I’ll lead a walk along the Puntledge next Monday (May 25th). We can meet at 10:15, at the North end of Powerhouse Rd, at the yellow barrier just before the pipeline. Lots of parking there.
We’ll walk along the pipeline a bit and then head down to the river, along the river bank trail; and then return by clambering up the trail (not too steep) up the bank. I saw about 60 plants this week when I went for a walk. Joel
Thursday 9 birders had 28 species at Moorecroft Regional Park, Nanoose Bay, and 8 birders had 20 species at the Englishman Estuary, Plummer Road side, for a total of 39 species for the morning. Highlights included the Whimbrel and other shorebirds on the mudflats at the Englishman Estuary.
Moorecroft Regional Park, Nanoose Bay
Turkey Vulture
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Pileated Woodpecker
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Pacific Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Swainson’s Thrush
American Robin
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Tanager
Englishman River Estuary, Plummer Road side
Canada Goose
Mallard
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Whimbrel
Dunlin
Long-billed/Short-billed Dowitcher
Rufous Hummingbird
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Northwestern Crow
Violet-green Swallow
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Special Plants seen: Henderson’s Checker Mallow (rare, not yet in bloom), Seaside plantain, Indian paint brush, Pretty shooting star, Meadow and straight beaked buttercup, Northern rice root, and western St. Johns wort
Camas & Paintbrush
Trees: huge Sitka spruce, alder, Red Cedar, Crabapple, Mountain Ash, Black Hawthorne, Bitter Cherry
Northern Rice Root
Shrubs: Sweet gale, Thimble Berry, Salmon Berry, Pacific Nine Bark, Twin Berry, Snowberry, Gooseberry
Pretty Shootingstar
Other Plants: Sword and bracken fern, False lily of the valley, Dock, Trailing and Himalayan Blackberry, coltsfoot, Skunk Cabbage, Bald Hip Rose, Cow Parsnip, Horsetail, Bullrush, camas , Silverweed, Siberian miners lettuce, Ribwort Plantain, Seaside Arrow grass, Queen Ann’s Lace, Twisted stalk
Estuary of Flowers
Plants seen on the Harewood Plains outing on May 11:
Indian Plum, bitter cherry, Saskatoon berry , sea blush, ocean spray, salal, orange honeysuckle, vetch – common and hairy, common forget me not, arbutus, creeping blackberry, big leaf maple, rose – Nootka and bald hip, dull and tall Oregon grape, snowberry, small flower nenophilla, western buttercup, chocolate lily, Pacific sanicle, spring gold, pink twink, death camas, short and tall blue camas (with some white as well), hop clover, dove foot geranium, wild strawberry, small blue violet, birds nest fungus, Sitka columbine, lupin, cascara , flowering currant, alum root, small leafed montia, bedstraw, star flower, red huckleberry, kinnikinnick, Garry oak, yellow monkey flower, small flowered lotus, Alaska saxifrage, sword fern, herb Robert, cottonwood, thimble berry, salmonberry, pearly everlasting, tansy, nine bark.
This Thursday May 14 16 birders went to Bear Creek Nature Park where we heard or saw 38 species.
Highlights include good looks at Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, Swainson’s Thrush, and Black-throated Gray Warbler, as well as nesting Red-breasted Sapsuckers.
Canada Goose
Mallard
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Cassin’s Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Steller’s Jay
Tree/Violet-green Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Pacific Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson’s Thrush
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak
It was a beautiful spring morning at Cumberland Marsh where 12 birders saw or heard 33 species.
The highlights for the morning were 6 species of warblers which included a pair of Black-throated Gray Warblers singing and giving us excellent views of them. We also had several Tree and Violet-green Swallows swooping low over us.
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Pacific Wren
American Robin
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
We enjoyed a cool but dry trip to Helliwell Park – the following plants were observed – Bluff ecosystem plants : Dwarf owl clover, camus, flax flower (rare), spring gold, sea blush, monkey flower, yerba Buena, poverty clover, tomcat clover, white tipped clover, hop clover, pussy toes, bi-colored forget me not, geranium (erodium cecutarium) popcorn flower, shooting stars, chocolate lilies, whooly sunflower, dove foot geranium, menzies larkspur, blue eyed mary. Other plants observed on the bluffs and the forest included miners lettuce, pacific sanicle, little and western buttercup, tall and dull Oregon grape, shepherds cress, slough sedge, veronica, field chickweed, sorel, flowering currant, gumweed, small flowered fringecup, slender toothwort, evergreen and red huckleberry. gooseberry, and an unidentified green fern.
This Thursday we went to the One Spot Trail where 15 birders heard or saw 22 species.
There were several flycatchers and warblers singing which gave us a great opportunity to familiarize ourselves with their song.
Turkey Vulture
Rufous Hummingbird
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Cassin’s Vireo
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Pacific Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Purple Finch
This replaces our monthly meeting, and you will get to hear expert speakers. (Very good value.)
Saturday, May 9, 2015
10:00am–2:00 pm
http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/british-columbia/stories/in-bloom.html
Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve
1241 Maple Bay Road, Duncan
Detail of a camas painting by Colin Elder.
