I took Clara and Alden out to the Airpark Lagoon yesterday afternoon before dinner. It’s a stroller friendly walk that circles around the Airpark Lagoon and offers fantastic views of the Courtenay estuary. While many use the loop to exercise or to socialize, local naturalists know that it is an excellent place to birdwatch. Many unusual bird sightings have occurred at the lagoon over the years.

I had a fairly good day out on the loop. There were good numbers of gulls on the old Field’s Sawmill site across from the Old House Restaurant. However, without a scope (impossible to bring while birding with a 2 year old and a 5 month old!) I’m only certain that many of the gulls were glaucous-winged gulls. With a little more time a few other species could be found.

Belted kingfishers were active both along the river and at the lagoon. A lone great blue heron hunted along the far side of the lagoon near the airpark runways. On the water of the lagoon were several American wigeon, mallard, a couple of Canada geese, and a lone ruddy duck. The latter was a nice bird to see. Sparrows were common including: song sparrow, fox sparrow, spotted towhee, and white-crowned sparrow.

The highlight of the walk was two fly-overs of a flock of around 50 snow geese. Fall has arrived.