Swans!

What an awesome day!

This morning shot shows the snow I talked about yesterday…these mountains being over by Chilliwack.

Today was the first day that there have been significant numbers of Eagles soaring up over the hillside to the west of the estuary.  Thermals must be just right in this area because from now on, at about mid day, when the weather is nice, you can expect to see 30, 40, 50 even more, Eagles soaring in this area.  These flights that seem to be done just for pure enjoyment are called ‘kettles’.

There was another first today….these 3 Swans…probably Trumpeter’s…are the first of the season and my personal favorite wintering visitor.  Tundra Swans have also been known to stop here on their way further south, but the Trumpeter’s will spend the winter with us.  Note all the gulls out there too, especially on the very far shore…not much in the way of eagles…they were having too much fun!

a shot of the snow capped mountains to the north east of the estuary area…

and I’m tossing this in today too.  This is a Steller’s Jay and we have lots of them.  These are a bird you either love or hate.  They are noisy and boisterous and tend to take over at feeders although I’ve noticed that if you have enough feeders spread around the other birds manage to get their share although the Jays are always there first for the ‘good stuff’.  It would be a very rare day to not see any Steller’s Jay so they tend to get overlooked and we forget that they are only found here on the west coast and so seeing one would be a treat for anyone living east of the Rocky Mountains!