High Water

This morning there has been a lot of helicopter activity in the area…I’m wondering if the authorities are finally waking up to what we who live here have been seeing….that water levels are getting pretty high!

Yesterday we drove along Morris Valley Road to get some updated pictures of the estuary…

that is Morris Valley Road running along the left hand side…

no grass or bushes showing now like there were 2 weeks ago when we photographed this area..

and here is the area by the Naturetrust lands…all that brown scum is full of the most disgusting assortment of garbage…

We next headed over to Kilby to take a look at Harrison Bay…the railway bridge is in the background…and the water is creeping onto the parking lot at the boat launch…

this is taken from the turnaround in the campground….obviously it will be under water in a day or so..

No beach….this was taken from one of the highest level campsites.

back over my way…here is the boat launch this morning…up a bit more, just over the 2 foot line on the marker…

and has crept through the bush and is now coming onto the parking lot.

over at the park….it continues to creep up…you can see the flooded trail to where the viewing platform is located and notice the little puddle starting to the right of the trail…at this rate the whole area will be wet very soon!

As for birds…well the Spotted Sandpiper was there in the bushes at the edge of the water, there were several Robins running around with mouthfuls of worms…obviously the first batch of babies are hatched…

both Bushtit parents were busy…

here is the other one ~ and at this point my camera batteries died and I realized I had cleverly forgotten to put my spare ones in my pocket…so we headed for home.

I will mention though that last week while the Rose-breasted Grosbeak was visiting my place (hasn’t been seen since Friday)..

an resident in the housing development adjacent to the park had not one, but two Lazuli Bunting at her feeder.  She kindly sent me this picture and I’m sure won’t mind me sharing.

Lazuli Bunting, which nest in hot dry areas of the interior) have been seen in the area before, but not for perhaps 10 or 12 years.  However, over the last couple of years there does appear to be a small population developing in Island 22 Regional Park in Chilliwack, which, as a bird flies, isn’t all that far away so perhaps they are a species we can look forward to seeing more of in the future.

It really helps to have more keen birders in the neighborhood – who knows what will be seen in the future!