Beautiful couple of days

What a beautiful weekend!  We've walked to the park twice and also the dike twice.....the walks at Harrison Bay, while lovely, were really lacking in birds....one of the main reasons seemed to be duck hunters in the farm fields.  Obviously with permission, but when there are people shooting and dogs running around, no sane bird is going to stick around!

What was surprising (or maybe not considering this unseasonable weather).....

was seeing this Dandelion in flower - and after spotting this one, we noticed several more.  It isn't even the middle of January yet!!!

Also, probably thanks to more duck hunting, there has been virtually nothing on the water or out on the flats but the riparian habitat all along the trail at the park has been alive with little birds.  Unfortunately with the sun still low on the horizon, it is almost impossible to see and especially to photograph birds on the way over, so have to wait and hope they are still there on the way back.

This morning the activity at the log bay was amazing....

this Dark-eyed Junco was enjoying a bit of sun bathing.

there were several White-crowned Sparrows, along with the juncos and song sparrows.  In the tree's around the area there were numerous Steller's Jay, some European Starling, Purple Finch, and Northern Flicker.  A pair of Eurasian Collared Doves disappeared into a cedar tree....I'm wondering if possibly a nesting site as it is about time for those guys to be thinking about nesting again as they do it almost year round.

Anna's Hummingbirds are another species that nest almost year round.  They have been highly visible lately.  This one in an area with lots of Gold-crowned KInglets and Black-capped Chickadees.

With the nice weather set to continue, maybe our next walk over at the bay will be a little more productive.