6 April

 eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S84980823

weather:  8am 1C wind calm, 1pm 10C wind ESE 6, partly cloudy throughout morning, frost patches early

Tide:  10 am 3.2 metres


Lots to see today.  A cold start to the morning--despite the weather office report, there was frost on the roofs in the neighbourhood.


Relatively quiet on the first path in--but redwing blackbirds, siskins, and now lots of kinglets.  And bunnies, although alas there are scraps of bunny fur under one of the trees that the eagles favour.  That said, to be harsh, they may be cute, but they're anything but endangered.  

Someone, bless him/her, has put in a trench leading out to the canal along the path and walking it is no longer a swamp.

Although the nights and early hours are chilly, it's plain that the weather is warming up.  The snow level on the Arrowsmith range is rising:


And, of course, the flora is leafing out.  The elder bushes are greening up.



The plum/cherry blossoms are glorious.



The Straits were as calm as satin--a change from the past few days.




As I sat, drinking my coffee and drinking in the view, at least 700 brant flew past, headed north.  People have been commenting on the low numbers of brant this year.  Maybe the migration has simply started late.  They fly, mostly, in lines, well offshore, so photos aren't really an option, but counting is almost possible.  At the rate they fly, counting by tens kind of works.  I think at least 700.  Lots and lots of geese, in any case.  

After counting brant, I moved on and found a big flock of ruby-crowned kinglets--notoriously difficult to photograph.  These, alas, could be photographed but whenever I managed a shot, they presented me with what one of my birding colleagues refers to their "underfluffies."


It was, to say the least, frustrating.

The eagles were on their nests, decreasingly visible as the trees leaf out.  

The trees along the river are leafing out wonderfully, and the river is running very clear.



There was a very industrious downy woodpecker among the alders along the homeward path.


Across the road from my home, there is an amazing stand of cherry trees.  People are constantly stopping and taking photos, so I've followed their examples.


There is rain forecast for tomorrow, so I guess I won't go out birding.  I think I'll drive north and see what I can find from the shelter of my truck, and, since it's the last month for a while in an "r" in it, buy a batch of oysters.




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