V. Smith wrote:

>I am planning a one week trip in the middle of April to Vancouver Island,
>beginning in Victoria and working my way "up-island" to Courtenay. Can
>anyone out there give me suggestions on the best birding spots at this time
>of year? Unfortunately, my wife and I will miss the Brant Festival in
>Parksville which is scheduled for this weekend, but I am sure we will see
>lots of Brant as their migration to Alaska is now underway.
__________________________________

In addition to Tracee's good suggestion of the Goldstream River Estuary,
you, and other Tweeters, may want to try some of the following:

1. Martindale/Island View Flats in Central Saanich. Turn east onto Island
View Road as you head into Victoria from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal.
Park at the former farmers' market near the highway and walk the dirt road
and fields to the south and east. Eurasian Skylarks should be singing high
above; American Pipits, mixed sparrows, late waterfowl, Turkey Vultures, Bald
Eagles, Redtails, etc. May still be a Gyrfalcon there.

2. Continue east on Island View Road to Island View Beach (Regional Park)
for Oldsquaw, 2 or 3 scoter species, Pacific and Common loons, mixed gulls,
grebes, Pigeon Guillemots, possibly Rhinoceros Auklets, etc. Walk the park
trials and abandoned fields for a variety of songbirds, raptors, etc. May
find 40 to 50 species in about 2 hours.

3. Cowichan Bay, near Duncan. Walk the industrial dock road out to the
lumber storage area at the head (west end) of the bay. Call Derrek Marven of
Duncan (604 748-8504)...if available, he would be happy to meet you there.
You should see all swallow species at close range, but you may be a tad
early for Purple Martins, which have responded well to a nest box program
that I started there in 1986. The first of these should appear in the last
week of May. Watch for mixed shorebirds in the tidal fields along the south
side of the road, Ospreys nesting on a pole erected for them at the lumber
storage area (to keep them off the floodlight towers) and Peregrines and
Merlins after the shorebirds.

4. Somenos Marsh: Just as you are leaving Duncan, north on Hwy 1, turn
into the Somenos Marsh entrance at the abandoned building on the right (there
may be a "Somenos" sign on it??, but you will notice the steel gate...pass
through it). Walk the boardwalk to the viewing platform. Feral Mute Swans,
geese, ducks, some shorebirds, many swallows, Common Yellowthroat, etc.
Watch for Vaux's and possibly early Black swifts overhead.

5. Stop at many points along the highway from Nanoose to Courtenay to scan
the gulls and marine ducks that are there in massive numbers from March to
mid May. The French Creek marina is a good bet for Glaucous, Thayer's,
Herring, Western, Bonaparte's, California, Mew, Glaucous-winged and possibly
Ring-billed gulls. Look carefully at the Bonaparte's...could be a Little
Gull among them. At any of these stops, scope offshore for Marbled
Murrelets, Pigeon Guillemots, Common Murres, Oldsquaws, scoters, scaups, etc.

(By the latter half of April you will have missed the most spectacular
concentrations of gulls, ducks, grebes, cormorants...all there to enjoy the
herring spawn. However, there should still be more than enough to look at).

6. A hike around Morello Pond off Orca Road near Nanoose (ask directions
from locals) will get you into a mixed open forest (Red-breasted Sapsuckers,
Marsh Wrens, nesting ducks, Ruffed Grouse, warblers, flycatchers, vireos, 4
woodpeckers, etc. And a stop at the estuary of the Englishman's River on the
south side of Parksville may be interesting.

7. Finally, a walk around the Courtenay River estuary (near the Air Park)
might produce some new sightings.

Enjoy. If you want more, call me at home in the evenings - (604) 598- 7789.

Bryan Gates, Victoria
bgates at assessment.env.gov.bc.ca
Victoria Rare Bird Alert - (604) 592-3381