January 9th to 16th 2010
Winter walks at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve in Chilliwack B.C. can be fun and interesting. We had a few rainy days, a few sunny days and a surprisingly warm couple of days where our winter weather clothing was really too warm.
Little Bufflehead Ducks are always around the lagoons, this female was a surprise swimming in the Salwein Creek on a rainy day.
Black-capped Chickadees were too busy to pose and the dark days that we have had lately didn’t help catching these very active little birds. One stopped for a moment at the edge of the path to relax after finding a sleeping insect under a leaf.
House Finches are another resident bird that we somehow manage to overlook because we see them so often.
Little Juncos or “Snow Birds” are one of the easiest song birds to find at this time of year. They feed and fly in flocks.
This Song Sparrow stopped long enough for a quick photo before it headed off to catch up to another one.
American Coots are popping up at several different locations lately. We found them at the Salwein Creek as well as the South Lagoon.
Double-crested Cormorants are one of the favourite winter residents; they can always be found somewhere on our walks and their antics are always fun to watch and photograph.
Brown Creepers were chasing each other up a tree quite far into the forest.
The resident Bald Eagles can be found around their nest site and also they like to perch in the Cottonwoods at the Salwein Creek Loop.
Northern Red-shafted Flickers often visit the Salwein Creek Loop; their distinctive voices calling to each other give away their location.
We saw a female Hairy Woodpecker checking out the same tree deep in the forest as the Brown Creepers were in.
Pied-billed Grebes enjoy the water no matter what the weather brings.
We came across a few ducks that we usually don’t see; they were not close to the shore but we got some photographs for our records. A male and female Gadwall have been visiting the lagoons for over a week now, as well as a Lesser Scaup and a Northern Pintail.
A Cooper’s Hawk has been hunting around the paths near the Rotary Interpretive Centre lately. This photo was taken from quite a distance just before the little hawk flew over the Centre. We also found a lovely Peregrine Falcon sitting high in a Cottonwood on a dreary wet day.
Great Blue Heron are always at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve. There are usually only a very few and they are not easy to find but over the past week, we have seen up to twenty-two Great Blue Heron perched behind the East Bird Blind. One day there were five of them flying in circles over the Rotary Interpretive Centre.
Mallards are courting now and some of them have finally paired up while others are still trying vying for a mate.
Hooded Mergansers were acting up on the North Lagoon on several days during our walks.
Ring-necked Ducks and American Wigeon are very common on both lagoons at this time of year.
Trumpeter Swans often fly over our heads as we are walking along; they can be found feeding in several farm fields in the area at this time of year. Please do not enter the fields as they are private property.
Green-winged Teal were very abundant over the last week; we counted over four dozen one afternoon.
A little Winter Wren hopped through the dark depths of the shrubs near the East Bird Blind today.
Wood Ducks are gathering in small flocks of a dozen or so and can be heard calling to each other before they are seen.
We enjoyed our visits with Gordon, Scott, Connie, Barb, Val, Marilyn, Jean, Leon, Janet, Ann, Muriel and Christine at the Rotary Interpretive Centre after our walks on different days over the past week.
We are not authorities on birds, wildlife, plants, cameras or photography, if you are doing research on any subjects, please refer to a more educational site for advice and double-check whatever you research.
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