19 November 2020

eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S76411874

Weather:  8am 3C, wind SE9;  12m 7C SE4

Tide:  8am 4.5 m, 12m 4.4m

Rain was forecast yet again for this morning, but when I awakened, I could see Venus shining to the southeast.  The morning was relatively clear, and chilly.

It was an interesting morning.  It is described in the media as a “king tide,” although as I read about it, those tend to be spring tides.  That said, 5 meters is a high tide and the paths of the Estuary were wet, this morning.

In any case, this was the first morning that I could visit the Estuary in some days.  So I set out..

When I set out, there was evidence of a bear rummaging the garbage cans in the neighourhood, and bear tracks and scat on the trail, not really recent but enough to keep me alert.

 

Trails were flooded from the high tide--I had worn my gumboots and was glad I had because there was about a foot of water at times.  

 

I was curious at first to see sand and bits of vegetation along the flooded areas, but realised eventually that I was seeing the results of flooded ant hills.  (Sorry, no photo.)

 

The fields were flooded.

 There were big logs afloat, many of which had sat above the tideline for months.

The meeting of the river and the Straits was very calm, and produced a fine reflection.

 

The eagles were very busy this morning, terrorizing the wigeons, who arose in huge flocks.  There must have been at least eight eagles, three of whom were juveniles.  They moved inland along the river, apparently hunting ducks and scavenging dead salmon.

 

The river was in spate, and at one point it was plain to me why I've lost my taste for walking in the forest on windy days.

It isn't really apparent from the photo, but this is about a 5040-foot tree and the full root ball that had toppled into the river and washed downstream.  

By the end of the morning it was starting to rain (again) but I made it home before it really got wet.

Later in the day, the weather dried up and I went in search of the mountain bluebird and sure enough, there she was, on the logs and eelgrass beside the shore.  I'd guess there are lots of bugs for her in the piles of eelgrass.  She seems to be hunting successfully.

Now that the Cornell Lab's site is back, I see that female mountain bluebirds do sometimes have an eye ring.  She remains out of range and I wonder what happened to the rest of her flock.  I suspect she's a victim of the wild weather we've had lately, and has been picked up and dumped along our shore.  It appears that mountain bluebirds are much more an inland bird, and seldom reported on Vancouver Island. 

I'm amused to note, that all the people who ask me "Seen anything interesting," seem to be edging away when I say, "Oh yes!" and tell them about the mountain bluebird.  I think I'm going to have to start telling them that there's an ostrich...