October 31, 2007
We took a drive around Chilliwack today, stopping on Prest Road to take a few photos of an Eagle sitting on a snag of a dead tree. After giving us the once over, he decided he was unconcerned by our presence and we enjoyed getting some great photos of him.
We stopped on Chilliwack Central and took a photo of young trees lining the road with a wide ribbon of autumn red.
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We looked on Annis Road where we had seen the Swans yesterday and found that they were not there, so we drove back around and along Chilliwack Central where we saw the Swans in a field around the 50700 block much too far away to get photos.
We stopped for lunch and headed to the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, where we stopped in at the Rotary Interpretive Centre to say hello to Marilyn at the gift shop. After having a chat with Marilyn we headed out to the North Lagoon where there was an extremely large flock of waterfowl. There were Ring-necked Ducks, Redhead Ducks, American Wigeon, Grebe, Double-crested Cormorants, Mallard, Canada Geese, Coots and Buffleheads to name the most predominantly visible ones, also flying around was a Belted Kingfisher. We didn’t stop long at the North Lagoon because it is Halloween tonight and we wanted to get home before the Goblins started visiting, so we wandered over to the East Bird Blind where we found the Great Blue Herons still sitting in their favourite Maple above the bird blind.
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There were Wood Ducks, Grebe, Mallards, Green-winged Teal and American Wigeon paddling, feeding and bathing together behind the East Bird Blind.
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Wood Duck Male |
Wood Duck Male |
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Wood Duck Male |
Wood Duck Male |
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Wood Duck Female |
Wood Duck Female |
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Wood Duck Female |
Wood Duck Female |
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Grebe |
Grebe |
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Grebe |
Mallard Male |
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Mallard Female |
Green-winged Teal |
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Green-winged Teal |
Green-winged Teal |
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Green-winged Teal |
American Wigeon |
As always, there were song birds along all the pathways today, Pine Siskin, Juncos, Towhee and Song Sparrows stopped long enough for us to get their photos.
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Pine Siskin |
Pine Siskin |
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Pine Siskin |
Pine Siskin |
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Junco |
Junco |
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Junco |
Junco |
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Song Sparrow |
Towhee |
One of the Hooded Merganser decided that because it was Halloween, it would try to be a Bufflehead and was hanging out with a male Bufflehead and three female Buffleheads on the South Lagoon.
We couldn’t dally long today, so we stopped in to say hello to Muriel, Alice and Leon at the Rotary Interpretive Centre, after a short conversation about our favourite topic (birds), we headed home to hand out treats to the stream of Goblins, Ghosts, Witches etc. at our door.
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October 30, 2007
We had read on the Fraser Valley Birding Site that someone named Sue had spotted a flock of Swans North of Chilliwack Central and East of Annis Road here in Chilliwack recently, so first thing this morning we headed out for that area. We were rewarded by a flock of thirty plus Swans in a cornfield on the West side of Annis Road and North of Chilliwack Central. Also, a little further up Annis Road we were rewarded with another flock of twenty or so Swans in another field just East of Annis and next to the Railroad tracks. If you do go to see them, please respect the people that live in the area, do not go into their fields and please do not block traffic, driveways, access roads to fields or mailboxes, after all we wouldn’t want people to do those things to us. The Swans are beautiful, as we were photographing them, there were others approaching, mostly in pairs. They are so beautiful, and very big, they dwarfed the Canada Geese that were in one of the fields near them.
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After lunch, we went up to the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, had a little chat with Val, Barb, and Mary before going out for a walk. First photo of the day was a Bald Eagle sitting on a snag between a couple of Cottonwoods down near the Salwein Creek Loop.
There were six Great Blue Heron sitting in the Maple trees behind the East Bird Blind.
When we got to the Salwein Creek, we came across Salmon spawning in the Creek, it is amazing to see them in such a small creek. Click Here To See Video.
While we were watching the Salmon a flock of Bushtits came along and entertained us in a patch of Tansy and Goldenrod.
Back to the South Lagoon to see what birds were there, we ran into Scott doing a bird survey and had a talk about the different birds he had seen lately and the ones we had seen lately. There were two Double-crested Cormorants, Ring-necked Ducks, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal and Redhead Ducks today.
We got some photos of some of the Dragonflies that were out to enjoy the sunshine. There was a flock of Pine Siskin near the North Lagoon.
We had a last look at the lagoon and the Hooded Merganser and stopped in at the Rotary Interpretive Centre to say hello to Mary and Janet before coming home for dinner.
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October 29, 2007
It was raining all morning and when the clouds parted for awhile this afternoon, we believed the weather girl who had said that it would clear up this afternoon and headed out to the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve for some fresh air and exercise. When we got there it was misting, so we stopped for awhile and talked with Janet at the Rotary Interpretive Centre.
When the rain stopped we headed to the West Bird Blind, we got there just in time for the rain to start again. From the cover of the blind we took photos of the usual suspects. Two Double-crested Cormorants, the Canvasback pair, a young Redhead Duck, a female Green-winged Teal, Buffleheads, Mallards, American Wigeon and numerous Ring-necked Ducks were among the available candidates for photos. I’m sure that the male Green-winged Teal would have liked to get into the photo gallery but they were out of range behind some shrubs.
When there was a break in the rain, we headed up the South Lagoon, stopping to take a photo of a Double-crested Cormorant coming in to visit with the other two.
The Hooded Merganser were being very quiet on the North Lagoon today, they seemed to have decided that they needed some rest. They were on the most part floating far enough away from each other not to cause conflict, occasionally a couple of males would get near each other but they were civil to each other today. No chasing around the lagoon, at least while we were watching.
Another Cormorant was swimming around the lagoon doing a Loch Ness monster impersonation.
We got down to the East Bird Blind quickly and took a few photos of Great Blue Heron in the trees, Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Mallard and a lovely Hawk in a Cottonwood just across from the bird blind.
We wandered back to the Rotary Interpretive Centre with the sun breaking through the clouds and stopped for a photo of a Song Sparrow on Tansy, the sun glinting off its eye and a pair of Mallards having a talk.
We stopped at the Rotary Interpretive Centre to tell Janet what birds we had sighted on our quick walk and headed home just as the sun came out and chased the clouds away.
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October 28, 2007
Such a grey, cloudy day this morning but we just had to see if the Hooded Merganser boys were still busy trying to impress the girls. We got to the North Lagoon and there they were, it seemed as if they have made some decisions about who should be with whom. They were not as active today, more laid back, with just the occasional head toss although there was some posturing, it was not so vigorous as the last two days, after all a guy has to get some rest sometime.
While we were changing a battery in one of the cameras, Dick came out of the Rotary Interpretive Centre and waved hello, we had a chat with him and got distracted by a Hawk over the Salwein Creek Loop and off we went to see if we could get a photo of it.
We took a walk down to the East Bird Blind and were rewarded with seven Great Blue Heron in the trees, a few Wood Ducks, American Wigeon, and Mallards behind the blind.
We wandered back down the Salwein Creek Loop and came across a lot of song birds, we took a few photos of some of the Juncos and Song Sparrows as well as another Hawk in a tree just a bit too far away for a clear photo.
We decided that we had to take another walk around the South Lagoon and we were rewarded with the Male and Female Canvasbacks sleeping behind the West Bird Blind.
Another reward waiting for us there were the Bufflehead Ducks both the girls and the newly arrived boys, the males were now rested and busy diving for food after their long flight.
Not at all the least of our latest sightings were Redhead Ducks, among the flocks of Ring-necked Ducks and American Wigeon.
Just an amazing day for us, we stopped at the Rotary Interpretive Centre to share our sightings with Dick and while we were talking to Dick, Brenda and Herman came in to relieve Dick. They have just gotten home recently from a fabulous holiday, we are happy that they enjoyed themselves while they were away and it is nice to see them back.
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October 27, 2007
It’s all about the Hooded Merganser boys and how they are busy trying to impress the girls. We got to the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve today and found that some of the Hooded Mergansers that were dancing on the South Lagoon yesterday were busy on the North Lagoon. We sat down on a bench facing the lagoon and had front row seats for the performance. They are wild birds, not at all tame but the males were so busy trying to out perform each other for recognition from the females that they did not care if we sat quietly on the bench and watched. Our very own live “Wild Canada” in living colour and sound. They were worth every minute that we spent enjoying their show and the fresh crisp air and pretty autumn scenery added in as well.
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We had to go for a walk though, so after awhile, we quietly stood up and left the “arena” to take a walk along the Salwein Creek Loop. There were five maybe six Great Blue Heron in the trees behind the East Bird Blind, as well as a few Mallard and American Wigeon busily being ducks
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On our way back to take a walk around the South Lagoon, we noticed a pretty male Wood Duck floating peacefully past the far side of the North Lagoon, while our little tame duck friend floated close to us.
When we got to the South Lagoon, we found that there were a number of male Bufflehead in full breeding regalia. They were like little marshmallow ducks floating on the water, just too far away to get clear photos, but they were sleeping and must have had a long flight in from wherever they had spent their summer vacation. The little girl Bufflehead ducks that we had seen earlier in the week were floating close by, perhaps happy to see the boys back in town. They were accompanied by a flock of Ring-necked ducks and some coots.
We stopped for a moment on the bridge on our way out to take a quick landscape of the North Lagoon, after that we stopped in for a chat with Kay at the Rotary Interpretive Centre before heading home.
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