1 december 2020

 eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S76960920

Weather:  8 am -2C. wind calm;  1 pm 6C, wind NW 4

Tide:  11 am 3.7m, just about to turn

Sometimes these chilly mornings (with apologies to readers on the Prairies) I'm not really eager to get out from under my duvet.  Today was definitely such a morning, but I was rewarded.  

 After a series of wet, windy mornings, today was spectacularly sunny.  It was chilly and frosty, but magnificent.

 

Although bits of the path was flooded, the puddles went "crunch" rather than "slosh."  There were patches of bright sunlight highlighting the remaining foliage.


There are newly flooded areas, with mallards--the females quacking loudly, as they do, and the males, squeaking, "Yes, dear,"  as they do.

I've been telling myself that I'd likely seen all of the species that I was going to for the season.  And then: -- no, not a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer--but a peregrine falcon.  No foolin'.  A bit distant for good photos, but sure enough.



There he sat, in all his lethal majesty, and as I watched, he was mobbed by a flock of maybe 200 siskins.  This is, on the face of it, ridiculous--a siskin is a teeny little finch-like bird, no match for a peregrine at all.  The peregrine didn't seem to respond to the flock, but it occurs that 200 tiny little beaks aimed at you might just be quite punishing.  But the siskins moved on, the peregrine remained.
 
There was an article in this morning's paper about "a biblical irruption" of pine siskins this year.  Apparently huge flocks are appearing throughout western Canada.  Certainly there have been big flocks hereabouts.  They seem, as I've noted earlier, particularly drawn to the fir trees and the seeds of the fir cones.
 
Again, it was a fine morning for drinking coffee on the frosty bench overlooking the shore.  I found my second new bird for the day (for the Estuary) out on the tidal flats--too far to photograph--a pair of oystercatchers.
 
I guess I haven't tapped out the birds for the season, yet. Who knows?

A bit more re the siskins--they seem to like to bathe, even when it's quite chilly.  


Another clear and nippy day forecast for tomorrow.   Once again, I'll pry myself out from under the duvet to see what the Estuary offers.

 

 

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