Hey Tweets!
Well, I managed to squeeze in a few minutes of birding during a trip to Victoria BC over the weekend.
We took the Victoria Clipper over for the weekend, and rented a car for sunday afternoon to do a little exploring on the penninsula. So I just HAD to persuade my "Significant Other" to stop at the Vantreight bulb farm.
The Skylarks were easily heard as soon as we opened the car door. But it was amazingly difficult to spot the little buggers in the air! I finally got good looks when I managed to spot a couple as they first took off and started singing, and was able to keep the bins on it as it ascended.
Amazing song!
Does anyone know how they are doing as population? I was figuring I heard at least 10 individulas singing while I was there. And Wayne Weber emailed me that the Airport is also still a good place to find them. So presumably the population is hanging on. Any thoughts?

PS. After listening to them all weekend, I kinda have convinced myself that I might be able to tell the difference between the calls of American and Northwest Crows. According to Opperman, all the crows on Vancouver Island are Northwest, not American ... but I also noticed that they seemed to be quieter diring the day, seldom calling. They were much more talkative in the morning and evening.

Guy McWethy
Renton, WA
mailto: lguy_mcw at yahoo.com