The Clock Runs Down.....

Well, it is December 31. It is dark, and there are no more owls to be found, and I end the year at 246 species, six short of my target.

It has been a great year, and aside from the magic 252 number, I have achieved everything I set out to do. I have had a lot of fun, met a lot of great people, found a lot of new spots, and seen a lot of great birds! There have been some hits and some misses, but c'est la vie.

I also owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people who helped me out with sightings, tips, spots, and some great company in the field. I pray that I haven't forgotten anyone (and my apologies if I have), but thank you (in alphabetic order) to: Avery Bartels, Mike Bentley, Pierre-Paul Bitton, Sandy Bowie, Daniel Bryant, Russ Cannings, Cathy Carlson, Jon Carter, Ryan Cathers, David Caudwell, Aziza Cooper, Ian Cruickshank, Daniel Donnecke, Jessie Fannuchi, Jamie Fenneman, Jeremy Gatten, Tom Gillespie, Rob Gowan, Sandra Gray, Rhys Harrison, Nathan Hentze, Jared Hobbs, Jason Kimm, Cathy Lee, Warren Lee, Agnes Lynn, Derrick Marven, Barb McGrenere, Mike McGrenere, Guy Monty, David Newell, Ann Nightingale, Tom Plath, Dave Robichaud, Mary Robichaud, Robin Robinson, David Routledge, Chris Saunders, Rick Shortinghuis, Mike Toochin, Sharon Toochin, Rob Walker, and anyone who found and reported a bird to the RBAs this year, or opened their yards for others to enjoy a rarity.

I also have to thank my wife, Thea. She tolerated, with incredible humour and grace, many schedules changed at the last minute, many dinners left on the stove, and many half bottles of wine left on the table.... She has also encouraged a repeat!

The few birds I missed, some of them pretty big misses, are birds which showed in the Victoria Checklist Area this year, but I was either out of town or couldn't catch up with them. These are:

• Great Egret
• Eastern Kingbird
• Brewer's Sparrow
• Lazuli Bunting
• American Golden Plover
• Ruddy Turnstone
• Common Tern
• Brown Pelican
• Sooty Shearwater
• Green Heron
• Rough-legged Hawk

And, to end on a highlight, a few of my favourite birds of the year:

• Lesser Nighthawk (first Victoria record)
• Black Phoebe (first Victoria record)
• Black Tern
• Red-necked Stint (first Victoria record)
• Magnolia Warbler
• Yellow-breasted Chat
• Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

And of course, the other 239 species I caught up with this year!

Now, having missed my mark, am I going to try again? You bet! I won't be using this blog, and have created a new blog, at www.victoriabirder.blogspot.com. 252 is a goal within reach, so here we go again!

Happy New Year, See You next Year, and Good Birding!

9 Days, and 6 Species Left......

Down to the last 9 days of 2011!

On Monday, I finally managed to catch up with the long sought after Rusty Blackbird. A couple of hours of searching the Martindale area finally turned the bird up at the pig farm on Lochside Lane, south of Martindale Rd.

This morning, Jeremy Gatten and I decided to search for the Red-naped Sapsucker that was located and photographed on private property during the Christmas Bird Count by Warren Lee and Daniel Donnecke.

Arrangements had been made to access the property, and we met Warren and his wife and headed in at 8:30am. Before long I heard the soft tapping of a sapsucker and located the bird high in a maple, making the first bird of the day a Red-breasted Sapsucker. Close, but not quite. Jeremy Gatten heard tapping in another area of the patch of trees, and quickly found the bird, this time high in a cedar. Red-naped Sapsucker for bird number 245 of the year! We spent a little more time enjoying the company of the bird and following it back and forth, before heading off to Panama Flats in search of the previously reported Vesper Sparrow.

Panama Flats was very birdy, and the first flock of sparrows we ran into, right by the Carey Rd entrance, contained an American Tree Sparrow. We worked our way around the south end of the flats, checking all of the sparrows as we went. Jeremy heard a Swamp Sparrow just before we decided to wade across one of the wetter areas to check the southwest corner. We didn't find the bird there either, so Jeremy continued on to the centre dyke, and I retraced our steps. By the time I had made it halfway back, I heard a shout, and Jeremy was motioning me over. I ran the distance back to the building on Carey Rd, no small feat with a pulled hip flexor, and turned on to the centre dyke where it leads west from the building. Jeremy was standing near the first break in the dyke. While I approached slowly, three Western Meadowlarks flushed and flew north. A little closer, and I noticed bird number 246, the Vesper Sparrow, about 5 metres in front of Jeremy, sitting up on a dirt mound! The bird eventually flushed and flew west, folllowed closely by a Sky Lark. Not a bad start to the day!

We followed up with a look from Macauley Point for the Brown Pelican that was reported yesterday, without luck. Hastings Flats and Viaduct Flats were likewise quiet.

I am now at the point where, had I not chosen to vacation during peak migration times, I would be sitting at 253 or 254, clear of my target. However, there are still 9 days and a Christmas Bird Count (Sooke), plus a number of possible birds still left.

We shall see!

Good birding,

Bird 243, a Real Beauty!

Out of the dark, a soft ping-pong call worked its way through the trees, coming closer and closer, and my year-long hunt for Western Screech-Owl was almost at an end!

From where we stood between the trees, we heard (or rather, didn't hear) the owl stop calling, only a few trees away. Jared and I held our breaths, and the owl started calling again, this time even closer. A quick look revealed the owl, a male, sitting on a branch ten feet directly above us!


Our Western Screech-Owl, the coastal kennicotti subspecies, has experienced a devastating decline in recent years through a combination of habitat loss/modification and increased pressure from Barred Owl predation. Many areas which previously held Screech-Owl pairs, such as UVic, are now Barred Owl territories, and void of the delightful calls of what many books call "the common city park owl".

Sadly, without awareness and action, we face a future without Western Screech-Owls throughout most of Vancouver Island. The choice riparian habitats are being developed and Barred Owls, quick to adapt to humans, are (or have?) taking/taken over.

It was a great treat to be able to see this little gem, the first I have seen in ten years, and to have the opportunity to listen to many vocalizations from it, as well as a possible nearby female. Huge thanks to Jared Hobbs for the opportunity, and for the use of the above picture! You can see more of Jared's great images at www.hobbsphotos.com.

16 days left, and barring picking up a new species every second day, I am looking forward to another intense year of Big Year birding, this time without taking holidays during spring and fall migration. With any luck, the Victoria Christmas Bird Count taking place this Saturday will turn up some birds comparable to the good'uns that were found last year!

Good birding,

Gnatcatcher Success!!!!

Well, the story goes a little something like this:

I first went to look for the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, which was reported from Beacon Hill Park last weekend, on Tuesday morning. When I pulled in to the area in which it had been seen, I saw Mike McG, who told me that the bird was right there. By the time I had parked and walked back, the bird had disappeared. I spent the next 3 hours scouring the area, all to no avail. 30 seconds too late.

I went back on Friday morning, arriving at 8:30am. Again, I missed the bird, this time by 25 minutes. A number of birds showed up to look, including Mike, Daniel D, Tom Plath, Mike Bentley, Val George, and a couple of others throughout the morning. Despite searching high and low, we couldn't find it, though another birder did report a brief glimpse.

Finally this morning I aimed to be there before the bird, and not miss it. I picked Jeremy G up at 7:00am, and we headed directly to Beacon Hill (with a quick coffee stop!). We met up with Jessie Fannuchi at the tennis court parking lot, and quickly also found Mike Bentley and Tom Plath who were also waiting for the bird to show. We split up to cover a bit of area, and I went around behind the patch of trees that it had been frequenting. Within a minute, I heard a soft call, and immediately yelled for the others. We all met on the west side of the patch, and quickly located the sharp-looking Blue-gray Gnatcatcher calling and foraging in the upper branches of the bare deciduous trees. High fives were exchanged all around, not only because it is a great bird, but because a couple of us (Tom Plath and I) had put in many, many hours this week trying to find it. The bird put on a show for about 10 minutes, then we lost track of it at about 7:50am. I heard a single call around 8:30am, and that was it.

Last I heard, Mike and Sharon Toochin had relocated the bird at 10:30am, so it has definitely been more cooperative today.

Three weeks left, and 10 species to go! It is starting to look like I might be doing "The Big Year II" next year, but let's see how close I can get!

Good birding,

Finally, a new bird!

Well, about four weeks left, and I finally picked up bird number 241!

An American Tree Sparrow was reported from Panama Flats a week and a bit ago, but hadn't been seen since, until I received a phone call from Mike McGrenere this morning, letting me know that he had relocated it, just south of the Carey Rd entrance.

I made my way over later in the afternoon and wandered down the trail to the south, catching up with the mixed flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows about 200m in. A flash of a grey breast, with a dark central spot caught my eye in one of the smaller trees. I had heard that a juvie White-crown in the area was also showing a dark central breast spot, so I stopped and waited. It didn't take long for the bird to hop out into the open, showing a pale overall colour, clean breast with central spot, and a bright, rusty crown! American Tree Sparrow for #241, and 11 to go!

This was not only a great bird to add to my Big Year, but was also a milestone bird, being my #350 bird for Canada! The ABA will now finally allow me to submit my Canada List to them!

26 days are left, and there are lots of good birds kicking around... somewhere! Time to finally catch up with a "countable" Rusty Blackbird, and one of the many Common Redpolls in Victoria!

Good birding,

A Great Weekend of Birding!

Well, we are half way through October, and I am still missing a lot of birds, so I spent the entire weekend out and about, trying to hunt some of them down!

Friday afternoon was quiet out in Metchosin, with the highlight bird being 1 Ring-billed Gull at Albert Head Lagoon. There were a lot of sparrows built up at Swanwick Rd, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Saturday morning found Jeremy Gatten and I at Whiffin Spit, where we found a Lapland Longspur among other birds but again, nothing out of the ordinary. At Whiffin we met up with Aziza Cooper, and the three of us headed for East Sooke Park to do a bit of hawkwatching. Even this late in the season, the numbers and diversity of raptors was incredible! We were treated to repeated views of a stunning immature Golden Eagle, as well as American Kestrel, Merlin, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, and at least 12 Red-tailed Hawks including 2 very light birds and 2 very dark (Harlan's type) birds. In addition, we had very brief looks at a mystery falcon, the one that got away.

From East Sooke Park, Jeremy G and I headed down to Swanwick Rd, where we had great looks at a White-throated Sparrow, the first unusual sparrow that either of us have found at this great location. We also found an immature Cooper's Hawk enjoying a quail, and a light "Priarie" Merlin.

Sunday was going to be just another day of birding, until I read Mike McGrenere's post about a female Tufted Duck that had been seen at Cordova Bay and then flown off west. Jeremy and I decided to try to track it down, and started at Viaduct Flats, where we had 2 Redheads, a first for Victoria for the year, plus 2 Canvasbacks, 1 Eurasian Wigeon, and other assorted ducks. We then headed to Beaver Lake and Elk Lake, where highlights were 3 Townsend's Warblers and 1 Ruddy Duck. Patricia Bay was our next stop, where we had little of interest, but I had called Mike McG on the way, and he let me know that he had heard a Swamp Sparrow calling at Viaduct. On our way past we stopped in, and within a minute or so heard it call. Another minute later I spotted the bird at the top of a grass clump, number 231 for the year!

After a coffee stop, Albert Head Lagoon was the next destination. No luck there, but there was a single Least Sandpiper with Killdeer. Witty's Lagoon was much of the same, but we did find a White-throated Sparrow at Tower Point, along the trail on the west side.

Esquimalt Lagoon was the last stop of the day. There were very few scaup and no Tufted Ducks, but we did manage to find another Eurasian Wigeon.

All in all, a great weekend with 18 hours of birding and some great birds, including two new for the year!

The upcoming Fantasea trip to Race Rocks looks like it has some great potential! The water off Colwood, Metchosin, etc, is dotted with 1000's of Bonaparte's Gulls, which could very well contain something different. Stay tuned!

Good birding,

Back in the saddle!

Well, back to Big Year Birding!

My brother and I had a fairly successful trip down through California and Arizona, which resulted in 45 new life birds for me, plus 6 others that I had previously seen only outside of North America. All this despite wind, rain, and the cancellation of the Sept 24 Westport Pelagic Trip! Highlights included fantastic looks at "Yuma" Clapper Rail, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Yellow-footed Gull, and many more!

When I catch up on everything, I will post a complete trip report and list on a separate tab.

Off to find Brown Pelican!

Good Birding,