Blog of the Plague Year(s)

 eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93848604 weather:  7 am 10C, wind calm,  11am 18C wind ENE 6, increasingly cloudy tide:   9 am 3.4m, rising Another in a series of quiet days.  The autumn migration, about which I wrote optimistically, has slowed for the moment.  There was a bit of rain on the last weekend, and more is forecast for the coming weekend, but it remains dry.  The cedar trees, which require water, are beginning to show signs of damage. The mornings have had relatively high tides,  but the shorebird migration is yet to arrive.  Yellowlegs, which are here throughout the year, seem to be showing additional visitors. There has been an influx of tent caterpillars, which are starting to hatch.  Ick. The songbird populations have been drawn by this event.  Goldfinches are abundant. I watched an interesting (THAT WORD!) confrontation this morning between a juvenile Cooper's hawk and a female northern harrier....

20 August  eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93493465 weather:  7 am 13C, wind WNW 2, 10:30 am 17C NNW 7, partly cloudy tides:  8:30 am,  1.5m, falling 21 August eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93541415 weather:  7 am 13 C wind W3, 11 am 18C wind NE 9,  scattered cloud tides:  8:30 am 2.1m, falling 23 August eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S93643279 weather:  7 am 14C wind WSW 4,  11 am 16, wind N 10 clear tides:  9:30 am 2.8m, falling   Quiet mornings, becoming birdier.  I note the Audubon website comments on the beginning of the autumn migration, and it does appear to be the case here.  We're still seeing juvenile birds in transitional plumage as well. This spotted towhee is almost in adult plumage, but its eyes haven't turned red yet.  I have to say I think it's a nicer looking bird without the red eyes, but no doubt Mother Nature has her reasons for the adult bird. The ...

16 August  eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93323018 weather:  6:30 am 19C wind N7, 10:30 am 18C wind NNW 7 Tide:  8:30 am 1.6m rising 17 August eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93365823 weather:  7 am 14C Wind WSW 7,  9 am 17C wind WNW 11, partly cloudy, clearing tide:  8 am 1.0 m, at ebb, rising  18 August eBird data https://ebird.org/checklist/S93412024 weather: 7 am 13C wind W8,  11 am 18C wind NNW 14,  increasing clouds tide:  9 am 0.8m, at ebb, rising The air quality has improved the past few days, although we're still awaiting rain.  ...actually, as I type this, on the evening of the 18th, I think I can smell rain.  Here's hoping.  It's definitely cooled down nicely, at least for now, and is starting to feel autumnal.  Wonderful. On Monday, there was a flight of ducks, too high and distant to identify beyond "duck, species", but headed southbound.  I'm thinking they were the begin...

13 August eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93171684 weather:  6:30 am 17C wind W2,  11 am 27C wind NNE10, smoky tide:  9:30 am 3.8m, peak tide, turning 14 August eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S93216082 weather:  6:30 am 16C wind S2, 10:30 am 25C wind  E 11, smoky tide:  9 am 3.3m, rising It seems the smoke from the fires in the Interior has made its way to the Island.  We've had red sunrises, and haze throughout the days.  It's a disturbing reminder of what is happening elsewhere and what could happen here. There is a lot of very dry foliage.      Walking up to the observation mound, I heard what I thought was a sapsucker--their drilling tends to be more rapid than most other woodpeckers.  I looked carefully -- I know there are sapsuckers in the Estuary, but I haven't seen them often.  I never did find the bird, but: There are two great horned owls in the above photo.  From their size...

9 August eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93003116 weather:  6:30 am 17C wind NW 6, 10:30 am 18C wind NNW11, clearing tide:  8:30 am 3.3m, falling 11 August eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S93089211 weather:  6:30 am 20C, wind W 6, 10:30 am 22C wind NNW 19, clear tide 9  3.8 am, falling I've been derelict in my blogging of late.  Partly it's been because the hot, dry weather has rendered the Estuary somewhat depressing.  Partly it's because of the slack bird season, which I think may be turning around.  And partly because I took a couple of days to spend with friends in Victoria and, although they live near a spot that is usually birdy--Clover Point--not much was happening. I was introduced to a new walk in Victoria--Anderson Hill, an easy path, with a stunning view from the top, of the Juan de Fuca Straits, Trial Island (lighthouse is miniscule in this photo) and the Olympic Range. I returned to Parksville just before a heav...

2 August  eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S92667233 weather:  6am 16C wind calm,  10:30 21C wind NW 12,  haze tide:  8:30 1.6m, turning  3 August eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S92725631 weather:  7 am 15C wind calm,  11 am 21C wind NNE, clear tide:  9 am 1.4 m, turning from ebb 2 August Hazy morning.  The Coast Range is invisible.  As the breeze picked up in the morning, the haze lifted a bit, but it's clearly made its way here from the fires in the Interior.  The sight and the thought is horrifying. The light along the pathway was tinged with red, in part because of the haze, and quite possibly because the woods are drying out and starting to look like a sort of false autumn. It's pretty, but not really pleasing to see. Neither of these two days were particularly birdy, but both offered some good encounters.   As I walked along the river, I heard such loud drumming that I actually thought...