3, 4 October

3 October

eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S119913636

weather:  8:00 am 10:00C wind calm  12:00 21 C wind N8

tide:  10:30 am 3.1m, rising

4 October

eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S119966337

weather:  8:30 am 10C, wind WSW 5,  12:30 pm 18C wind NE 6,  overcast, smoky

tide:  11:00 am 2.8m, rising


3  October

Still unseasonably dry but very beautiful.

The morning light over the fields was simply amazing today.



Mid-tide, and increasingly ducky.  This morning mallards, wigeons, and northern pintails.



The Straits were incredibly calm.  It was like looking at swathes of blue satin.


Raptors were abundant, possibly because of all the nice tasty ducks.

There was a harrier, and then a merlin, who strange to relate was pursued by a robin.  Eventually that confrontation settled and the merlin sat observing.


There was also a peregrine, cussed out by a raven.  All happened too fast for a photo, alas.  

It looks as though the eagles have returned.  These two, one maybe year four and one adult, look to be sitting gazing in disapproval at something.  Not sure what.


In any case, it's good to see them back.  I found I missed them.

4 October

A much quieter day than yesterday.  Light haze, initially, growing more cloudy as the morning wore on.

Mid-tide, still relatively ducky.

Lots of passerines in the shrubbery near the trailhead, but none were cooperative with photos.  There were almost certainly two white-throated sparrows, which I've never seen up here before.  

Hordes of robins.

A strange thing:  sure enough, the merlin was on the snag where I very often see raptors.  (Same snag as yesterday's photos.)


But within a minute of taking that photo, the merlin had become a kestrel. I don't think I saw the switch, but I can't see how it could be anything but this--these are the photos and the time is recorded by the camera.

So in a minute the kestrel looked like this:


A very small raptor but among the most striking of the North American birds of prey.  

He stuck around for a better shot:


I had just been thinking that it was a very long time since I'd managed a good shot of a kestrel. 

Anyhow, it will now be some time until I return to the Estuary.  I'm scheduled for a visit to Banff via various spots in the BC Interior for the coming week or so.


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