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.
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