Schnizzle....

A few years ago we were in Alberta during a late spring storm.  The local radio station called the stuff coming down 'Schnizzle', a combination of snow, sleet and drizzle and that pretty much describes the weather we've been experiencing the last few days...

here is what it looked like this afternoon and it was even chillier than it looks!  Apart from a few Bald Eagles the only other birds in sight were a flock of Red-wing Blackbirds.

if you look closely you can see a blackbird there in the bushes.

Yesterday was just as chilly but drier so we did our walk over at Harrison Bay....

there is a whole lot of beach over there now and not a lot of water.

there were a lot of swans in various areas of the bay.  This lot over along the south shore had to be Tundra Swans based on their calls.

Something we'd never seen over here before....

yes, they look like Mallards but they are actually decoys.  There was a group of 5 of them at the side of the river with a hunter in full camouflage hiding behind a little alder tree.  Duck hunting is allowed in this area and we often hear guns, but this was the first time we'd actually come across them.

Something else of interest....

Double crested Cormorant often winter here around Harrison Bay.  For years there was a wire stretched across the river that cormorant used for perching, this past year that wire was removed, now the only place they can perch is on various pilings.

We'll finish off with a few more eagle photos....there are still some around...

this one was over seeing the beach at Harrison Bay yesterday...

while this windswept fellow was braving today's weather by the log bay.