Our first really rainy day in sometime, hopefully it is coming down as snow in the local mountains because boy, is it needed! I did get out for a walk but only saw one wet eagle, one wet heron, a chickadee and a few ducks so instead I'll report on yesterday's walk which was done over at Kilby at Harrison Bay....all still part of this IBA.
it wasn't actually raining yesterday, but it was very gray and drizzly.
a few Mallard and one Green-wing Teal (the little guy in front) sauntered towards the river as we walked along the shore.
walking back along the dyke we noticed these signs of spring - Pussy Willows! There were a number of Killdeer running around in the fallow corn field beside the dyke, all froze and disappeared from sight when I aimed the camera that way.
The bramble hedgerow that divides the corn field from the dyke was full of birds, here a couple of Gold-crowned Sparrows, but also lots of Junco, Towhee, and Song Sparrows while the other side of the dyke was alive with Chickadees.
it was even busier further on where there are bird feeders in a residents back yard. Don't like to stare at their place, but these House Sparrows obliged by being on the right side of the dyke. House Sparrows are something we see very seldom up here at our end of the IBA.
this Steller's Jay co-operated for a photo....
while a bit further along this is one of two Great Blue Heron that were perched in one of the larger tree's.
circling back to the beach, more signs of spring, this time 'catkins'. There were a number of Eurasian Collared Dove here too, they had been down on the railway tracks just to the left in this photo, but a work truck had driven along the tracks just then and sent them all flying up into the adjacent trees, too high to get a decent photo.
back on the beach, this was one of a scattering of gulls, think this might be a Western/Glaucous Wing cross....regardless he had a hunk of salmon carcass that he was wrestling with.
and that pretty much rounded out the species other than a few various ducks. We will have to try to spend at least one of the upcoming Backyard Bird Count days over in this area.
The weather changed a bit today....
still dry, but cloudy and you can't tell it here but there was a cold wind blowing making it feel a little more like 'winter' than it has been.
this Bald Eagle was one of a few around....this guy was busy studying.....
these Killdeer who seemed oblivious to the scrutiny from above. There were a total of 6 of them that I saw, 3 in this photo.
It was fairly late when I got out for a walk, there wasn't much around....
a few American Wigeon at the log bay, with one male Mallard in this photo, and further along there were a number of Green-wing Teal along with the usual mallard.
Our blue skies continue......
in fact several of the last few days hit record high temperatures, nearly 13 degrees! Got out for a walk this morning and it was one of those special days with lots of bird activity and rarity of rarity, (at least lately) - no people!
this Bald Eagle was down in the first bay.....
not at all perturbed by my presence.
a number of Varied Thrush - when I took this I was thinking that we wouldn't be seeing them again soon, but then I remembered, 'hey, it is only January' they should be here until April sometime, but with this weird weather, who knows!
over at the log bay there were Red-wing Blackbirds calling from everywhere,
no one really knows where this tire came from this fall, probably it was laying there under water all along until someone for some unknown reason decided it should become part of the scenery....at least some of the birds appreciate it, this morning it was this Great Blue Heron making use of it.
spotted this Northern Flicker, it didn't seem to want to stop preening itself long enough for a decent pose.
all along the trail you could hear scuffling and scratching in the underbrush, this Song Sparrow took some time out from foraging to do some singing.
the tapping sound lead me to spotting this female Hairy Woodpecker......
and then there was a flock of Bush Tits, unfortunately I didn't have the right camera for capturing these agile little guys....this was the best I could get.
Should mention that the last two days I have heard a bird song that I know I should know but I haven't been able to locate the singer. It almost sounds like a Western Meadowlark....I'll let you know when, if, I find it.
Later today we went over to Cheam Lake, it will be another month or so before things get really active over there but it was a beautiful day for a walk and I'm going to post this..
a male Belted Kingfisher. We, of course, have them here at the estuary as well but they are one of the most frustrating bird species to get a photo of.
There hasn't been much variety lately in either the weather or what birds are around, but I thought I should post something as I won't be able to get out for the next couple of days.
all of this nice weather is great right now but makes one wonder what will happen down the road with virtually no snow pack on the local mountains.
Everything was pretty typical...
the pair of Trumpeter Swans that has been around off and on all winter were out there today. You'll see there is a female Common Merganser and some Mallard out there with them.
and a Great Blue Heron.....
also a scattering of Bald Eagles....
A fair amount of activity in the riparian habitat as well, could hear two Hairy Woodpeckers, one at each end of the park, just like the other day. Quite a few Dark-eyed Juncos....
Song Sparrow.....
and Varied Thrush....this one a female.
Another beautiful sunny day...so started out by heading over to Kilby for a walk
wandered up along the river....that is the highway 7 bridge up there... It was very quiet bird wise....
although did spot this Gold-crowned Sparrow - the first and only one I've seen so far this winter.
After Kilby, went for my usual walk....
where it was just as quiet, but perhaps with good cause....there were 5 people walking out there on the flats...they appeared to be official - in that they looked like they might be from fisheries, but regardless people walking out there tends to scare the birds away.... and then...
this Red-tail Hawk was perched on a house roof over looking the park so that even though red-tails don't hunt song birds, the presence of any hawk tends to keep everyone silent and hidden.
As I wandered back some activity was starting to happen again...
a Varied Thrush was spotted....
and then once the people had disappeared, the ducks started coming back....here a bunch of Green-wing Teal... there were also a number of Killdeer, at least there were until....
this guy swooped in, grabbed something and took it over to this log...we're not sure if what he grabbed was a Killdeer or not, but he definitely had something!
It was a dull morning...
not thick fog.....just low cloud...still there was activity...
a Bald Eagle perched out there.....
a Great Blue Heron on one of the pilings....note all that fresh wood, something must have peeled a strip off of it recently.
and Dark-eyed Junco just about everywhere!
By noon the sun was shining.....
So there is the same view in sunshine!
there was a female Hairy Woodpecker working around in the shrubs on the top of the logs at the log bay, I had heard another one at the opposite end, probably the male that has been seen a lot recently.
there were a number of Trumpeter Swans out there today, these were just a few, there was another pair closer in.
there was a lot of activity in the bushes, including this Spotted Towhee.....but one of the species we saw was an Anna's Hummingbird and it appeared to be doing it's diving breeding display....after coming home and doing some research I discovered why the Anna's behavior has changed recently - they are already nesting!!! Apparently they start nesting as early as December and raise 3 broods a year between now and May or June when they go through their molt, further more, apparently the female will start a second nest and lay a second batch of eggs while still feeding her first fledglings...no wonder their population has gone from none to quite a few in such a short period of time.
We'll finish off today with one more Bald Eagle.....
this one a two to three year old I think....they seem to be going through a shift in plumage right now.
It was a beautiful sunny morning here at the estuary....
didn't realize how lucky we were until we had to head into Mission and found that everywhere else was in dense fog! But back to the estuary....not a lot of activity, there was a heron out there at the edge of the water....
and a selection of ducks, here a pair of Mallard in the foreground and Green-wing Teal
behind.
could hear a Killdeer out there, and finally spotted it.
a Dark-eyed Junco was also down near the water in the first bay, while a large flock of Black-capped Chickadee were working through all the bushes.
Yesterday we took a break from here and ran up to Manning Park for the day....saw the usual
Gray Jay's....this is a species that we have never had here at the estuary although one was seen in Chilliwack a year or so ago, so anything is possible.
this, a female Pine Grosbeak, is another high mountain bird that actually has been seen here at the estuary...only once to my knowledge, but it shows that anything is possible. Steller's Jay, Mountain Chickadee and Raven rounded out the species we saw up there...also a distinct lack of snow...any hopes of getting some picture perfect winter snowscapes were dashed. There was snow on the ground but none in the trees, although they did have a coating of frost.
