Snow arrived on schedule

 The forecasted snow arrived right on schedule....

by noon the sun was shining and with temperatures a bit above freezing, some of it was starting to melt....

snowshoes were used to break a path to the park, even so if was tough walking...

Bald Eagles in the tree by the viewing platform

there were a lot of Dark-eyed Junco along the trail...

and finally, Varied Thrush showed up.

but what was really strange, was trudging through snow, listening to....

American Robins!  So many robins....

Stranger still....

there was a Cedar Waxwing with them!

over at the log bay, the usual mass of gulls....

a couple of eagles...

and Trumpeter Swans...

then, as afternoon wore on, fog materialized.

Eagle activity today before snow arrives

Got a couple of walks in today before the snow really started to fly - which it has been doing now since late afternoon.

 it was snowing all around us as we did our morning walk...

there were a few Killdeer at the first bay

a few more Trumpeter Swans off of the log bay

and a number of Bald Eagles feeding in close to shore........look at all the salmon carcasses!

Speaking of eagles feeding, after lunch we drove over to Kilby...

had just got out of the car and was still trying to get dogs organized when this guy flew up into a tree by the parking lot with something for lunch.  I can't quite make out what it is, but suspect possibly an American Coot as they are supposed to be a favorite food of eagles.

Eagles were about the only birds around....

this one wasn't amused with us...

there was activity at the newest nest today too.  That makes 3 nests in the immediate area.

water levels have come up a little bit so there were quite a few ducks, mainly Mallards but also a few American Wigeon and Northern Pintail.

in the field, mainly Cackling Geese - the smaller version of the Canada Geese, one of which is snoozing in the back there, for a size comparison.

Robins?!

 The end of November isn't the time of year we should be discussing robins....but for some strange reason, there is a very large flock of American Robins hanging about this year.

When we say 'large' we are talking about somewhere between one and two hundred.

we would not normally see those sort of numbers except in early March when flocks of them sometimes stop here while on migration northwards.

Normally we don't expect to see robins from towards the end of August until about mid-February.  Definitely not the case this year!

the most recent wind and rain storm has brought the water levels up slightly and stripped the trees of their remaining leaves, so at least now we can see what birds are there.  You can see the snow line too, it should be much lower in a few days.

this chilly scene (the sun had already gone behind the hillside), shows American Coot on the beach and a couple of Great Blue Heron....the massive flocks of Coots seem to have moved on, or maybe they are just somewhere else in the area, but a few remain.

here is a closer look at the heron.

As we headed home, had to slam on the brakes...

this young Red-tail Hawk was perched on a hydro pole.

Where are the eagles?  Well most of them have been soaring overhead enjoying the clear skies and out flow winds.

Eagles and gulls

 We are into it now!  Bald Eagles and gulls - so many gulls - have never seen it quite like this!

setting out this morning, all you can hear is the cry of gulls as you approach the area

and there you have it - eagles and gulls....

a couple of American Wigeons

the approach to the log bay

and there is the Trumpeter Swan family along with a few Mallards

out on the flats - Bald Eagles...

and more Bald Eagles...

a Bald Eagle line up....

In the trees off of the golf course too.

Back here at the log bay, there was a Hairy Woodpecker working away between the logs - try as I might I couldn't get a decent picture as it was in deep shade and he wouldn't hold still for a second!

just a very few of the hundreds and hundreds of gulls - think these are all Glaucous-wing.

Over at Harrison Bay...

it's been pretty quiet, mainly because the water is so, so far away!  It is raining right now, but colder temperatures and snow are in the forecast, so that won't help raise water levels.

An interesting day

 Today was a rather interesting day....the weather is changing and that always seems to contribute to more bird activity.  

this morning, out on the flats, there were so many eagles....in fact my co-caretaker for the IBA managed a count and ended up with 1,130....of course that was just in the immediate area and most were way, way out....but it was an encouraging number.

here is the scene in another section.

After lunch we headed over to Harrison Bay where the water levels are even lower ...

never have we seen the river like this!  With rain in the forecast, hopefully this is as low as it goes and water levels will rise a bit soon.  It is now so low that all those Coots that have been hanging about seem to have moved on.  I heard some were further up the river and there were a few scattered along this section, but nothing like the numbers we have been seeing.

until we reached this spot, it seemed like nothing was happening....but then...

out on the river, a couple of Loons (actually there were more than just these two) and Double Crested Cormorant...

Mallards and Wigeons along the shore and what makes this interesting is that it looks like the male wigeon (top middle) could be a Eurasian cross notice the yellow forehead.

and it wasn't just on the water - robins!  so many robins...50 or 60 of them...very unusual for this time of year.

here is a close up look at one of them...

Woodpeckers...heard several but this female Hairy was the only one I could get a picture of...

Northern Flicker too...this male posed nicely but there were at least 3 more.

and lets not forget the eagles....there are actually two of them in that nest, you can just make out the tip on one of their tails as they work to enlarge the nest, ready for next year.