Nip in the air

A spectacular day, but with a definite nip in the air, despite the sunshine.

and no wonder, you can see the snow on the mountains today…it was all around us, even Mt. Woodside on the east side of the estuary had just the tiniest little bit at the very top.

a typical day…lots of all the usual ducks, including the Hoodies that increased in number to 6.  Only ducks I didn’t see today were the Pintails.  Numbers of Mallard have really increased too, wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple of hundred spread out along the route.

Salmon continue in good numbers here at the log bay and all along the route as well.

This was one of several Bald Eagles in the eagle trees by the viewing platform.  The flats were almost bare of eagles today…I only counted 34…a far cry from the numbers that are usually out there.  Lots flying back and forth and over head, although, again, not as many as we’ve seen…perhaps all the boat activity had something to do with it…or maybe they just wanted a change of scenery.

lastly, another gull…this one is, I think, a Glaucous-wing/Western hybrid.  We seem to get a few of them here…being it is in full sunlight the darker gray doesn’t show that well, but you can see extensive gray on the head and neck…and it has a dark eye.  If it were a Herring Gull, it should have a light coloured eye.

Should also mention that there were Golden-crowned Kinglets and Black Cap Chickadees from one end of the trail to the other…you could hear them everywhere but none felt like posing for a picture.