13, 14 January

 

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 my usual spot for seeking the dipper, and warned me back from the edge of the river.  He was right, although there would have been no way I'd have stood near the edge of the bank, which has been collapsing for days now.  (We couldn't find the dipper.)


There are a lot of trees washing downstream.  It's going to make navigation in the Straits difficult.  

As I sat counting ducks in my usual bench, a young man walked up with a hugely expensive looking camera and lens, and wearing a pair of running shoes, quite muddy.  He was looking for short-eared owls.  I've yet to see one here, but I'm pretty sure I've heard one a couple of nights.  Anyhow, he made his way along the path toward the fields, which was deeply flooded.  To my consternation, he would up walking along the top of the rail fence.


From what I know, rail fences, or "snake fences" as they're sometimes called in these parts, tend to be wobbly.  I couldn't believe he could manage to walk the top of this, carrying a small fortune in camera equipment.  But he got by with it.  (I didn't have the heart to take his picture.)  And then waded out into the fields in search of his owls, past all the signs that say "Environment restoration--stay on paths..."  Oh well.  

It was great to see the sun, for a change.  Everyone I met seemed to comment, happily.


The weather office promised another sunny day on the 14th, but it hasn't really measured up to expectations...

14 January

...although at least it managed not to rain.

Flooded fields have abated a bit, as has the river.  It was a rather sombre day--grey weather and the wind was chilly.  Birds seem to have kept to the shrubbery--not very visible.

The clouds over Arrowsmith were striking, as was the light on the snow.


As I stood on the observation platform, watching juncos, a merlin swooped and scattered the little birds, then sat on top of a fir tree.  This isn't a good photo--he refused to turn so that I could get a good shot at him, but it's the first merlin I can recall seeing in North America.



Walking home, I took some shots of an Anna's hummingbird.  Just for the record, I now know that they are named after Princess Anna de Belle Massena, Duchess of Rivoli, a contemporary of Audubon.  


 

The forecast is for sun again tomorrow.  We'll see how the weather office manages.









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