See the geese in chevron flight flapping
And a-racing on before the snow
They’ve got the urge for going, and they’ve
Got the wings so they can go
–– Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, the Sunshine Coast’s own poet laureate, wrote her bittersweet song Urge for Going in 1966. The lyrics are a complex intermingling of a romance going cold and an unwelcome winter coming on.
This month, all around the northern hemisphere, millions of people will experience geese honking their “goose music’’ as they fly overhead in chevrons, ahead of encroaching winter. Growing up on the east coast of England, my mother would announce “the wild geese are going over” and it became an archetypal connection to the natural world. This year, on Oct. 10, I attended the all-candidates meeting at Coopers Green Hall in Halfmoon Bay, and afterwards I wandered down onto the beach to look at the stars. I immediately noticed an aurora just starting to appear above the ridge to the north, and it quickly expanded exponentially to cover half the sky. I watched for half an hour, and while this was happening a halfmoon was rising in the southern sky. Then, in a final act of emotional overload, I heard an unseen flock of snow geese flying south over the strait. It’s a beautiful world we live in!
A few species of birds that must head south for the winter, are still hanging on here. Yellow-rumped and orange-crowned warblers are still being reported but both are half-hardy. A few common yellowthroats are still present in cattail marshes but they will soon go. Cedar waxwings and band-tailed pigeons are also still present.
Other indications of change are the continuing southward flight of raptors along the Coast. Turkey vultures will soon be gone until their return in the first week of March. Bald eagles are returning from their short northward movement to wherever the salmon are running. Every October a few western meadowlarks appear and may spend time on any suitable grassy area such as the playing fields in Gibsons. Another bellwether of the season was the first report on Oct. 13 of the American dipper that spends the winter in the Roberts Creek estuary. Look for it around the bridge across the road.
For two days, Oct. 11, 12 a brown pelican was reported at the Davis Bay wharf. Brown pelicans are being reported more often in the Salish Sea. This may be due to climate change or possibly just more folks observing and reporting birds.
To report your sightings or questions contact me at [email protected] or 885-5539. Good Birding.
