Good Friends, Long Drives, & Qualicum Schnitzel
It seemed a bit assinine focusing on one off-looking loon amidst someodd 700 Pacific Loons, but when you take into account that the former makes scarce celebrity appearances in our latitudes while the latter aggregate in these parts in the tens-of-thousands, the effort required comes into focus. Luckily for me the same bird has returned to the same stretch of coastline at the Little Qualicum Estuary each winter since at least 2019. Unfortunately for me, despite its seeming regularity it can be shockingly difficult to find. Unlike the 3 other species of loon which can be regularly found around Vancouver Island, Yellow-billed Loons have a tendency to spend long periods underwater with only short surfacings. What that means is when you're trying to pick one out of hundreds of Pacific Loons at around 1 km from shore you can easily pan over the area the bird is feeding without realizing it. Because of all of this, and the fact I've tried for this bird and failed around 6 times in the last few years, it was with a sense of elation that I spotted its distinctive upturned banana of a bill poking over the horizon. The experience was made better by getting to then show it to my friends and coworkers Aiva and Hannah. The icing on the cake (lemon on the schnitzel?) was getting to experience all this at sundown after a day of great birds, better conversation, and Black Bird Schnitzel Haus.
Left: Yellow-billed Loon from Khutze Inlet last year just off the bow as we completed our final survey of the season. Right: Yellow-billed Loon at maximum zoom, heavily cropped, as I screamed "holy shit, holy shit, holy shit I think I have it!"
This year has started off shockingly well. With few exceptions birds have been where I expected, the clouds have kept their distance when I needed them to, and the birding community has shown up for me in ways I never would have predicted. Today's drive arose out of the necessity to go to Ucluelet to give a talk to the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust whose support is making it possible for the Important Bird Area Program I coordinate in B.C. to conduct a third consecutive year of surveys of the Hesquiat Peninsula (more on that in my next post). As a result, we had a day's drive and a thoroughly researched list of birds to look for as we meandered from Victoria to Ucluelet, culminating in the Yellow-billed Loon.
A few targets showed up as-expected; a shiny-blue-billed Ruddy Duck at Quamichan Lake to start the morning off, a California Gull at a marina in Nanaimo to break up the drive, and a Herring Gull at the French Creek Estuary all fell into place. Others surprised; a flock of Barn Swallow over Somenos Marsh followed our unprecedented early Spring which has seen them aggregating up and down the island earlier than I've ever seen, and a pair of Barrow's Goldeneye making a surprise freshwater appearance at Quamichan. Most surprising of all was a Ring-necked Pheasant flushing from near the shoreline at French Creek and flying directly over our heads shortly after we'd failed to find one at the nearby Little Qualicum Cheeseworks fields where these introduced Asian birds have been established for decades. For context, the last time a pheasant was seen down at the creek I was about 7 years old (you do the math).
Tomorrow we're up early to hit the water with our colleague Mark Maftei of Raincoast Education Society to do some training, see some birds, and spend some time in what is quickly becoming my favourite corner of the whole island. Stay tuned.
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