24 October 2020

 I'm looking forward to "falling back," and daylight arriving a bit earlier for at least a while. 

 

After a day of cold rain and wind, it cleared last night around midnight.  I wakened to see brilliant starlight--Orion in his glory.  Snow level is down, as was forecast.  Arrowsmith massif got a lot of snow, and surrounding peaks and tops were all white. 

 

Morning was bright with patchy frost.  Birds seem to have been reluctant to surface--I could hear twitterings in the shrubbery, but fewer visible birds.  

The pair of hooded mergansers who stayed at the pond by the bridge seem to have moved on.  Two days ago they were joined by three females.  I wonder whether they teamed up to migrate somewhere?

Tide was well out when I arrived at the shore--so waterfowl was only visible at a distance.  In addition to large flocks of mallards and wigeons, there were a couple of shovelers, northern pintails and one green winged teal.   

It really did feel quite cold--the occasional sunny patch was very welcome.

By the river, there were three red-breasted mergansers, napping initially, then moving on.


Their crests look a bit like "bedhead," I think...

As the day warmed the birds began to emerge.  At one point, in difficult light (no photos) there were two pileated woodpeckers and a Cooper's hawk.  

 

Home to Saturday brunch...




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8-10 August

Image
  I find myself wondering if I'm becoming a party poop in my old age.  My home, across from a community park, near the sea and an estuary, is a delightful place to live--most of the time.  August is the exception.  It's not the climate, although we do get a few toasty days, but the annual Beachfest, which attracts hordes of visitors.  The nadir of the event is the Rock the Park weekend, when there's incessant VERY LOUD pop music.  In previous years, I've found it hard to escape and  tiresome.   This year, I decided to spend the weekend at Cluxewe, my favourite campground, up-Island by Port McNeill.  It was a good choice. I left early Friday morning, driving north by the Oceanside Route--there's a faster inland highway, but the slower route is pleasant and has good spots to stop, eat lunch, enjoy the view.  It's consistent with a decision to seek quiet.   I knew Cluxewe would be busy, but it's set up in such a way that it h...
Read more

6 July

Image
  Summer has definitely arrived in the Hamilton Forest and Wetlands.   The distinctively warm light on the vegetation signals the change. The huckleberries are ripening, and are more abundant than I've seen in past years. The very durable foamflower continues to bloom. Although described as common, ghost pipe hasn't been evident in the Forest for the past three years.  This year there is an abundant patch of it near the path. Pojar and MacKinnon file ghostpipes under their heading, "Oddballs," and indeed they are.  As the photos show, the plant has no chlorophyll, gaining its nourishment from mycelium beneath the ground.  It typically appears in a spell of warm weather after a rain--not so in this case--it's been warm and dry.  They seem to be abundant this year; reports and photos are appearing throughout the region. This big trillium is fruiting, its flowering completed.   Two other, smaller, younger, trilliums are visible in the photo abov...
Read more

Two days up-Island

Image
  A somewhat fleeting trip up-Island to explore Alert Bay and attend the T'sasala Cultural Group's final public performance of the season.  There was a lot to see in that brief time. We made our way up, first along the Island Highway, then shifted to the Inland Island Highway to avoid the traffic of Courtenay and Campbell River.  Past Campbell River the highway narrows, and there are many signs warning drivers of elk and other wildlife on the highway.  We didn't see any elk, and the highway was, for the most part, sparsely travelled.  It appeared as though the tourist season is waning. I had misread the ferry schedule from Port McNeill to Alert Bay, but as is often the case, the ferry itself was running late.   We were able to spend time at the dock, where we admired the view across Broughton Strait of Mount Waddington and the Coast Range. We were also impressed by the drinking fountain along the quay, which accommodates both humans and dogs. Arriving ...
Read more