Interesting ducks along the Cumberland Marsh Trails

 
By Keith and Heather Nicol

We decided to check out the Cumberland Marsh trails at Cumberland’s Coal Creek Historic Park on Sunday, Nov. 6 and we were not disappointed. We often see some ducks here that we don’t see many other places in the Comox Valley so it is an interesting place to check out.   On this morning we were saw several other people with binoculars and big telephoto lenses as we left the parking area at Jumbo’s cabin (see directions below) which was encouraging...maybe they knew something we didn’t.  The Wellington Colliery Trail starts just below the parking area on the road and it connects Cumberland’s Historic Chinatown and Japanese town. There are various interpretative plaques along the way which make for fascinating reading if you have not been here before. 

                                             Male Hooded mergansers have very unusual shaped heads

 But on this day we were keen to see what birds might be in the wetland-marshy area which is just a few hundred meters away along this trail and we first saw the several hooded mergansers with their unusually shaped white heads. At one point we saw 6 males clustered together which is a first for us to see so many together. We also saw several females but they seemed to be smaller groups away from the males. We also saw some colourful wood ducks and this marshy wetland is one of the only places we know of in this area where we can often see this ducks. Adding to the mix were many American widgeons which for us are much more common since we see these often at the Air Park and other places in Courtenay. 

                                               Heather checking out the ducks from the trail

  To get here, drive through the community of Cumberland toward Comox Lake. Look for a log cabin (Jumbo’s cabin) and a sign for Cumberland’s Coal Creek Historic Park on your left and park here. The Wellington Colliery Trail starts next to the parking area. If you like seeing different kinds of ducks check this place out and be sure to bring your camera and binoculars. For more information on Cumberland’s Coal Creek Park  see: https://cumberland.ca/coal-creek-historic-park/ 

                                                                  Wood ducks are also found in this area