Sitemeter

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Otter

Went for a walk over at Harrison Bay yesterday.....


it was pretty quiet although with a few surprises....


like this flock of Mew Gulls coming down the river.  First gulls we've seen in the area for months!  Mew Gulls breed on northern lakes in the Yukon, N.W.T. etc. so this is a sign that migration is underway.


we were standing here admiring the ripening rose hips but kept hearing some snuffling and crunching....finally


spotted this out in the river....at first weren't sure if it was a seal or an Otter but...


it's long tail easily identified it as a River Otter.


think the most frequently species we saw were White-crowned Sparrows like this young fledgling...


and this adult on a Blackberry bush.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Purple Martins found!

Finally a day we could get out in the canoe again for a while.


started out by heading down to check on those Purple Martin boxes.  If you recall the last time we had been on the water we saw no activity around the boxes at all...


well I'm happy to report that wasn't the case this time...it appeared that perhaps at least 2 of the boxes were being used.  It would be nice to see the tiny colony growing, but at least it is still here.  If you recall this is the most eastern colony of the coastal population of Purple Martin.


it has been many months since I've been over here to the log bay but I understand there are some very busy beavers here, although not in sight yesterday.


Haven't even heard an Oriole for about a week now so perhaps they have already headed back south, but am seeing more Western Tanager, like this youngster.


saw a total of 4 Great Blue Heron like this youngster....we should see more of them soon as water levels continue to drop and this years young ones spread out over the area.


still quite a few Canada Geese out there.  Most of them appear to have almost finished their molt as they are able to take flight, at least for a short distance.

We heard a lot of Marsh Wren but weren't able to get a photo...


caught sight of some young Wood Ducks but this was the best I could manage picture wise.

The day had started out beautiful, calm and sunny


but it was getting pretty bumpy by the time we were heading home and came across this Bald Eagle - hence the blurry photo!


a Eurasian Collared Dove was getting a drink as we pulled in.

I had been disappointed to find no trace of any Gray Catbirds as a pair usually nests up the Chehalis....


So was surprised to hear one calling during our evening walk to the boat launch and thrilled when I actually spotted it and managed to get a picture.


Friday, July 15, 2016

Babies at the boat launch

Have been stuck around home this week but have managed to spend a few minutes each day sitting at the boat launch....


where water levels are dropping rapidly....a few more days and we should be able to walk right out and peek around the corner of the bushes.

the big story though has been babies....lots and lots of babies...


the baby Barn Swallows that had been raised in the rafters of the roof of our gazebo fledged yesterday.....here are 3 of the 4.


of course they spent most of their time on the far side of the bushes with lots of twigs in the way...


but occasionally one would perch out in the open.  Of course they weren't the only babies...


here is a baby Spotted Towhee having a bath...




and a baby Pine Siskin doing the same.  Not all birds seen were babies...


Cedar Waxwings are seen frequently but no youngsters yet.


young house finch have been seen but this one is an adult male.

A species we don't see here very often...


are Northwestern Crows.  Crows tend to be attracted to man made areas, which is sort of the case here as some people have been leaving garbage where they shouldn't, much to the crows delight!

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

A couple of unusual sightings

Got for a walk over at Harrison Bay yesterday afternoon and was thrilled to spot a couple of unusual species for our area.

Had just set out....


when we saw this Eastern Kingbird!  We have seen them here before but they are by no means usual, in fact I think this might be the first time in 2 or 3 years we've seen one.


spotted not one but two heads in the Bald Eagle nest!


this young Hairy Woodpecker was exploring this light post.  You can tell it is a young one as the red on the top of the head will migrate to the back of the head as it matures.  Saw a Downy Woodpecker as well but couldn't see well enough to get a decent photo.

 
 

now here is the really exciting find - look right in the middle - that is a Bewick's Wren!  I now realize that I've been seeing a pair of them in this location for the last few months.  I'd only got glimpses of some little brown birds and figured they were Song Sparrows - so was amazed when I downloaded the above and saw it was a wren!  I don't think these guys migrate so should be here year round now.

and if you want to talk about....


Song Sparrows...this youngster has to be one of the homeliest creatures I've ever seen!


there were young Red-wing Blackbirds too, probably a second hatch...



and here are the first young American Goldfinch of the season.


you could say this is father and son American Robins....lots of young robins everywhere you look right now.


after commenting on the rising water, I should point out that it is dropping again, back to where it was a week or so ago.  One of these days there will be beach here again.  We are wondering when we will actually see a 'water' bird again....has been a long time since we've seen a duck or gull....

and I'll leave you with this calm scene taken last night...




Friday, July 8, 2016

Rising water????

This isn't the time of year when you expect to see water levels rising....


but that is exactly what is happening here right now.  Doesn't seem that we've had that much rain but we must have because it's come up a foot or so in just a few days.

So sat down here for a few minutes this afternoon...


this male Barn Swallow perched for a few minutes....he had a lot to say, not sure why!


I think this is a Warbling Vireo...it was working over the  branches of the willow tree.


not sure if this is a young House Finch or Purple Finch, it was enjoying a bath whatever it was.

Lots of activity at the Oregon Grape bushes as the berries are now ripe.  Robins have been having a feast but today....


there were Black-headed Grosbeaks (this one a male)



and this a female with one of the berries in her mouth.


while this female Western Tanager was debating about coming closer while I was there, so I left to allow her to join the party!

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Morning walk at Harrison Bay

Yesterday it was a cloudy morning with rain in the forecast so we decided to go for a walk over at the dike before the rains hit.


there were swallows all over the place, perched on the wires and flying and swooping down close to the ground....


lots of Tree Swallows but also a lot of Violet Green Swallows....


but also a Northern Rough Wing (the brown one on the end) and...


even a Cliff Swallow (3rd from left).  In another area saw these....


very young Tree Swallows.  Of course swallows weren't the only birds around...


there were a number of young Northern Flickers...


White-crowned Sparrows....



some Spotted Sandpipers....



and Bullock's Orioles among others...


including this rather hard to see young Bald Eagle in it's nest.

Plant wise.....


I finally got a clear close up of this tiny little wildflower - Deptford Pink


and this tiny member of the morning glory family....a bit of controversy at the moment as to the exact type. :-)