21, 24, and 27 November

21 November

 eBird data: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122796679

weather:  9:00 am 4C wind WNW 4, 1:00 pm 7C wind ESE 7, cloudy, occasional showers

tide:  11:00 am 3.2m, rising

24 November

eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S122950265

weather:  9:00 am 9C wind SE 11, 12:30 am 12C wind SSE 11  scattered clouds

tide:  10:30 am  3.6m falling

27 November

eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S123129882

Weather:  9:30 am 0 C, wind SW 2, 1:00 pm 6C, frosty, wind calm, sunny, then clouding over

Tide:  11 am  4.8m, falling


21 November

A warmer morning than have occurred recently, but cloudy and somewhat wet.  A bit of rain is certainly welcome--it's been unseasonably dry of late.

The morning tide was at its midpoint.


Along the river there was a little cluster of female buffleheads.  I think they are the "mystery ducks" I saw yesterday.


I couldn't hear the conversation, but it certainly appears that the third duck  was making herself known.

Both dippers were at the rapids where the salmon are most visible.  


(I hope the readers aren't bored by dippers.  I still really enjoy watching them, and trying for good photos.)  This was the first time that I saw both at the same spot along the river.  One was busily fishing, when the other made his/her way downstream.  Both rose from the water, circled one another and flew upstream, singing.

24 November,

Another mild morning, mostly cloudy, but with lovely light.  



There were some "interesting birds."  A redwing blackbird, unfortunately too distant to photograph.  The same held for the oystercatcher, well offshore, and the dipper, who was busily fishing but way upstream on the river.


The view across the Straits was clear, and highlighted by the clouds.

27 November

The forecast last night was for a rainy, cold morning, so I decided to sleep in.  Lovely.  But when I wakened, it was quite clear, so I decided to forego the usual Sunday domestic chores and head out to the Estuary.  (Rationalization:  forecast looks unpropitious for the rest of the week.)

In fact, it was an exceptionally fine morning.  It started out on the nippy side, with a moderate frost, but warmed and eventually clouded over.  

The tide was quite high when I got around to setting out, with the fields in back of our park flooded and lively with mallards.







There was a flock of goldfinches, uncommon here for this time of year.  Then again, this is an uncommon year.  

A young bald eagle surveyed the ducks in the flooded fields.


I note that his beak is becoming more yellow--a mark that he is maturing.  

For the first time in some months, there was a peregrine falcon, also surveying the waterfowl.





He looked very fluffy, apparently feeling the cold.

The high tide showed abundant ducks, mostly American wigeons.




There's one Eurasian wigeon in the above photo--the duck with the reddish head, and a northern pintail as well as the American wigeons.

Making my way back along the river, there were female buffleheads, common mergansers, and goldeneyes.  

I was struck by the fern and shadow pattern on the trees here.


The river appeared higher than it has been for some time--I think because it was backed up by the high tide.  We still haven't had the rain that we would expect in November.  


When I arrived home, hungry, I discovered I'd spent almost four hours.  It had been a beautiful morning, perhaps even more so because unanticipated.  Now rain is forecast for tomorrow and then possibly snow.  Time will tell.






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