Here we are, the end of yet another year.....and I'm going to do something a little different....
the last couple of days have been interesting to say the least. Here at the estuary we got snow - lot's of snow - almost 2 feet of snow to be precise. Freezing rain was forecast as well but somehow we lucked out....as just 5 or so km down the road the ice begins. Our power had been out for over 24 hours, but again we were lucky as many people are still without power and not expected to have it again for a few days yet.
Today, with weather moderating, we headed into Mission for some much needed groceries.....here are some photos taken along the route....
part way across Nicomen.....
there is a closer look at that particular tree.....
the entrance into the grocery store parking lot....so many ornamental trees along the streets and in parking lots damaged or destroyed....
here is the corner that leads to the Mission Bridge....street lights were flashing red...
and this is along the highway....all along the highway...all wires look like this as do all trees...
street lights, signs, all dripping icicles....
and the Blueberry fields.....
more blueberry fields..... hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get out and concentrate on just getting photos..... May never see this again!
The holidays are over....
nearly all of the country had a white Christmas....here, our's was best described as 'whitish' as we did wake to a slight dusting of snow.
The flock of male Red-wing Blackbirds does seem to be increasing in number, although still not in the numbers we used to see.
there have been quite a few Dark-eyed Junco too.
and this very vocal Bald Eagle seems to have set up residence over at the log bay. Easy to tell it is the same one as it rarely shuts up!
this female Hairy Woodpecker has been seen pretty much every day as well.
seeing a 'sun dog' on Boxing Day, you knew something was about to happen weather wise.
with the temperatures remaining below freezing most of the birds are up near bird feeders in the assorted subdivisions, but this Song Sparrow was scratching about in the leaf litter
and this Brown Creeper was so close I couldn't get the camera to focus on it properly.
then today we woke to snow and it has continued to snow all day (this was taken just after noon) and continues to snow 'as we speak'.
these two were up in the eagle tree by the viewing platform. The large numbers of eagles are gone now, as are the salmon, but there are a few around....mainly hunting ducks now for food.
The first day of winter.....unfortunately we haven't any of the white stuff that just about everyone else got....
it came close...but not close enough. We do have cold though. Not frigid yet but cold....here is the first bay and what we don't have now, is water.
over at the log way looks pretty much the same. There was a fair amount of bird activity over there this morning,
including this Hairy Woodpecker....when I first spotted it, there was a Downy Woodpecker in the exact same spot.
some Red-wing Blackbirds as well...
and the requisite Bald Eagle or two....not really that many around right now, especially compared to other years.
over at Harrison Bay things were much the same....
except there were Trumpeter Swans spread out all over. Not just on the river and bay, but the farm field that had been full of ducks our last trip, was full of swans this time.
and we weren't sure what was going on with this group. Lots of head nodding and chasing about.
here is when things calmed down a bit.
there was a Great Blue Heron....
and some Canada Geese in this field while the one right beside the highway was wall to wall geese and ducks. Masses of ducks.
not much in the way of small birds over there, except near the bird feeders....
here are a couple of male House Sparrows.
Hasn't been the best weather the last few days, in fact yesterday was a total washout but we have managed a few walks....
this was probably the best day....although not a lot around...nice to see a Bald Eagle perched on that piling though.
the mixed flock of Canada and Cackling Geese were back over at Harrison Bay on Saturday...
and mixed in that flock was this 'oddball'.....technically, when a bird has white in the plumage where the species doesn't normally have white, it is called 'leutistic'
there have been a few Northwestern Crows....like this one...
and also Woodpeckers....this one being a female Downy Woodpecker.
the cooler, wetter weather has also brought back the Varied Thrush....
Then today when we headed over for a walk, we noticed....
the farm fields were full of ducks...hundreds of ducks....
when we got out of the truck, the reason became apparent...it was so windy out on the bay there were white caps....
but back to the ducks and oddballs...
see that duck in the lower left hand corner....looks to me like a cross between a Northern Pintail and a Mallard. There are normal Pintails lined up along the bank, and everyone knows what a Mallard looks like. The other species in the picture...lower right, is an American Wigeon.
Waiting for verification of that suspected cross. Definitely a pintail crossed with something!
Today was the day the Christmas Bird Count was being done in our area, and as is so often the case, the birds must have known it because it was so quiet compared to how it has been lately.
Fortunately...
the flock of Common Redpolls showed up, in fact it has increased in size. There are 8 of the active little birds in this photo. The Evening Grosbeaks also cooperated, coming to my feeders just as the counters were going by.
there was nothing going on over at the log bay which is getting dryer and dryer.
We wandered over to Harrison Bay after lunch...
and it wasn't any better. This was the sum total of Canada Geese, while for weeks we've been looking at fields full of them.
What did show up that we hadn't seen before this fall were...
American Coots..... Quite a big flock of them. The Ring-neck Ducks were still there too although they've moved from the spot they've been at for the last week or so.
Mid afternoon I decided to go for a 'dog less' walk over to the park just to see if it was a bit more active than it had been in the morning, and fortunately it was....
big flock of Black Cap Chickadees going all through the bushes all around the 'bay'.
the female Belted Kingfisher that is normally over there, but had been no where in sight in the morning for the 'count', was back.
Quite a few ducks, including, of course, Mallard...
a pair of Hooded Merganser....
and a number of Green-wing Teal, like this guy who had been so busy working away in the little puddle of water he hadn't realized I was there. This is a species that doesn't normally tolerate anyone being too close.
there was also a fair amount of Bald Eagle activity along the shoreline...
and in the nearby trees.
