Comox Valley Nature

Thursday birders went to Perrey’s Beach, Little River, and Kin Beach. Highlights were a Brown Creeper and a flock of Dunlin at Kin Beach. 6 birders saw the following 33 species:

Common Loon
Dunlin
Pacific Loon
Mew Gull
Horned Grebe
Glaucous-winged Gull
Red-necked Grebe
Common Murre
Pelagic Cormorant
Northern Flicker
Double-crested Cormorant
Northwestern Crow
Brandt’s Cormorant
Common Raven
Mallard
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
American Wigeon
Brown Creeper
Harlequin Duck
Pacific Wren
Long-tailed Duck
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Surf Scoter
American Robin
Black Scoter
Spotted Towhee
White-winged Scoter
Song Sparrow
Common Goldeneye
Fox Sparrow
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Bald Eagle

Despite the fog this morning birders were able to observe an abundance of water fowl at Gartley Point.
6 birders saw the following 29 species…..highlights being 2 Savannah Sparrows, and a Northern Harrier.

Common Loon
Red-breasted Merganser
Trumpeter Swan
Northern Harrier
Horned Grebe
Bald Eagle
Canada Goose
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mallard
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Pintail
Northern Flicker
American Wigeon
Northwestern Crow
Eurasian Wigeon
Bewick’s Wren
Greater Scaup
European Starling
Long-tailed Duck
Spotted Towhee
Surf Scoter
Savannah Sparrow
White-winged Scoter
Song Sparrow
Common Goldeneye
Dark-eyed Junco
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Red-winged Blackbird
Bufflehead

 
An overcast sky and a calm ocean made for a good morning for birding. 9 birders went to  Williams Beach, Miracle Beach, Saratoga Beach, and Salmon Point.
The highlight of the day were 3 Barn Swallows at the Salmon Point Marina……this is a very early sighting. 
 
Williams Beach:   Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Pelagic Cormorant,  Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Black Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Bald Eagle, Dunlin, Mew Gull, Glaucous-wing Gull, Common Murre, Common Raven, Pacific Wren, Song Sparrow.
 
Miracle Beach:   Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Harlequin Duck, Brant, Mallard, American Wigeon, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Pileated Woodpecker, Belted Kingfisher, Northwestern Crow, Pacific Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet.
 
Saratoga Beach:  Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Great-blue Heron, Canada Goose, Bufflehead, Brant, Mallard, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser,  Common Merganser, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, Thayer’s Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Northern Flicker, Common Raven, Barn Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow.
 
 
 
 

The weather cooperated as far as the rain holding off but the wind picked up as the morning progressed. Birders started at Ship’s Point and made a few stops before ending the morning at the wrecks at Royston. Highlight of the day was finding the beach access with a newly built staircase leading to a beach at Ship’s Point.

4 birders saw the following 24 species:

Common Loon
Mew Gull
Pelagic Cormorant
Thayer’s Gull
Canada Goose
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mallard
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Pintail
Northwestern Crow
American Wigeon
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Greater Scaup
American Robin
Surf Scoter
Rock Pigeon
White-winger Scoter
Song Sparrow
Bufflehead
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Common Goldeneye
Bewick’s Wren
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Bald Eagle

Several Audubon Christmas Bird Counts have been completed in the Comox Valley area with the following results:
Comox Valley count: 105 species
Deep Bay count: 96 species
Little River/ Powell River Ferry count: 16 species. Of note was a flock of 800 Long-tailed Ducks off Texada Island. Few gulls were seen, but recently 10,000 Western Grebe were reported near Parksville/Qualicum indicating the presence of bait fish there.

A Comox Valley Nature member participated in the Powell River Bird Count which had 75 species.

Several more rare birds have been reported in the Valley including a Rusty Blackbird, Northern Mockingbird, and Glaucous Gull. Port McNeill on the North Island has had several recent rarities including Hooded Oriole, Harris’ Sparrow, and Dickcissel.

A sighting of a rare Burrowing Owl in Comox was reported to the Comox Valley Naturalists.

Burrowing Owl: photo © S. Moreau

Burrowing Owls are an endangered species undergoing recovery efforts. The last sighting of a Burrowing Owl in the Valley was twenty years ago. This sighting has been reported to the BC Field Ornithologists Rare Bird Committee. A banded Burrowing Owl was also spotted in Tofino within the past couple of months.

The bird’s normal range is much farther to the south & east – it should be wintering in Northern Mexico!

If you see the bird, please use respect when viewing, give it space & do not let pets disturb the bird.

Anne Murray, author & past president of BC Nature, notes that in order to rest and hunt, owls need to sit quietly for long periods of time, familiarizing themselves with the terrain, listening to their surroundings, and conserving their energy. When people approach them too closely and surround them so that they have no obvious escape route, owls can become stressed. This is true of most wildlife.

George Clulow, president of the BC Field Ornithologists, recommends going with binoculars in order to observe from a safe distance, as the birds need space and respect from people.

To contact a birding expert in the Comox Valley Naturalists Society, for more information or to identify rare birds, please email us via this website.