Bald Eagle Country – Winter continues……

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter in these here parts!

Sunday morning we headed over to Chilliwack to put the grandchildren’s Christmas Gifts on the bus.  Snow was in the forecast and the first few flakes were falling as we left home.  Two police cruisers and an ambulance roaring past us enroute also explained why our power had just gone out – again!

Going through Agassiz we noticed a few swans in this corn field….

along with the swans were hundreds and hundreds of Mallards….unfortunately difficult to get a picture of…those dark specks are some of them.

Got to Chilliwack, put the parcel on the bus, and by then it was starting to snow seriously, so decided it was best to head for home.

Here is the same area as we headed home – the corn field is on the left hand side of this picture…a little ‘whiter’ than it had been!

As we got safely to within about a kilometre of our place, husband decided to head off up the forestry road that say’s ‘Closed, road deactivated, no phone service etc. etc.’  Thought he’d go see what Elbow Lake looked like.  Fortunately, Elbow Lake is only about 5 kilometres up the road….

So here we are, parked at the side of the forestry road, the only set of tire tracks in the snow….but at least he was now turned around and facing home.

Here are some views of this little lake which is nestled in the mountains up above where we live…..

the only problem with that is that if we ever experience the ‘big one’ like they keep talking about, this lake could well end up in our back yard!

One last look at Elbow Lake before heading for home – where the power was still off!

So after arriving home and turning on the propane fireplace to start warming the place up – we headed out for a walk.  Here is the scene over at the log bay in Eagle Point Park.

There were a few Gulls and ducks poking around in the snowstorm….

a few eagles on the far shore – barely visible

and one guy in quite close, working away on his frozen fish dinner.

There is a river and some mountains out there somewhere – this is what you would call ‘limited visibility’!

there were a few Killdeer running around…

and just before putting my camera away, spotted this Snipe poking about along the shoreline.

At this point headed for home and a hot cup of coffee.  Thank goodness for Propane stoves and fire places as the power remained off until after 8 pm, making it another 10 hour power outage – at least this one had a cause – a MVA that took out a power pole, although not sure why it took 10 hours to get everything up and working again!

Bald Eagle Country – it’s winter!

I don’t know why but I’ve been having a terrible time finding the time to make postings to this blog lately.  It must be the time of year!  Either that or the fact that for the past week or so the temperature hasn’t climbed above freezing – that’s OK – winter should feel like winter (and yes, I know it isn’t ‘officially’ winter yet) but the problem is that our furnace decided to quit about the same time the cold weather arrived.  That isn’t a major problem since we live in a very small space (park model trailer – 444 sq. ft.) and we have a propane fireplace that works very well, but the warm air doesn’t quite make it around the corner in the bedroom where my computer sits, so it gets a bit frigid on the fingers……

Anyway, today we had to head into Mission, B.C. to buy groceries so took the camera along and thought I’d post some pictures….you’ll note I’m being really lazy and not even taking the time to change the ‘fonts’.

We did the usual ‘circuit’ route on Nicomen Island, there was nothing in the slough for the simple reason it was completely frozen over…and looking a little whiter than just ice would provide, as for the past two days it has been snowing…very, very lightly, with tiny little snow pellets….not enough to really do anything but it does tend to ‘brighten’ where it is already frozen.

This view of the road shows the extent of the snow we’ve rec’d.

On the way home we decided to do another side trip…this time along the main slough that separates the island from the mainland.

Looking the other way, there were a total of 19 Great Blue Herons in this field which is adjacent to the Fire Hall (that ‘barn’ building).  Couldn’t get a picture that would show all of the Herons but this gives an idea.

Looking back the other way, here is another look at the slough…you can just make out some of the Trumpeter Swans, in fact I’d ‘guesstimate’ there were at least 300 Swans on Nicomen today.

Further along we come to Harrison Bay which is pretty much completely frozen over…

and on the opposite side of the highway that travels along the edge of the bay, we have icicles….lots and lots of icicles.

Arrived home and after putting the groceries away decided to take Shantz for a walk and headed down to the estuary….the last couple of days I’ve been working on my part of a school project my oldest Granddaughter is doing (Grade 3)….and I needed a picture of Grandpa and Grandma – well Grandpa isn’t a problem, but Grandma is because I’m always behind the lens, and besides, I hate having my picture taken….

So now I’ve got them I might as well post them – here’s ‘Grandpa’

and here is ‘Grandma’ – amazing what you’ll do for your grandchildren!

After this picture taking session we walked over to Eagle Point Park….and my regret now was that I only had my little old camera with me that was being temperamental again……

We could hear lots of eagle activity as we approached what I call the ‘log bay’….there were a number perched in the trees around as well…

Including this fellow.

approaching the shoreline you can see a number of eagles…

Here are some closer views of them…

This guy was off to one side where he had his own ‘frozen fish dinner’

Speaking of ‘frozen’ – here is ‘Eagle on Ice’

and here a pair of them…

This is about the best one I got – like I said, wish I’d had my other camera with me!

Just as we were leaving to head home I heard a Belted Kingfisher arrive….I find these guys one of the most frustrating birds to get pictures of – they just won’t let you get close…today I didn’t really try, it was getting late and the light was fading…

So I’ll leave you with this last look of the Kingfisher on the near piling and a Bald Eagle on the far….

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!

Bald Eagle Country beginning of December

I’m hoping to get out this weekend and get some pictures of some of the other areas around here, but since it’s been a while since I posted anything, and since the month of December has brought and end to the steady rain we had in November, thought I’d share a few of the pictures I’ve taken recently.

We’ll start off with this Bald Eagle that was keeping an eye on us when we walked past him.

The Eagles get used to us and seem to recognize who belongs here and who doesn’t, my leashed Siberian Husky isn’t even considered a threat.

This is the view that greeted us that morning.

This pair of eagles were squabbling over a salmon…the water level is dropping now the rain has stopped, so there are fish carcasses left behind in the grass.

at that point the water levels were still high enough that the Trumpeter Swans were close in to shore, the water has dropped more now, so they are concentrated out further.

The next day there was a really strong ‘out flow’ wind – in the winter we tend to get winds blowing out from the interior of the province which means they are colder….all the birds were huddled against shorelines trying to stay warm.  Those are mainly all Mallard ducks.

these Canada Geese were cuddled up as were the Trumpeter swans.  You can see the white caps out on the water that is till covering the flats at this point.

For a number of reasons I didn’t get any pictures taken yesterday but I was up bright and early this morning in hopes of the snow flurries they had predicted materializing.  I know it is probably hard for you ‘snow birds’ to comprehend this, but some of us LOVE the cold and snow ~ and I’m one of them.  My promised snow didn’t show up, but it was cool with frost on the ground and you can see the amount of bird life out there, both on the gravel bars that are starting to reappear and in the water.  Lots and Lots of ducks!

This Eagle was sitting on one of the pilings…..

this guy had a fish in the grass and wasn’t going to move! 

Took this, this afternoon, it is pretty much the same view as the very first picture in this entry….water levels have dropped quite a bit.

Thanks to the dropping water and the fact that someone has kindly removed the bush barrier that the district put up (whole other subject – grrrr – sorry Gord if you happen to read this), I was finally able to walk over to the adjacent community park.  This is a few from what I like to call the ‘log bay’

and finally, on our way home, I managed to get some pictures of these Hooded Merganser Ducks.  These little guys are one of my favourite ducks, they are so pretty but not as gaudy as Wood ducks.  We seem to have quite a large flock of them wintering with us this year.  There are 2 males and 1 female in this picture.