I met two intrepid team members at camp shortly after eight in the morning, which is when the neighbors I checked in with said the peregrines were the most active this time of year. Alas, they were sleeping in, or were already off on a peregrine excursion, but other than that, camp did not disappoint. We spotted Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye flying by, along with Ringbilled-gulls and one Great Black Backed Gull. We found two Bald Eagles, one mature perched near Clay Point and an immature in the air. I assume these are two of the three who often graced me with a flyby last summer while I was out paddling, and I'm glad to know they're still here. The highlight of the morning was a lovely and uncommon Barrows Goldeneye flying past with a flock. Just as I cried out, "Goldeneye!" one of my teammates called out, "Barrows!" and I realized a second later that the one male duck in the group had the distinctive comma-shaped white mark on his face, not the white dot of a Common. It was very exciting.
We also were fortunate enough to find two Carolina Wrens and a Red Bellied Woodpecker, both southern birds recently expanding their range northward. And the ever present Black Capped Chickadees, White and Red Breasted Nuthatches, Crows, and Ravens happily showed up to be counted. Our neighbors invited us up onto their deck to look into the bay even though we were interrupting their Sunday brunch, and no one on the road questioned why people in masks with spotting scopes were invading their quiet weekend. Everyone is used to us showing up this time of year by now. The first time there was the inevitable question, "What are you people doing?" And the second question, "Why on Earth don't you do it when it's warmer?" Well, who wouldn't want to freeze their eyeballs behind binoculars, and who needs feeling in their fingers and toes? (Actually, because the CBC is a national event, it's only us northern people who have to be martyrs. The main reasons we do it in the winter is because birds mostly stay put this time of year, so a migrating bird won't be counted multiple times, and because in summer, birds are busy with nesting activity and it's not a good thing to interrupt them by playing bird song recordings, which are permissible in December.)
I wimped out and headed home after the camp part of the day, not because of the cold but because I didn't want to be out and about with all Covid floating around any more than I had to be (I've got some health issues that make it safer for me to be close to home these days.) My intrepid teammates finished out the day, and judging from the numbers reported on the zoom call last night, it was a very successful event. Birds seem to be doing quite well in our area. Yay!
And I think my father would be very glad to know that birders are still bundling up and trudging around to all his old favorite winter birding spots with a spotting scope over their shoulders and excitement in their eyes. Though if he'd put in a word to the Peregrines next year, we'd really appreciate it!
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