Kailasa Housing Co-op

Members of the Friends of Shoal Harbour Society (FOSH) and supporters met at 11:00 am on Wednesday October 15, 2014 at the beach access at the eastern end of Ardwell Avenue to celebrate All Buffleheads Day and hopefully to welcome the first arrivals of Bufflehead ducks from their nesting areas in inland central British Columbia. The beach access gives on to Roberts Bay a tidal sand flat area forming an essential part of the 1931 Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary. There were no Buffleheads to be seen that day but the first arrival showed up the next day, October 16.

All Buffleheads Day attendees shelter from the rain

Friends of Shoal Harbour President Hugh Richards welcomes attendees

Left to right: Ryan Painter representing MLA Gary Homan, blond Lady representing MP Elizabeth May, and FOSH member Kerry Finley wearing his Bufflehead coat

Left to right: Ryan Painter representing MLA Gary Homan, Linda Totino representing MP Elizabeth May, and naturalist Kerry Finley wearing his Bufflehead Coat

North Saanich Mayor, Alice Finall is glad to be there despite the rain.

Penny Boyce, David Bird and Rick Bailey think they see a Bufflehead. It was a Hooded Merganser

Arbutus overhanging Roberts Bay, Shoal Harbour Sanctuary, provide a valuable berry mast for Mallards, and Kingfisher perch.

Part of large flock of 101 Common Mergansers fishing beneath Arbutus in Roberts Bay, October 7th, 2014

Heerman’s Gull in full breeding plumage (white head).

Status of the Heerman’s Gull in Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary, 2014

Heerman’s Gulls, looking like tanned cousins of their boreal cousins, the Mew Gull, share a common roost on Sidney’s Surfside Islets, overlooking Sidney Channel Important Bird Area (below, Sept 27th). They share these roosts with a diverse community of migratory shorebirds and seabirds in September and October. With Mount Baker in the hazy background, it is a spectacular vista ( photo below). Continue reading →