A couple of 'Firsts of the Season'

 Despite the fact that the weather has been much colder than normal for the time of year (we even had some light snow flurries again yesterday) spring is progressing....

this was yesterday morning over at the log bay.  You can see how low the water levels are.  I think this time last year people were kayaking already!

there were 3 Goldfinch, 2 males like this guy, and a female.  The first ones we've seen this spring.

Mid-day, wandered over again and was treated by seeing,

this, a Townsend's Solitaire.  We only see these grey, robin sized birds during migration in spring and sometimes again in the fall.

This morning we we headed out for our walk, either the same, or another one was at the first bay.....

and was able to get a better picture.

On the one dry day last week, we went to East Sector Park near Harrison to see how the plants were progressing....

the Trillium were in full flower......

while the Bleeding Hearts were just starting to flower.

and the False lily of the Valley are beginning to carpet the forest floor.

We haven't made it to Kilby for a few days, but with a week of sunshine and warmer temperatures promised, hopefully we will make it soon.

Beautiful Day

 Today, the 5th day of April, was a beautiful day.  Not only was the sun shining, but the wind, which has been cold and persistent, was down to just a mild breeze.

and as you can see, things are turning green rapidly!

Flowers are starting to show up too....this plum tree, in a different section of the dike is almost finished (photo taken a few days ago)

While...

some, like the Mountain Ash are in early stages and others barely begun.

The bird species are slowly increasing....

yesterday  evening there were 3 Greater Yellowlegs at the log bay and today had a brief glimpse of a White-crowned Sparrow, but we are still waiting for a positive sighting of a Rufous Hummingbird or a Yellow-rump Warbler.

there are quite a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets around though, which would be considered normal for the time of year.

this morning we spotted a Northern Harrier....hadn't seen one in the area for a while, unfortunately, it was eating a robin.....with the water levels about as low as they ever get, you'd think that it could find a mouse or something!

By the way....speaking of the flats and low water levels....

we finally have our official Wildlife Management Area signs!

Out like a lamb

 March hasn't been the pleasantest of months this year, but at least it is leaving us like a lamb.

the grasses are greening up but surprisingly, 

it is still hard to even find a Dandelion actually in flower.  Perhaps one of the causes is the fact that March was much cooler than normal....no snow or anything, just day after day of grey, chilly temperatures.

So where do we stand bird wise?  Well, one two words were going through my mind as we walked today searching and listening for any signs of birds..... 'Silent Spring' because it has just been so eerily quiet!

Yes, Tree Swallows are here, but the most seen at any one time, is 5....when normally, by now there would be many more....one wonders if the deaths by starvation of hundreds of thousands of migrating birds that was reported in the southern states last fall is now showing with these lower numbers - or if it is just the cold weather delaying their return.

Another concern are the Rufous Hummingbirds....because this is the first March ever, when I haven't seen a single Rufous!  Again, hopefully it is the cooler weather, although even non birders have questioned the lack of Rufous Hummingbirds the last few years.

on a positive note we are seeing...

Wood Ducks....today there were two pair, as well as pair of Hooded Merganser and a pair of Mallard, in this quiet backwater area.

and American Robins seem to be back in normal numbers, so lets hope March was just a blip and April will be more normal.

Last day of winter

 Hard to believe, but tomorrow it is spring, so thought I should do a wrap up of this, the last day of winter.

We have been fortunate to have had some pretty nice weather this month.  Here we are on a pretty typical morning over at the log bay.  Some Mallard and Green Wing Teal paddling about...

and this Great Blue Heron is usually poking about too.

large numbers of Red-wing Blackbirds continue to be there as well.

over at Harrison Bay, things continue to slowly move into spring.  Pairs of Mallard are showing up in the quiet sheltered areas, most of the geese are paired up and today there wasn't a single swan to be seen.

Crows, like this guy, and Starling are both gathering nesting materials, in fact I think some Starling are already nesting.  We've also see Steller's Jay with nesting material.

Tree Swallows are around, but not too many yet, and we are awaiting the first Rufous Hummingbird....some have been reported in the lower mainland, so it should be soon.

still waiting to see the first dandelion flower, but the first Salmon Berry flower appeared the other day.

Now, bring on spring!

How low can it go?

 It has got to the time of year when the water levels are about as low as they can go....

depending on weather, it will be about a month before water levels start to climb, so will be interesting to see how much lower it may go....of course the lower the water levels now, the more room for what is to come.  Always interesting to see how each spring plays out.

Spring is arriving....slowly....I'm surprised I haven't been able to spot a dandelion in flower yet.

did find some horsetails.

Of the birds, the Tree Swallows are arriving.  Just a few seen at a time for now....

while American Robins are just about everywhere!

Even though we hear that the heron are back and busy building nests at the heronry in Chilliwack, we are still seeing some of them here as well,

this one has been hanging about the log bay.....

Red-wing Blackbirds are still hanging about the log bay....this one was pecking at this old oriole nest....maybe there were bugs in it.

The least common  bird we've seen the last few days was this....

Red-tail Hawk.....they aren't rare, it is just that you don't see them every day.

Still waiting for the first Rufous Hummingbird....and hoping to see a Mountain Bluebird or a Western Meadowlark.  Pretty sure we heard Killdeer today, but have yet to actually see one.

A surprise sighting

 Not sure where this month is going!  Some home projects have kept us busy and when we do get out, there just hasn't been a whole lot to see, it is sort of that between season, waiting time.

We did get over to the dike this morning....

there was a definite 'change of season' thing happening...Way out in the field there were 70 some odd swans.....another couple of weeks and we won't be seeing them again until the fall.  Meanwhile, over head, there were Tree Swallows flying about.

beautiful and calm out there....

this Song Sparrow was busy preening at the top of one of the shrubs.  There were lots of robins and some Towhee as well, but it was as we were leaving to head home that we spotted this....

a Coyote, right near the road....

here is a better look at it.  We know there are coyotes in the area of course, but not often that you see them, especially out in the open.  Maybe it is disturbed by the construction activity taking place as Kilby does some upgrades.

Later we walked over to the park...

there were a number of robins and Varied Thrush....Varied Thrush are another species that will just quietly disappear during this month, not to be seen again until the fall.

When the salmon are gone.....

 Today's walk started out with an interesting observation.....

a Bald Eagle was busy ripping the feathers off of a catch because when the salmon are gone, the eagles start hunting.

Unfortunately, after down loading the photos it became apparent that what the eagle was eating wasn't a mallard but....

a loon....which I find a little upsetting as loons have a hard enough time these days with loss of habitat and human disturbance.

We continued our walk which was a little quieter than yesterday although there were lots of

Canada Geese in the fields.

As we did our return walk...

the 'kill' had attracted more attention.

with lots of carrying on and juggling for a portion.

in total, we saw 8 eagles, all adults with the exception of one.

a pair of Raven also showed up in hopes of a share.

not exactly the start we'd expected for the month, but interesting!