Spring Trip 2010 – Day 20 – Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park

May 11th was another beautiful day….in fact it was so nice we actually broke out the shorts!

There are number of trails in Sir Winston Churchill Park, and that morning we set out, prepared to walk some of them…we were just about to set out when I spotted….

a Boreal Chickadee…..this is a species I’ve only seen very rarely and had yet to get a picture of….

there was a puddle of water here and he was intent upon a bath….actually there were several birds using this bathing spot….

We had just set off down the trail when Shantz spotted a couple of critters ahead….

Some more of those Snow Shoe Hare…..we saw so many of these guys that day we gave up keeping track!

here is another section of the well defined trail…

In a clear area we came across this White – throated sparrow….this picture clearly shows the ‘white throat’…

Red Squirrels here as well…

and ahead on the trail….Swainson’s Thrush…now on the coast where I come from, we often hear Swainson’s Thrush, but seeing them is another matter…..so I found this very exciting…however as the trip progress’s you’ll find, as we did, that seeing Swainson’s Thrush in these parts is a very common occurrence!

at one point, an Osprey with a fish flew over head…

On the far side of the park, we came across a large flock of mixed Warblers….this is a Palm Warbler…

and this a Yellow rump….Myrtle variety….we also saw Blackpoll and Orange crowned but were unable to get pictures…or at least any that turned out…

This is a view of Lac la Biche from the north side of the park…way out there, that white on the water is a rock that, when we were here before, was covered in Pelicans, Cormorant and nesting Gulls….this time, there was still ice at the far end of it….

this is from the same spot, looking eastward…there is a viewing platform just visible in the trees …

and from the same spot, looking west.  It is possible to walk out right to the tip of the land…..we didn’t make it that far this trip….it was getting hot and we were getting hungry….

In the afternoon I wandered back to the beach area that I had visited the day before….this view is looking directly across to where the town of Lac la Biche is situated…

This pair of Common Merganser were always hanging around in this particular spot….the male on the left and the female on the right ~ unfortunately the sun was definitely in the wrong position….

I found Common Merganser to be quite spooky so it isn’t too often you can get close pictures of them.

A Spotted Sandpiper showed up as well….the first we’d seen on this trip.  Since this is a species that you see absolutely anywhere that there is water….I assume they were just arriving….

Looking east along the beach towards the campground….we figure that it must be the action of the ice that builds up the sand in the way shown here….

looking back the other way….the big black clouds never really amounted to anything….

This Song Sparrow posed nicely for a picture….

There were actually a lot of different Butterflies fluttering around that day….this one is a Mourning Cloak…

saw more of those Franklin Ground Squirrels too…..

and of course those Snow shoe Hare….

this poor guy is really infested with ticks….  What we didn’t get a picture of was the trio of Moose that went crashing right through the campsite while Ernie was sitting outside reading in the sunshine!

During the course of the day, a number of large flocks of geese had flown over, heading north….this was another one that flew over during the evening.

Thus another day drew to a close….now out of water….we’d be moving on tomorrow.

Bird List: Swainson’s Thrush – 5; Yellow rump Warbler – 25; Palm Warbler – 2; Blackpoll Warbler – 1; Orange crowned Warbler – 6; Spotted Sandpiper – 1; Common Merganser – 10; Red Breasted Merganser – 6; Common Goldeneye – 12; Canada Geese – 100; Northern Flicker – 2; Hairy Woodpecker – 2; Magpie – 1; Song Sparrow – 5; Red Breasted Nuthatch – 3; White throated Sparrow – 20; Boreal Chickadee – 5; Tree Swallow – 1; Black Cap Chickadee – 3; Green Wing Teal – 2; Mallard – 6; Downy Woodpecker – 1; Osprey – 2; Common Loon – 1; Ring bill Gulls – 12.

Important Bird Area – B.C. 033

Throughout the world there are internationally recognized ‘Important Bird Areas’ – you can look them up on the web under that name.  One of these areas is the Chehalis Estuary, otherwise known as IBA B.C. 033.  I am fortunate to live on property that abuts this IBA. and am, in fact, a volunteer ‘caretaker’ of the area.  This role necessitates occasionally venturing out right onto the estuary, just to ‘check things out’.  Last Friday was one of these forays.

this time of the year the gravel flats of the estuary are exposed – in fact, right now the water levels are as low as I’ve ever seen and the gravel bars extend almost to the Harrison Bridge way off in the distance to the south.

Sometimes, in this gravel with sparse vegetation habitat we find species like Horned Larks, Killdeer, and American Pipit.  This trip all we found were a few pairs of Canada Geese.  That ‘tower’, erected by Hancock Wildlife Foundation holds solar panels and cameras.  Check out their website for more information.

Rather than continue on eastwards, we turned northwards towards one arm of the Chehalis River.  In the past, at this time of the year, Mountain Bluebirds and Western Meadowlark have been seen in this area….today only a few Tree Swallows were seen.

areas of grass and brush are interspersed with gravel beds that will be the first areas to hold water once snow melt happens and water levels start to rise.

as we approached the first main arm of the river, we spotted these Common Merganser lined up along the shore.

on the river itself were a couple of pairs of Common Goldeneye.  All duck species out here are pretty spooky and don’t allow for close approach – partly due, no doubt, to the fact that duck hunting is allowed.

we now started to follow the river northward….

the course of the river changes over the years, it used to be that the main channel was on the left, now it is on the right.

Beaver dams, like this one, are one contributing factor that changes the course of flow.

thigh high grasses line the shores of the river at this point.  Caution must be exercised as the grass can mask the undermined banks of the river….

we’re through the grass now and back to where you can walk along the shoreline.

This log jam has been here for many years, again, the river has changed, it used to be on the left side of this log jam, where it is all gravel now.  Once, when water levels were higher to allow for canoeing, we  saw a Green Heron on those logs.  This visit, a Great Blue Heron flew up from the side of them. At this point the river makes as sharp left hand turn…..

around the bend now, this is where we sat to eat our lunch.  There are usually a number of ducks on this stretch of the river….

Today was no exception, mostly Common Merganser like these (1 male and 3 female in photo), some Common Goldeneye and a few Mallard.

While we sat quietly eating lunch this pair of males drifted down past us affording a closer shot than can usually be managed.  Common Merganser nest on this stretch of the river….come summer it is not unusual to see several females with a large raft of youngsters.  Wood Ducks have also been known to nest here, although up the quieter off shoots of the river itself.

lunch over and no exciting species to be seen, it was time to head back…this shot is looking towards Eagle Point Park and the housing developments.

You can just make out some of the houses through the screen of trees in this shot of another pair of Canada Geese.