Triangle Island Birding Adventure - Day 1

I have had several regrets this year, including not finishing Part 3 of my Trip to the Lower Mainland blog series, but this trip was not one of them. Truly, this was a spectacular journey, encompassing five days, 1500 kms, and a pelagic trip to Triangle Island! So, sit down, buckle your seatbelts, and enjoy the ride, for this is going to be a multiple post summery of that wonderful and whirlwind weekend.

Day 1 - Thursday, April 24th :

The alarm clock went off at 5:45 a.m. on a drizzly Thursday morning. Up out of bed I haul myself, and down the stairs I plod, only to hear breaking news that may completely cancel the pelagic. A 6.7 magnitude earthquake just struck Port McNeill the night before. Great, the one time I have a chance to go on a pelagic, in the same week a random earthquake strikes in the place the boat is launching out of. Just great. Why wasn't it some other weekend?! Or some other place?!! Port McNeill of all places. Trying to forget that there was ever an earthquake, I solemnly packed my bags. Just to add to the uncertainty that hovered around this trip, I learned that there is storm warning on the Coquihalla, the main highway that connects Kelowna and Merritt, and then Merritt to Abbotsford.

When it was time to leave, my mood was brightened somewhat by seeing a Townsend's Solitare in the front tree, shivering from the cold and dampness. He looked miserable, that poor bird. Departing from the house at around 6:30 a.m., my mom and I drove off into the rain, crossing our fingers that Mother Nature will show some compassion. On the drive to the Coquihalla, through downtown Kelowna, I noted the usual city birds : Mallard, Rock Pigeon, and European Starling; the classic urban trio. Tensions started to rise as we hit the Coquihalla Highway, ( also called 97C ), as rain was plumetting down, as was the temperature. If you don't like the rain, I'm glad you weren't there. Ascending the wide highway, the rain shot down even harder, and I was bewildered to see three American Robins perched on some posts; why would they be out here in the midst of a storm? At such high elevations??? Also counted was a young Sharp-shinned Hawk, flying low over the trees. Suddenly, the rain turned to snow. This is where it got nasty. Slush was everywhere on the road, and you couldn't find your "footing" as a driver. To make mom and I's confidence dip down even lower, we saw a massive semi truck in a ditch; the accident looked fresh, too. All of a sudden, we were sucked into the side, then back into the middle, then into the side again. Slipping and sliding, we held on for dear life; hearts pounding! This is serious stuff! I was able to quickly take a picture of the dreadful highway conditions :
                         
Dreadful Coquihalla conditions!!!

As you can see, you can not really see the real pavement, and we had no idea what was under the snow - Ice? Slush? Or both? Finally, after a 45 minute drive through the worst road conditions my mother has ever driven on, the snow started to dissipate, and I could start looking for birds again. And, there were actually birds way up here! A few wandering Common Ravens were on the wing, flapping over the road and looking for scraps. A Gray Jay flew across the treetops, and several winter-finch sp. flew over. They were almost unidentifiable while travelling at 80 kph! Who knows... GC Rosy-finch? :) A bird that I WAS able to identify was a hunched Northern Pygmy-Owl of top of a tree! In ten minutes we were starting to descend down the Coq finally, and even more birds were tallied ( even though snow was still draped on everything ), including another Townsend's Solitare flying across, a lost Yellow-rumped ( Audubon's ) Warbler steadily flying over the car, and a distant Pileated Woodpecker on a thick tree. Now entering the lower elevations, near the Princeton turnoff, there was *still* snow everywhere! There are several small wetland areas and ponds near the road, which were fortunately unfrozen. We were going so fast that all I could ID in the smaller ponds were some Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Canada Geese. There were probably Redhead and American Coots too, but I couldn't tell for sure. Situated on top of a pine was a pretty American Kestrel. There are also at least two larger ponds ( that could classify for lakes ), which in one of them was a pair of breeding Common Loons. Further down the highway, there was a male Mountain Bluebird on a nice perch, which looked odd in the snow. If I posted this is winter I could probably get off with seeing the first ever winter Mountain Bluebird sighting for Thomson-Nicola. :) The freak snowstorm the night before really altered the way everything looked, such as seeing three Brewer's Blackbirds drinking from a pool of water... in the snow. American Robins were everywhere in bountiful amounts. They were on branches, on trees, on everything! Northern Flickers were also abundant, swooping and perching here and there. Descending quickly into Merritt, the snowline cut off rapidly, leaving a landscape of spring ahead of us.

Now, that was the Kelowna-Merritt section of the Coquihalla. Next up - ding, ding, ding - was the Merritt-Abbotsford portion, where there was a ( of course ) major snowstorm the night before. Teeth gritted, we started ascending again into the mountains. We were waiting; waiting for the sight of snow-covered roads and slushy sides yet again, but worse, yet we kept climbing, and there was no snow on the pavement. Ten minutes later... still no snow, and only minute amounts of slush scattered in some places. Okay, this was starting to get freaky. There was literally a major snowstorm the night before, and today, there is NO snow on the road. Climbing up and up we went, with no snow whatsoever. It was quite lovely up there! Momentarily, we reached the summit, and guess what - you guessed it - there were zero MOLECULES of snow on the highway! So, I started looking for avian life. There was a pair of smartly plumaged Common Mergansers on the creek that runs across the pass, and a randomly placed Mallard on a log near the creek, too. A pleasant surprise was seeing two Red Crossbills atop an evergreen, a year-bird for B.C. ( #154 ) as were commenced our descent down from the summit. As we neared the bottom of the Coq, Mom and I exchanged relieved and cheerful smiles, as we had conquered the Coquihalla Highway without a hitch.

From the base of the Coq, we then switched highways to the Trans-Canada ( Hwy 1 ), where we drove down a looong, straight stretch of highway, with prairies and farms on either side; typical of the Abbotsford area scenery. I observed Northwestern Crow - yay! When you're from the Okanagan, a NW Crow is a great bird to get, because it's a strictly coastal species of corvid. Some good duck fly-overs were Wood Duck; a pair jumping out from a wooded pond, and a female Hooded Merganser. In a flooded field, I was able to pick out Glaucous-winged and Mew Gulls, as well as a strutting Greater Yellowlegs. Several Bald Eagles were resting in a pack of trees, and Red-tailed Hawks were numerous. A drop-dead gorgeous sub-adult Northern Harrier drifted elegantly extremely close to the car in yet another field.

We were heading to the Tsawwasseen Ferry Docks, to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island, and then ultimately drive to Port McNeill. As we neared the ferry jetty several minutes later, I stopped for a quick listen/look before catching the ferry. The sweet tinkling song of a Savannah Sparrow wafted to my ears, and tons of waterbirds were in the bay. 12 Brant were taking a breather on a grassy spit, as well as Mallard; must I mention them? Two Common Loons were lingering close to shore and 3 Common Goldeneyes were in the water also. An amiable sight of 4 Black Oystercatchers on the shore was seen; I never get tired of watching them! Loads of Glaucous-winged and Western X Glaucous-winged Gulls circled around above the ferry port. We then checked in for the ferry, and waited our line to board.

Finally, after thirty minutes of waiting, we boarded the ferry and I quickly scaled the stairs to the top, outside deck. A second of scanning the water produced, bingo, my lifer Pigeon Guillemot riding the low waves in the harbor! A super start to the ferry ride, and only my second alcid I've ever seen. ( My only other alcid on my life list is Black Guillemot from Nova Scotia in 2012 ). Blowing its horn, the mighty cruiseliner, er ferry heaved out of its berth. I scanned the rocks on each side of ferry, picking up 'white-plumed' Double-crested Cormorants as well as the Pelagic kind, and a raft of 45 Surf Scoters packed closely together. Two stunning breeding plumaged Common Loons sprung out from the water in front of the boat as we started to increase speed. In only a few short minutes, we were out into the Strait of Georgia. I suddenly looked down. What are those black dots in the water there? Rhinoceros Auklets! Lifer number 2 for the trip, and all-time British Columbia lifer #283!!!

               
Things were going quite well. A nice male Red-breasted Merganser shot past, as well as another Pelagic Cormorant. There was a shocking amount of Red-throated Loons flying past, everywhere! Springing away from almost under the boat...

                

... flapping across the bow in the distance, and flying overhead the RTLOs were. Some individuals were in beautiful breeding colours, namesake red throat and all. Some scraggly immature Mew Gulls chugged past the boat. Standing at the bow of a ferry, looking at semi-pelagic birds, in the wind, and taking pictures; I could get used to this! "Just wait until I get out to Triangle Island!" I thought positively. Yet another wonderful sight to behold was watching 6 Killer Whales, a.k.a. Orcas swimming and surfacing spectacularly abreast the ship!!! :) Nearing the Nanaimo port, a young Bald Eagle flew overhead. I had several Red-and-white Lighthouse sightings and I viewed a cooperative and rare Russian Cargo-Ship near shore.

On the island for the first time in two years, Mom and I buckled our seatbelts for the 5 hour drive ahead of us, to Port McNeill. The drive to Qualicum Beach was quiet bird-wise, but we did manage to see multiple Turkey Vultures soaring above the trees, showing their characteristic V-shaped wings in flight. The forests that line the road along the Island Highway ( Hwy 19 ), are quite different from the vegetation that is native to the Okanagan. There are many more cedar trees, and the undergrowth is quite extensive. We did a brief stop at the Little Qualicum Estuary, for a half-hearted try to see the long-staying Northern Mockingbird. I did not get the M-bird, but there were loads of other birds there to somewhat occupy my time. Pine Siskins called overhead, Bushtits were chipping in the shrubs, many Chestnut-backed Chickadees were fluttering in the bushes, and a Spotted Towhee was posing for a picture :

                 

It was great to see a male Rufous Hummingbird buzzing ferociously while sitting arrogantly on top of a tall bush. I observed 12 Bonaparte's Gull swirling about near the pebbly beach, looking quite like terns, and two striking looking Black-bellied Plovers in full breeding colours took off from the shore.

                   

Time was of the essence if we wanted to reach Port McNeill while it was still light, so we got back on to the highway again, and plodded north up the island. As we pushed northward, the trees were getting denser and more deep green in colour. Birds spotted along the way were : mooore Turkey Vultures ( lotsa them ), one RT Hawk, and a gorgeous male Purple Martin showing off his deep violet colour underneath in the air. I had a close look at him. Apparently that is the northernmost record ever for that species on Vancouver island and comments are welcome...

Two hours later, we took a rest stop in Sayward, a tiny town around 45 minutes south of Port McNeill. In Sayward, we pit-stopped at the Cypress Tree Inn to fill up on gas ( the car ), and grab some snacks ( for us ). Hopefully not the other way around. ;) I birded the rich foresty edge that bordered the inn. A Hermit Thrush ( year-bird #161 ) hopped onto the ground in front of me, and I snapped this not-so-amazing shot of it.



Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows came into view in response to my pishing, and this Golden-crowned was particularly obliging :



From some crazy tall trees, a Golden-crowned Kinglet called, and a nice Orange-crowned Warbler flitted by in the scrubby bushes. Later, two Dark-eyed Juncos called agitatingly. After a successful stop at the Inn, we got back into our Hyundai and plodded on to Port McNeill. We finally, finally arrived at the outskirts of Port Mac around dusk, and boy it's beautiful!

At long last, Port McNeill in all its finest!


Stunning!

Lanqvist Road - the street that our cottage we stayed in is located


Beautiful forest and inlet...


The Malcom Island/Port McNeill ferry heading to port

We stayed at the Home Away From Home Cottage, a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Port McNeill city centre. Once we had shifted our bags into the homey cabin, we took a walk at dusk down one of the trails down to the water. How beautiful and serene is it there? You will just have to go there and find out. It was breathtaking. And several birds were singing in the near complete darkness, too. From a patch of dense woodland, I heard an intricate, transfixing call, which incorporated a few American Robin notes into its song, too. Then, I saw some movement low down in the trees from the direction I heard the song. It turned out to be a dark race 'Sooty' Fox Sparrow! I pulled out the flash on my camera, and snapped some night shots on manuel focus. The pictures did not turn out badly!


My best shot of the "AMRO-imitating, dark race 'Sooty' Fox Sparrow, at night, in Port McNeill" The longest title ever. :D

All of a sudden, a Pacific Wren burst into song very close by, which literally can stop your heart for a second! In the fading light, I watched three pairs of beautiful Red-necked Grebes out on the water, and a Bald Eagle flew perfectly across the massive trees bordering the water. I was speechless the experience was so... so..... well, like I said, I'm speechless! After soaking it all in for a while, we headed back up the trail, clunking two rocks together to discourage the local Black Bears which are known to be active now. At the end of the path, across the street from the cottage, we flushed a Savannah Sparrow out of some weedy bushes. American Robins ( the real ones, not the Fox Sparrow imitations ) were serenading us from everywhere as we stepped onto the front porch. Once I finished my pasta dinner, I sat down to an NBA game before bed. - Just a little tidbit of me; I love sports of all kind, and I'm a Rapters fan. We the north!


Well that concludes the first day of my Triangle Island trip! For the journey, way up to Port McNeill, I tallied 64 species of bird, which I found fascinating and fantastic. The next day, I will get up to *hopefully* board the fishing boat to Triangle. Crossing my fingers that the weather holds up.....

P.S. Thank you so much, Mom, for driving through thick and thin, and nasty weather up on the Coquihalla. :) :)