We're not sure where it is all coming from....
the rain stopped days ago but the water keeps rising....that is the path to the park! Obviously we aren't walking that way these days, so we headed over to Kilby.
noticed a lot of debris coming down the river, again, not sure from where.
decided to walk along the dike....you can see the trees are starting to leaf out.
those green fields had quite a few Canada Geese scattered all over. Despite the sunshine there weren't a lot of birds visible....
some courting Northwestern Crows....
and some tapping led us to this Pileated Woodpecker....
just off from this turn around point....
there were two Common Loon out on the river (only one in photo)
and of course there were a few American Robins around...
lots of Salmon Berry flowers....usually the Rufous Hummingbirds arrive about the same time as these are in flower....no sign of one here yet...at least that I've heard of.
and speaking of flowers.....
Dandelions are coming into full bloom....these play such an important role in the over all scheme of things.
We've had a bit of rain the last few days. How much rain? Well here is......
the log bay as it looked on Friday, the 13th....
and here it is today, the 16th.....
the first bay last Thursday....
and the first bay today....notice too the little bit of snow on top of Mt. Woodside! It has been a little while since we've seen that.
Not a lot of birdlife around today...
The little male Anna's Hummingbird was on guard in his usual spot. No sign of a Rufous yet although my daughter in Parksville had one on Friday, so they are on their way.
There have been a number of Pine Siskin.....this photo, taken yesterday, gives an idea of how hard it was raining.
and lastly these are a few of the Canada Geese that were down there this evening.
Have been seeing.....
Purple Finch for the past week or so with more of them showing up every day.
Notice the one at the far left, this is an orange variant of the normal Purple Finch male which the other four are. There is also a little Pine Siskin down in the corner.
This photo isn't clear, but dos show the colour better.
Down at the flats today....
it was another unseasonably warm day with temperatures reaching 18 degrees.
there were some Canada Geese out on the flats....
the Black-capped Chickadees were busy excavating their nesting site...actually we heard Black-capped Chickadees all over the place.
There has been a lot of territorial drumming going on the last few days....
mainly by these guys, the Red-breasted Sapsuckers.
Already mentioned that the Tree Swallows were back earlier this year than ever before (Feb. 26th)....
Finally managed to get a photo of one....but why stop at one? The last few evenings the numbers of swallows down at the estuary in the evening has been astonishing....
photos never give the full effect but this should give a bit of an idea! I'm pretty sure there are Violet Green Swallows mixed in with the Tree Swallows.
The incredibly mild weather continues with temperatures up into the high teens the last few days...
and water levels continue to drop. There is starting to be a lot of searching out nesting sites going on as well. The Tree Swallows have been checking out all the bird houses...on top of that piling...
while a European Starling was at this one.
a pair of Black-capped Chickadees were at another....won't say exactly where. Have learned to not give out the location of either bird nests or rare birds...draws too much attention to them!
Spotted a Pine Siskin today. Have been watching for Mountain Bluebirds. If we are going to see any this is getting to be the time of year when they will be passing through.
Northern Pintails continue to be the predominate species of ducks in the area.
and we've noticed that the Trumpeter Swans have been getting really restless the last few days...it is a bit early them to be heading north but then it has been a weird year already. The above photo was taken this evening.
So got out for a walk over to the park today and all I can say is really! Why?
It seems chain saws have been busy in the park. Less than 3 years ago that was a perfectly healthy tree. Then it suddenly and mysteriously died. As soon as it was dead that gave the excuse to deem it 'dangerous' and this is the result. At least enough was left that if allowed to remain standing, the stump will be come a home for various cavity nesting birds. As if this one wasn't bad enough, a little further along we come to....
this. This was a perfectly healthy Cedar tree that has, from the size of it, stood there for probably a hundred years through numerous wind storms, snow storms and even ice storms and now suddenly it has been deemed 'dangerous'. I won't put into print what I think of that!
So lets get over to the log bay.
Is it just me or how sad is this? What has happened to this place? I should have looked up and found some photos from previous years to compare...maybe I'll do that tomorrow. Right now lets find some birds, because there were a few...
American Robins....a number of them were busy bathing...it must be spring!
Red-wing Blackbirds were scattered through the bushes....
This Song Sparrow seemed to be quite possessive of this particular rose bush...Song Sparrows are thinking nesting already and the base of this bush is just the sort of place they like. Unfortunately it is quite close to the trail so I sure hope that if a nest is under construction everyone keeps themselves and their pets on the trail.
Speaking of nesting there are obviously some Anna's Hummingbirds sitting on nests in this area as this little male was back on guard today.
It isn't just birds that have 'family' on their mind. This is one of two Douglas Squirrels that were racing around after each other in one of the cedar groves.
Not in the park but because we haven't had an opportunity to get photos of
Pine Siskin this winter thought I'd throw this in since a flock of thirty or so stopped by today and finally....
again because they tend to be a little camera shy, this Eurasian-collared Dove that I managed to capture a picture of yesterday. And before I go, want to mention that there have been Purple Finch around the last few days....the season is definitely under way!
Here we are....March already and finally, after computer issues and a battle with the flu, got out for a walk again...
water levels are back to more where one expects them to be this time of the year, of course this year is proving to be one for the record books so who knows how the season will unfold.
The first thing I noticed were the numbers of ducks! Especially Northern Pintails (in the rear). We've often seen a few pintails but they were the primary species today, must have been close to a hundred in the area. This photo also has a pair of Mallard.
There was one Great Blue Heron out there, I understand about 3 of them have been hanging about lately.
also spotted a Killdeer at the edge of the water.
This was my first walk to the park since the district did their work on the trail....
fortunately it wasn't as civilized as I'd feared it would be. The edges of the path have been widened but that should fill in again if allowed to do so. Didn't see any birds along the path with the exception of.....
this male Anna's Hummingbird! He was actually perched singing....had never heard one sing before. No doubt the Rufous Hummingbirds should be showing up soon. The Tree Swallows have already arrived back.
Things were very calm over at the 'fallen' log bay...this photo shows that water levels are still higher than their lowest levels....
There was quite the collection of critters out in this grassy point....
mainly Canada Geese and American Wigeon but also some Green-wing Teal and even a couple of female Barrow's Goldeneye (not in photo)
Now just before I end I want to mention that we've had an unusual regular visitor for the past few weeks....
a Mourning Dove! It isn't the first time we've seen Mourning Doves here but they aren't that usual. This one, with the bluish sheen to the head and neck is a male. The Eurasian Collared Doves are still around as well but not being seen too often now as they are probably already nesting.
