I have just returned from Maui (full disclosure.my daughter got married there).
When I returned to the Sunshine Coast on March 22, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and what a pleasure it was to be back in a fully functioning natural environment after being in Hawaii, which has the world's most devastated ecosystem.
On all the Hawaiian islands below about 1,000m elevation the entire natural flora and fauna have been replaced by exotics introduced or escaped from around the world. Any bird seen below 1,000m is likely introduced from Africa, Asia, South America or Europe. What an ecological mess!
A visit to Sargeant Bay Provincial Park was conducted to the background vocals of the many red-winged blackbirds that nest in the cattails of the wetland.
On the berm, a recently arrived rufous hummingbird was zooming around, seemingly with excess energy to burn. In the alders on the entrance road, a ruby-crowned kinglet was singing its long, complicated and exuberant song, a sure sign that spring had arrived.
From various places came the drumming of northern flickers and a red-breasted sapsucker. Instead of singing as songbirds do, woodpeckers advertise their territories by drumming. After Sargeant Bay I ventured into the hills behind Halfmoon Bay and soon discovered a kettle of seven bald eagles circling over the peninsula.
The morning on Redrooffs Road had produced a newly arrived, singing, yellow-rumped warbler, and a Hutton's vireo endlessly repeated its monotonous "zu-weep" song. This "little brown job" of a bird can be hard to locate, but its distinctive vocalization gives it away in the canopy of firs and cedar.
In the underbrush spotted towhees had found their voice with a springtime warble after a winter of strained cat-like mews, and Pacific wrens were in full voice.
I am lucky enough to have a pair of bald eagles nest every year in a huge fir very close to my house and on that Sunday they were resplendent in the bright sunshine against the blue sky. Noisy too! I also heard the "kik, kik, kik" chatter of a recently returned merlin that is a regular nester in the vicinity.
Later in the day an American robin was creating a ruckus with its loud clucking noise, indicating an intruder into its territory. Meanwhile, the robin's close relative the varied thrush was more musical with its fluty notes emanating from the forest.
I was not the only birder out on Sunday.
In West Sechelt Lexi Harrington reported the first violet-green swallows of the year. George Smith heard sooty grouse hooting in the Tetrahedron, and Penny Hall had a record early Cassin's vireo. Numerous flocks of trumpeter swans were noted flying north from March 18 to 22.
To report your sightings or questions contact me via email at tony@whiskeyjacknaturetours.com or call me at 604-885-5539.
