Goodbye 2013

The last day of 2013....

dull, cloudy, and unremarkable....sort of like the year has been.  Not a bad year, just not a great year.

Old Man Winter missed us with no snow to speak of and very little in the way of 'winter' temperatures....at least here at the estuary.  Water levels rose earlier than normal, so that by the end of April it was impossible to do our normal walks.  The high water coincided with the normal time for shorebird migration, so with no 'shore' they had to pass us by.  Although the water rose early it didn't reach flood levels - which might have caused some excitement - but, despite one of the driest summers on record,  just stayed up at a pretty even level until into September.  Usually with high water we get high populations of mosquitoes but even that didn't work out this year - good for the humans in the area, not so good for the birds that rely on this food source to raise a family.  Even people that don't normally pay attention to such things were remarking on the lack of birds - primarily swallows and other insectivores.  The only 'rare' sighting this year was in October when a pair of Mute Swans were spotted way out on the river. October did bring a better run of Chum Salmon than we've seen for a few years, and that of course brought in the Bald Eagles, right on schedule.  I haven't heard what the peak number was but there has been a good population that is now spreading out as the salmon run is over.

For the second year in a row we've been disappointed with the lack of Trumpeter Swans here at the estuary, although not in the general area.  This can be partly blamed on the extreme low water levels we have had all fall and to the present time with this year ending up as one of the driest.  

On the flip side, Anna's Hummingbirds seem to have become well established in the area with numbers of them wintering over.  Whether good or not, those Eurasian-Collared Doves that were unheard of just a few years ago, but have now spread north as far as Alaska, have found, maybe not the estuary yet, but are well established at Harrison Bay - all part of this same IBA.

On the conservation and protection side, progress is being made.  Finger's crossed the provincial government is very close to making us an official Wildlife Management area and local visitors both on foot and in watercraft seem to be getting the message about staying on designated trails and not approaching too closely, especially during the important months when the eagles are here.  Air traffic and a limited number of dog owners, maybe not so much! 

So, on-wards and upwards....I wonder what 1914 will bring?  Guess we'll find out!

Second to last day.....

Well here we are, the second to last day of yet another year....there hasn't been a lot going on lately so we went a little further afield  in search of something....anything...

ran along Morris Valley Road, to check the estuary from that side....

there were a number of Bald Eagles just off from the shore.....

here is a bit closer look....obviously something edible was in the grass.

there was a total of 3 Great Blue Heron spread out along the creek....this one sitting up on a bank rather than at the edge of the water.

After that we made a quick right turn at the 4 way stop....

to check out Elbow Lake...only to find that the sort of campsite that had been here had been uprooted and a bit of a mess....not sure what or why.... So we turned around and headed over to Kilby for a walk on the beach...

where we found this rather interesting thing...all along the shoreline of the river, grass.....cut grass, all the same length, about the size of pine needle, and pretty much the same shape...it was 6 or 8 inches deep in places...if anyone has any idea of what, where or why...I'd sure be interested in knowing.

You'll note that there is a distinct lack of birds in this report....that is the way its been lately...

we checked out our boat launch before heading home...the sun had come out...and then, while walking back I spotted....

this....now by the time the camera was ready it was taking off to give this rather interesting shot....I'm pretty sure it is one of the Red-tail Hawks that have been hanging around.

And one last note, those Anna's Hummingbirds....we've noticed the last few days that they aren't using the feeders, but seem to have spread out so we've seen one in the park and another was at our boat launch today.  I suspect that with the warmer temperatures there are little bugs that are active so they aren't as reliant on the feeders.

Calm and quiet

It's getting to that time when things are pretty quiet around here...

of course there are still a few....

Bald Eagles around....and Mallards.....

and gulls....but when you look at the sparse pickings left from the salmon run you can understand why the eagles are moving on.  One of the places they seem to be moving to is along the slough at Deroche, especially along the side east of the bridge.

here is another Glaucous-wing Gull with a spent salmon skin.

There was actually quite a lot of activity in the bushes today, Chickadees, Bush Tits, Junco, Sparrows and even a Hairy Woodpecker.

Boxing Day Birds

Boxing Day started out a bit drizzly

this male Northern Flicker shared the suet with some Starlings....by noon we were almost seeing a little bit of sun so decided to go for a walk...

could hear a lot of eagle carrying on as we approached the estuary....there were quite a number of the lined up along the shoreline...

and this sort of kerfuffle was the cause of a lot of the noise!

thrilled to see that the Buffleheads are back.  If you have followed this blog for any length of time you'll know that we usually have a little group of Buffleheads spending the winter at the foot of our boat launch.  They used to arrive the beginning of December, last year they didn't show up until January, this year it was yesterday, Christmas Day, when I first spotted them.

still lots of Bald Eagles around....these ones in the eagle tree by the viewing platform.

Great Blue Heron too....

a few little  birds around too like this Song Sparrow....

and there quite a few Dark-eyed Junco down bathing in the log bay.

Now, just one note, I had said I hadn't seen the Red-breasted Nuthatch for a couple of weeks, well guess what showed up at my feeder yesterday, not one but two.  Also had a Brown Creeper in the yard....unfortunately it climbed up and out of sight before I could get a photo.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

Well as you can see from the first photo in the last post....and this photo....

there has been a dramatic change in the weather!  A wet warm front came sweeping in and washed all our snow away!  So much for any hopes of a white Christmas!  One would have thought that all that rain and melting snow would have at least raised the water levels a bit, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference at all.

So today has been a very mild and even sunny at times Christmas Eve.  Wandered a bit with a camera so am just going to post some miscellaneous bird photos of some of the birds around right now....

Northern Flicker....this one, with the red 'mustache' being a male.

lots of Varied Thrush around right now but they are very spooky and difficult to get photos of, took this one a few days ago through my window.

the Anna's Hummingbirds are still here too.  I'm pretty sure I have two different females visiting my yard as well as I'm not sure how many young ones.

Mustn't forget the Steller's Jay.  Species I didn't get photos of but that seen regularly are Song Sparrow, Starling, Spotted Towhee, and Red-wing Blackbirds.

The bushes have been full of bouncing little birds....the sort that are so frustrating to try and get pictures of....

today I did manage to capture a Gold-crowned Kinglet....

and a Black-capped Chickadee.  It is interesting that although there are lots of them in the bushes, I haven't had any to my feeders in a couple of weeks.  I have had a few Chestnut-backed at the feeders.  Also absent lately are the Red-breasted Nuthatch.

there are still quite a few Bald Eagles out there, although no where near the numbers there were.  We've also seen a Red Tail Hawk regularly the last week or so.  

One more thing to mention, apparently hummingbirds aren't the only creatures that have a sweet tooth.  We had wondered why, some mornings our hummingbird feeder was completely empty - that is until we found a raccoon slurping it dry....and then we saw this....

Douglas Squirrel busy licking where the hummer 'juice' drips on the tree trunk.  Our Chipmunks must be hibernating, but the squirrels remain out and active.

It's official....it's winter

For a change the first day of winter actually looked like 'winter'

it was beautiful out there this morning.....got a little yucky as the day went on, even though the temperature never climbed about zero the snow got quite wet and was constantly dropping off of the trees...

there are still a few Bald Eagles around, but their numbers are definitely dwindling although I've noticed more spread out in places like the slough on Nicomen Island.

there were several Killdeer (only one in photo) along with ducks, these ones being Green-wing Teal...

and the Great Blue Heron didn't look quite as miserable as it did yesterday!   

We did go for a short drive....

here is a wintry view of the Harrison River....water levels are as low as I've ever seen them!

Double-crested Cormorant decorated those wires running across the river again...they seem to be there almost constantly!

Let it snow!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! 

was snowing when we got up this morning, continued all day and is still snowing this evening.

there were a few Bald Eagles scattered around 

a couple more out there...

and then there was this miserable Great Blue Heron....barely visible 

and I spotted this Killdeer out there as well...

I thought this cedar grove looked kind of neat (would have been neater if there had been an owl in it!)

now we are going to go back a couple of days ago - when there was no snow....

this is showing just part of the Red-wing Blackbird flock that is wintering with us....

and that is a Bush-tit...the best photo I've managed so far....they never sit still, or if they do it is behind a seed head.

Christmas Bird Count Day

Today was the day for the annual Christmas Bird Count in our area and apparently the people doing the count were at the log bay, counting the eagles and other birds when this flew in....

and landed right in the log bay, sending all the birds flying.  Hopefully someone will have reported this because there is absolutely no excuse for that!  It sat there for a few minutes and then took off again.  It is bad enough when they land out on the gravel bars, but to come in right at the shore is a bit much!

So...the last few days we have been out and about....just haven't got to actually posting anything..

we walked over at Kilby one day.  Hadn't been there since the few days we spent camping the end of October.  It wasn't a great day and there wasn't a lot there, or at least not a lot close in...

most notable were a large group of American Coots....

Another day we walked at Harrison Hot Springs, which of course isn't in this I.B.A.  There were also a lot of Coots there and also ....

American Dipper.  We do get Dippers in our area, I just haven't seen any here recently.

here at home some days have been very misty....

while very occasionally we've had a break and almost seen some sunshine!   

Bald Eagle continue to here in good numbers - this, by the way is the exact spot the helicopter decided to land in this morning.

Here are a few of the better photos I've managed the last few days....

this fellow flew right in close while I was standing there...

he was heading for that particularly juicy salmon!

Red-wing Blackbirds continue to spend time at the log bay....

and here is one more eagle photo.