i

Outdoors

TheReview Wednesday, February 20,1991 — A17

A white cattle egret, a red ruddy
shelduck, an Emperor goose from
Alaska, an Anna’s hummingbird
in the winter, and now a black-
crowned night heron from points
south!

All in the span of a very few
weeks. And before that, a snowy
owl from the Arctic. What next?

No red breasted tummy-
scratchers? Birds, with their

incredible powers of flight, do get
around!

The handsome Emperor goose
was at-Blenkinsop Lake, along
with Canadas and'a dozen pairs of
ring-necked ducks.

Nora Gatt of Pondwood Road in
Saanich reported a black-crowned
night heron and many have been
out to see it. Taylor records this
species as ‘accidental’ in this part
of Canada, while Godfrey (Birds
of Canada) notes that it does not
occur in British Columbia.

One wonders what the chances
are of this heron erupting in south-
em B.C just as it did in Alberta,
Our sister province to the east.

We first recorded the black-
crowned night heron in Alberta in
1958, south of Calgary. In the
following spring, my son and I had
the good fortune of turning up a
breeding colony 40 miles east of
Edmonton which gave me the
Opportunity of spending many
hours attempting to photograph
them.

The black-crowned night heron
is a striking bird with its dark
back, pearl-grey underparts, black
crown and beak and bright wine-
Ted eye.

With many competent birders in
the field, it does not seem possible
that this large spectacular bird was
previously missed. It was clearly
expanding its range at a rapid rate
just as the Cooper hawk did in the
same province at about the same
time.

Women’s
coordinaior
chosen

Gretchen Hartley has been
appointed women’s programs
coordinator to work with com-
munity groups in Sidney and other
Vancouver Island centers to
improve women’s programs and
SEIVICES.

Hartley will work with women’s
groups, service clubs, community
organizations, businesses, local
government and individuals

We had had somewhat similar
experiences with the lark bunting
and bobolink.

Unlike many situations in East-
erm Canada, our night herons
nested over water in dense patches
of reeds, rather than in trees. The
nests were rather substantial hol-
lowed platforms containing up to a
half-dozen pale bluish eggs with a
chalk-like surface.

The relatively unattractive
youngsters were brownish and
streaked, early showing pro-
nounced feather sheaths, espe-
cially in wings and tail.

The chicks scattered from the
nest at a relatively early age and
one wondered how the adults man-
aged to find them in such dense
cover. The young were fed heavily
upon plump minnows and frogs.

*Multitude of birds recently spotted

The literature is replete with
species expanding their ranges into
new areas where conditions are
favourable.

I suspect that the best example
of this is man himself who ranges
from the Antarctic to the Arctic
and widely around the globe. The
horse and elephant also came to
embrace very wide geographical
areas.

Mary Jane Phillips, Resthaven
by the Sea, has also recorded a
Strange red duck among geese in
the bay nearby. It may be the ruddy
shelduck.

And Tom Gibson, Ardwell, is
nonplussed about a most peculiar
white goose which is pre-empting
his garage for perching purposes.

Seen any green-legged, pink-
trumped, sidchill gougers lately?

CY HAMPSON ae

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‘The chicks scattered from the nest
at a relatively early age and one
wondered how the adulfs
managed fo find them in such
dense cover’

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Michael A. Walden
Maureen A. Sullivan
Sara E. Pope

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Telephone 656-7231

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