tide and time for the Harlequin Ducks to head into shore for their morning constitutional.

As usual they were in their playful mood and there was plenty of jostling and bumping going on.

But there was only one reason for the ducks to head for shore. It was time to preen, clean, and dry out after a busy morning on the water.

The trick was to find an unoccupied rock in the shallow water. Most of them were taken up by the gulls. This Harlie was lucky.

Eventually, the Harlequins figured out that most of them wouldn't find a rock in the shallows, and that the lone photographer on the beach wasn't a threat. They hauled themselves onto beach rocks right next to me.

There were almost a hundred Harlies lined up along the beach. I had a full-frame view of the closest ones.

Almost forgot about the females ...

Just down the beach a huge flock of gulls was enjoying a pool of floating roe. Here's another Cal flying in to join the feast

Calgulls at the sushi buffet.

Although there were always a few different species mixed together, birds of a feather usually prefer their own kind. Most of the Mew Gulls were separate from the Cal Gulls.

As one might expect, the resident Dunlin would be passing by, and sure enough here they are.

Herring time is definitely "Bonie" time. It won't be long before large flocks are on the scene cleaning up the floating roe.

I've never seen a Double-crested Cormorant eating roe, but I bet it gets its share of herring.

I can just picture sea lions slashing through the massive schools of herring and then cleaning up on the wounded.

Here's a question for you. How many herring must a sea lion eat to be the equivalent of one hamburger for you or me?

Still eating when I left after 40 minutes!

**************************************************************************************

Bird Poster

My poster is on display at: Victoria - Swan Lake Nature House

**************************************************************************************

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

[RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE]

Comments, questions, or book orders?

[Contact Mike]