Last day of March and as predicted.....
water levels are now so high this is as close as we can get to the estuary. It doesn't normally look like this until mid-May! Just as I took this shot....
this female Wood Duck came swimming out of the bushes...followed by another female and a pair of males....they didn't stay around long, I was lucky to get this shot.
Yesterday we walked over at Kilby....
there isn't much beach left over there either.
this trio of Common Merganser (1 male and 2 female) were swimming along right against the shoreline.
and it was rather amusing to watch this....
Canada Goose riding this floating log down the river.
the Common Loon that have been spending the winter in this area are finally starting to change into their breeding colour. Seems a bit late to me.
Water levels continue to climb.....
day before yesterday, this is where it was at.....
then after last nights rain, here is where it presently sits. I suspect after the next rain storm, which is slated to hit tonight, we will no longer be able to stand at this spot and look across this view. Walking to the park is a distant memory and obviously isn't going to happen again for the foreseeable future.
Once the rain let up this morning we walked over at Kilby....
it was windy and stormy and I thought we'd get soaked, but we lucked out...however you can see white caps out there on Harrison Bay and how muddy it was along the edges.
With the wind there weren't many birds....
I did spot this female Varied Thrush....not exactly being co-operative! A few more weeks and these guys should disappear again until the fall, in fact a friend who live in northern Alberta had one in her yard last week, she'd never seen one before and wondered what it was.
as some birds leave, others arrive...the first Yellow-rump Warbler of the season....not a clear photo but the only one I got. Should mention that the Rufous Hummingbirds have arrived, not in great numbers yet but have seen both male and female.
this Spotted Towhee was the only other bird we saw apart from numerous Canada Geese in the fields and on the river.
of course there are American Robin's pretty much everywhere right now....
and I wish I could have caught the male Anna's Hummingbird that was dive bombing this male Red-wing Blackbird but he didn't stay still enough to get a photo.
With the water levels this high we're hoping to get out in the canoe soon, weather permitting. It should be very interesting as we've certainly never had water like this at this time of the year before, at least as long as we've lived here.
Weather forecast was for fairly nice weather, at least until mid-afternoon....so
started out doing a bit in the yard and getting a few pictures like of this Pine Siskin...
and this Dark-eyed Junco....and then we decided to go for a longer walk over at....
Harrison Bay....notice the snowline on the mountains in the background....the lowest it has been for a while.
lots of Canada Geese scattered all across the adjacent farm fields.
American Robins were much in evidence....
There were a few Tree Swallows flying around...this one settled on a wire long enough to get a distant shot.
was thrilled to see some activity at the Bald Eagle nest. It is hard to see but they had sticks and were working on the nest....of course by the time they get down to business the tree will be leafed out and we won't be able to see anything.
back near home we took this shot, just to show the water levels....
this pair of Canada Geese are perched in the lower left hand corner of the above photo.
Back at home in the afternoon....
this 'intergrade' Northern Flicker showed up with the black 'moustache' of the yellow shafted and the normal coloration of the red shafted.
then a bit later, looked out and there were two Band-tail Pigeons at the tray feeder with an Eurasian Collared Dove perched on a branch above.
Today was the first full day of spring but seems our spring weather has deserted us. The rain finally let up mid-afternoon, at least long enough to get out for a breath of fresh air.
water levels continue to rise. We've never had water like this in March before. Sure is going to be interesting to see how it plays out this year. Should mention that there has been a Marsh Wren singing down here the last couple of days. Haven't been able to spot it yet.
You would think that after all the rain the birds would have had enough of water, but there were Dark-eyed Junco bathing in puddles all over the place.
This Sharp-shin Hawk spent a long time preening trying to get dry.
Here is another look because we don't often get opportunities to see them this well.
This Spotted Towhee was singing happily after the rain.
and it isn't the greatest photo but the first Band-tail Pigeon of the season showed up a couple of days ago. Still waiting for a Rufous Hummingbird!
We're not sure where it is all coming from....
the rain stopped days ago but the water keeps rising....that is the path to the park! Obviously we aren't walking that way these days, so we headed over to Kilby.
noticed a lot of debris coming down the river, again, not sure from where.
decided to walk along the dike....you can see the trees are starting to leaf out.
those green fields had quite a few Canada Geese scattered all over. Despite the sunshine there weren't a lot of birds visible....
some courting Northwestern Crows....
and some tapping led us to this Pileated Woodpecker....
just off from this turn around point....
there were two Common Loon out on the river (only one in photo)
and of course there were a few American Robins around...
lots of Salmon Berry flowers....usually the Rufous Hummingbirds arrive about the same time as these are in flower....no sign of one here yet...at least that I've heard of.
and speaking of flowers.....
Dandelions are coming into full bloom....these play such an important role in the over all scheme of things.
We've had a bit of rain the last few days. How much rain? Well here is......
the log bay as it looked on Friday, the 13th....
and here it is today, the 16th.....
the first bay last Thursday....
and the first bay today....notice too the little bit of snow on top of Mt. Woodside! It has been a little while since we've seen that.
Not a lot of birdlife around today...
The little male Anna's Hummingbird was on guard in his usual spot. No sign of a Rufous yet although my daughter in Parksville had one on Friday, so they are on their way.
There have been a number of Pine Siskin.....this photo, taken yesterday, gives an idea of how hard it was raining.
and lastly these are a few of the Canada Geese that were down there this evening.
Have been seeing.....
Purple Finch for the past week or so with more of them showing up every day.
Notice the one at the far left, this is an orange variant of the normal Purple Finch male which the other four are. There is also a little Pine Siskin down in the corner.
This photo isn't clear, but dos show the colour better.
Down at the flats today....
it was another unseasonably warm day with temperatures reaching 18 degrees.
there were some Canada Geese out on the flats....
the Black-capped Chickadees were busy excavating their nesting site...actually we heard Black-capped Chickadees all over the place.
There has been a lot of territorial drumming going on the last few days....
mainly by these guys, the Red-breasted Sapsuckers.
