The Vaux's Swifts have returned to the Courtenay Museum Chimney

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

On Thursday, April 29 we headed down to a parking lot behind the Courtenay Museum to see if the Vaux’s Swifts that are in the area might fly down the chimney to roost for the evening. Evidently they have been seen coming to this chimney for the last few years around this time of year and one person we spoke to said they will likely be arriving here for another week or more. The Vaux’s Swifts spend the winter in Mexico and breed in large hollow trees found in old growth forests in BC, Washingon and Oregon. Because of this their numbers are in decline as logging removes their breeding habitat. 

 

The birds feed on insects and their shape has been described as cigars with wings.  On Thursday we were joined by close to 15 other people who had heard about this chimney roosting behavior. We arrived at 8:00 pm armed with binoculars and a camera with a telephoto lens.  Their arrival to the chimney seems to depend on the weather and so you don’t know when they might arrive. No sooner did we arrive and we began to see the swifts flying in groups over the chimney (see photo below) . They then disappeared for a few minutes only to return again for another fly over. Then all of a sudden they began to spiral around and just like Santa they headed down the chimney (see photo above) . By 8:30 it seemed to be all done! Presumably they like the rough interior of the chimney and spend the night huddled together along the edges of the chimney. But how do they navigate all crowded together as they descend into the chimney?  

 It was hard to estimate the number of birds on this particular night but it was likely around 150 birds. The Vaux’s Swifts have been here for the last few days and other people we spoke to said that other nights they had seen upwards of 200 birds but other times virtually none. We returned another night - May 1 and saw an amazing 850 or so birds descend into the chimny. Click this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doly-jcadTk  to see the bird tornado in action.   So if you want to see an unusual birding event that you won't find many places in Canada check this out!

 

 

The “new” Lake Trail Disc Golf course in the Comox Valley is a winner

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

Last fall we started disc golfing and it became a great way to get some fresh air and socialize with friends at the same time. Since it is easy to socially distance while playing we played many times through the fall and early winter. Then cross country skiing started at Mt Washington and disc golf went to the back burner but we still would play a few times a month through the winter. 

 

Over the winter the Lake Trail disc golf course layout was changed from 12 holes to 9 holes and now has no crossings of Arden Creek. This course is located near the Lake Trail school in Courtenay and we think the new layout is a winner. There is improved signage (although a large map at the start might help) and we liked it through the winter since it seemed to be less muddy than say the Village Park course in Comox. This is in part thanks to lots of wood chips which have been layed down over the last few months. 

 We enjoy this course it since it has some elevation changes and now has some variety with an open shot across the playing field at Lake Trail school. Since we are new to the sport we thought that another advantage of this course was its relatively short layout and reasonably open understory which means finding an errant disc is pretty easy.  This course is right next to the old Trail Bicycles store next to Lake Trail school and there is parking for several cars at the start. Check it out if you haven’t already.  

 

Sea kayaking at Goose Spit in Comox , BC

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

Goose Spit is a favourite destination for many people in the Comox Valley and for good reason. You can go for a beach walk, have a picnic, or go paddle boarding or kayaking. One factor to consider when kayaking is the carry to the water from the car and so we usually kayak at the Spit when the tide is quite high to avoid a longer carry. So on Thursday April 22 with the summery weather forecast to change we decided to go kayaking in the early afternoon since high tide was around 2:00 pm. The tide was 3.6 meters at this time which makes for a relatively short carry from the car to the water but an even higher tide is preferable. The views of Comox Glacier and the surrounding snow capped mountains were very impressive given the very clear skies (see above photo). We paddled around the Spit and saw several people on paddle boards which gives you an idea of how protected the water is in this area. It is an ideal area to “get your feet wet” with kayaking or paddle boarding since waves and wind area usually much less than they are out further in Comox Harbour. We paddled about 3 km (1 way) around spit before turning around and having a snack a the sandy beach (see photo below) .  For those not familiar with Goose Spit it is at the end of Hawkins Road. See you on the water.

Taking advantage of the warm sunny weather with a kayak trip to Point Holmes

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

 

Sea kayaks are great vessels for observing wildlife from seals to whales and they are also ideal for observing shorebirds, ducks and other birds. One of our favourite places to paddle is at Point Holmes since it offers ready access to scenic paddling and a variety of shorelines from sandy beaches to rocky headlands. With the exceptionally warm weather of late we decided to go sea kayaking and or most recent outing was on Sunday, April 18 and we weren’t disappointed. We almost always head around Cape Lazo toward Kye Bay since this is where you tend to get the best bird and marine mammal sitings. Also at this time of year the mountains still have quite abit of winter snow which adds to the scenic beauty of this area.

 On this day we were pleased to see so much variety from seals on rocks and lots of blue heron and several eagles chasing each other!  This is also a great spot to site colourful harlequin ducks (see photo above). We went a tide of between 2.7 and 3.1 meters and this meant that many rocks were exposed which gave places for birds to perch on. As well we usually make a point of stopping for a snack at the lovely sandy beach that is between the boat launch and Cape Lazo (See photo below).  Another bonus of paddling at Point Holmes is the fact that the boat launch has a web cam that lets you see what the wave conditions are along the shore. It can be viewed at: http://www.pointholmesrecreation.ca/rampcam/. It is always interesting to see the variety of birds and other wildlife in this area and we look forward to our next kayak trip to Point Holmes. 

 

 

Checking out the beach access at Eagles Drive Park

 
By Keith and Heather Nicol

With the great weather continuing in the Comox Valley (setting records on several days for warm temperatures) we decided to check out a beach access that we had not been to before. It was very warm on Saturday, April 17 so we decided to head down in the afternoon since we thought there might be a cool breeze off the ocean.  Eagles  Drive Park is located north of Courtenay and it located off of Left Road. Toward the end of Left Road take Eagles Drive (also on your left) and continue to a small parking lot that is sign posted- Eagles Drive Park. For those handy with a GPS the coordinates of the parking lot are: 49 47.970 N and 125 00.905 W and there is room for about 4 cars.

There is a short wooded trail of about a 250 meters which winds to the beach and there a recently built set of stairs (77 in all) part way along the trail. The photo above shows Heather at the top of the stairs with the beach and the water in the distance. Once at the shoreline it is the typical rocky shoreline of this area but it does have some tide pools which could be explored at low tide. We walked for about 500 meters along the shoreline to the north and walking along the high tide line was reasonably good on a surface of mixed small gravels. Further out as you can see in the photo below the boulders are larger and less suited to walking very far on. The views across the water to the snow capped mountains of the BC mainland are very scenic this time of year and we did run in to one group of beach walkers that had done a loop walking from Eagles Drive Park to Brian and Sarah McLoughlin Park then down to the shoreline and back along the water to Eagles Drive Park. They said they love this area since it is usually not very crowded which is good to know. If you want more info on this Comox Valley Regional District Park check out this web site- https://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/parks-recreation/comox-valley-parks-trails/eagles-drive-park.