| I haven't done any real birding in the last while, mostly because of the weather, but I've still seen a few birds around. Near the Oak Bay Marina and the Victoria Golf Course, I had a few Marbled Murrelets just offshore. I also checked Clover Point and had a nice group of shorebirds consisting mainly of Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers, but there was also a lone Sanderling in the mix. Another day I headed down to Island View Beach in hopes of seeing the Rock Wren and we succeeded rather quickly as it was found foraging on the driftwood just north of the boat launch. Another nice surprise was a pair of Black Scoters looking sharp as they dove not too far out on the calm seas. I also managed a few nice birds around the Victoria Airport even though I didn't have my binoculars and I wasn't really birding. There was a handsome Northern Shrike sitting on some barbed wire and nearby an American Kestrel was sitting on the ruins of some concrete structure in a field. The kestrel was distant, so I'm not sure if I saw the same one on the north side of the airport or not, but if it was, it's a male with it's brilliant heritage blue wings and rufous back to contrast. A few minutes later, I had a Merlin sitting on a snag. I have seen one on the exact same snag another time, so maybe it likes to work that area. Today, I went with my dad for a drive through Martindale Flats and we had great looks at numerous Gadwall and we also had a nice male Eurasian Wigeon. There is a good number of ducks on the flats and it has attracted a number of Bald Eagles to the area. We could see five at one time! That about sums up the last few days. |
