October is Snow Goose Month on the Sunshine Coast with thousands of birds flying over our area in large, noisy, V-shaped skeins containing hundreds of birds. I must confess that personally the spectacle has been less evident than usual this year as I have only heard or seen a couple of flocks. Normally, Redrooffs Road seems to be directly under their flight path and I can hear them flying over, but even the two flocks I did hear were way out over the Strait. Perhaps the flight path was slightly different this year due to weather, or they went over during the night. Even so, people have reported the flocks and individual birds have appeared among the resident Canada geese at Davis Bay and the turf farm on Mason Road.
Another flocking bird seems to be present in abundance this winter. Pine siskins are small finches that are usually common on the Sunshine Coast but particularly so this year. I saw a flock of about a thousand birds in a cleared area two weeks ago. Siskins demonstrate the “murmuration” effect, which is well known among starlings and some shorebirds. This is when the birds gather in flocks of thousands and create amazing kinetic patterns in the sky. The behaviour is generally thought to be a strategy to confuse predators such as peregrine falcons. It can be observed on the foreshore of Boundary Bay as the shorebirds gather in huge flocks. It is well worth googling “starling murmuration” to see this incredible wildlife phenomenon.
A number of people have noted the abundance of red-breasted nuthatches. This small forest bird is quite common on the Sunshine Coast, year round, wherever trees are present. However, there are unprecedented numbers around this year. John Field ran a bird survey route on Garden Bay Road recently, and where normally he might have found a couple of birds, he reported 40! I have heard the birds every time I step outside my house on Redrooffs Road all summer long – a nasal “yank, yank, yank” call. Sheila Weaver hypothesized the abundance of nuthatches might be related to the recent hemlock looper moth outbreak. Certainly the caterpillars of the moths may have been a food source for the birds through the summer.
To report your sightings or questions contact [email protected] or 604-885-5539.
