Rain, rain, go away!

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.