Yet more swans

I know this time of the year we should be dealing with eagles....and yes, there are eagles, but it is the swans that are the story so far.  We haven't seen swans like we have this year for years, if ever!

this was the scene this morning....I think, but am not positive that the lead duck there could be an Eurasian Wigeon.  There are so many ducks out there right now it is impossible to keep track of them all.

no doubt that this is a Tundra Swan....note the little bit of yellow at the base of the bill.  That is a female Common Merganser there as well.

there are a lot of Mergansers out there right now.

this pair are Trumpeter Swans....and of course a Bald Eagle in the background.

here is another eagle....

the sun came out briefly this afternoon....notice the water is almost back where it belongs...

the path to the park is becoming visible again.  Maybe we'll even get over to the park again soon, especially if the weather network is right and we get snow next week.  Let's hope!

Shouldn't neglect the small birds...it has just been difficult to photograph them lately as it has been so dull, there was a big flock of Bush tits yesterday but those little guys never hold still at the best of times.  Saw some Chestnutback Chickadees today too....

and then, of course, there are the Anna's Hummingbirds.  This male has staked out the habitat garden out back as his own.  A younger, not quite mature male has staked out the feeder in our yard....and females zip back and forth between them all.

Swans and searches.....

Yet another gloomy day but at least it was dry when we wandered down to the estuary on our morning walk....

and what a treat.....Trumpeter Swans all along the shoreline!  If water levels keep dropping we'll be standing where those swans are soon.  Those are American Wigeon ducks there with these swans.

and behind these two, a Pied Billed Grebe.

Just a gorgeous scene and look at that log in the background with wall to wall Bald Eagles perched on it.

So after lunch we thought we'd take a drive to Deroche and see if we could spot that Golden Eagle.  We didn't.  Mind you we didn't cover very much of the slough.  The dogs were eager for a walk so we drove to the dike along the Fraser River....

that is the Fraser River out there, photo taken from the dike.  Could hear a few eagles calling....

a little further along was taking this picture which is the start of the slough and then turned around....

to take a picture of what was behind me.....what I didn't know was there was a Black Bear there!  Our dogs had been enjoying some off leash freedom....their leads quickly got attached!

a closer look at the bear....who didn't seem too perturbed by us being there.  We decided not to risk it and headed back to the vehicle....besides, it had started raining yet again!

Gloomy weekend

After such a nice day on Friday, the weekend was a bit of a let down.....

this was the scene mid-afternoon today when the rain stopped momentarily.....of course by the time I got to this point, it had started again....

looked in that direction and there was the little Trumpeter Swan family along with a whole lot of Common Mergansers.....at least 20 of them.

in the other direction was a collection of Tundra Swans.  The pictures I got aren't of high enough quality to crop in to show the yellow at the base of the bill....but they were definitely
Tundra....

In fact swans continue to be the main story in our area right now....

this is the only clear shot I got in the last couple of days....think I counted 30 Bald Eagles and there are close to that many swans, in fact I'd estimate about a hundred swans out there at the moment with most of them being Tundra Swans.

By the way, I've heard and seen pictures of a young Golden Eagle not to far from here, at the Deroche slough.  Going to have to see if we can find it.

Much nicer day.....

Woke to a much nicer day than yesterday!

first walk of the day and we were greeted by that little Trumpeter Swan family out there.....

there they are, mom, dad and youngster.  Also some Mallards in the grass. 

posted this because notice how dark that particular gull is.  I suspect it is a Western Gull, but not positive on that.  A couple of little Bufflehead ducks, Mallards and an American Wigeon or two. 

After lunch we headed over to Harrison Bay....

it was awfully quiet over there....here we are looking up the Harrison River....

I've mentioned many times this fall....the lack of birds sure isn't due to a lack of food!  There are spawned out salmon  laying all over the place going to waste.  Maybe all the birds were Black Friday shopping today...who knows!

We did spot a Red-tail Hawk so that might have accounted for all the little birds being quiet and in hiding ~ not that red-tails hunt little birds but any raptor can send them into hiding.

we did find one Bald Eagle.....

after getting back up our way wandered down to the shoreline again....

probably 40 to 50 Swans continue to hang around far out there...and a lot of them have to be Tundras.....they are so vocal!

Closer in...

was watching some Trumpeters when a flock of American Wigeon flew in....

We'll leave you with these feeding swans.

Yucky day!

I'm afraid that is about all I can say about today. 

it was horrible....just poured with rain all day.  So wet that on our morning walk I didn't even take a camera, so of course there were swans right in the boat launch.  This was taken mid-afternoon...swans had all moved way out, in fact about only thing visible were....

these Mallards....a good day for ducks although even they didn't look all that happy.

this Great Blue Heron looked positively miserable...

this Bald Eagle was keeping an eye out.  There were a few more perched on various stumps out there, no doubt there were more but it was too misty to see.

Despite all the rain I could hear some cheerful sounds....finally spotted these guys...

European Starlings sitting in the top of the same tree the eagle was perched in.  Despite the fact it was a perfect Varied Thrush day, still haven't seen one....but should any day now.

Tomorrow's weather forecast sounds dryer ~ let's hope so!

Getting busy......and a grebe....

Water levels are continuing to drop....finally! and it is getting busy out there!  Or at least now we are starting to be able to see what is out there....

it was great to walk down there this morning and see swans just out there....

those ones were Trumpeter Swans.... but I could hear some Tundra's further out, in fact we counted close to 40 swans scattered about.

Bald Eagles over in the 'eagle tree' by the viewing platform this morning.  Maybe I'll actually get to walk over there again soon.

It's not just swans and eagles though....

lots and lots of ducks....including this little trio of female Buffleheads....

a lot of Common Merganser....hundreds of Mallard and American Wigeon, quite a few Hooded Merganser, a few Gadwall and a mixed flock of Common and Barrow's Goldeneye...

Also spotted today though was this.....

a Horned Grebe!  Not the first time we've seen one here, but still a rarity.

Now I said it was getting busy....take a look at these photos....standing in one spot my husband counted 175 Bald Eagles before giving up trying to count...

look closely at all those poplar trees in the background...somewhere between 30 and 40 eagles in there...

and look at that big ole poplar....but also look in the water and the grasses....lots of ducks in there.

and here we have more ducks, more eagles and lots more swans.

The role weather plays.....

It has been a wet day, haven't heard many details about how this years festival went, although I know the 'official' eagle count yesterday was 22!  In believable number when one is used to  numbers in the hundreds or even thousands....

It all show what a role weather plays so I thought it would be fun to go back and look at what weather and water levels were in years past....

We'll start with 2011 - I didn't have any pictures taken on the 20th that year but...

I did have pictures taken on the 22nd (2011) and as you can see we had snow...and all those dots out there are eagles.......

November 20, 2012

water levels were high that year too it would appear, but not as high as this years, in fact this looks like perfect viewing conditions...think I counted 52 in this picture alone.

On to 2013

obviously low water on the 20th of November that year.  Don't see a lot of eagle though, but that would be the case if levels are really low.

November 20th, 2014 and we were back to fairly high water with lots of activity.  Haven't seen ducks like that yet this year, at least not in close where we can see them.

and here is last year on November 20th....a lot different than today!

One can only hope that as the water levels drop it will look like this again one day soon.

Great news!

It's the first day of the Bald Eagle Festival and the 'good' news is that the weather was way better than forecast, in fact the sun even shone for a little while and the moisture held off until just as it was time to close the gates.

Not being directly involved in the festival anymore I don't actually have any pictures....

but had to share the GREAT news! and that is that finally after years of so many people working for it, the provincial government has granted the Chehalis estuary area a Wildlife Management area!

Concerned persons have been working for this since the late 1980's, the whole issue just sat in the background for years until the early 2,000's when the project was again taken up, mainly by persons, including my self, involved with the Bald Eagle Festival.

The newly named: Lha':lt Harrison - Chehalis Wildlife Management Area covers 1,000 hectares, starting at the bridge over the Harrison River and north up to and including where Morris Creek joins the Harrison River.

 

this picture that I took yesterday while out on the Harrison River demonstrates better than any words as to why this designation is so important. 

On the river.....

With one day to go before this years Eagle Festival, we were offered the chance to get out on the river this morning....

thank you to our neighbours and their jet boat.   As you can see, water levels remain high allowing for our boat launch to maybe not be a 'launch' but definitely a 'pick up passengers' spot.

As we got out to the Harrison River...

it became apparent that there are Bald Eagles out there.  Maybe not as many as other years, but where ever there was any shore or something stuck and inch or so above the water, there was a bird on it.....

like this fellow....

and this pair, a juvenile behind, feeding on a salmon.  There was a bit of a wind blowing, hence the 'hair do'

the one remaining old 'eagle tree' sported quite a few...

here is a closer look.

more here at the log jam....

here we are on the river, the eagle tree being down there in the middle of the picture.

many more birds up in the conifer trees along the shoreline.

back to feeding....you can see Morris Valley Road there in the background, which should give an idea of location...

particularly like this shot....

and this one.  See what I mean about the birds being perched where ever they could find any sort of perch?

this isn't a great shot but that is highway 7's bridge over the Harrison River in the background, again to give an idea of location.  The activity is out there....it is just right now you need a boat to see it....

One more eagle shot....

should mention that the flock of Goldeneyes that showed up yesterday was still out there, as were a number of Common Merganser.  We only saw one Heron and just 3 swans tucked up in a corner, probably the 3 that flew in late yesterday afternoon....

now I just have to mention....this afternoon I heard a familiar, but not expected this time of the year sound...

an American Robin!  Have been watching for, and expecting their 'cousin's' the Varied Thrush to show up anytime but haven't seen one of them yet.  Robins are never far away in winter but this fellow was a bit of a surprise.

So....if you are coming out for Eagle Festival, dress warm and be prepared for rain.  Hopefully it won't be as bad as forecast.