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'.
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