And they keep coming.....

Spring was late this year, but it is now upon us with a vengeance, if the birds showing up are any indication.

Yesterday morning, Mike McGrenere called me about my old nemesis, Mountain Bluebird. The bluebirds have been evasive all year, with 6 twitches, and six dips. Mike had found his fourth of the year, a female, at Panama Flats. Unfortunately for me, I was in and out of meetings all day, with no chance to make it out there (for more stories along the same lines.....). When 4:00 rolled around, I wasted no time in getting to Panama Flats, where the bluebird was very obliging, flying right over my head after 30 seconds of searching, as if to make up for what its counterparts have put me through this year. I had great looks at the bird perched in the oak it was frequenting, before heading off to my next stop.

Mike had also located another nemesis bird of mine that morning, a Sora at Charlton Pond. This is a bird I have seen frequently in the interior (Creston, mainly, where you have to watch you don't step on them) but has always eluded me on the island. Last year, the birds were calling everywhere I went, but none showed. This stop proved a bust, so I went home, grabbed some dinner, and headed back to Charlton Pond.

After standing nearly motionless for an hour, watching reeds and grass moving mere feet from me as rails slipped through, the local Bird Whisperer, Jeremy Gatten, pulled up. It didn't take long for a young Virginia Rail to start putting on a show at the far end of the pond, and some scanning along the edges finally revealed an adult Sora! This was my first Sora for the Victoria Checklist Area, which Jeremy G would not let me forget. Quickly thereafter, a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew over, making it three new birds for the day.

I was pretty sure this morning that I was done birding until Saturday in Ottawa, but the birds had other ideas. With my cell phone on very low battery, I had been turning it on every hour or so to check missed calls and messages. When I turned the phone on at 11am, I had a voicemail, and noticed a missed BCVIBIRDS post about a Magnolia Warbler at Swan Lake. I hustled down to the lake following Chris Saunders' directions, and quickly found a crowd listening to the bird sing from out of sight. Some pacing back and forth ensued among all, and finally the bird broke cover, giving some of us a quick look as it flew across the path. A look, but not a very satisfying one. The bird continued to sing, which let us track it, and finally Chris relocated it in a willow, where it was working left to right. I missed it, but quickly located it 5 feet left of where he had seen it, as it worked its way into an opening. The stunning look of bright yellow and black was a great follow up look to the path episode. This is the third record of Magnolia Warbler for the Victoria Checklist Area, my 197th bird of the Big Year, and the first Lifer I have gotten on to this year, many thanks Chris!

Maybe now I am done until Saturday, when I will be chasing down Red-headed Woodpecker, Upland Sandpiper, Golden-winged Warbler, and Eastern Towhee.

Good birding,