Undeterred by a fake plastic owl set up to scare it away, a northern flicker has returned to its favourite perch on the World’s Largest Hockey Stick in Duncan, where it has now drilled two holes.
The colourful bird appears determined to stay on the 62.5-metre long stick, Duncan’s most well-known attraction, built for Expo 86 in Vancouver and subsequently mounted at the Cowichan Community Centre.
The bird-stick problem started about April 7, when people began to notice what looked like bark mulch under the stick.
When they looked up, there was a flicker-sized hole in the hockey stick.
“A bucket truck went up last week and determined there wasn’t a nest, and put a patch over the hole. But the woodpecker came back and pecked another one. So now we have two holes in the stick,” said Kris Schumacher, communications manager for the regional district, which owns the community centre.
“As the regional district, we do have this huge asset to look after, and we don’t want to have it full of holes and filling up with water.”
Because it is mating season, it’s believed the flicker, a kind of woodpecker, is preparing a nest to attract a mate, Schumacher said.
Staff are reviewing options to convince the bird to move on.
“At the moment, we have affixed a plastic owl up on the stick to hopefully deter the woodpecker, and it did look like it was working for a few hours.
“But . . . staff have seen it back, so it doesn’t appear to have done the trick.”
Maintenance staff may try to position the owl closer to the hole, Schumacher said, “but at this point, we may just need to let the bird use it for the season and fix it up later this summer.”
The regional district has seen an outpouring of support and interest in both the bird and the stick, he said.
“We hope everyone can appreciate we’re doing our best to find a happy resolution to this unusual situation.”
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