Date: 10 March 2025 Time 11:00—13:00 PDT
Tide at the beginning of count: 8.6 feet
Tide at the close of count: 8.8 feet
Turning tide
Weather: overcast, breezy, calm to rippled sea
Herring spawn underway. Gillnetters off Rathtrevor, the mouth of the Englishman River, Parksville Bay, and French Creek Marina. Rafts of sea lions throughout observation area.
Participants: Bonnie Mullin, Dennis & Brenda Horwood, Marion Lea Jamieson, Marilyn Bilsbarrow, Liz Bredberg, Sandy & Dan Gray, Liz & Jim Thorne, Marianne Goffman, Dave Erickson
Total brant counted: 81
Zone 1: North area:
Qualicum Beach—Judges Row
gazebo viewing stand.
Foot of Kincaid Rd. beach access
East end of Surfside Drive, Offshore view
Little Qualicum Estuary, west end of Surfside Dr. and mouth of Little Qualicum River
Total brant counted in area: 0
Other birds observed: Common Loon 3, Northern Pintail 35, Bald Eagle 3*, Bufflehead 37, American Crow 3, Oystercatchers 6, Horned Grebe 10, Common Goldeneye 78, American Wigeon 300, Common Merganser 3, White winged scoter 44, Mallard 6, Scaup sp 2, gulls 500+ (a whole bunch +++)
*1 with fish
Zone 2: Central area: French Creek Marina to Whitree overlook French Creek Marina—east side view offshore and towards Parksville, view the creek mouth from the west side
Columbia Beach, Admiral Tryon Blvd. east; view offshore, and French Creek River mouth
Admiral Tryon West, beach access to tidal pools
Foot of Johnstone Rd.
Seacrest Road
Whitree overlook
Total brant counted in area: 72
12 on beach at bottom of Johnstone Rd mixed in with gulls
60 in flight, northbound Lots of roe and milt on beach and in shore Other birds observed: gulls on shore 1000, kingfisher (nearshore), mallards 37, flock of crows, American wigeons 140, white-winged scoters 50, , gull sps 1000, bufflehead 39, wige yellowlegs 4, kildeer 1, dunlin 12, bald eagle 3 1 carrying branch in flight
Zone 3: South area:
Rathtrevor Beach
Mariner Way
Parksville Community Park
Doehle Road stairs
Many pedestrians watching and photographing herring fishery. One man with 2 dogs on the beach at community park.
Total brant counted in area: 9 flying over PV Community Park
Other birds observed: Rathtrevor: over 4000 gulls in shallows, along the waterline and offshore. 2 rafts of 550+scoters into NW Bay, mostly surf scoters
Mariner Way: 2500+ gulls, crowded wigeon at the mouth of the Englishman River
PV Community Park: over 6000 gulls, 980 dunlin, black bellied plover, scattered American wigeon
Doehle Road stairs: 2 rafts of divers, about 600 surf scoters, scaup, goldeneye, bufflehead, many gulls.
Also seen: bufflehead, goldeneyes, horned grebe, western grebe, common mergansers, at least 32 bald eagles
Time: 10:30-12:30
Tide at the beginning of count: 11.6 feet
Tide at the close of count: 6 feet
Falling tide
Weather: overcast
Participants:
Helen Davidson
Jane Osborne
Liz Bredberg
Marilyn Bilsbarrow
Sandy and Dan Gray
Dave Erickson
Liz and Jim Thorne,
Bonnie Mullin
Dennis and Brenda Horwood
Total brant counted: 842
Zone 1: North area:
• Qualicum Beach—Tourist Info (Beach Creek), and the gazebo viewing stand.
• Foot of Kincaid Rd. beach access
• East end of Surfside Drive, Offshore view
• Little Qualicum Estuary, west end of Surfside Dr. and mouth of Little Qualicum River
Total brant counted in area: 0
Other birds observed: 3 Common mergansers, 4 red-breasted merganser, Icelandic gull, American wigeons, 4 oystercatchers, 200 gull sps., black turnstones, common goldeneye, +/-40 buffleheads, 2 harlequin ducks, 4 northern pintails, 4 horned grebes, cormorant sp., 8 pacific loons, mixed raft of 300 scoters, 300 surf scoters, great blue heron
Zone 2: Central area:
• French Creek Marina—east side view offshore and towards Parksville, view the creek mouth from the west side
• Columbia Beach, Admiral Tryon Blvd. east; view offshore, and French Creek River mouth
• Admiral Tryon West, beach access to tidal pools
• Foot of Johnstone Rd.
• Foot of Butterball, off Pintail & Yambury Rd.
• Rathtrevor Beach, Brant Point, Craig Bay, may need to walk to the right along the bay
• West end of Mariner Way—view offshore and to river mouth, may need to walk to river
• Parksville Bay, Parksville Community Park—from the Labyrinth view offshore, sandbars, and west shore of PVBay
Date: 24 February 2025 Time: 10:30-12:30
Tide at the beginning of count: 12.4 feet
Tide at the close of count: 13.1 feet
Weather: wind: SE 21 km/h, gusts 32 hm/h, cloudy, choppy seas
Participants: Sandy & Dan Gray, Dave Erickson, Meghan MacIsaac, Liz & Jim Thorne, Bonnie Mullin, Dennis & Brenda Horwood, Helen Davidson, Toni Wyckoff, Jane Osborne, Liz Bredberg
Total brant counted: 189
Zone 1: North area: from Qualicum Beach Viewing Stand north to the mouth of the Little Qualicum River.
Total brant counted in area: 0
Other birds observed: 70 + Am. Wigeon, 120 + bufflehead, goldeneye, red-breasted mergansers, loons far offshore headed east, 3 black oystercatchers, 25 black turnstones, scoters scattered and flying east, 1200 gulls.
Mammals: 150+ harbour seals on sandbar at mouth of Little Qualicum River
Zone 2: Central area: from French Creek Marina to south end of Seacrest
Total brant counted in area: 153
Other birds observed: 20 bufflehead, 9 goldeneye, 2 red-breasted merganser, 2 horned grebes, 2 red-necked grebes, 14 mallards (incl 1 possibly hybridised female), 124 american wigeons, 2 eurasian wigeons, 11 oystercatchers, 20+ black-bellied plovers, 20+black turnstones, 6 peep sp., common loon, mixed abundance of gulls
Zone 3: South area: Madrona Point, Rathtrevor Beach, Brant point, West end of Mariner Way, Parksville Bay
Total brant counted: 36
Other birds observed: 1800 gulls (1000 on grass in Community Park), goldeneye, bufflehead, raft of 400 scoters, grebes, wigeons, Canada geese
