I'm a big fan of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory (last year we
went to Nocturnal Owl
Program for Northern Saw Whet Owls) so I was browsing their
calendar for events and found that this year they are running a
number of bird watching trips partnering with Eagle Wing Tours
which I have also traveled with in the past July 2016,April
of 2019 and August
2022. In the fall they were doing trips to see
Puffins, the trips were $250 and they only had one seat
available. I booked the trip. I checked in from time
to time and eventually found a second seat so Nara could join
me. (Claira wanted to stay with Grandma and bake cookies).
The trip left from Fishermans Wharf in Downtown Victoria at 8am
and asked you be there at 7:30 to get everything organized.
This trip is on their largest boat and it was sold out - easily 40
people were there. Nara noted these were my people just
based on the camera hardware that was there. I brought a
monopod and my 400mm lens with a 2x teleconverter because boats
can't get that close to small birds.
We left crispy at 8am and turned right to the Trial Islands.
The Trial Islands have a light house, 4 large radio antenna and a
huge number of shore birds at the tide line.
These trips only work because there is food for birds that they
can get to. This area of the Salish sea isn't that deep -
maybe 400 feet and many areas are shallower. There are many
small fish here and the birds work together to form "bait balls" -
fish schooled together to make picking them off easier. Deep
diving birds like cormorants and Common Murres can swim down to
200 feet and push the fish to the surface and sea gulls push the
fish down. The surface of the ocean can turn into boiling
pool of flashing fish as the ball hits the surface.
There are more ways to make a living here than bait balls.
The Red-necked Phalarope are small delicate birds that didn't
appear to dive at all. The eat single krill at the surface
and we often spotted them where there was kelp floating at the
surface. It's amazing that these tiny birds can exist in
such a harsh environment, but they seam to do well.
The star of the show is the Tufted Puffins. There aren't a
lot out here (we saw maybe a dozen individuals) but everyone got
really excited when they came close.
The Common Mures dominate the bird count here, followed by the
gulls. Beyond the Puffins, there are are a variety of birds
we saw once and then not again. A new species for me is the
White-winged Scoter. I have seen Surf Scoters before (they
have quite a unique head and bill shape), but this is my first
time seeing White Winged Scoters.
Nara described the Red Necked Grebe as a "self naming" bird.
It was clearly a Grebe and the Red Neck is clearly it's most
defining feature. We also spotted two Common loons.
And some clever quip... 
