Water is still creeping up

Water levels are definitely creeping up….

time to start watching those logs…the bottom one is almost in the water.  I look forward to this time in a way because it stops people from going out on the flats, not that that has been a big problem, but it does happen and soon it will be ‘safe’ out there for all the wildlife and birds for another season – at least until the water is deep enough for water craft – but it also means that our time for our normal daily walk across the grassland is limited…

we’ve a way to go yet before we reach that stage, but the first bay has more water in it than it has seen for a while.

there were an awful lot of female Red-wing Blackbirds over at the log bay this afternoon…

males too, but they were out numbered by females…

the American Goldfinch are permanent fixtures now…

saw some House Finch today too (this one a male, like the goldfinch above)

a male Purple Finch was down on the trail at one point…

Robins, Robins, everywhere and this one seems to be eating a little fish!  I would never have thought a Robin would eat a fish, but when you zoom in really close you can see the gills….either it is a fish or it’s a little eel of some sort.

Rufous Hummingbirds too – I’ve yet to get a picture of any in the bush, but this female was at the feeder this morning…

I took the hummingbird picture at the same time I was taking Douglas Squirrel pictures….this guy was enjoying a peanut that someone had given to him.

First Yellow-rump Warbler of the season

Another beautiful spring day!

and if you look closely and compare this picture to yesterday’s view of the same area, you will see the water levels have started to creep up ever so slightly.

looking in this direction, the Harrison River is now appearing along the far shore, rather than just being able to see gravel bars.

speaking of looking in that direction – the young Great Blue Heron was over at the edge of the little pond over there.  There were lots of the usual Tree Swallows, Red-wing Blackbirds, even more American Goldfinch today but also, keeping with the ‘sparrow’ theme started yesterday…

a White-crowned Sparrow.  The above picture wasn’t taken at the log bay – the one I took there wasn’t worth posting, but this one was in my yard this morning.

That light coloured gull was at the log bay again.

Spotted Towhee were along the trail, as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  An American Robin was gathering nesting material…

but spotting the first Yellow-rump Warbler of the season was the highlight of the day.  Not a great picture I know!

and lastly there was a Douglas Squirrel running around in the bushes.

Lincoln Sparrow

What a gorgeous day it was today – well at least until a few minutes ago when it started to pour! Not sure where those clouds came from so fast!

This was the ‘log bay’ earlier today – look at the leading edge of the water just in front of the logs…

here is a close up – that ‘scum’ is an indicator of snow melt.  It means that somewhere the snow is starting to melt which is a good thing because they haven’t issued an advisory of possible flooding in our area this spring, given that the snowpack that affects us is over 150% of normal, but they have warned that one could be coming soon.  That is OK, it’ll make life interesting for a while.

a lot of activity at the log bay today….here is one of the female Red-wing Blackbirds lurking in the bushes.

and one of the cheerful little American Goldfinch.

Robins of course….and lot’s and lot’s of Swallows, both Tree and Violet Green.  My husband is pretty sure he saw a Spotted Sandpiper in the log bay last night….it seems a little bit early for them.  I looked and looked and couldn’t spot anything except that one lone light coloured gull today.

Along the trail I had to take this….I was trying to get pictures of the Honey bees but see I only managed the rear end of one – this willow tree was absolutely alive with Honey bees – standing under it was like standing near a bee hive and that is a very good thing because bees are in trouble in this country.

a little further along I tried to capture all the little tiny bugs by these Salmon Berry flowers…the bugs are all the little white dots on the left side of the picture – bugs are So-o-o important for all our returning birds and for pretty much all birds attempting to raise a family.

a little further along I snapped a quick shot of what I thought was a song sparrow on the ground – it wasn’t until I downloaded the memory card I realized it was a Lincoln’s Sparrow!  That means sparrows are now migrating through so must keep eyes open for all kinds of different ones.

First Osprey of the season

No pictures today – just nothing really to take pictures of but did want to record that I saw the first Osprey of the season today.  Should also mention that I saw a Merlin by the log bay, in fact saw one yesterday as well and forgot to report it.

Goldfinch and more

This past Easter weekend was such a treat after the past few months.  The sunshine and warm temperatures have caused some rapid changes…I’ll back track a bit…

to Easter Sunday when you couldn’t have asked for a nicer day!

and to make the day even more special was the spotting of a quartet of gulls (a trio in the picture).  Their actions told me they were something other than the gulls we are used to seeing around here and when I got home and down loaded the pictures…

I could tell they were a species I had suspected as having been here before, but had never actually seen  – that being Ring-billed Gulls. Quite a dainty gull, acting a lot like Mew Gulls, had a light (yellow) eye and yellow legs but the most telling feature is the black ring close to the tip of the bill.

fast forward to today and the bushes were alive!  Here is one of those Ruby-crowned Kinglets that are everywhere now….you just have to stand still in a shrubby area and they’ll appear.

The Rufous Hummingbirds are back in force as well, the one above a female at a feeder, but it is so nice to hear them zipping around or doing their diving displays as you walk along the trail.

over at the log bay it was a beehive of activity – it would have been so nice to have had the time to just sit there for an hour or so – There were those Northern Flickers – a male above.

and the Tree Swallows – now firmly established and busy at the nesting boxes.  Saw some Violet-green’s as well…

most exciting was spotting the first American Goldfinch of the season! still getting their breeding plumage – female above and male below.

a Great Blue Heron was sneaking around over in the corner and there were the usual Red-wing Blackbirds and Robins everywhere.

This lone gull was also at the log bay.  I suspect it is a young Herring Gull just in the process of changing from it’s 1st winter plumage to it’s 1st summer’s plumage – but I could be wrong.  It was over all very light in colour with black bill and pinkish legs.

back at the viewing platform caught this Song Sparrow singing it’s heart out – and look at how everything has greened up after just a few days of temperatures in the high teens.

One last thing, yesterday we made a trek over to the Heron  Reserve in Chilliwack.  I had seen some incredible pictures a friend of mine had taken of the heronry there.  Unfortunately, our timing was too late as the trail to the heronry is now closed off as the birds are now sitting on eggs…

If no one has ever been there, this is the heronry as it is visible now, from the main trail.  The large nest at the left is an eagle nest.  Although the eagles will feed their young on young heron, having an eagle nest in the vicinity of a heronry actually stops heavy predation as the eagles protect their territory – just one of the ways nature works to everyone’s advantage when left on their own without man’s intervention.

extremely difficult to see but there are heron sitting on each of those nests.

cropped in really close…

Meadowlark!

Today it looks, feels and sounds like spring.

bird song was everywhere!  Chickadee’s were giving their ‘here penny’ calls – a definite sign of spring…

There weren’t quite enough Tree Swallows to call them a ‘swarm’ yet, but there were a lot more than we’ve seen and I definitely saw some Violet Green mixed in.

I was looking out this way, trying in vain to see a duck, goose, heron or bird of any description other than a Robin – when I heard it!

way up there on the top of that piling – a Western Meadowlark was singing…

I’ve cropped this in as much as I dare, but if you enlarge it (click on it) you can see the meadowlark – they don’t always pass through here during migration – but it is a thrill when they do.

back to reality and it seemed there were Northern Flicker calling from all directions – 3 of them in this picture.

zoomed in on two of them here, these appear to both be females but it is hard to really see..

also several of those Ruby-crowned Kinglets – finally!!!  Sorry but that is the best I managed of those guys.

lot’s of scurrying around and activity in the underbrush – Towhee and Song Sparrow nest on the ground – one of the many reasons for staying on trails and keeping dogs on lead.  Also saw Fox Sparrows and both Robins and Steller’s Jays obviously with nest building on their minds.

one last look at the exceptionally low water levels right now.  The only water type birds were 3 little female Bufflehead ducks – but there was an adult Bald Eagle flying around today.