Well there are two words that pretty much sum up June 2020 - wet - and windy. Even when it isn't being 'wet' it seems the wind is blowing....guess the only good thing about that is it keeps the mosquitoes at bay, because all that 'wet' has caused their numbers to soar - which is a good thing for the poor birds....but not so pleasant for us humans....
So where to begin?
I guess with water - we'd all thought the water levels had peaked as they had started going down, but no.....they came back with a vengeance. This is the Kilby parking lot and the campground, that had opened, is again shut.
That high water has caused some serious problems...
as some of the martin boxes are now completely submerged.
and as if the high water level wasn't enough, there are a lot of inconsiderate boaters and personal water craft operators whose wakes cause even more problems. Hopefully the birds can move up to the boxes off of Eagle Point and still have time to raise a family. Haven't been able to check those boxes recently due to the wind.
The weather has been hard on any flying insect feeding bird....
we did see a pair of Barn Swallows the other day feeding this one fledgling. Four would be a more normal number.
Speaking of youngsters....
finally caught sight of the young Bald Eagle! Looks ready to leave the nest...again, only saw the one. Another sad story, courtesy of a couple of birders who had sat watching with spotting scopes....there have been a pair of Osprey with a nest way out on the bay....I'm pretty sure they had young, but all were lost - possibly to feed a baby eagle?....not giving up, the pair had been rebuilding their nest and had laid an egg but with the water levels so high, a River Otter swam right up and plopped in the nest and grabbed the egg.
Still in just the nest building mode are...
the Cedar Waxwings. These guys, along with American Goldfinch are about the last to get down to business.
Still on guard duty...
the Spotted Sandpiper....hope we will get to see the little ones when they hatch.
the Hairy Woodpeckers aren't effected by the weather....that is the youngster on the right, not sure if it was mom or dad on the left....
you can tell a young one, at least a young male, by the red patch on the forehead. That will migrate to the back of the head.
At home, in the relative safety of our yard...
we've had a family of Dark-eyed Junco....that is mom on the left - she has a bad leg but it hasn't kept her from raising 3 youngsters - one of which is on the right. Daddy is also around. On the other side of the house in a quickly slapped together bird house, we have Black Cap Chickadees....mom and dad are busy feeding all day long....don't know how many young there are, hopefully will get to see them when they leave the box.
still young Steller's Jay around as well.
have also had visits of White crowned Sparrow (on left) and Purple Finch (right) but haven't seen any youngster of either species yet. Black headed Grosbeak occasionally show up and lots of hummingbird activity lately, mainly Anna's and young Rufous....in fact, now it is the end of June, the male Rufous Hummingbirds, that have been in pretty short supply around here this year, will already be starting their leisurely southward trek.
so we will hope that the water levels have peaked - for the second time and things will improve.....in lots of different ways!
Well it is officially summer.....
and yesterday it certainly looked like it as we went for a walk along the dike
this Spotted Sandpiper was very busy leading us away from where there is obviously a nest (dogs are being kept on leads right now as they are just too interested in what might be happening down along the sides of the dike.
there was a lot of calling from the eagle nest but still haven't been able to spot the young ones although there is obviously at least one there.
Speaking of young ones, have seen a lot of young Rufous Hummingbirds the last few days and our yard has been very busy with a little Dark Eyed Junco family with 3 fledglings.
Today we got out on the water for a while...
water levels are back up to their highest point for this year....out in this area which is fairly close to the main Harrison River, there were lots of Spotted Sandpiper, Cedar Waxwings and Swallows - lots and lots of swallows!
here is one of the Cedar Waxwing....
and here are just a few of the Swallows....3 Violet Green and 1 Tree Swallow.. Also saw some Barn Swallows and a few Northern Rough Wing
and then there was the Eastern Kingbirds. Every year there are a few out there.
we ventured way up into an area we've never been able to get before. There was constant bird song including calls I've never heard here or anywhere, but trying to see what was making the calls was impossible.
Did find yet more Cedar Waxwings though.
We took a week or so away, so today was the first time we'd walked over at Harrison Bay since the last post. Weather hasn't changed much but water levels have dropped slightly....
those ripples in the water turned out to be....
a River Otter...
A bit further along....
a male Hairy Woodpecker with a fledgling....
Quite a few Cedar Waxwings flying around....
and then we spotted this....
a male Lazuli Bunting! We'd seen one earlier in the spring, but to see one, in fact I think there were two, at this time of the year must mean they are nesting here which is exciting.
the Viper's Bugloss is coming into flower....
could hear lot's of Common Yellowthroat and then finally this guy showed himself and held still long enough for a picture....
Perhaps the most interesting thing though was....
taking place by the eagle nest....this adult was perched and was being constantly attacked by the smaller bird....couldn't tell what the smaller bird was until I got home and down loaded it....
turned out to be a Bullock's Oriole. The eagle wasn't paying the slightest attention to it. By the way, could hear young in the eagle nest, but couldn't see anyone yet.
Water levels continue to creep up....
here is the parking lot at Kilby as of today....it is liable to come up more than this before it reaches it's peaked.
In the meantime,
there are definitely young in the Bald Eagle nest but haven't been able to catch sight of them yet.
lot's of Bullock's Orioles! Don't recall there being so many other years - that is a good thing! Nice to see an increase in a species.
lots of Cedar Waxwings too.
Not just White-crowned Sparrows....
but also Savannah Sparrows....
So many birds, hard to see in the vegetation. Seems the young European Starlings are now leaving their nests. Have seen some young Red-wing Blackbirds as well. Most others are still sitting or haven't started yet.
