for Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds or Kaufman’s Focus
Guide – these guides are available at the The Wild Bird
Habitat Shop store: address is 8810-C Young Road, Chilliwack, BC
V2P 4P5, Phone 604-792-1239.
A dozen years ago I was out with a couple of
friends in an open boat trolling in Blackfish Sound, and during
a quiet, no-take spell I spotted a pair of small seabirds
bobbing about nearby. "Rhinocerous auklets," I cried,
causing my pals to consider throwing the landing net over me in
case I became violent.
But when I told them about the pigeon-sized
creatures, and lent my binoculars so they could see the spike at
the base of the upper bill that gives them their name, they
became instant converts. Here were fellow fishermen, as talented
in their way as the killer whales as we glimpsed in the
distance.
A pair of these auklets will tunnel under the
turf on the thin soil of rocky outcrops along the shore, create
a little cave at the end and lay a single egg. They feed on the
smallest of anchovies, herring and needlefish--and never provide
a clue as to why they carry those tiny rhino horns.
Another colorful coastal bird is the puffin,
which looks like a cross between a fat crow and Ronald McDonald.
Fishing in spring out of the original Langara Lodge at the top
of the Queen Charlottes, we found where the puffins were nesting
in burrows on a tall rock spire. More curious than afraid, they
would swoop down over us to check us out.
On pretty rivers like the Skagit and upper
Chilliwack, I seldom lack the companionship of dippers--also
called water ouzels--dark grey little birds that sometimes sing
quiet little songs to themselves. They disappear now and then to
walk along the stream bottom, using the pressure of the current
to stay under water, pursuing nymphs and salmon eggs.
Also on clean, fast-flowing streams are the
relatively rare harlequin ducks, beautifully marked birds that
navigate even the roughest water. They're also found in salt
water, especially along rocky shores in the Gulf Islands.
On Interior lakes, few free shows can match
an osprey's plunge and struggle to grab and subdue a trout or
coarse fish, sometimes surprisingly large. The show's second act
might consist of an eagle scaring the osprey into dropping its
prey for the benefit of the eagle.
Less enjoyable for the angler are the
thieving habits of loons, big and powerful beasts who think
nothing of taking a trout off your line, and then laughing at
you afterward. But they make haunting music when the sun goes
down.
Even at night you can listen for owls, and
with a bit of study and practice learn to identify them by their
calls--great horned, screech, barn, short-eared and pygmy owls,
and more.
Riverside trees and shrubs often team with
small songbirds, from the many kinds of colorful warblers to
wrens, sparrows, juncoes and towhees. Your campsite may get
raided by jays. Driving backroads in summer and fall, you well
may put up ruffed grouse or foolhens. Watch for the brilliant
red, yellow and black of the western tanager, and listen for the
evening songs of the Swainson's thrush.
You can be a hairy-chested he-man and avoid
quiche completely, yet still broaden your outdoor horizons by
watching the birds.
