31 December

eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S78331927

weather:  8 am 6C. wind WSW4;  1pm 7C wind ENE 7

Tide:  11am:  4.0m, turning

A warm morning, starting out with what folks here call a "Scotch mist," and which Scots among my friends called a "smirr".  (I think only 2 Rs...can be hard to discern.)  Then clearing a bit, more than past days out.  



Kinda low on birds, for some reason.  The fields before the shore were flooded.  I gather a combination of high tide, heavy rain, and snowmelt from the mountains.  


I'm surmising that the usual duck population offshore were all in the flooded bits of the fields.  There certainly were mallards and Canada geese.

The pond, which I've come to think of as the "merganser pond" (none today) was about a third again its usual size.  


The "smirr" persisted as I took this photo, as evident from the droplets on the branches in the foreground.  

The eagle behaviour seems to be changing recently.  They are typically monogamous, but I think they don't actually pair up all the time.  (Could be wrong--must read this up further.)  In any case there certainly seems to be a duo hanging about a stand of firs near the observation deck.  

Madam eagle was looking quite cheery this morning.


High tide offshore.  Strange to relate, very few ducks.  As I noted earlier, I suspect they were inland in the flooded fields.  



The sun was starting to lend a glow to the reeds in the distance.

Further along, the river was as high as I've seen it, swift, and very muddy.  



As a novelty, I made my way home without it raining.  In fact, the "smirr" had abated as well.

Forecast is for a windy and wet beginning to 2021.  Here's to a better year for us all.

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