Blog of the Plague Year(s)

29 January eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S80091037 Weather:  11 am 6C wind 22 SE  3pm 6C, wind SE 13 Tide:  12:30 3.5m, turning 30 January eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S80147683 Weather:  9 am 6C, wind SE 16, gust 27;  1pm 6C, wind SE 20, occasional sprinkle 29 January A late beginning after an annoying morning sorting out the propane supply for my heating system.  I now have a new tank, with fuel, and a heater that works.  This is a nice thing to come home to after some hours on the Estuary. I packed a lunch, for a change, instead of my usual coffee and granola bar, and stashed it in my backpack along with the obligatory garbage bag to sit on (I really don't like a wet derriere.), and my camera's raincoat.  It hasn't been real wet just lately so I wore hiking boots instead of my gumboots.  That was fine--they're much warmer than the gumboots and kept my feet adequately dry. Then on my way.  The path past ...

 eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S79770816 Weather:  8am -4C, wind WSW 6, partly cloudy;  1pm 4C, wind SW4 partly cloudy Tide:  10:30 4.1m, rising A relatively quiet morning, with a hard frost.  The path, formerly muddy, was crunchy underfoot.  Setting out, I was struck by the view to the east. There were fewer songbirds visible in the shrubbery.  I surmise that they'd stayed hunkered down for warmth.   The light over the river was striking as well. I made my way to the shore, noting the absence of chickadees, juncos, and other little shrubbery inhabitants.  Again, when I got to the shore, although the tide was almost at the same level as it was yesterday, there were fewer birds.  As I sat, more wigeons moved in.   There are typically several Eurasian wigeons in this crowd, but I could only see one this morning, paired with an American wigeon. I think they are a very striking bird, with the bright, rusty head....

 eBird Data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S79711748 Weather:  8 am 0C. wind WSW 6; 1pm 5C wind NW 14.  Brilliantly clear. Tide:  11am 4.3m, peak, falling A simply spectacular morning.  Brilliant sun, cold, but nothing one couldn't dress for.  A hard white frost, flooded paths iced over. The route via the "merganser pond" remains flooded, but subsiding.   I think I'm being overly cautious now--I saw someone wading his way through this today, in shorter gumboots than I wear.  I've been a bit concerned that I might get bogged down, but he seemed to do fine.  Perhaps I'll take a chance tomorrow although I'm enjoying my longer route. I know I posted a photo of a song sparrow recently, but these two belong in my "birds with expressive features" category. First, the "sincere and pensive" shot--a bird you could trust with your last sunflower seed. and then, the "what did I tell you?" shot: ..."you really should pay more attention....

20 January eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S79611264 Weather:  8 am 5C, wind W4,  1 pm 5C, wind NW 4, cloudy Tide:  11am 4.5 m, peak tide, falling 21 January eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S79656905 Weather:  8 am 4C, wind WSW 6;  1pm 5C, wind  NW 12, cloudy then clearing Tide:  11 am 4.4 m peak high Two dark and uninviting mornings, neither of which materialised in rain, but both of which seemed to get colder, despite the air temperatures.  The wind definitely picked up this morning and by the time I got home, I was ready for hot soup and warm slippers. Setting out, both mornings were ominously dark. Yesterday there was a covey of Californian quail along the path.  I usually recognise them initially by their vocalisation.  There's a story about that:  Most bird books list their cry as "Chicago!  Chicago!"  which is about right.  But in my mother's family, it was "Furtado!"  not after...

18 January eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S79511146 Weather:  8 am 2C, wind W5;  1pm 7C wind NNW9 Tide:  11:30 3.7m, falling At 8 am, frost patches 19 January eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S79563442 Weather:  8 am 4C, wind calm;  1 pm  6 C wind E7 Tide 11 am 4.6m  falling Sunny, wind felt colder than noted above Two similar days.  Clear, coolish.  Mid-tide by the time I reached the shore. Monday morning, a young buck (and another deer behind him) watched me as I walked along the fields. Not the most splendid buck, but he had a certain presence.  I'm calling him "The Crown Prince of the Glen."   The river is subsiding and the paths are becoming less boggy, although the first path to the shore is still impassable.  I haven't made my way out there, but I'd reckon that the "merganser pond" has disappeared in a lake of sorts. The path to the river has become very birdy--lots of little birds--bushtits, b...

 eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S79352134 Weather:   8 am 3C. wind W3 dry;  1pm 6C wind SSE 5 light rain Tide:  11 am 4.4m, falling Very forbidding weather this morning.  Grey, just dreary.  Hard to motivate myself to get out the door, but I'm glad I did.  Despite the uninviting weather, the walk was very birdy. It was also muddy, of course, and soggy.  The field by my home was flooded, and full of geese and mallards (and a spare tire--oh well). It seemed as though the hazel catkins had come out since yesterday.  Surely I'd have noticed? And despite the mud, the path through the rosebushes and brambles was very birdy, with an assortment of chickadees, juncos, and golden-crowned kinglets. The kinglet seemed in a better mood than when I photographed him last. I wonder if it is the same bird;  it's just about exactly where I photographed him last week.   The river is down quite a bit, enough so that the dipper h...

 eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S79289939 Weather:  8 am 1C, wind calm;  1pm 8C, wind E5  (initially clear, fog offshore moved inland) Tide:  11 am 4.1m, turning I awoke, late (7am), to clear sky, and a brilliant sunrise.  There had been rain and strong winds in the night, and a high tide, so the fields were flooded.  There was a big flock of Canada geese in the distance, and lots of mallards. There is a beginning of spring already--buds setting on the alders. This is new territory for me at this time of year, so I don't know what to look for.  In Victoria and Vancouver one sees early blossoms by the end of January, but this is further north--not greatly, but possibly enough to tell. There are big flocks of robins just now as well--there were similar flocks at the end of October.  I take them as harbingers of change. Still, the path to the river (the shorter route to the shore is still submerged), looks like winter woods, with s...

  13 January eBird data  https://ebird.org/checklist/S79192089 Weather:  8am 7C,  W11,  2pm 8C, NW 16 Tide:  11am, 3.8m 14 January eBird data  https://ebird.org/checklist/S79240094 Weather:  8am 6C, Wind ESE 11, cloudy;  1pm 9C wind SE 15, clearing Tide:  11 am, 3.9m, falling 13 January Finally, a gloriously sunny day.   After a high tide last night, the fields were quite flooded this morning.  There were Canada geese and mallards in the fields and one hooded merganser. I'm still taking the long route, as the usual route is flooded.  I'd suspect it's going to remain so for quite some time.   An interesting conflict between two pileated woodpeckers and a juvenile Cooper's hawk at one point along the past.  They started with a loud altercations and the woodpeckers dive-bombing the hawk.  I only got a photo of one of the woodpeckers. The river was the highest yet.  Another birder was standing in ...