The Help

Allow me to reword the IMDb synopsis for "The Help" which is currently nominated for Best Picture in the 84th Academy Awards:

"An aspiring blogger during the big year movement of the 2010s decides to write an entry detailing his point of view on an obsessed twitcher that he assists, and the birds they encounter over the day."

For the record, I am that aspiring blogger and Jeremy Kimm the obsessed twitcher.  I don't mean to detract from the importance of the movie... I just try to spice up my lead-ins.  Today, I joined Jeremy K. on his big year quest with a tour of Metchosin and Sooke.

We started our day in Metchosin by searching for flocks of gulls on golf courses and open fields.  We encountered a couple decent gull flocks, but they were composed of the expected species.  Taylor Rd. was bustling with activity due to what appears to be a relatively new feeder.  The hedgerows there often host a good sparrow flock but it was much easier to view the birds due to the feeder being positioned in the middle of a lawn.  At one point I thought I saw a hybrid White-crowned x Golden-crowned Sparrow but I lost track of it and couldn't find it again.  The feeder had a flock of Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbirds, two Eurasian Collared-Doves, around 30+ Golden-crowned Sparrows, one White-crowned Sparrow, and 15+ Dark-eyed Juncos.  Near Swanwick Rd., the flock of 30 or so Greater White-fronted Geese that has been around for over a month was still loafing about in the big field.

We made our way to Sooke and made Whiffin Spit our first stop.  We quickly spotted a group of Black Turnstones wheeling over the water, landing, and vanishing among barnacle covered rocks.  Closer on the shore, three Black Oystercatchers were feeding at the water's edge.

One of several Black Oystercatchers seen at Whiffin Spit today

There weren't any showstoppers at the spit, but a Red-throated Loon off the tip was nice to watch.  At the open section, a few Golden-crowned Sparrows were feeding around some logs and one sat still long enough to snap a couple photos.

Golden-crowned Sparrow sitting up on driftwood at Whiffin Spit

After Whiffin Spit, we decided to check a couple golf courses for geese and ducks.  At the John Phillips Memorial Golf Course, we found a very confiding flock of 68 Greater White-fronted Geese.  I made a slow and careful approach and made sure the group didn't flush, which allowed me to get a few decent shots.

A small portion of the Greater White-fronted Geese at John Phillips Memorial Golf Course

This individual is not only sporting the namesake "white front" at the base of  its bill, but also shows black
 mottling on its belly which is why they are colloquially dubbed "Specklebellies" in North America

We decided to check the Demamiel Creek Golf Course but missed the turn off and ended up turning around up near Sunriver Estates.  I hopped out at the entrance to a gated logging road for a pee break and was rewarded (not that I deserved a reward) with four Evening Grosbeaks passing over.  When we got to the golf course, we spied a nice flock of American Wigeons with a couple conspicuous male Eurasian Wigeons in with them near a small pond.

We made another quick waterfront stop that gave a different view of Sooke Harbour but it was relatively uneventful.  I did, however, get a decent shot of a male Anna's Hummingbird that seemed a little perturbed by our presence in his territory.

Unfortunately this male Anna's Hummingbird had its head turned the wrong way to show off its brilliant pink gorget

We finished our day at the Goodrich Peninsula.  We added some new birds for the day, including Green-winged Teal, Barrow's Goldeneye, and Gadwall but it was pretty quiet overall.  I managed a photo of one of the many Fox Sparrows we encountered in the blackberry brambles on the peninsula.

Who knew Fox Sparrows had terrifying talons?

Back at the base of the peninsula, we wandered onto the Sunny Shores RV Resort grounds and this is where I became "The Help".  Jeremy K., bless his heart, has been having some issues catching up with Hutton's Vireo.  Through the wind, I faintly heard what I thought sounded like a Hutton's.  Jeremy K. has apparently lost the "zu-weep" tones because he didn't hear it.  We wandered over to a patch of conifers in the direction of the call and the Hutton's started up again, confirming my suspicion.  Then a second one started calling.  Turns out Jeremy K. can hear them and he also got brief views of them, too.  The vireo put him at 139 for the year.  I'll need to dig him up some rarities if I want to maintain my status as "The Help".

Cloudy with a chance of Snow Bunting

As Jeremy Kimm is working on another Victoria Big Year, I dropped him a line on Saturday evening to see if he had plans for Sunday birding.  It was on his agenda, but he hadn't made up his mind whether to head out west to Sooke or north to the Saanich Peninsula.  We decided to meet at my place and then I'd drive us around for some field birding on the peninsula.

When I woke up at 8 a.m., the rain was coming down in sheets and I thought it would put a bit of a damper on our birding.  When Jeremy K. showed up just before 9 a.m., the rain was still coming down but the pace had slowed considerably.  Coffee was supposed to be the first order of business, but we found decent flocks of gulls, geese, and wigeons on the polo field next to Maber Flats on the way.  We hopped out and found a couple Greater White-fronted Geese in with the Canada Geese.  We noted another flock of geese that seemed to be over the fields off Stelly's X Rd., so we drove over there to check it out.  There was an impressively large flock of geese and we could see a section of the flock was made up of Greater White-fronted Geese.  We made sure to count them up and the total came to 56 in all.  We still weren't in the clear for getting coffee as we spotted a stunning male American Kestrel on the wire just before Centennial Park.  While watching the kestrel, it dashed off and we looked up to see a Peregrine Falcon racing by overhead.  Despite seeing a Mourning Dove on the wire almost a kilometre further down the road, we decided not to stop so we could finally get some java in our systems.

We zigzagged up and down the peninsula seeing the usual suspects until we made a stop at Saanichton Spit.  Jeremy K. hadn't visited the spit this year so there was one specific target he was hoping we would find.  A lone Snow Bunting has been present out near the tip of the spit for nearly a month and a half and, since they are a rare overwintering species in Victoria, it was still missing from his year list.  Right on cue, the Snow Bunting flushed from the dune-like habitat near the tip and landed on the beach.

Record shot of the Snow Bunting that has been overwintering at Saanichton Spit this year

After Saanichton Spit, we drove through Martindale Flats and found a staggering number of gulls in the field just south of the pig farm at the end of Lochside Dr.  We couldn't find anything too interesting, but the adult Ring-billed Gull was easy to pick out due to its pale, silvery mantle set among darker-mantled Mew Gulls.  Next, we were able to find the flock of blackbirds that almost certainly has the Rusty Blackbird near the corner of Welch Rd. and Martindale Rd.  The flock refused to stay settled and it wasn't long before they left the field and landed in a roadside tree.  We didn't have the patience to continue picking through for the Rusty because we had two more birds we were hoping to find before the day was done.

Jeremy K. had not made much of an effort for murrelets to date, so we headed out to Kwatsech Park which provides a great view over Glencoe Cove and the Strait of Georgia.  The rock bluff is a great site to seawatch and both Marbled and Ancient Murrelets can usually be found reasonably close.  Today, I could barely make out a group of Ancient Murrelets way offshore and Jeremy K. couldn't even make them out in my scope.  I said we should save ourselves all the squinting and just head out to Ten Mile Point.  We did just that and the results were much better.  After a few minutes, we had a nice pair of Marbled Murrelets and a couple groups of Ancient Murrelets.  While discussing local wildlife and climate change with an older fellow that was interested in what we were doing, both murrelet species gradually moved in closer to shore and a Rhinoceros Auklet offered crippling views.

Despite the mediocre weather, we had a great day and finished the day off with 77 species, by my count.  It's always amazing to see a total like that without attempting to maximize diversity!