Sorry, no picture....didn't even have a camera with me as we were heading to town to do some chores but as we drove by Harrison Bay noticed about a dozen swans....whether Tundra or Trumpeter I have no idea. This is the exact same date as the first swans arrived back last year.
A few days ago we drove up to the Weaver Creek Spawning channel....the salmon spawning is pretty much over but there were still lots of salmon in the creek running along the edge....
which of course draws lots of gulls like this Glaucous-wing adult....
and this first year one of the same variety. I'm always surprised at the lack of eagles up there but maybe there weren't any there because they were all circling over the estuary or perched in the trees on the hillside like these...
what there were at the spawning channel were....
American Dippers....this being just one of a number.
back to the estuary, this is the way it has been looking....at least until today when the rain and low cloud arrived....we won't complain though, we need the rain!
Our dry, warm sunny days continue....
with no rain the water levels are way down again but it isn't stopping the Chum Salmon, they have now advanced to the 'first bay'
and what water is in the log bay is just alive with spawning salmon. Of course the salmon just don't attract the eagles. Crows, Raven and Gulls are much in evidence now, especially the gulls....
look out on the flats and at times it will look like there are patches of snow out there....large flocks of resting gulls is what they are....most of them, like the majority of the ones in the above photo are the Glaucous-wing Gulls. Easy to identify as they have absolutely no black on them. Mixed in though you never know what you might spot....
this larger gull with the black wing tips and yellow eye is a Herring Gull. A few of these show up every year, this guy was right in the log bay today, swimming in circles to stir things up.
Another gull that likes to stir things up is the smaller Mew Gull. There are always a number of them around, often in the shallower areas where they will stir up the silt on the bottom with their feet and then do a sort of straight up and straight down dive to pick up what ever they managed to stir up. We are pretty sure there were a couple of much rarer (for here) Bonaparte Gulls down there today, but they flew past and disappeared so no photo...maybe another day.
Other than all those mentioned above it has been pretty quiet in the bushes and along the shore although...
Killdeer have been seen running along the shoreline from time to time.
It is only the 17th of October but it sure is getting busy out there!
this was the scene this morning. It helps that even though we haven't had any rain around here, there has obviously been enough somewhere to bring water levels back up meaning that the Bald Eagles are concentrated on the small areas of dry land.
there were even a number of eagles close in....
although a bit of a tussle and then a particularly noisy and aggressive gull sent them all flying before we could get close.
The other day we went over to Harrison Bay
and were disappointed by the lack of birds. It was a fairly breezy and unseasonably warm day which might account for some of it, also fishing on the river is in full spat right now so as long as boats are roaring up and down there won't be much in the way of water fowl seen out there. Speaking of fish, I heard that on that same day a record breaking 92 lb Chinook Salmon was hauled out of the river.
I'll leave you with this beautiful peaceful scene....
A couple of unusual visitors have been spotted here at the estuary the last couple of days....neither by me....but fortunately we have photos. But first, have to mention that even though we didn't get all that much rain here, there must have been a considerable amount somewhere in our water shed because....
water levels have come back up!
which means those gravel bars are back to being partially under water, much to the delight of the Canada Geese and masses of ducks, mainly Mallard and American Wigeon. Note the Bald Eagles way out there. Numbers of eagles are definitely increasing as are the number of salmon.
there were actually 3 juvenile eagles in this tree....still at the 'spooky' stage where they take off almost as soon as they spot you. That will change once they get used to the routine 'traffic' in the area.
Now to the unusual visitors....
early Sunday morning these shorebirds were spotted. Note the very long bill on the one to the left...I'm pretty sure this is a young Long-billed Dowitcher. Not the first time one has been seen here at the estuary, but they aren't a shorebird we see very often.
Then this morning....
this Northern Saw-whet Owl was found when a neighbour investigated what was being harassed by, of all things, Anna's Hummingbirds! A number of years ago I found one of these little owls when it was being mobbed by Steller's Jay. I know that Chickadee's will mob owls, but the fact that Anna's Hummingbirds do too was news to me. Both of the above photos were taken by my husband while walking our two dogs.
American Robins continue to be around feeding on the Pacific Choke Cherries...
and this...
Great Blue Heron flew up into these evergreens as we were walking today. Heron often spend the night in these trees.
Since the threatened rain hadn't materialized, took the opportunity to go for another walk.
a bit dull and dreary. The Greater Yellowlegs was still poking about and....
the Killdeer, that I heard yesterday, were visible today. Actually saw 3 of them, this guy seemed to have his eye on the sky, not sure why!
Pilings were busy....a Great Blue heron on this one.....
it took me a bit to figure out what was on this one, turns out it is a young Bald Eagle with it's wings spread out to dry. Speaking of Bald Eagles....
nice to see them back in the 'eagle' trees although a little hard to see yet with leaves still on the trees.
Yesterday there weren't any little birds visible...a different story today....
American Robin's were everywhere, feasting on the fruit of the native Pacific Choke Cherry trees. It wasn't until I downloaded this that I noticed the male Purple Finch as well. Heard Anna's Hummingbirds in this area, there were also Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrows and a number of Ruby crowned Kinglets.
I've enlarged this one because it is just such a perfect, typical scene of the estuary this time of the year. Eagles and gulls out on the flats and another heron busy fishing in the foreground.
We are back from our various trips around the province.....time to set the scene here at the estuary for the upcoming, hopefully exciting, season.
Water levels are just about where they should be this time of the year....low, but not too low. This is the first bay....no sign of any salmon here yet but....
we did notice a few Chum Salmon here, off of the log bay....
and speaking of the poor log bay....the amount of erosion of what used to be a bank is rather concerning....the result of many, many dog feet chasing balls up and down....certainly changes the dynamics of the spot. Whether that is good or bad - who can say.
there wasn't a lot of bird life around today, but if you look hard enough you always find something, here were some Mallards at the log bay.
Look carefully and you can see a scattering of Bald Eagles, along with some gulls and crows or raven out on the flats. They are coming - right on schedule, which is a relief as we just spent a month on Vancouver Island where Salmon runs are way ahead of ours yet we were shocked at the lack of eagles....not so bears....I'll share a few before I end this report.
Back to home....the most exciting find today was....
this Greater Yellowlegs Sandpiper....in fact I think there were two of them. Also heard Killdeer but couldn't spot them.
Only other thing to mention....
are these native Douglas Asters which are now in full flower all over the grasslands.
Now....lets talk Bears. It's been a hard year for bears....the extreme dry hot summer meant the berry crops dried up and disappeared early so bears had to move down out of the mountains earlier than normal to find something to eat. That meant there has been way more bears in the area and unfortunately that has also meant that 'city folk that move to the country' panic and at least two bears have unnecessarily been shot, right here in what is their territory.
We recently spent a week or so at a campground near Campbell River. Our campsite was right on the shore of the river and every day bears wandered along the river, fishing and feasting on the spawning salmon. The great thing was, nobody cared! Nobody panicked. If a bear came along, well you just moved back a bit to give it some space....there were a number of houses with yards running right down to the river, all completely tolerant of having a bear laying down on the lawn having a snooze. It was so nice to witness.
Here are a few photos....
taken right across the river from our campsite....
while this guy was enjoying his meal....
his buddy was taking a break just a little further down.
