Wendy Marshall is once again coordinating and leading the 2014 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for the Bridge Lake area on Saturday, January 3. This is Wendy’s twentieth year leading this particular group – thank you Wendy! This is a day-long event that ends with a social gathering for warm beverages and goodies at Lac des Roches. Everyone is invited and no experience is required although registration with Wendy at 250-593-2327 is a must for planning purposes. The Bird Studies Canada website has lots of interesting information about previous years’ CBC results. Wendy’s invitation included an update of bird sightings at Lac des Roches which may be of interest to many readers. Her edited account is inserted here for your enjoyment.
There were a couple of interesting sightings during the fall. We had a White-throated Sparrow (not the first sighting here but exciting)! Also, in October, a Red-breasted Sapsucker was in our crab apple tree. Our loon population suffered this past summer as our resident eagles have developed a taste for both eggs and chicks! I, among others, were witness to the taking of both! The eagles’ only chick survived to learn to fly and was quite entertaining to watch. How awkward they are, landing in tree tops! My love-hate relationship continues with the resident eagles! I started filling feeders again and providing suet a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been observing more chickadees and nuthatches than ever before! They’ve had a good year for nesting. Amongst the many mountain and black-capped, there is at least one Boreal. I saw the first pine grosbeaks this morning under one of the feeders. I have observed the usual downy, hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers along with the Northern Flicker. Also, I saw the Am 3 toed woodpecker, not near the feeders but elsewhere on the trails. There were a number of reports a few weeks ago of American Goldfinches in the area, and oddly enough, we had a Dipper hanging around the dock!
(From Wendy, November 13, 2014)