We are at that time of the year again. There will be no more walks across the grasslands to the park....not until September or so, at least.
there is the 'path'.....this was taken this morning....it is now completely underwater in fact I'll be surprised if we can even see this by tomorrow.
We walked to the park today, the long way...
the log bay is filling up - Purple Martins were flying around along with the usual swallows - oh and speaking of swallows, saw the first Barn Swallows today as well.
here is looking the other way...
another first sighting....Brown Headed Cowbirds...
and finally....
American Goldfinch....I'd heard them, but this was the first I'd seen.
walked back to ....
the first bay....it is filling up too....
and here is looking back across where, up to a few days ago, we were walking.
one final photo - an American Robin with a mouthful of nesting material.
The sun was shining....although I imagine most people who check these postings are of the same mind as me....thinking everyday should be 'Earth Day'!
the water levels are creeping up but with the temperatures forecast for this coming week, I expect the 'creep' will change to 'climb'....I'm figuring that we probably only have a few more days of walking across the grasslands before it is all under water.
the male Red-wing Blackbird is probably contemplating the same thing....like how long before this silly sign is underwater again (a good place for it!)
and finally, the log 'bay' is once more a 'bay!'
all the pilings are just swarming with Tree Swallows - you just can't capture it in a photo. I'm wondering when the Purple Martin will show up.
This morning was the first day that first of all, I heard a Common Yellow-throat.... and then later in the day...
the first Orange Crowned Warbler of the season. Still haven't seen a Yellow-rump although I hear they are around.
a lot of Song Sparrow activity the last couple of days....and saw a Lincoln Sparrow but didn't get a photo.
Expect there will be quite the influx of birds this coming week, and probably a thinning of the hoards of ....
Dark-eyed Junco that have been hanging about for the past few weeks.
Finally! It seems spring has arrived....
what a gorgeous morning!
the Canada Goose pair were there, although I haven't seen them on the pilings again. There was also a pair of Wood Ducks this morning.
the Tree Swallows were busy, as usual.
and the little Ruby-crowned Kinglets were visible and active.
with the sunshine, some of the species that we normally expect to show up in April, finally arrived...
including the Band-tail Pigeons
and some Pine Siskin! Also saw a Goldfinch, but didn't manage a photo of it.
Yesterday we had walked at Harrison Bay....
the water is definitely rising....but slowly...
The Osprey are back and starting nest construction. While the Bald Eagle nest is obviously occupied as there were sounds coming from in it, but she stays well hidden.
Somebody else building a nest....
was this Snow-shoe Hare!
and there are more White-crowned Sparrows showing up all the time.
and we've been seeing the Tree Swallows, but there are a few Violet-Green Swallows around too.
Only one short walk in yet another very wet day.... but a few interesting things...
the first bay is gradually filling....
there was one Killdeer down there.
as we approached the log bay could hear quite the Canada Goose carrying on....
the pair that have been hanging about the log bay were both perched on pilings today...
the female was the noisiest and I noticed....
she was taking chunks of rotten wood from the top of the piling. Could she possibly be making a nest? It seems a precarious perch! There are at least 2 other occupied nests on pilings closer to Harrison Bay, but those are groups of pilings, not a single one. Guess time will tell what happens.
here is the mate, supervising....and look how green it is all of a sudden. Everything is leafing out.
The last thing of note was....
this Northern Flicker....an inter-grade obviously as he has markings of both the Red-shafted and the Yellow-shafted.
I suppose all the rain helped....but this morning it was obvious....
the water is rising. Here is the first bay....
and here is the log bay.....and notice on the piling...
we've had herons and eagles and now we have Canada Goose on a piling.
lot's and lot's of Tree Swallows on pilings too.
so now it has begun, we will see how fast it happens....all depends on the weather!
Will it ever stop raining! Have managed a few walks the last few days, no such luck today as it has just bucketed down all day.
The theme stays pretty much the same.....
the water levels are rising.....ever so slightly....and despite the cool weather, the trees continue to leaf out...
and even to flower, like this Pacific Choke Cherry - problem is the bee's need these flowers and the flowers need the bees but bee's aren't out in all this wet weather.
The birds continue preparing for nesting season as well...
this female Red-wing Blackbird was gathering nesting materials the other day....
as was this American Robin, and notice the White-crowned Sparrow in the foreground....more and more of these little guys are showing up.
mustn't forget the cavity nesters either....zoom in on that tree in the middle....
that is a European Starling head sticking out of that particular nest hole.
Something of interest was spotting....
Trumpeter Swans out on Harrison Bay on the 11th of the month (in fact were there yesterday, the 12th as well). Very late for swans to still be this far south.
also seen the same day was this little Cackling goose (lower left).....mixed in with a small flock of Canada Geese. There are now 2 geese on nests on pilings, the one that has been there for a couple of weeks now, and another on the north side of the bridge....and speaking of geese, nesting and.......
some people just don't 'get it'. In the above photo, taken yesterday evening, you can just make out a pair of Canada Geese in the middle of the left of the picture - they had already been flushed from near Morris Valley Road by one of 4 dogs that had been turned loose to raise havoc at the estuary. Look in front of the dark log in the middle....there is another dog there....and look at the log on the extreme right of the photo ....notice the dog there....these 2 are closing in on the already disturbed wildlife.
One could perhaps plead ignorance on behalf of the dogs owners, except that several concerned owners around the area have already spoken to these particular people. This incident has been reported to the Wildlife Management people who promise at least signage in the near future.
A fairly pleasant day on Friday....
so we did another walk over at Harrison Bay. Water is definitely creeping up, ever so slowly.
The numbers of American Robins continue....but what was really noticeable were the number of Northern flicker.
they seemed to be everywhere.
another here....
another member of the woodpecker family....
were a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers. This one being the male (you can just make out the red 'mustache' markings....
and this, the female....
One of the pileated was on the left tree and the other on the 2nd from right. There were also Tree Swallows flying about these trees which show the importance of leaving damaged trees alone as they are needed for the numerous species of cavity dwelling birds.
Another White-crowned Sparrow was spotted, bringing the total seen to 2....
a number of Song Sparrow...
a sunning Spotted Towhee.....
and this had to be a mating ritual with this European Starling presenting nesting materials with much fluttering of it's wings.
