Back to normal.

Yesterday the weather was so horrible that no one was venturing out in it.  It was like someone was telling us to quit complaining about the weather during the festival, because it could have been like this!  This morning, we woke to clear skies and sunshine!  Unfortunately it didn’t last, and I couldn’t take advantage of it due to an appointment, but it was at least still dry when I got back so we quickly went for a walk.

as is to be expected, with all that rain, the water levels are once more on the rise!  The tape boundaries from the weekend are still up as the bottom 20 feet or so are now in water.

It was looking pretty normal out there!  LOTS of Bald Eagles and Gulls

a lot of Tundra Swans too – this little group resting on this little spit of land.

These Northwestern Crows were helping this Bald Eagle enjoy his meal.

a juvenile kept watch over the scene…

over at the log bay….

Spotted this male Northern Pintail mixed in with the usual Mallards (female on left) and Wigeons…

This Tundra Swan came in obligingly close so the yellow at the base of the bill is clearly visible.

a bit far off, but these are young Tundra Swans.  Their bills are light and necks dark, young Tundra Swans turn white at a younger age than young Trumpeter Swans do.

there was some good action out on the flats…

today was the first day I’ve made it to the park since the sign was finished..

Here is a close up of this excellent sign.

I also managed to get a not great shot of a Steller’s Jay.  This guys are so big, bright and bossy, I don’t know why they are so difficult to get a picture of!  There are nearly always some of them hanging about in the area by the bench.

17th Annual Bald Eagle Festival is in the books.

The 17th annual Bald Eagle Festival has come and gone.  Weather wise it could have been better ~ but it also could have been worse….

Saturday, was dry until about 1 in the afternoon, while Sunday it rained pretty much all day but at least the threatened winds never materialized.

The official count (done by David Hancock) was nearly a record, Sunday’s count was about 150 less…  never the less there were lots of eagles out there, clearly visible through the set up spotting scopes, to thrill those not lucky enough to be able to see them every day.

‘Sonsie’ the Bald Eagle was on site for a few hours both days.  With the exception of last year, Sonsie, who is now 10 years old, has attended each festival since he was 9 months old.  Each year O.W.L. (Orphaned Wild Life), which is located near Boundary Bay, makes the trek out here, both days, to give guests an up close and personal view of a mature Bald Eagle. (Last year Sonsie visited a different site during the festival)

This year, along with Sonsie, they brought on Saturday….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a non-releasable Barred Owl

 

and on Sunday, this tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Of course the days weren’t without some problem….Saturday a brief power outage was experienced right in the middle of one of the talks and Sunday the duck hunters decided to put on a show as there was more duck hunting taking place on this one day than there had been during the entire duck hunting season last year.  Fortunately there were also a lot of officials from various agencies to witness…which perhaps will help eventually towards the cause of getting the area protected.

One final note:  while heading to my ‘job’ during the festival I spotted these guys ….they are Bohemian Waxwings.  Not the first time they have ever been seen here at the estuary but definitely the first time they’ve perched where I could get a picture of them.  My hope is they will stick around for a day when it is quieter, brighter, and drier!

Tomorrow’s the day….

Well, tomorrow is the day so here are some pictures to whet the appetite for eagle viewing …

these were taken this morning which was a much nicer day than what is forecast for tomorrow!

what was truly astonishing were the amount of gulls out there…

here is a more cropped view of just one small section…

with the foggy backdrop it was kind of mystical…

here is one in flight…

and a close up of this guy enjoying his breakfast.

2 days to go…..

Two days to go to Eagle Festival…..

and a beautiful day it was!  Unfortunately if the weather forecast is correct, it is the last nice day we’ve seen for the foreseeable future.  The forecast for the festival weekend sounds down right wet!  Bad weather is better for actually seeing birds…but miserable for those volunteers out in it all day.

On sunny days like today, people looking for birds seem to out number the birds!  Very few eagles out on the flats, although a fair number soaring over head and taking refuge in the conifer trees on the hillside.  These two Trumpeter Swans were in close to the log bay area….and their admirers were lined up shoulder to shoulder on the shore including places they shouldn’t have been.

I don’t know what was going on with the small birds in the same area.  There were alarm calls galore.  These 2 female House Finch were the only birds visible and then only for a minute.  I suspect that Northern Shrike might have been around again but I prefer to do my birding in solitary…way too many people there today to spent the time investigating.

up at the other end where things were less chaotic…the Great Blue Heron was enjoying the sunshine.

2 days to go….

With just 2 days to go to Eagle Festival….it was a beautiful day.  Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like that will be the case for the festival weekend.  Bad weather is usually better for actually seeing large numbers of birds, but not so good for those volunteers out in the weather.

and now I am going to try posting this, just like this, with no pictures, to see if it actually works, because for some reason I could not post the one I prepared with pictures.

3 days to go….

With just 3 days to go to the eagle festival, the birds are putting on quite the show!

Although today was supposed to be sunny, it never quite made it, low cloud persisted throughout the day.

and that suited the Bald Eagles, just fine! 

this fellow was one of several who supervised an early morning walk.

Eagles were spread out all over the emerging flats.  No doubt there are now lots of dead salmon being left behind by the retreating water.  There were also a lot of Swans (Tundra’s judging from the calls) but they were further down, off of the golf course.

of course Great Blue Heron were around too….

and thick and fast they came at last……

OK, I’m not talking in general terms here but in regards to an event today that we’ll get to in a bit….

It was a showery damp day today, and got damper as our walk progressed…with the eagle festival just 4 days away, water levels are just about perfect right now for optimum viewing.  This little grouping of Bald Eagles were posing nicely as we started out on our walk – and yes, all that ‘white’ are gulls….

a Great Blue Heron was just a bit further along, with American Wigeon and Mallard (1 female in picture).

some other Mallards were just relaxing…one fellow having a nice stretch!

The ‘eagle’ trees by the viewing platform had a few occupants including this pair of youngsters…

there were even more down off of the golf course where an ‘eagle release’ had taken place today.

but it was out on the flats where things got interesting…

it started with just a few – that must have been a very tasty fish because….

they started arriving…

and just kept coming!!!

more….

and more!

must also mention these Tundra Swans out there in the now pouring rain!

and the sign or information station seems to be taking shape.