A beautiful start to the Easter Weekend....
heard a large flock of swans heading north early this morning...
lots of Tree Swallows now...
and a lot of Red-breasted Sapsuckers busy drumming on what ever they can find. In this case that is a street light.
Singing Song Sparrows....
and calling Red-wing Blackbirds. Also saw the first Rufous Hummingbird of the season and have heard that an American Goldfinch has been seen as well.
Did manage a distant photo...
of one of those elusive Evening Grosbeaks that have been hanging about for the past week or so.
and speaking of elusive....pointed the camera in the direction I saw a bird disappear in...
thought it was probably a Towhee but when I downloaded it...turned out to be a Fox Sparrow.
Lastly....
the Eurasian Collared Doves seem to be established back in the area now after being absent all winter - although they weren't far away, seemed to hang out at Harrison Bay.
Since it has officially become spring we seem to be back into the showers scenario. Have managed to get out for walks between the rain...
this was the 'first bay' yesterday and it looked much the same today. Water levels are sure low but that is pretty much typical for this time of year - the erosion of that bank isn't though. All that has come about in just the last year or two.
the Red-breasted Sapsuckers are back. Unfortunately this guy was way up in the top of a very tall tree so not the greatest photo. Should mention that today I saw an intergrade Northern Flicker - cross between a Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted....didn't manage a photo but if we are going to see them, this is the time when it is most likely.
female Red-wing Blackbirds are back...
the males are of course doing their thing....not as many of them around now as most have moved on....I hear the swans are back in the Yukon which explains why haven't seen any here recently....
Steller's Jay are getting quieter and sneaky as they do when they start thinking about nesting.
in plants...the Black Twin Berries are just coming into flower...
as are the Dandelions.
In less than 2 hours, as I write this, it will be spring....the last couple of days have been more like spring than winter....
high cloud today but nice and warm...up to 15 c degrees.
lots of Tree Swallows flying around the nesting boxes...hope those boxes hang on for another season!
Even spotted....
a male Yellow-rump Warbler today ~ the first of the season.
lots of Song Sparrows hiding in the bushes.
Chickadee's, both the Black-capped like the guy above....
and Chestnut-backed like this one are busy checking out nesting sites. The Black-caps seem to prefer the more open bushy areas while the Chestnut back prefer the denser areas.
and the Salmon Berries are in full flower now. Still waiting for the first Rufous Hummingbird to show up. My daughter on Vancouver Island had one in her yard yesterday so they are on their way. I did hear some Evening Grosbeaks today...hopefully they'll return for a photo opportunity.
Here we are, over half way through the month, and so far there hasn't been a day when it hasn't rained for at least part of the time....today being the best one so far so we headed over to Harrison Bay for a walk...
the most activity was in the cornfield beside the dike...
think this European Starling was collecting nesting materials....
Killdeer were calling all over the place but virtually impossible to see they blend in so well!
This Canada Goose pair were also in the field while others were out on the bay and in nearby farm fields.
The Blackberry hedgerows were enjoyed by...
some American Robins....and
Spotted Towhee - this one was enjoying a good stretch in the sunshine!
Back up at the estuary end...
it has been pretty quiet too...
am wondering if this Mallard pair are thinking of nesting in the log bay area as they seem to always be there.
quite a few Dark-eyed Junco around right now as well, which is typical for this time of the year. Am still waiting for the first Rufous Hummingbird of the season to show up - should be any day now.
I should have done this posting last night but my battery was running out of 'juice' so I'm doing it tonight....
Yesterday was actually quite a nice day, took advantage to first go for a walk over at Harrison Bay...
where it was very calm but also quite quiet....
a few Song Sparrows ......
and Spotted Towhee......could hear a Western Meadowlark calling too but too far away to spot or get a picture.
It was so nice that once we got back, decided to go for a walk by myself (meaning 'no dog') and things got interesting...
quite a few Canada Geese in several groups, this being the larger one....
with another group over by the log bay....in fact there was quite a selection of waterfowl at the log bay...
the usual Mallards...pretty much only seen in pairs now as they tend to nest early....
a pair of Gadwall....
a pair of Hooded Merganser....
there was also a pair of Common Merganser....this being the male....but the big surprise was....
this American Coot! It isn't completely unknown for Coot to be up at this end of the estuary but seeing them on Harrison Bay is more normal, it is also very strange to see just one single one as they are usually, especially at this time of the year, seen in large flocks.
Speaking of 'flock's'...
that is certainly the case with the American Robins right now. In one spot there had to be 50 or 60 of them.
Lastly must mention....
the Anna's Hummingbirds....can't go for a walk without hearing any number of them, pretty much all males at their territories as the females seem to be nesting right now. We can expect the Rufous Hummingbirds to be showing up any day now, although maybe not for a day or two or three considering the miserable weather forecast!
Seems like we are back to 'blah' weather....
this was the scene today....and it has looked pretty much like this for the last little while. Not a lot of activity around either, however...
today there were 3 Killdeer in that above 'first bay' today....
and a trio of Canada Geese (only one in photo), over at the log bay.
Lots of...
American Robins now...
and yesterday during a brief sunny interlude this male Hairy Woodpecker was by the viewing platform.
