Subject: Birding is good - on Vancouver Island
Date: Mar 30 18:35:55 2002
From: Michael G. Shepard - mgshepard at pacificcoast.net


Greetings,

Here's a brief summary of what seem to be happening birdwise along the
central east coast of Vancouver Island. I've posted a map which I'll leave
on my server for about a week:
http://www.islandnet.com/~mgs/birds/VanIsleMap.html

Herring have been spawning all along the coastline, attracting an incredible
number of birds. In recent weeks, the main concentrations have been located
between Nanoose Bay and Comox. Guy Monty reported at one time there were an
estimated 100,000 gulls - they're everywhere. The majority are Mew,
Glaucous-winged and California, with a smattering of others. There are
several Glaucous Gulls present, as well as a few Western and Bonaparte's.
Waterfowl are concentrated mainly between Denman Island and Comox, with
hundreds of Harlequin Ducks, thousand of scoters and Long-tailed Ducks, and
a male KING EIDER, which has been present for several months. It's quite a
spectacle.

If that' not enought enticement to come up and view the birds, then perhaps
you might want to join in on the Brant Festival Big Day, April 13. Birders
of all levels of experience are welcome to participate. Experienced groups
will find between 90 and 120 species of birds. I don't have the details
myself, but here's an excerpt of a message by Sandy McRuer that was posted
to our Vancouver Island newsgroup:

"The Festival is the 12th to 14th April. The Big Day is on April 13. The web
address is
http://www.brantfestival.bc.ca/. All the details for all the events are up
and running on the site. I hope there are a few entries from the lower
mainland for the Big Day. We have a couple of new prizes designed to attract
the more casual and younger birders. One is the
top amateur team. And the other is the Young Guns award. The latter award
goes to the team with the highest number of species to age ratio."

Good Birding

Michael G. Shepard
North American Bird Information Web Site:
http://www.islandnet.com/~mgs/birds/
BCBirdNotes Page for March 2002:
http://www.islandnet.com/~mgs/birds/BCBirdNotes.html
King Eider species account:
http://www.islandnet.com/~mgs/birds/KingEider_bc.html