After the deluge

 What a few days it has been!  Here at the estuary we have fared better than a lot of places.

Saturday, November 13th, here is what it looked like at the estuary....you can just make out some white heads down there in about the middle of the photo.

it was this trio of Bald Eagles, along with a gull and Common Merganser in the background....just a typical sort of scene for us this time of the year.  This was before it started to rain. We didn't venture out at all on the Sunday while the rain fell in sheets all day long.

Monday morning, the 15th, here is what it looks like, that bush down there, beyond the wildlife management area signs, is the same bush that fills the right side of the first photo.

and by afternoon, it was even higher....it peaked just shortly after this.

Tuesday morning and the sun was shining, at least some of the time, and the water started to drop.

We ventured over to the dyke, which is only a 5 min. drive away

to find the dyke was now a road as it was the only way for residents living near the Kilby site to get in and out, as the actual road was under water.

this is the field beside the local community hall and post office.

no beach along the river right now, at least the river was starting to clear and not the muddy mess it had been on Sunday.

we did have a few pleasant surprises, like spotting Buffleheads for the first time this season

and a couple of Double Crested Cormorant.  There was a time when cormorant were a common sight here but not anymore, so this was a treat.

and there were a couple of Bald Eagles.  Some people have been thinking the salmon will be loving the high water, but in reality it is the absolute worse scenario.  Any eggs already laid will either be washed away or covered in silt and live Salmon need gravel to spawn in, if they are up in the bush or areas where salmon should never be, they won't find gravel and even if they do spawn, the chance of any eggs hatching and making it out in the spring are slim to none.  Then there are the eagles to consider. If waters don't go down really quickly, they have no way of getting to any dead salmon that haven't got washed out to sea, and no where to sit to eat them. It is a rather desperate situation all round. 

there is one of the farm fields.  There was lots of splashing going on way out there so maybe the eagles will be able to catch a few ducks and gulls to tide them over.

What a surprise!

 Ok, this wasn't right at the Chehalis Estuary, but it was right around the corner....today we went over to Chilliwack to do some shopping, and as we were headed home, we came across this...

Snow Geese.  Hundreds of Snow Geese.

I've seen Snow Geese like this in Delta, and I've heard they are on the Matsqui Prairie this year, but the only Snow Goose I've ever seen anywhere near here, was a single individual mixed in with some Canada Geese, ten or twelve years ago at least.

the grey ones are this years youngsters.

and they just kept coming!

Amazing sight.

Another busy day at the estuary

Not quite as spectacular as yesterday, the swans were still there but they had moved further out,

 A flock of Canada Geese flew past, the sun was actually shining....

still lots of colour at the log bay...

surprising number of eagles in the trees right beside the log bay...

This tree is a bit further along....and look at the snow on those mountains!

A bit more activity in the duck department today....

Mallards, with one snoozing Common Merganser....

there were quite a few little Hooded Merganser, this was only a portion of the flock

a pair of Gadwall as well.

And have to mention....

those Purple Martin nesting boxes that were erected this past spring that worked so well for the Purple Martin and are now very popular with the Bald Eagles....

Wow! Wow! Wow!

 It never gets old!  For almost a quarter of a century we've been walking down to the estuary at least once a day, usually 2 or 3 times a day, and still, there are times it takes your breath away.

This morning was one of those.

Could hear there were swans out there before we were close enough to see them.  The first real group of them this season.

Bald Eagles were lined up along the shoreline...

Some Canada Geese appeared and swam by

in another area, there were lots of Cackling Geese....and of course the swans and eagles...

These appear to be mainly Trumpeter Swans.....

but there were also some Tundras, the one on the left having a drink for sure, and also the one right in front - look for the bit of yellow at the base of the bill to help ID although there are other differences as well including their calls and the way they interact with each other.

It was just so awesome to see so much activity out there again.  Too bad the lighting was so poor as it was getting darker and darker, preparing to rain again.

Later in the afternoon, when the rain stopped, most of the birds had disappeared...

but what had appeared was snow!  Not sure I recall snow this close, this early.....I'm sure it won't last, but still!

and not all the birds had disappeared...

the 'eagle tree' beside the viewing platform was well occupied!

A golden moment

 The weather sure has been changeable lately!  Take yesterday, it poured all morning long but by lunchtime, it had pretty much stopped, so we attempted a walk....

lots of leaf litter....

at this point, weather was moving in again...one Bald Eagle right there in the middle...

there he is!

So with showers moving in, we decided to turn back, but by the time we got to the parking area, the showers had stopped again, so we went the other direction....

low laying cloud making for a nice photo...

a Great Blue Heron perched on pilings in the river....

oh my goodness!  Sunshine!  It only lasted for about 5 minutes, but what a golden moment!

across the river, sun shone through the mist....

on the river itself, spotted this Horned Grebe.  Not a species we see here very often.

there have been large flocks of gulls on some of the local farm fields but they are too far off to ID....this one actually in the river is a Glaucous-wing, the most common gull species for our area. Note the all light grey colouring and dark eye.

While this one which was feeding on a salmon on the shore is an Olympic Gull which is actually a cross between a Glaucous-wing and a Western Gull.  Note the darker grey (not black) colouring.  I'm not sure if there are more of these around or I'm just getting better at figuring out which is which.

So at this point we were turning back and the skies were getting darker and darker.  We just made it back to the car before the skies opened....and as we went to pull onto the the highway, heading for home....

a tree full of eagles in the pouring rain.  It appears the season of the eagles has arrived.

Fall colours hanging in there

 Everyone has been commenting on how spectacular the fall colours have been this year, and despite the wind and rain we've had recently, 

they are still hanging on.  We got for a nice walk today before the next weather maker moved in.

there were actually a lot of birds in the area but this Song Sparrow is about the only one I managed to capture.

further along....

the new Bald Eagle pair were perched close to their new nest which is taking place beautifully, unlike the one up the other side of the dyke.

Out on the river....

a flock of Mallards were about the only thing visible.  Noticed there was a lot less boat traffic today so maybe if it stays that way we will start seeing more out in the water.

there were a few gulls, this one a Glaucous-wing Gull which is the most common in our area.

Earlier in the day we had walked over to the park....

and I was pleased to manage a few good photos of this Varied Thrush.  Wasn't so lucky with the Brown Creeper, Robins, Gold-crowned Kinglets and Black-capped Chickadees all in the same spot!

Oh.....and I think I mentioned how pleased I was to see that parks had put up rope barriers to keep people away from the waters edge....

well, that was how much good they did!