Before I start this whole entry, I'll just thank the anonymous commenter who said they can't read the blue on black.  I've changed the template of my blog, so it's now a little friendlier on the eyes.  So... birding on the Saanich Peninsula.  I went out birding with a friend on Sunday just to see what's kicking around on my stomping grounds.  We started at Tod Creek Flats with a nice group of gulls on the ice.  In the mix we had lots of Glaucous-wingeds (but mostly hybrids), around twenty Thayer's, and a couple Westerns.  We also checked Farmington Rd. because I've seen Harris' Sparrow in two separate winters there, but we could only find a flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows with one Spotted Towhee and one Song Sparrow.  We moved on to check a rather large group of Canada Geese that has been hanging out on some fields near the Saanich Peninsula Hospital and we were rewarded with one Cackling Goose amongst them.  We made a quick stop at the Vantreight bulb fields, but it was chilly and quiet, so we moved on to bigger and better things.  We checked the wires and posts along Willingdon Rd. on the south side of the Victoria International Airport and managed to find the American Kestrel that I had seen there around a week ago.  The kestrel was a female, which confirms that there are or were actually two in the area because the kestrel I saw on the north side of the airport a week ago was a male.  Next we headed over to Tapping Rd. to see if we could find the Blue Jay, which has been in the area for a couple months.  We located a nice group of fifteen or so Steller's Jays, but couldn't find the Blue Jay.  Just as we started to walk away, we heard its distinct call and we did a synchronized about-face and quickly located the bird.  Unfortunately it didn't offer the best views, but it was nice to see that it's still in the area.  We did a quick check of Patricia Bay and had a nice male Barrow's Goldeneye as well as a couple of Black Oystercatchers.  We did a quick check along the Sidney waterfront because a couple of Western Sandpipers were reported the weekend before, but there were no shorebirds to speak of.  A quick, brisk walk to the end of Saanichton Spit was also a fruitless effort.  The rain picked up and we decided to call it a day, but as we passed by Maber Flats on our way back to Brentwood Bay, we saw a nice group of dabbling ducks and a decent flock of gulls.  We started with the gulls and a preliminary scan found us a nice first or second winter Glaucous Gull, which is the first one I've seen in the Brentwood area.  Other than that, it had pretty much the same make-up as the flock on Tod Creek Flats.  The dabblers largely consisted of American Wigeons, but there was also Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, and, the highlight, two male Eurasian Wigeons.  The Glaucous Gull was a great way to top off a great day of birding with good company!