Hard to believe but another month has shot by, and after last month setting the record for the coldest February ever....this month sets the record for the driest March ever....good old climate change - what next!
We decided to try a morning walk over at Harrison Bay.....it has been a couple of days since we'd been there and the first thing we noticed was....
it is suddenly getting very green!
The second thing was....
the bay, is becoming a bay again....water levels are rising!
Bird wise things were pretty much the same....still some swans
and Canada Geese....looks like this pair are thinking of nesting on these pilings. There is another sitting on a nest further along.
numbers of Tree Swallows are increasing and today we saw a Violet Green Swallow as well.
think this is the male Bald Eagle....'mom' seems to be on the nest now.
managed a nice photo of a Northwestern Crow today....
and finally.....Dandelions in flower.
The most interesting thing this morning had nothing to do with birds or flowers though...
notice all that water....notice the log boom to the right of the photo...there is another just out of sight at the left, and up until this morning, there was one in the middle. We had noticed a log boom moving down the river with no tow boat in sight. Remember these were high and dry just a week or so ago....
by the time we got back to the parking lot, the free floating log boom had made it''s way this far and quite the crowd had gathered to watch it...
The ending was rather anti-climatic as it eventually came to a gentle rest against the railway bridge.
This evening marked the first 'evening' walk over to the park....
Beautiful! but hopefully by the time another month passes, this will be a lot wetter.
A walk over to the park this morning resulted in an interesting sighting. There were actually 2 gulls....and I don't know what they are....
I know what they aren't.....they aren't our normal Glaucous-wing, or little Mew Gulls, or Ring bill Gulls which we do occasionally see this time of year as they are migrating...
the head doesn't look right for a Herring Gull, and also the eye appears dark and not yellow...
My best guess, after consulting my Sibley's Bird Book was Thayer's Gull but when I went to report them as such, I find that there is no such bird anymore on E Bird....there is an Icelandic Thayers.....so I don't know. Will reach out to some experts and try and figure it out. Perhaps it is a cross of some sort....
description - pink legs, small head, greenish bill with black at the tip, dark gray plumage with extensive smudging on the head, neck and breast.
If I find out....I'll let you know. Also, saw the first Rufous Hummingbird over at the park....have had one at my feeders, but this was the first over there.
The sunshine continues!
yesterday we got in a quick walk to the log bay in the morning....nothing out of the ordinary....lots of Tree Swallows continue flying around the nesting boxes....
It was later this afternoon when we finally got for our walk over at Harrison Bay...
mid-afternoon on a warm sunny day isn't the best time to find birds....
This Bald Eagle was perched near the nest (later went to the nest). We thought at first it was eating something, but turned out it was just preening it's feathers.
numerous robins and Northern Flicker continued....this is that female Yellow-shafted....you can just make out the 'v' on the nape of the neck so this is definitely a pure Yellow-shafted and not an inter-grade.
Trumpeter Swans are still around....surely not for much longer!
There have been several Common Loon on the river, still in their non-breeding plumage although considering how dark their backs look, they must be starting to change.
apart from a few Common Merganser way out on the river, this pair of Mallard were the only ducks seen. One Canada Goose with them....still quite a few geese around
the most interesting thing today was....
spotting a pair of Black-capped Chickadee excavating a nest hole. From past experience, this doesn't necessarily mean they will actually use this site. They seem to work on a number of sites before making up their minds.
look close, Chickadee in a hole!
Finally....
this male Anna's Hummingbird seems to have staked out a particular blackberry bramble as his territory. We assume there is a female nesting in it somewhere as the other day he was doing his diving display....
and I haven't been able to get a picture yet, but have had a male Rufous Hummingbird at my feeders several times....only one so far and haven't seen a female yet.
Although it was a lovely sunny day, didn't get for a morning walk, and during our afternoon one, there wasn't a lot of activity, mainly because of the rather brisk wind coming down the river.
There were still swans in the field behind us and geese scattered here and there....
The Bald Eagle nest was occupied today....
but the interesting find was....
the only Northern Flicker today was this female Yellow-shafted one. The Yellow -shafted (notice the golden color under the tail, rather than the normal orange red) are usually found east of the Rockies or in the Peace area of our province. This is the time of year when we are most likely to find them here as they are in migration. Of course sometimes we see inter grades too, a mix of both the yellow and the red, which can lead to some interesting combinations.
here is another view of the same bird.
Only other item of note....The first Turkey Vulture of the season seen this morning.
Some much needed rain fell over night and into the morning so it was a damp walk (something we aren't used to lately) in the morning over to the park. The only thing of note was....
Killdeer at the log bay. Have heard them periodically but this was the first time was able to spot them. A total of 3 but only 1 in the picture.
By lunchtime the weather had cleared so we headed over to Harrison Bay....
if you look at the shore....it was lined with .....
Canada Geese......lot's of very vocal and restless geese....
Trumpeter Swans still in the fields....counted 80 of them.... but the species with the highest count today....
American Robins....lot's and lot's of robins! Well over a hundred. They were no doubt enjoying the bugs and worms brought closer to the surface after the rain....
and it wasn't just robins feeding on the ground....
Northern Flicker....this one a female, were also busy....in fact saw more flickers today than we have for sometime, but I think I've already mentioned that March is when we often see them in larger numbers as they migrate through.
there is a pair of them in this picture. Male on the left, female on the right.
Speaking of males and females....
walking one direction....there was this male Hairy Woodpecker....
and on the return walk....
there was the female.
at the Bald Eagle nest, one was standing guard. Notice how the buds are swelling on the poplar trees - sticky bud time soon!
No picture.....but spotted the first male Rufous Hummingbird of the season yesterday evening....so they are on their way and pretty much right on time.
I have found a website called 'Journey North' that tracks the northward flight of all sorts of critters, not just birds but butterflies and even things like ice coming off etc. Haven't had time to really look at it in depth yet, but I have joined it and reported the Rufous to find out that he was the first one reported so far on the mainland, north of the border. There had been quite a few just south of the border and there were some up the east coast of Vancouver Island.
There was another 'first' yesterday as well, and again no picture....but a Band-tail Pigeon showed up at the feeder. This is early for their return. Had trouble convincing EBird that it was here already.
Today's walk just showed the usual's....
a female Red-wing Blackbird....
a pair of European Starling.
Robins, lots and lots of Robins....
Song Sparrow....
still some swans around....the one on the left is a Tundra....probably the other one is too. There were also some Trumpeters....another week and they should have all headed north.
Tree Swallows were quite active today as well. Waiting to see a Violet Green one show up.
For some reason, today has been a day of woodpeckers. It started this morning when, on our walk over to the log bay in the morning, I spotted what I thought was a pair of Downy Woodpeckers courting. None of the pictures, taken through bushes, turned out but rather than a pair, as in male and female, it turned out to be two males, so rather than courting, I suspect they were contesting territory!
After lunch, headed over to Harrison Bay for our walk and ended up seeing another two Downy Woodpecker, but also three....
Hairy Woodpecker. One pair were close to the campground and appeared to be checking out potential nesting sites, while this male was further along and posed very nicely for photos
You can tell it is a male from the red on the back of the head (females don't have that).
Also checking out nesting sites were....
Tree Swallows....this male also chose to pose beautifully!
Robins! Oh my goodness were there robins....over 50 I'd say throughout the length of the walk. At one spot, down in the fields, there were a couple of Western Meadowlark with them but no way to get a picture.
lot's of Northwestern Crows as well, several pairs but also a good size flock out in the fields.
European Starling too....some in pairs, even flying about with nesting material while others in a flock in the fields that are greening up rapidly.
On the water, about a hundred swans way out on the bay, 4 Common Loons, lots of Common Merganser again and...
of course Canada Geese....very restless for the most part, flying back and forth from the water to the nice green fields.
and let's not forget the Bald Eagles....the pair were perched near the nest today....notice too the swelling buds of the Poplar trees - sticky bud time! Spring is definitely sprung!
