Well Wow! Some interesting sightings

 Maybe it is the crisp clear weather but there have been some interesting sightings the last couple of days and I don't mean eagles, although their numbers are increasing (slowly).

for example this was the 'eagle tree' yesterday morning, besides these perched ones, there were just as many or more soaring around over head.

But the interesting sighting was.....

spotting this Coyote carrying a very large salmon! That is a Mallard flying in the same picture.

here is a bit closer view.  It carried it a short bit longer, then stopped and fed on it for a little while, before picking it back up and disappearing into the vegetation.

In the afternoon we had another really exciting sighting....true, it wasn't right here at the estuary, but it wasn't all that far away in Deroche....

notice the 'white' in the middle of the photo?

that is a Great Egret!  A real rarity for our area, in fact the last time I am aware of one being around was back in September of 2010 when we had one here at the estuary for a week or so. 

Yesterday there hadn't been any swans at the estuary, but quite a few out on Harrison Bay....this morning there were a dozen or so back here at the estuary....

including this pair, snoozing in the early morning sunshine. 

Swans!

 Yesterday morning a familiar call alerted us to the fact that the swans were back!

there was a total of 7 Trumpeters in the area of the log bay.  This morning there were at least twice that many.

I know most people's focus is on the eagles, but I prefer the swans.

notice, too the number of salmon.  There still isn't a lot of water, but where there is water, there are salmon.

an unusual sighting yesterday was....

a Bonaparte Gull!  

up until this morning, we've continued to see Greater Yellowlegs regularly.  Today there were none visible so whether they've moved on, or just weren't where we could see them - after all there is a lot of area out there right now...it's hard to say.

Speaking of Bald Eagles....

well their numbers are slowly increasing but seems to be much later than normal.

 

This young one was very visible this afternoon, it's calmness around both us and our dogs makes me wonder if it is the young one that was raised in the near by nest.

numbers of gulls have definitely increased!  This group are all Glaucous-wing Gulls, adults and juveniles.

Between the low temperatures and steady breeze, smaller birds weren't visible today, although...

this male Downy Woodpecker put in an appearance just as we were finishing up.

no swans on Harrison Bay yet. There were some Canada Geese in another area.

Weather is changing

 Well the weather is definitely changing.....

this was the log bay this morning.  Water levels are rising slightly, especially out on the river, and with the rising water, more salmon are making it up this far.

there are some of them this morning, close to the shoreline.

over at Harrison Bay it seemed more eagles were gathering....

in fact there were quite a few way, way out on the bay

more gulls around too, including this Herring Gull that was taking a break on the beach.

We've been noticing....

a lot more Gold-crowned Sparrows than we normally see.

and yes, there was quite the wind blowing today...

it was quite the surprise to see snow on the local hills....no wonder it was so chilly!

Not sure what this guy was doing....but it is a pretty seasonal picture.  With the cool temperatures and the wind, the leaves aren't likely to be around much longer. 

A surprise sighting

 Eagle activity has come to a bit of a lull the last couple of days, but we have been finding a few birds, including a real surprise!

Short-bill Gulls are starting to show up.  These small gulls dive for the salmon eggs, rather than being interested in the salmon themselves.

We also have one or two Ring-bill Gulls, identified by the yellow legs, eyes and ring around the bill.

there has been one lone Greater Yellow-legs Sandpiper hanging around too.

But the real surprise....

was spotting this White-throated Sparrow yesterday!  Although related to both the common White-crowned Sparrow and the Gold-crowned Sparrow, the White-throated is more common east of the Rockies.

We still have quite a few...

American Robins in the area.  This one was posed nicely in some fall foliage.

So let's end with a rainbow, seen the other afternoon.  We will see if the water levels are any higher after the current rainstorm is finished.

Finally, a few positive signs....

 The last few days, some positive signs....

a few Bald Eagles are showing up.

and the occasional salmon is managing to work it's way up the extremely shallow waters

it's not a lot - but it's a start.

of course there is usually a Great Blue Heron to be found somewhere.

We've been having fun finding...

various fungi including these Amanita that are growing on the banks of the dykes over in the Kilby area.

We'd been so busy looking at 'mushrooms' that we hadn't noticed this pair perched overhead!

noticing quite a few Anna's Hummingbirds as well.  This one is a young male.  

Tomorrow (October 14th) is another world wide bird count day so hopefully there will be a few birds to count.

Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving weekend and we are still waiting for water.....

the log bay just keeps getting dryer, and dryer....

as does the first bay.  No signs of the little springs that used to trickle into here.

We are hearing a few gulls and the occasional call of an eagle, but they are way over on the other side by the river.

Today was the first day.....

when we walked over at the Kilby side, that we saw a gull, in this case a young Glaucous-wing, eating a dead salmon - so that was a good sign....

and further along, this one, I think a Glaucous-wing cross, also eating a salmon.  As for eagles, we didn't even hear one.

it is looking like fall, with the leaves changing colour and we know there are salmon going up the Chehalis and into the fish hatchery....will try to get there in the next day or so.

As far as other birds, there are some Canada Geese flocks flying around, a few ducks at the estuary, including some Northern Shoveler, but even the regulars like Song Sparrows and Towhee are making themselves scarce right now for some reason.