We humans sure liked October's weather.....
this was yesterday morning.....
but the birds....
prefer today's! For one thing the water levels have come up. Not a lot, but enough that salmon are now making it all the way through to the end...
and look out there....about 60 Bald Eagles in this spot....
around 50 here....so all told probably a couple of hundred out there this morning.
Didn't get over to the park today, but this young one was over there yesterday. It is starting! Now when will the swans show up?
Seems to me that usually by now there is all sorts of stuff to be reporting. It is sure slow going this year!
we had a little bit of rain yesterday and overnight. I think it brought the water levels up just a touch. There were actually a few salmon over in the far side of the log bay today....
and quite a few more just out from it. Also more ducks showing up....
Mallards and Green Wing Teal in this photo but also some American Wigeon and Hooded Merganser have been around.
still a far cry from last year....
when scenes like this were common ....
and the log bay looked like this!
there is starting to be a bit more Bald Eagle activity out there...this was just one section today. More rain would raise the water levels condensing the feeding area.
Harrison Bay.....
hasn't been any better,
although lots of gulls and quite a few ducks way out, but our last walk we didn't even hear an eagle, let alone see one.
As for the smaller birds, that has been rather interesting too....
I don't recall us having Cedar Waxwings still around this late in the season other years, yet there are large numbers of them this year. Also Robins although their numbers seem to have lessened the last few days.
almost got a decent picture of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet today....until he turned his head!
In checking back in pictures I see the first swans showed up on October 28th last year. I'll be very surprised if any show up that early this year!
A couple of things happened today which makes me think it is time for some lessons - that is if you want to be a birder....and I'm assuming, if you bother to check this blog from time to time, it is because that is your goal.
So the first thing you have to learn is to 'be quiet!'. Today as I was attempting to get some photos of the Cedar Waxwings and Robins feasting on the fruit of a Pacific Crabapple....I could hear voices from way off....so, of course, could the birds....who all took off long before the quartet came stomping down the trail. So much of 'birding' is 'listening' first so you know where to stop and look.
Now for a picture....
there we are at the log bay....still high and dry....about a dozen salmon out there attempting to spawn in the little bit of water that is there....
Now the next was conversation I was told about where a rather irate person had come out specifically to see....
Bald Eagles....and hadn't seen a single one! Seems every time I went outside today there were eagles....but they aren't lined up along the roads....most of them were up in the sky, but there have also been a few feeding in the water....which is the second lesson....what to do when you spot an eagle....or any other bird for that matter.
You stop. If you are into taking pictures, take one from where you first spot the bird. For some reason everyone wants to 'get closer' but 'getting closer' just chases the birds away. Birds have a comfort zone. Some species tolerate a closer approach than others. Speaking eagles specifically, when they first arrive in the area, they tend to be quite spooky - taking off as soon as they are spotted, but after a while, provided the humans behave, keeping themselves, their kids and their leashed dogs on trails, the birds get used to them and will tolerate a closer approach.
always you should keep an eye on the bird. Your goal should be that whatever the bird is doing when you first spot it - eating, resting etc. - it should still be there, doing it when you leave. If it isn't, you did something wrong. You violated it's comfort zone.
Don't even attempt trying to sneak up on a bird....as soon as you do that, you are deemed a hunter and the bird takes off. Humans are expected to walk upright in a normal manner....if you act nonchalant....yes, I see you but I don't really care all that much - the birds tend to react in the same way.
While the eagles were feeding in one direction today, this Great Blue Heron was sunning itself in another....
and this trio of Green-wing Teal were dabbling about in between.
All photos taken today, during my normal walk with my leashed dog keeping to the trails.
While on our morning walk, came across a pair of....
Great Blue Heron....seems they had both decided this was 'their' fishing spot!
much strutting about...
on both sides....
unfortunately, when a 3rd showed up, I wasn't in the right position to get a photo as feathers really flew.
While all this was going on....
there were these Bald Eagles feeding not too far away and could hear a lot of eagle activity out along the river, so it is starting to sound more like one would expect this time of the year.
this adult was perched over at the log bay today.
Seems there are more....
Northern Flicker around now too. This one being a female (no red 'mustache)
Here is a view of what is 'out there' right now. See at least 13 eagles and some Glaucous-wing Gulls.
So it isn't my imagination.....while all we humans are enjoying this wonderful stretch of warm and dry weather....it isn't usual and it sure isn't helping the spawning salmon or the birds that are supposed to be eating them.
Lets take a look at what it looks like around here right now....
high and dry!
there were 6 or 8 Chum Salmon in this one spot that had enough water to support them...
you can't really call this the log 'bay' right now....bays require water! and it isn't any better over at....
Harrison Bay....we are walking along the river here....at least there is still water in the river
but sure doesn't look like it is past mid October.... I went back to 2011 and can't find a year when water levels were anywhere near as low as they are this year....
take, for example, 2015....
2011 with the log bay full of water and spawning salmon...
2014 we had the opposite - too much water!
So what does it all mean? Who knows! Today, if I counted the few eagles I could see way out there and those flying over the hillside, I got about 25 - a far cry from the 100's we should be expecting to see about now. Of course why would they come here while they can still be feeding all up and down the coast?
this young Bald Eagle flew into a tree by our boat launch today and there have been a few feeding on the very few fish that somehow have made it through the shallows....
even other birds seem to be out of sync from normal....
we are still seeing lots of American Robins, like this young one, while normally they have pretty much disappeared from around here by now.
Walks at Harrison Bay have been distinctly 'bird-less' although seeing these 2 Pileated Woodpecker one day was a treat.
I guess all we can do is wait and see how things go - we know things can certainly change in a hurry when weather patterns change, lets hope they change in time for the spawning salmon!
The first Chum Salmon was spotted off of Eagle Point park today....sorry, no picture. It was a beautiful day today but it sure was quiet in the bird department.
Yesterday we had taken a walk over at Harrison Bay and it was pretty quiet over there too but what we did see gives a lesson in Sparrow identification, so here goes....
Gold-crowned Sparrow - this time of the year, just a slight wash of colour....it could possibly be a young one too as I'm not sure I know what a young Gold-crown actually looks
like.
this one should be familiar....the streaky Song Sparrow....
a young White-crowned Sparrow....
and the find of the day....
a Lincoln Sparrow....unfortunately the little guy really stuck to the back of the bush so couldn't get a clear picture, in fact I didn't know what it was at the time....wasn't until I downloaded that I could make the ID
and this is just a 'seasonal' scene along the river.
Just when you least expect it....something exciting shows up and so it was this morning....heard a Red-wing Blackbird, and since I hadn't actually seen any here since we got back, thought I'd try for a picture.....so imagine my surprise when....along with the Red-wing.....
I spotted this - a Rusty Blackbird!.....of course it was in the middle of the bushes and my camera battery was going dead and I'd forgot my spare....so I was desperate for a picture...
fortunately I was able to get a couple that show no doubt as to the ID. I think it is a female in non-breeding plumage. Rusty Blackbirds are one of the most rapid declining bird species, estimates give anywhere from an 85% to a 99% decline in their numbers in the past 40 years. They also don't belong here, although last week there was a report of one off the northern tip of Vancouver Island and in Feb. 2014 I had one stop at my feeders briefly. This is a species that nests in the boreal forests of Alaska and Yukon, migrating diagonally across the continent to the southeastern states where it spends the winter.
After lunch we went for another walk, of maybe spotting the bird again, but of course there was no sign of it, or even the Red-wings. There were lots of ....
American Robins....
Black Capped Chickadees....
and Spotted Towhee....and you will note they are all in the Pacific Crabapple trees feasting on the fruit. There were warblers there too, and Ruby Crowned Kinglets and who knows what else....
mustn't forget the Anna's Hummingbirds, including this one that posed so nicely for me!
Out on the estuary....
lot's and lot's of ducks...look like pretty much all Mallards and can see one Bald Eagle way over there on a gravel bar.
there was also a Belted Kingfisher by the log bay...this one a female as she is wearing the rust coloured 'belt'.
