Pretty normal day….

Thanks to some work being done by BC Hydro we were without power for several hours today which meant more time for walking…

It was supposed to be a sunny, clear day today but we’ve had high cloud hanging around, making for an interesting sky.  While in this area, I could hear Coyote’s yipping out on the flats…couldn’t spot any.  There are a lot of coyote in this area but we don’t normally hear them during the day – unless a siren goes by! 

There were normal numbers of the normal birds you’d expect to see this time of the year…

A Spotted Towhee was about the only one co-operative enough for a picture.

heading for home I spotted something off in the distance…

a couple of Killdeer – barely visible in this picture….  Killdeer are the easiest shorebird to recognize as they are the only one to have a double black neck band..

Just because today’s pictures are a bit pitiful, I’ll throw in this file photo of a Killdeer – this one taken at Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park.

Two other items of note for the day….a large flock (at least 30) of Evening Grosbeaks settled into a tree top briefly, and about 6 Crows were flying over mid-day…I’ve mentioned before about the large amount of crows that fly over late in the afternoon…we don’t often see them during the day.

Sunshine ~ and not much else

A beautiful sunny day today…

warm if you could find a sheltered spot out of the wind….

a little chilly everywhere else, due to a fairly strong outflow wind…no doubt the reason for the lack of birds…a few Mallard, and some Golden Crown Kinglets and Chickadee’s down in the bushes…that was about it.

Thought I’d throw this not very well focused picture of some hazel catkins…just to show that spring is coming…

With nothing else to talk about today, this seems a good time to mention the Great North American Backyard Bird Count which starts in 10 days time.  This is my favorite bird count.  I never feel quite qualified enough to participate in a Christmas Bird Count, but the Backyard Count invites everyone of all ages and abilities to take part.  It starts on Fri. Feb. 18 and goes through to Monday the 21st.  Each day is a new count day.  You can count the birds in your yard, or go to your favorite park…and then enter the data on line.  It is fun to watch as the counts grow.  I’ll be attempting thorough counts of this area for the Fri. and Mon…..I usually try to get to Deroche and Nicomen Island for one of the days…  It actually always amazes me how few people from this area do participate in the count so I always try to do my part.  If you are interested in finding out more…just search ‘Backyard Bird Count’ and you will find it.

Strange day…

Today was a strange sort of day…the walk started out with me thinking there was going to be absolutely nothing to report….there wasn’t one single duck, couldn’t hear a bird anywhere…

but then when I got to the area by the viewing platform…I could hear Golden Crown Kinglets and Chickadee’s (both kinds – Black Cap and Chestnutback) and something else…the something else turned out to be that Yellow Rump Warbler that I’ve spotted 3 times now, this winter.

Continuing on I was busy staring into the trees looking for, yes, an owl (no I haven’t seen one since my sighting of the Boreal a week ago)…and there, right in front of me, in the middle of the path…is a Ruffed Grouse - of course by the time I spotted it and was fumbling for my camera…it had spotted me and was wandering off into the underbrush….so you get this ‘file photo’

The above photo of a Ruffed Grouse was taken at Tunkwa Provincial Park in 2006.

Continuing on to the log bay, you can see it is another dull gray sort of day  and yes, that is a rain drop on the lens right in the middle of the picture…it was here I finally spotted some ducks…

a pair of Mallard and some Green Wing Teal.  I am sure the Bald Eagles have something to do with the lack of ducks…there was a juvenile eagle perched in a tree over looking the bay.  On Saturday we watched a pair of eagles going after a gull…There aren’t that many Eagles in the area now, but the ones that are here are obviously hungry. 

On again…off again….

Today was one of those on again, off again sort of days….sometimes it was dry…

and other times, it was anything but!  This area of the path was alive with Golden Crown Kinglets and Chestnut-backed Chickadees…just like yesterday..

but everywhere else was pretty much deserted.

There was this female Common Merganser over at the log bay…

1 pair of Green Wing Teal and 1 pair of Mallard…the Bald Eagles that were around seemed to be in serious hunting mode, which I suspect is why the ducks had fled…

Both this Merganser, and one that had been up the other end (the only duck at the other end) had both been successful catching lunch…Common Merganser are fish eaters and this one had caught a fish almost too big for it to swallow…in fact it was still wrestling with it when we headed for home.

a Varied Thrush sort of day….

It was a Varied Thrush sort of day….

dark, cold and very, very wet!

here is a closer look of one of the Varied Thrush…..  despite, or maybe because of the wet weather….it was a very ‘birdy’ day!

Saw the first Great Blue Heron (on the log) that I’ve seen for a while, and there were the usual Mallard and almost a dozen Common Merganser (2 in above photo).  That large mixed flock of Golden Crowned Kinglets and Chestnutback Chickadees were busy in the bushes and trees along the trail…Black Cap Chickadees were equally busy in another area.

The area beside the log bay was absolutely ‘hopping’ with Red-Wing Blackbirds,

the most Dark Eyed Junco’s I’ve seen so far (30 +) – only managed to capture one in the above picture….it’s called ‘find the bird’!  There were also the usual Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhee…

this picture of more Red-wing Blackbirds, this time bathing…should show just how hard it was raining!

on the way back, finding myself surrounded by Gold Crown Kinglets, I just had to try for a picture, despite knowing it was hopeless in the dull light and rain….and then to top things off…I spotted a Wilson’s Snipe at the bay by the viewing platform…

tried the ‘point the camera in the general direction and hope for the best’ technique…and it worked…it’s there…. to the left…in the green stuff.

Groundhog Day

First of all, to bring us up to date – yesterday’s little Owl has been confirmed as a Boreal Owl….and no, I didn’t see him today…sightings like that are few and far between!

So, today is Groundhog Day and all the Ground Hogs back east have predicted an early spring…

that is because it was cloudy and they couldn’t see their shadows…as you can see it isn’t cloudy here – NOT that we have Ground hogs here, but if we did, it would have seen it’s shadow…so what does that mean?  The folks back east deserve an early spring….we, on the other hand, haven’t actually had a winter yet.

looking the other direction there is cloud moving in.  But back to the birds…today, just the usual suspects..

Spotted Towhee and that big flock of Red-wing Blackbirds, the usual ducks, lots of Mallard, a few Gadwall, American Wigeon and Green Wing Teal.

Steller’s Jay, and the pair of Raven flew over.  A scattering of Bald Eagles and about a dozen Swans way over by the Harrison River.

a good sized flock of mixed Black Cap Chickadee and Dark Eyed Junco on the way home…all in the completely wrong area for pictures, facing directly into the sun.

So what can we expect now that February is here?  Well by mid month we should be seeing an influx of American Robins, and by the end of the month the red finches, the native Purple Finch and the introduced House Finch should both be showing up.  None of these species are far away but for some reason seem to vacate this area for a few months in the middle of what is supposed to be, winter.  As you may have guessed, I like winter…and am a bit disappointed we didn’t get the real one we were promised!

Boreal Owl !! or Saw-whet???

The first day of February…and it started off normal enough…

I had planned to comment on what a beautiful way to start the month…sunny and just a little bit cool with temperatures just above the freezing mark..

The Red Wing Blackbirds were over at the log bay, as were numerous ducks, Mallard, Green Wing Teal and Gadwall…..

then as I was wandering homewards…I heard a whole bunch of Steller’s Jay ‘mobbing’ in this little grove of cedar trees….knowing that meant there was probably an owl lurking in those trees I approached carefully with camera at the ready, thinking I’d finally get to see a Northern Pygmy Owl this winter….

as we got closer…you can see one of the Steller’s Jay sort of just above and to the right of the middle, and yes, there is an owl perched on a branch to the left…

there it is…but wait…that doesn’t look like a Pygmy Owl….

could it be a Northern Saw-Whet???  So snapped a few more pictures and went home – downloaded the pictures and got my faithful ‘Sibley’s’ and no…it doesn’t look like a Saw-Whet….it looks like a Boreal Owl!!!  which according to the book shouldn’t even be found here…so I decide a second look is needed.  Shut my walking companion in her kennel, grabbed the DSLR camera and headed back – not really expecting it to still be sitting there…

but it was…right smack dab in the middle of the picture (I decided to post this one so you can get an idea of the size of it…

not only is it still sitting there – it’s got lunch!

I’ve studied and studied these pictures and compared them to my field guides and I’m pretty positive it is a Boreal, even though one field guide says they are only found high in the mountains…but if I’m wrong – please let me know.  A Boreal Owl would be a ‘Lifer’ for me (means I’ve never seen one before) and either a Boreal or a Saw-whet would be another species for the Chehalis Estuary.

 

here is another look…

as I watched him the sun peeked through the branches to highlight him as he went back to sleep.

a last look as I left him in peace.  What an exciting start to the month!