An end of month update

 Time to give an update on the situation out here at the estuary.  Seems people are getting antsy to see eagles, but really it is a bit early yet.  

there are salmon out in the river, and these are in the creek leading to the fish hatchery...

but even there, there are no eagles yet.....only Turkey Vultures!  Quite a few Turkey Vultures. I don't know if this is normal or not because this is the first year we've been able to access this area on a regular basis.

back here at the estuary, things remain very dry although the rain over the last week or so is giving hope.  In reality, we don't normally start seeing the Chum Salmon here until about the middle of October.

still dry here too.

Some waterfowl do seem to be arriving though...

there were quite a few Canada Geese out on the flats this afternoon.

Earlier, during a wet walk at the dyke along the Harrison River, we could see a lot of ducks out on the far shore of the river....as far as we could tell, they were all Mallards.

At the estuary....

there were a few Cinnamon Teal, I don't recall a year when we've had Cinnamon Teal hang about for any length of time, like they are this year.

and what we dismissed as a few mallards....

turned out to be Northern Shoveler!  

Another month has gone by

 So another month has gone by and still not much of anything to report.

other than the water levels just keep dropping and the really concerning this year is that the springs that have always trickled water into this, the log bay, have completely dried up.  Never, ever, have there been plants growing in there.

same story in the first bay.

it has also been very quiet bird wise.....usually a Great Blue Heron somewhere...

like that young one.

there have also been a lot of young Cedar Waxwings.

the occasional gull is starting to show up, like this young Glaucous-wing Gull

also Shorebirds...like this Greater Yellowlegs....there certainly is enough 'shore'....but all in all it has been pretty boring.  We so desperately need rain...just not all at once!

It has been quite the year so far.....

 The other day I was reminded that I haven't posted anything on here for a long time....and it is true, I haven't and that probably isn't a good thing considering this has been, and continues to be one of the most unusual years we've had in the 25 plus years we've been here.  Unusual, in not necessarily a good way.

So lets go back to the spring....March to be precise....

When water levels were incredibly low....in fact lower than anyone living in the area could ever remember them being.

Some things were normal.....

Bald Eagles were working on nests, however of the nests that were active at this point, only one pair actually stayed and raised one youngster.  The other two nests were abandoned.

Mountain Bluebirds migrated through in late March, right on schedule....

Male Mountain Bluebird on March 19th, 2023

April came and water levels started to creep up ever so slightly, but still very low

One thing that has been interesting this year is the number of wildlife sightings. 

In particular, Coyotes.  This one seen on April 27th was obviously a nursing mother.  Seeing Coyotes has become almost routine!

Some other wildlife sightings have been....

Black Bear swimming at the estuary on June 27th....when there was still some water out there...

which backs us up a bit because water levels finally rose in May when we had the first of our unseasonably warm spells.  The water came up fast...

and with virtually no rain, except for the very occasional day, and continuing warm temperatures....they dropped again almost as quickly.  This phot was taken on June 5th when water levels were already receding.

We should, at this point, mention our Purple Martin Colony which, despite early concerns, seemed to have a successful nesting year.  As I write this in early August, they have already left.....because that is another unusual aspect of this year, everything seems to be about a month earlier than usual.

When it comes to water levels....by July 5th, the 'estuary' was back to being grasslands which allowed the Roosevelt Elk herd to be out on what, any other year, would still be under water for at least another month or, more likely, two. 

or....

this Mule or Black Tail Deer to walk along the park trail and across the grasslands..

Incidentally this is the first sighting of a deer in our area, at least as far as I know, in over 20 years.

As far as birds go, well the Rufous Hummingbirds arrived on schedule but in very low numbers....again I don't think there are less of them, I think they have just expanded their range to other places further north and higher elevations. We did have

Gray Catbirds nest over at the park.....not a 'first', but definitely something that doesn't happen every year...

We were also able to watch a Western Wood Peewee nest

So it is now the 11th of August.  We are about to enter another 'heat wave'.  We've had no appreciable rain for months....

the log 'bay' is almost completely dry....

as is the first bay...

there area Coyotes wandering around out there where normally people would still be boating and kayaking....and we have no idea how it is all going to play out!

I'll try to be more conscientious  about posting now as we move towards fall, because whatever happens....it will probably be interesting.

Return of winter

 Here we are, almost the last day of the month.....and winter has come back with a vengeance.

this is the way the estuary looked yesterday after more than a foot of snow fell in the previous 24 hours.  

Nevertheless there was a fair bit of activity including....

a few Trumpeter Swans and Mallards

a Great Blue Heron on the prowl....

and even a Northern Shrike!

Prior to the snow's arrival, things have been pretty much the same....

with large numbers of mainly Cackling Geese in the fields...

and Canada's as well.

there has been activity at all of the Bald Eagle nests....no one settling down for nesting yet.

Today....

the American Robins that have been around in large numbers pretty much all winter, were eating the berries of the holly trees...

out in the fields there were large numbers of Trumpeter Swans and Northern Pintails, along with some geese....Cackler's I think.

also saw a small flock of these little guys - Golden Crowned Kinglets.

One more day and it will be March....I expect once this current weather pattern breaks, signs of spring will happen quickly.

Long month.....

 February may have the least number of days of any month, but somehow it feels like the longest month of the year!  I guess because we know that spring is right around the corner and we can't wait for it to get here.

There just hasn't been a lot happening.  We've had some nice sunny days....

Other's not so nice but no snow....at least so far.

Some days there have been hundreds of Canada and Cackling Geese, other days none, partly due to Goose hunting opening for a month.

in the last week or so, there have been a large number of Northern Pintail, sometimes in the fields and sometimes out on the river.

it would normally be considered a sign of spring, but American Robin's have been hanging around all winter, although they are being seen more frequently now.

Downy Woodpeckers have been quite active, seen almost every day

and Great Blue Heron are seen regularly....

the fact that we are seeing Canada Geese on pilings, checking for nesting sites, is a definite sign that spring is coming....

as are the Pussy Willows that are starting to show up....now we need a dandelion to flower!