28 November 2020

 eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S76820171

Weather:  10 am:  7 C, wind W4,  2pm 9C, wind N7

Tide:  12m:  3.5m, rising


A late start to my visit to the Estuary this morning.  It seems I've had a sleep jinx this past week, and sure enough, I awoke at 1 am this morning to find I'd a leak in my hot water bottle.  Oh, damn!  Spent the next hour with my hair dryer drying my mattress, and then had trouble getting back to sleep.  

Slept eventually, wakened at 8 am to a gloriously clear, warm day.   The blackberry thicket along the path was alive with songbirds, delighting in the day after a stretch of dark and wet mornings.  

There had been a downpour yesterday evening and night, starting just as I left the supermarket with the week's shopping.  Paths were very boggy today, and many people had been drawn out by the sunshine to take a walk.   I overheard walkers lamenting their wet feet.  Bound to happen.  I've now got my gumboots and socks all nicely arranged so that my toes aren't constricted, and all stays dry and (relatively) warm.

 The golden leaves are thinning, but the morning light highlights the remainders.

 

The wild rose thickets are the red in the picture.  I'm looking forward to spring and their bloom.  There are lots of them.

The mid-tide was still well populated with ducks and gulls, mostly wigeon and mallards, but a few exotics.  A gadwall, one of the first I've seen this season.  A handsome duck, but, alas, too distant to focus.

I've collected a new variation on the funny question theme.  A family (I guess), father, mother, and girl about ten, all with binoculars, showed up as I was sitting, enjoying my coffee and counting ducks.


The father looked at me with a very penetrating gaze, and asked, "Are you an eminent Nanaimo birder?"!  What!  Me?  He didn't seem to be joking.  I replied, "Oh, goodness no.  I'm a nondescript Parksville birder."  He didn't seem to find that a satisfactory reply.  Oh well, it made a change from "Have you seen anything interesting?"

The salmon run seems to be slowing, although the banks of the river are lined with dead, spawned out salmon, and gulls dining on same.  Eagles seem to be dividing their time between scavenging salmon and terrorising wigeons.  The river was up again today after last night's rain.  


It's likely that the river's configuration will shift as the water flow increases.  The gravel bars are already re-arranging and the number of sizeable trees that have fallen from the banks will also affect the flow.  

There's always something changing, weather, birds, foliage.  It's as though the estuary itself is alive.  

Dire forecast for the next couple of days and then we can hope for sunny and dry weather. 





 

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