Birding by Ear – Part X

The gang heading out…
– A. Bryant

The path less travelled…
– Google Earth

There’s lots of heavy equipment on site, and they’re busy…
seemingly stacking rocks on top of stumps and other rocks!
– A. Bryant

Savannah Sparrow
– A. Bryant

Golden-crowned Sparrow
– A. Bryant

Golden-crowned and Savannah
– A. Bryant

Spotted Towhee
– A. Bryant

There’s a Rufous Hummingbird in there somewhere
– A. Bryant

The lovely Trumpet Honeysuckle Lonicera ciliosa was just starting
– A. Bryant

I liked the light on the Bigleaf Maple Acer macrophyllum
– A. Bryant

Turkey Vulture
– A. Bryant

Bewick’s Wren
– A. Bryant

and Pierre got a way better shot!
– P. Geoffray

Birding by Ear – Part X
by Andrew Bryant, 8 May 2021

Some field-trips will be remembered for being “pre COVID” and some will be remembered as being “post COVID”. And frankly, birds don’t care.

Accordingly, Pierre and I took 8 members over 7 km of uneven terrain and had a great day over an area formerly known as the “Wildwood Bluffs”. Pierre writes: “It was a good outing the other day. People seemed more focused than in the past and there was real interest in learning something out of it.”

I don’t have a species/abundance list. I was supposed to get one via e-Bird, but…it didn’t happen. UPDATE 10 July 2021: It took a while, but here it is!

So here you get one person’s impression of a fine day out. And it WAS…a fine day out. I’m not a “bad” birder…but placed side by side by Pierre, well we would have gotten the common stuff…but would have missed most of it!

Accordingly, next year we’ll be starting a wee bit earlier…at 0630.

Birding by Ear Part IX

Here’s a Black-throated Gray Warbler welcoming us
– A. Bryant

The gang heading out
– A. Bryant

When the light hits it just right, that iridescent “gorgon” on this Rufous Hummingbird really stands out
– A. Bryant

A Spotted Towhee doing what they do best – skulk in the undergrowth…
– A. Bryant

The present state of property development
– A. Bryant

The flowers were great. I believe this is “candyflower” aka “Siberian springbeauty” Claytonia siberica
– A. Bryant

My first McGillivray’s Warbler of the year…yippee!
– A. Bryant

This Painted Lady butterfly Vanessa cardui has seen better days…and they migrate a looong ways
– A. Bryant

The lovely but deadly meadow death-camas Zigadenus venenosus
– A. Bryant

Tiger Lily Lilium columbianum
– A. Bryant

Western Wood-Pewee being “photo-bombed” by a Rufous Hummingbird
What a great day!
– A. Bryant

Birding by Ear Part IX
by Pierre Geoffray 18 May 2019

A group of ten enthusiastic members practiced our “ear-birding” skills along the trails of Wildwood Bluffs. We started at the Italian Hall in second growth forest, where a variety of birds were singing, among them many Yellow Warblers and Black-headed Grosbeaks and the first Swainson’s Thrush of the year.

Next we moved to the newly cleared and seemingly abandoned construction site where the big piles of slash had already been colonized by the McGillivray’s Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers and other specialists of early-successional forests. We then followed the path leading onto the Bluffs overlooking the ocean where we listened to the songs of Townsend’s and Audubon’s Warblers, Cassin’s Vireos and Hammond’s Flycatcher. Here we had brief but good views of a Western Wood-pewee, a bird which favours dry habitat and is becoming increasingly rare in our area.

From the Bluffs we descended into the coastal forest bordering the shore where we heard but did not see another set of birds dependent upon this different habitat. In the shade of the tall firs and cedars and in the thick understory below them, the clear clear song of the tiny Pacific Wren resounded for us while Golden-crowned Kinglets, Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Pacific-slope Flycatcher were calling from the canopy.

All through the morning the Warbling Vireos kept singing, the many Black-headed Grosbeak being their only serious competition in today’s chorus.
Some birds were new for the year (Cedar Waxwing, Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, Swainson’s Thrush). Others were just plain beautiful to watch like the male Common Yellowthroat that sang endlessly while perched on a snag, the Western Tanager with his bright orange head, the male MacGillivray’s Warbler that paused for us…

In all we detected 39 species (the full list is here) and walked 5.3 kilometres in four hours…Overall a great walk with great people in a beautiful environment.

Thanks to all the participants. See you next year!

Birding by Ear – Part VIII

It was quiet!
But you can always find an American Robin…and that’s a good one to start with
– A.Bryant

Yes… quiet but colorful
– A.Bryant

Our epic 28 April travel route
– A.Bryant

Rufous Hummingbird
– A.Bryant

Ah…economic development
– A.Bryant

I’m sure there’s a plan for this…somewhere
– A.Bryant

No comment…we’re on record as being an apolitical club…but a few of us are highly dismayed about recent habitat losses, including this one.
– A.Bryant

Form and color #43907. Just a Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) at its very best
– A.Bryant

Ann trying hard not to step on all that lovely sea-blush
– D. Bedry

Sea-blush is just so cool
– A.Bryant

First Turkey Vultures of the year for me…which means I gotta get out more
– A.Bryant

Andrew demonstrating that the bigger the lens you carry…the more rest stops you’ll need to take!
– D. Bedry

A lovely Chocolate Lily
– D. Bedry

We ended the day with a nice Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla)
– D. Bedry

Birding by Ear – Part VIII
by Andrew Bryant, 28 April 2018.

Pierre Geoffray and I led a cosy group of 7 members to learn more about “birding by ear” at Wildwood Bluffs…and this year we had our work cut out for us!

It was, in a word, QUIET.

We began by walking along the newly-widened roads along the recently-sold “Block 55”. What a difference a year makes! Gone were the young forests filled with early-spring migrants such as Wilson’s and Orange-Crowned Warblers. Indeed, we saw about about as many pieces of heavy equipment as we did birds.

Things improved a bit as we got off the road and hit the bluffs proper. Hutton’s and Cassin’s Vireo, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and even my first Turkey Vultures of the year. The walk back up the hill was also quiet, indeed, strangely so.

Pierre, ever the patient observer, kept an E-bird list which can be seen here. Which illustrates two time-honored principles of field biology:
1) You always see more than you remember, when you record observations in the field, and
2) If you don’t record something, well in the end, it never happened

And if you don’t get out at all, well, enjoy the photos!

Birding by Ear – Part VII !

See that bright yellow warbler flitting from branch to branch? Nah, I didn’t either…
– A. Bryant

That’s why we call it “birding by ear”
– A. Bryant

Lack of ear-birding skills doesn’t stop one from looking down occasionally
– A. Bryant

Because it’s spring – in Powell River
– A. Bryant

And you don’t often get to see views like this
– A. Bryant

Look! A bird! Turkey Vultures fly with wings-held up (dihedral), which makes them really easy to identify at a distance
– A. Bryant

The Wildwood Bluffs are, ecologically-speaking, one of the treasures of Powell River
– A. Bryant

the wildflowers alone are enough to make one blush…
– A. Bryant

This male Anna’s Hummingbird did everything possible to make a photographer’s day…he sang, flew, and was predictable…alas, this photographer wasn’t ready…
– A. Bryant

Thanks for a great day everybody!
– A. Bryant

Whew! Our track was 5.85 km, with a elevation of about +/- 200 vertical metres given the dips and jumps in the terrain
– A. Bryant

Which leads me to suspect that Pierre is already scheming to keep us in training for next year…lead on mon vieux!
– T. Koleszar

Birding by Ear – Part VII !
by Pierre Geoffray, 16 May 2017.

Fifteen of us met at the Italian Hall for “Birding by Ear”. The weather decided to give us a break and we enjoyed the dry and cloudy spell (the best we can wish for this year!) as we toured the Wildwood Bluffs.

Right around the Italian Hall, we had some good views of our first Black-headed Grosbeak, singing for us in the open at the tip of an alder tree. Also there, a Yellow Warbler and a pair of Western Tanagers, all freshly arrived from their long migration, showed very well.

This year has been particularly quiet, with birds being shy and not very vocal. The cold temperatures surely have something to do with it. In a way it made it easier for us as it helped us focus on the fewer songs we heard. The warblers especially can be confusing when they are all singing together! So we unravelled them, mostly one at a time:

“Sweet, sweet, I’m so so sweet” (Yellow),

“CHI chi chi chichiCHI!” (Wilson’s),

“CHICHICHI chachacha” (MacGillivray’s), and the new mnemonic found I think by Lois,

“Chim, chim chim CHIMNEY!” (Black-throated Gray Warbler)…

The vireos were very present yesterday. We heard many Warbling, a rapid series of notes with the last two going up, encountered a cooperative pair of Hutton’s and heard the sluggish call and response song of a Cassin’s Vireo on the bluffs: ” Where are U? Here I am”, with that slurry Mexican accent that makes it roll the R’s, remember?

We walked along the bluff trail, so beautiful at this season with all the flowers blooming. There we had a different set of birds: Hammond’s and Pacific-slope Flycatchers… We heard an Oregon Junco singing, an uncommon breeder here, a musical trill very similar to the “dropping” trill of the Orange-crowned Warblers we had heard earlier in the second growth.

While admiring the view from the bluffs over the Straight, an Osprey flew by, another not so common bird for PR north. All in all we had 31 species.

It was a very fun walk, thanks to all participants for their enthusiastic and focused attitude.

Good Birding all! And don’t forget to use those Binoculars when they dangle around your neck!

Note: Pierre also supplied his Ebird list for the day, and encouraged us to take advantage of that extraordinary internet birding resource: