Bird Watching
By: Marja de Jong Westman, B.Sc. (Honours), M.Sc. (UBC - Zoology)
Several times a year for the last six years, I have been participating in Coastal Waterbird Surveys along the east coast of Valdes Island. Birds along the shore and at sea are identified and counted and the data sent into Bird Studies Canada.
This citizen-science initiative has proven to be a grand success…over 20,000 birders, novice and experienced, have contributed to a bank of information which adds light to the status and habits of bird populations and helps direct conservation planning.
As Valdes Islanders, we are lucky to be in the path of birds migrating from northern breeding grounds to southern overwintering sites. In fact, we are a part of the great Pacific flyway, one of four North American migratory corridors. Like us, some birds prefer to be residents of coastal waters over winter and year round.
Highlights of my several years of birding along the Valdes shoreline are the discovery of a Harlequin “hotspot” . Harlequin ducks prefer wave-washed rocky shorelines and the north end of Valdes Island , as one rides the surge out of Gabriola Pass, is an ideal site for these sea ducks. On one count day I observed over 82. Harlequins are handsome ducks and seeing only one or two is a treat….seeing the shore’s edge with such a bounty was tremendously exciting.
In the summer, we spot Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinocerous Auklets, Marbled Murrelets and lots of Thayers Gulls as well as Kingfishers nesting in the clay cliffs of Starvation Bay and Black Oystercatchers warning others of our comings down on the reef off Oyster/Noel Bay. Seeing the islands several pairs of resident eagles, each occupying their own nest and roosting trees, I always translate as things being right with the world.
In fall, we are on the watch for the first phase of migrating shorebirds such as Black turnstones and perhaps a single wandering tattler or two!
And by winter, the island’s eastern bays boast small flocks of buffleheads, Barrow’s goldeneyes, surf scoters, and mergansers. Cormorants are back in force on the reefs (along with an ever growing population of Steller sea lions) and solitary eared grebes are more commonly seen. Spectacular days of birding include one December 29th, 2012 when I heard and saw some 520 surfbirds on Detwiller Point.
By: Marja de Jong Westman, B.Sc. (Honours), M.Sc. (UBC - Zoology)
Several times a year for the last six years, I have been participating in Coastal Waterbird Surveys along the east coast of Valdes Island. Birds along the shore and at sea are identified and counted and the data sent into Bird Studies Canada.
This citizen-science initiative has proven to be a grand success…over 20,000 birders, novice and experienced, have contributed to a bank of information which adds light to the status and habits of bird populations and helps direct conservation planning.
As Valdes Islanders, we are lucky to be in the path of birds migrating from northern breeding grounds to southern overwintering sites. In fact, we are a part of the great Pacific flyway, one of four North American migratory corridors. Like us, some birds prefer to be residents of coastal waters over winter and year round.
Highlights of my several years of birding along the Valdes shoreline are the discovery of a Harlequin “hotspot” . Harlequin ducks prefer wave-washed rocky shorelines and the north end of Valdes Island , as one rides the surge out of Gabriola Pass, is an ideal site for these sea ducks. On one count day I observed over 82. Harlequins are handsome ducks and seeing only one or two is a treat….seeing the shore’s edge with such a bounty was tremendously exciting.
In the summer, we spot Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinocerous Auklets, Marbled Murrelets and lots of Thayers Gulls as well as Kingfishers nesting in the clay cliffs of Starvation Bay and Black Oystercatchers warning others of our comings down on the reef off Oyster/Noel Bay. Seeing the islands several pairs of resident eagles, each occupying their own nest and roosting trees, I always translate as things being right with the world.
In fall, we are on the watch for the first phase of migrating shorebirds such as Black turnstones and perhaps a single wandering tattler or two!
And by winter, the island’s eastern bays boast small flocks of buffleheads, Barrow’s goldeneyes, surf scoters, and mergansers. Cormorants are back in force on the reefs (along with an ever growing population of Steller sea lions) and solitary eared grebes are more commonly seen. Spectacular days of birding include one December 29th, 2012 when I heard and saw some 520 surfbirds on Detwiller Point.
