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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Some catching up

Time flies, have some catching up to do....had so many photos to download last night didn't get to the actual blog posting...

So lets see...

we've had some off and on again sunshine....today it actually lasted all day!  As this picture plainly shows the water levels are definitely on the rise now.  How high they get? well only time will tell.


for several days there were a number of Northern Flicker in just one part of the park...this one a definite inter-grade between the Red and Yellow shafted....having the 'V' on the nape of the neck like the yellow shafted, and it's 'mustache' being a mix of red which the red shafted has, and black which is what the yellow shafted has.  


managed to get a decent photo of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet....

while yesterday a large flock of...

Gold-crowned Kinglets moved through.  Should mention I've also seen a Yellow rump Warbler, but no photo yet.


the other morning this male Hooded Merganser was busy snoozing just out from our boat launch.  I mentioned before that there have been a number of Common Merganser around and I hear that a pair of Wood Ducks have been seen in the 'first bay'.  I know Wood Ducks, which are cavity nesters, nest here....just wish I could figure out where!


Yesterday we walked over at Harrison Bay....was fairly nice when we started, but that changed quickly!


the first pair of Osprey showed up a few days ago and immediately set about nest building.  This looks like a rather uneven surface but the bonus is it is far enough from land that hopefully they won't be disturbed by unethical photographers....as has happened in the past.


at least 3 sets of pilings are claimed by Canada Geese who are also nesting.  I am attempting to be a good 'citizen scientist' and reporting all these nest to 'Nest Watch'.  Not as easy a task as 'Feeder Watching'....with a feeder all you do it put the food out and wait and see who shows up....finding nests isn't easy to begin with and trying to figure out what is going on at them is a challenge too.


I'm sure there are Downy Woodpecker nesting right now as a while ago we were seeing pairs of them every time we walked, yesterday only a male was visible and a few times before that none were seen.


this male Hairy Woodpecker was working on what appears to be a new nest site....will watch for a while and see if it gets used or abandoned.  


there is somebody in that nesting cavity but couldn't see what....maybe a flicker or possibly the Pileated pair or maybe just a starling....will keep watching and hopefully will figure it out soon.

A big surprise yesterday wasn't a bird at all....


but this rabbit....which I think might be one of the sub species of Snowshoe Hare that live in a small area on the north side of the Fraser River.....they stay brown year round.  I'm also wondering if there was a burrow there as it didn't seem at all inclined to leave.  Something else to keep an eye on.

Lastly, I'll mention that there are apparently some Evening Grosbeak in the area....haven't seen them yet but my husband came home with pictures of them....maybe tomorrow.


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