Winter Has Arrived

Hello once again,
Well, I guess Winter has officially arrived. That is, when you start to see the Swans come back and snow low down on the mountains it is a sure sign that it is right around the corner.

The weather at the Nanaimo Estuary has been a real mixed bag lately. Sometimes the day will start out dark and then end up being sunny or it could be like today. When I first entered the Estuary it was frosty and cold with good light. However, that changed in a couple of hours to dark clouds and heavy sleet. I had to retreat to my car to warm my hands and try to dry out my gear.

I got a couple of shots of the Female Harrier and missed out on some closer shots of the male Harrier. They call the male Harrier the "Grey Ghost" for good reason. Just when you least expect it he will pop up in front of you and then disappear just as fast. I must admit that I am seeing him more often than last year and he seems to hunt closer in now instead of way out on the mud flats like usual. His markings are quite a bit different from the female and are more white with grey. Sometimes he can be mixed up at a distance with the seagulls and by the time you realize that it is him he is already past you.

In this installment I will include two shots. One of the swans taken yesterday, and a picture that I have of one of the estuary Eagles that I took about a week ago.

By the way. No sign of the Short Eared Owl this trip. The weather was just too mucky to do a thourogh search for him this time out.

Until next entry,

Happy Birding and don't get too cold.

Steve

Return of the Short-Eared Owls

Hi,
Here are a couple of shots taken from last week of the Short-Eared Owl out on the Nanaimo Estuary. So far I have seen only one and he is hit and miss at best.Hopefully there will be a couple more show up in the near future. These pictures were taken from a distance of around 260 feet so they are major crops and only suitable for small example shots such as you see here.

The owls are really skittish when they first arrive and take a couple of weeks to acclimatize to their winter home. Unless they inadvertently fly close to me or are hiding and I flush them,I won't be able to get any close up shots until they feel more comfortable about hunting during the day.

Lots of the other usual Fall and Winter birds out there as well. The Northern Shrike puts on quite a good show every day with his hunting antics and there is an immature Blue Heron that will come and talk to me from about 20 feet away. Tons of Towhees and Juncos too and of course the large population of Crows and Ravens is always entertaining to watch.

Until next time take care and happy birding.
Steve