PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Beaver Pond

One of the pools, created by beavers, up Woods Creek near Campbell River, Vancouver Island on June 20th of 2010.

Update on my First (Little) Big Year:

The first week of my little Big Year is coming to a close. Over the four days, I was able to identify 37 species of birds, which was very disappointing considering only three more species would have tipped me into 40. Oh well. I guess there's improvement pending for the future.
Taking the number for what its worth, however, 37 is a great count for just four days of my first big year, and I'm confident I can get at least two more for the list tomorrow, if the weather is still clear. And that seems to be the ticket. We've had a few beautiful (freezing) sunny days and the birds have been out in droves. It seems that things are really working out for this big year. The weather brings out other wildlife too, and walking along the Oyster River estuary trail, we saw some gorgeous sea lions cruising down the coastline. We also had an unexpected encounter with a group of friends and relatives so, even if I hadn't seen any birds, it would have been worth it.
So here is the list up to date, with habitats. I put the common name first, with the habitat occurrence in parentheses. All species listed have been seen at some point this week, but many of the occurrences are listed from voice identification alone. All were seen between Campbell River and the Comox Valley.
1. Varied thrush (suburban backyard)
2. Dark-eyed junco (suburban backyard, clearcut bush)
3. Chestnut-backed chickadee (suburban backyard, forest trees)
4. Northwestern crow (urban roadside, suburban coastline, forest treetops, ocean mudflats)
5. Glaucous-winged gull (suburban coastline, river estuary, ocean shoreline, urban field, ocean mudflats)
6. Northern flicker (suburban roadside, forest trees)
7. Spotted towhee (suburban backyard, forest bush)
8. Song sparrow (suburban backyard, clearcut bush, forest bush, beach driftwood, suburban roadside, urban roadside)
9. Trumpeter swan (suburban overhead)
10. Bald eagle (suburban backyard, forest treetops, ocean shoreline, ocean mudflats)
11. Fox sparrow (suburban backyard)
12. Pileated woodpecker (forest trees)
13. Common raven (forest treetops)
14. Pacific wren (forest bush, clearcut bush)
15. Golden-crowned kinglet (forest treetops, forest trees, forest bush)
16. Hermit thrush (clearcut bush)
17. American robin (clearcut bush)
18. Varied thrush (forest trees, clearcut bush)
19.  Mallard (river estuary, ocean mudflats)
20. Surf scoter (river estuary, ocean shoreline)
21. Harlequin duck (ocean shoreline)
22. Common goldeneye (river estuary)
23. Bufflehead (river estuary, ocean shoreline)
24. Common merganser (river estuary, ocean shoreline)
25. Canada goose (country field, open ocean)
26. Common loon (ocean shoreline)
27. Great blue heron (ocean shoreline)
28. Hairy woodpecker (forest trees)
29. Eurasian collared-dove (suburban backyard)
30. European starling (urban roadside)
31. House sparrow (suburban backyard)
32. Northern pintail (ocean mudflats)
33. American wigeon (river estuary, ocean mudflats)
34. Green-winged teal (ocean mudflats)
35. Killdeer (ocean mudflats)
36. Black-bellied plover (ocean mudflats)
37. Western sandpiper (ocean mudflats)
So there you have it. All 37 species and the habitats I observed them in. There were some ducks, sandpipers, and woodpeckers I saw as well but, because my identification could not be 100% certain, I had to omit these names. It is very tempting to include a name when you are 99% sure what it is, but such is life. So downy woodpecker and ancient murrelet were not included, among others.
Of course, I would love to describe exactly how many of each I saw, what they were doing, how they interacted with other animals, the kinds of plants that were around, and more, but this is just a weekly post. Maybe check the PROFILES page (click the FIELD NOTES link above) in the far future for a post on a specific bird's biology. That natural world is so amazing! Have a great week and don't forget to get outside.