Bald Eagle Country – Sardis Park

The month of December is now 8 days old and we’ve had sunshine ever single day!  With that sunshine comes chilly temperatures.  The highest it’s got the last two days is minus 2c (that is probably around 24 or 25 Fahrenheit). 

This past weekend while running around doing chores and a bit of Christmas Shopping, took a few pictures, so thought I’d share….

This is Sardis Park in Chilliwack, B.C.  This little gem is one of Chilliwack’s best kept secrets ~ unless you happen to be a ‘birder’ because this park which is in the middle of a subdivision, completely surrounded by houses, attracts an incredible amount and variety of birds.

We end up at this park pretty much every time we go shopping in Chilliwack.  Dogs are allowed, on leash of course, and the walk around the little lake or pond, is just the perfect size for even our elderly Shih Tzu and it gives the dogs a break from their ‘car alarm’ duties.

Saturday, there were a lot of these American Widgeons grazing on the lawns.

Here is a closer look at some of those Widgeon

This view of the ‘pond’ shows some of the mountains in the background.

Here you can see how close the houses are to this park…also note the ice…the park is quite sheltered so was just ‘chilly’ ~ in ‘non-sheltered- locations the outflow winds were brutal.

There were a lot of this small version of Canada Geese, called ‘Cackling Geese’ here.  In fact Chilliwack has a huge flock of over 1,000 of these little guys hanging around this winter.  Just a few years ago they were considered a rarity.

This shows the lovely wide gravel path around the pond, and again, the proximity of the houses.  Those are some real Canada Geese (the normal sized ones) heading to the water.

and another view from the far side of the pond…

Some more of those little Cacklers….

and a final look at some of the activity on the ‘pond’ itself.  Look closely at the left end of the log – that is a ‘real’ Canada Goose laying on it, and a Cackler in the water…you can see the size comparison.

Just for fun, I’ll leave you with this…..

this is back in the complex I call home – in fact, up to two years ago, this used to be my home – it was never decorated quite like this when I owned it!