16 January

 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 has emerged from beneath the bank and come back to his hunt in the stream.


The path along the river has indeed fallen in, and this tree, which hung over the river for weeks, is now in the river.  Caution is indicated in walking along the stream.  It does look as though it will fall further.


In addition to the cloudy sky, the fog bank over the Straits was still there.  The islands had vanished.


To my delight, a kingfisher finally cooperated with photos.  It's always out there, but this is the first time it was close enough to get some fairly good shots.  They seem to have a chronic "bad feather day."  It's ok; it adds character.


As usual, I sat, counting ducks and drinking coffee, and then headed home.  The weather worsened, and fulfilled its threat of rain for about the final kilometre of my walk.  



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