March 28/11 - Good weather and birding opportunities continue to be scarce because of other obligations and activities, but with camera in tow I was able to steal a couple of hours in Lantzville at Blunden Point. A quicker than anticipated trip to Nanaimo freed me for some unexpected birding. Blunden is at the foot of Sebastion and part of a very popular public walking beach. My success rate there is very low, but because of its convenience on my route to and from Nanaimo, it is always worth a quick stop.

As I exited the parking lot I was greeted with the familiar stench of decaying herring roe. The aftermath of the recent herring spawn was lining the beach to provide a sumptuous banquet for a substantial flock of gulls.

Most of the gulls were Mew Gulls with a smattering of California's and Glaucous-winged's.

Every time a Bald Eagle soared by, the gulls would flush, but quickly returned when it was safe to do so. In most cases the eagles were disinterested in the gulls. In fact, I've never seen an eagle attacking a gull on the beach.

After my little gull session I walked onto the rocks of Blunden Point with the hope of catching a flight shot of a passing duck. Scoters and mergansers flew by regularly, but they were all out of camera range. Finally I spotted a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers about 30 meters out. It was farther than what I wanted, but as my old university room-mate used to say, "Beggars can't be choosy."

Mr. Merganser had caught himself a tasty treat for lunch. He made no attempt to share it with his mate and proceeded to eat it himself.

After the snack the pair continued to the east.

I was distracted for a moment and was surprised to see the mergansers flying towards me. I managed one quick shot before they were gone.

As I surveyed the situation I noticed a Bald Eagle flying in from the east. Now I knew why the ducks disappeared to the west.

The eagle landed on a nearby tree so I walked down the beach to try for a shot. As I got to my vantage point the eagle lauched itself and flew past the point. It circled, banked, dove, and neatly snatched something from the rocks.

With its prey firmly in the claws, the eagle wheeled towards the offshore islands.

After the eagle excitement I waited a few minutes for any passing ducks. The only offering was a distant pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes.

With nothing else in sight I headed for Eby Road where I spotted a large flock of American Wigeons next to shore. I always tell people that for every hundred American Wigeon there is one Eurasian Wigeon.

There were two Eurasians in the flock, but there were about 200 Americans.

A few of the wigeons had reddish stripes behind the eye instead of the expected green stripe.

Just like at Blunden most of the gulls were of the Mew variety.

The second most common gull here was the Bonaparte. Most of them were in transition to their breeding plumage.

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Apr. 4/11 - Quick stop at Nanaimo River estuary after a book delivery to Volume 1 in Duncan. I waited for an hour to see if the Shot-eared Owl would fly close to me. No luck. The best was about 50 m

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Apr. 8/11 - Dentist appointment in Qualicum. Another chance to sneak in some quick birding.

San Malo - About 20 Green-winged Teals for dabbling in the shallows. It won't be long before they head for their inland breeding grounds. Another twenty or so Buffleheads were in the lagoon.

At Qualicum it was high tide and the expected Harlequins decorated the rocks near the shore. Exercising a lot of patience I was able to ease into a good shooting distance with the sun at my back.

A few Harlequins were foraging in the shallows. They were quite at ease bouncing in the waves.

After my Harlie shoot I spotted a pair of Mallards approching from the west. Time for a flight shot.

Further up the beach several Black Oystercatchers were foraging in a shallow pool.

White-crowned Sparrows were singing everywhere. This one was at Admiral's Lagoon.

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Harry's Back!

Apr. 3/22 - For a while I was dreading the demise of my Rufous Hummingbirds. They normally return from their Mexican vacation around the first day of spring, but by Apr. 2 there was still no sign of the hummers. On Apr. 3 I watched the feeder while I had breakfast before leaving disappointedly for my usual Sunday outing at the golf course. When I returned my wife said, "Guess what?" I knew right away and dashed out to the feeder. Immediately, a male hummer flew from the holly tree to within a meter of me. It was Harry. I was ecstatic. After buzzing me for a few seconds he flew up to the holly tree and back to buzz me again. How did I know it was harry? Well, I see hummers all the time and none of them ever fly to greet me. As well, all hummers have different markings. This one had Harry markings.

A few days later Harry was back to his old routine. He was guarding the feeder. I usually let him have his fun for a couple of days before I set up my other feeders.

Yes, I do have an ulterior motive. When I set up the other feeders Harry tries to guard all of them. That means he's all over the place. With only one feeder he stays put, and that's good for a little photography.

The best condition for pictures is diffuse filtered light with no harsh shadows.

On April 13 I was preparing dinner when I saw Harry guarding the feeder. It was overcast but the lighting seemed adequate for photos. I had to go up to ISO 800 before it brightened enough for 640 (80th of a second), but I was happy with the results. In three hours I managed to take 438 pictures of Harry.

This isn't Harry. This is one of the other males that snuck in while Harry was away. Harry has a lot more green feathers on his back.

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Bird Poster

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

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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, NANAIMO MAP & CHARTS

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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