A lot of birds migrate through Greater Victoria and they need protection, says Ann Nightingale. The birds have travelled hundreds, sometimes thousands, of…
It’s a common sight at local beaches, despite the fact that the southern tip of Vancouver Island, from the Esquimalt Lagoon to Ten Mile Point, is within the Victoria harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary.Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion delivered straight to your inbox at 7 a.m., Monday to Friday.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
“If one dog disrupted them at 7 a.m. and they were left the rest of the day, it is not going to be a particular problem for the flock. But if one dog comes at 7 a.m., and another at 7:03 a.m., and another at 7:07 a.m., and another at 7:10 a.m. and this goes on all day and they have to generate the flight-or-fight response over and over again, it further weakens the birds. It makes them more susceptible to predation, exhaustion, disease.
“A lot of birds will settle to rest and refuel before they make the trek across the strait. So what you have is a traffic jam, an accumulation of their migration right here. It’s a birder’s paradise for sure.” “We’re very fortunate to live in a place where we have a mild climate,” says Nightingale, who is a volunteer and a Rocky Point Bird Observatory board member. “We have birds that come here only to breed. We have birds that come here from the north to spend their winters. And we have birds that come here in-between.”
“Migration isn’t defined by direction or duration or even timing. It can happen for different species at different times. The reasons for movement are for food or for breeding territories.” Shorebirds tend to arrive in clumps. They come through on their way to the Arctic in late April and May and they come back south from July to September. Most people wouldn’t notice the sandpipers coming through in large flocks. They’re really small and come through in large flocks, Nightingale says.
Finding rare birds who have drifted off course is one of the most exciting things about birding, says Newell. Similarly, the rocky area at the south end of Willows Beach is extremely important for migratory birds, especially sandpipers and plovers. “Sometimes you will see 100 or 200 of these birds, roosting or foraging there during the migration season, August through November.”
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