Dreary end to the month

What a horrible way to end the month! 

Today’s pictures aren’t going to earn any acclaim – that is for sure!  It was so dark and wet out….you can see the ‘eagle trees’ by the viewing platform were well populated…

I had actually been surprised to see a total of 5 Northern Flicker, all feeding in the ground in one spot, along with a handful of Varied Thrush and even a Robin.

Over at the log bay – where the water level is rising once again – there was this Herring Gull along with a few Mallard…notice the number of dead salmon in the water and there are still lots of live ones in the area as well.

while I was at the bay a pair of Great Blue Heron flew in and circled, with one landing on this piling and the other….

in this tree – these birds always look so ungainly perched on a tree branch.

the bird stayed perched as we walked underneath it to head back home.

One thing I do want to mention for today is the spotting of a Gray Squirrel.

This is what I classify as a ‘proof it was there’ photo.  It has been at least 2 years, possibly 3, since I’ve seen a Gray Squirrel in the area of the estuary – and yes I know it is black….they are called ‘Gray’ squirrels even though they can be gray or black in colour.  They are a species of squirrel that is native to the eastern half of the continent but were introduced to the lower mainland, Stanley Park to be precise, early in the last century and were content to stay there until about the 1960’s when they started spreading out.  They are now standard fixtures as far east as Chilliwack on the south side of the Fraser River and Agassiz on the north side, but in the 14 years I have been watching this area, this is only the 3rd time I have seen one.  There are conflicting opinions on how their presence affects the populations of our little native Douglas Squirrel.  The opinion that I tend to agree with is that they don’t really have a lot of effect as the two species prefer different habitats.  Our native Squirrel (of which we have an abundance this year) like undisturbed forested areas where the Gray Squirrel  prefers open ‘park like’ areas such as our parks and suburban gardens offer.