Blog of the Plague Year(s)

  17 March  no data available, 19 March eBird data:   https://ebird.org/checklist/S131320760 weather:   9:00 am 4C wind calm,  1:00 pm 9C wind NW8 tide:  11:00 am 3.1m, turning upward 22 March eBird data:   https://ebird.org/checklist/S131553182 weather:  8:30 am 5C wind WNW 5, 12:30 am 10C wind  NNE 9 tide:  11:00 am 2.8m, falling 17 March ...and I forgot to wear green!  Ochone, the pity of it all!  But a magnificent day.    I'd agreed to team up with some folks from MVIHES (Mid-Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society) to do some planting along the Englishman River upstream from my usual haunts.  At this point along the river, it's part of a park managed by the Nanaimo Regional District.  Quite wild and beautiful.   It wasn't really hard work, although it's now some years since I've done planting like that.  Last time was in Australia--at least here we didn't have to look ...

14 March Brant count, mid-day.  No data available 15 March  eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S130988895  Weather:    9:00 am 4C wind WSW 6,  1:00 pm 7C wind NNE 9,  patchy frost, clear, then clouding over Tide:    11:00 am 4.1m falling 14 March Out with ANats on what was supposed to be a count of the March brant migration.  Alas, no brants to count in the segment of beach we'd been assigned.  It was a chilly day, with occasional sleet. There were a couple of big mixed flocks of shorebirds, mostly dunlin, some black-bellied plovers.   It appears the brant were elsewhere.  Another team of observers reported 575, so the migration is underway. 15 March Finally, a sunny start to the morning.  A bit frosty initially but the day warmed up.  It was genuinely pleasant to sit in the sun on the Duck Counting Bench, even though there weren't lots of ducks to count. There are definite signs of spring. Variou...

  6 March eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S130342813 weather:  9:00 am 2C wind W 4,  1:00 pm 5C wind NNE 5, cloudy, occasional showers tide: 11:00 am 3.0 m, falling 7 March Brant count, no data available 8 March eBird data:   https://ebird.org/checklist/S130472429 Weather:  8:00 am 3C wind ESE 2, 12:00m 8C ESE 10, clearing to sunny Tide:  11:00 am 2.9 m, falling 9 March eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S1305397296  Weather:  8:00 am 4C wind ESE 6, 12:30 pm 7C wind ENE 7  cloudy, then clearing Tide :  10:30 am 3.1m, falling 10 March eBird data:   https://ebird.org/checklist/S130606990 Weather:  9:00 am 6C wind WNW 7, 1:00 pm 8C wind NNE 6, overcast, clearing  Tide:  11:00 am 3.0 m, falling 6 March A less than inviting morning.  Early clouds and very dark.  After about 15 minutes walking, there was light rain.  I persevered, over boggy and slippery paths, left by the h...