Carson
Well-known member
February has been a very good month for birding here in Vancouver. Yesterday I finally took it upon myself to see one of the two GREAT GRAY OWLS temporarily residing in the city area, this one at UBC. I don't generally "chase" rarities; I prefer the thrill of discovery. But this owl was in a pretty area, and (very agreeably) it took us an hour to find him, during which we had some excellent birding--saw a pair of PILEATED WOODPECKERS at their nest, bright and noisy in the brand new bluesky morning, fog rising like steam from the forest.
The owl himself was everything a Great Gray is paid to be. Huge, staring, completely filling one's consciousness, as though here was the very centre of the universe. AND I had the real joy of my companion seeing it first--and it was a life record for her, the second owl in just a week, and somewhat larger than the "cute, adorable" SAW-WHET OWL that was her previous.
Later at infamous Iona Island (one of Canada's best birding spots--and a sewage lagoon site), we walked out the several miles on the jetty, and saw about two dozen RED-THROATED LOONS, loosely together. They were classic winter loons; very nice telescope views, replete with salted backs and bills carved upward. Very graceful compared with the several COMMON LOONS close by.
I scanned a few thousand SURF SCOTERS, with perhaps a hundred WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS and one or two OLD SQUAW [don't sterilize MY vernacular] mixed in. There just HAD to be a few BLACK SCOTERS in there, but I was straining my scope all out of shape, and I saw none. I've had a really tough time finding Black Scoters this year, although there seem to be--and it is only my impression--more White-winged Scoters than I'm used to seeing.
It's interesting; the White-winged Scoters prefer to keep their own company at the edges of the rafts of Surf Scoters. They mix in, but not really. BARROW'S GOLDENEYE in large numbers maintain distinct flows within the Surf Scoter masses, but if there are just a few goldeneye, they seem to mix amongst the Surf Scoters more freely than do just a few White-winged Scoters.
I've never seen the various species squabble at all. The White-winged Scoters just seem to be more aware of their separate identity.
I don't usually watch numbers, but this year I'm keeping fairly intensive records, as I did in 2000. I've had acceptable-or-better views now of 113 species in Greater Vancouver this year, and 110 species this February. (I'm a bit surprised that February has so closely duplicated January's sightings.) Although, I emphasize, it ain't the length of the list that matters to me--nor even the impressiveness of such a bird as our beautiful Great Gray Owl. I find such beauty and such wonder in hearing the song of a single WINTER WREN in the darkness that precedes the dawn, that I really need no further miracles to make my day.
And you?
The owl himself was everything a Great Gray is paid to be. Huge, staring, completely filling one's consciousness, as though here was the very centre of the universe. AND I had the real joy of my companion seeing it first--and it was a life record for her, the second owl in just a week, and somewhat larger than the "cute, adorable" SAW-WHET OWL that was her previous.
Later at infamous Iona Island (one of Canada's best birding spots--and a sewage lagoon site), we walked out the several miles on the jetty, and saw about two dozen RED-THROATED LOONS, loosely together. They were classic winter loons; very nice telescope views, replete with salted backs and bills carved upward. Very graceful compared with the several COMMON LOONS close by.
I scanned a few thousand SURF SCOTERS, with perhaps a hundred WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS and one or two OLD SQUAW [don't sterilize MY vernacular] mixed in. There just HAD to be a few BLACK SCOTERS in there, but I was straining my scope all out of shape, and I saw none. I've had a really tough time finding Black Scoters this year, although there seem to be--and it is only my impression--more White-winged Scoters than I'm used to seeing.
It's interesting; the White-winged Scoters prefer to keep their own company at the edges of the rafts of Surf Scoters. They mix in, but not really. BARROW'S GOLDENEYE in large numbers maintain distinct flows within the Surf Scoter masses, but if there are just a few goldeneye, they seem to mix amongst the Surf Scoters more freely than do just a few White-winged Scoters.
I've never seen the various species squabble at all. The White-winged Scoters just seem to be more aware of their separate identity.
I don't usually watch numbers, but this year I'm keeping fairly intensive records, as I did in 2000. I've had acceptable-or-better views now of 113 species in Greater Vancouver this year, and 110 species this February. (I'm a bit surprised that February has so closely duplicated January's sightings.) Although, I emphasize, it ain't the length of the list that matters to me--nor even the impressiveness of such a bird as our beautiful Great Gray Owl. I find such beauty and such wonder in hearing the song of a single WINTER WREN in the darkness that precedes the dawn, that I really need no further miracles to make my day.
And you?
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