December 20th to 31st 2011
Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve
We enjoyed our walks at the end of the year at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve. Although the last few weeks have not had a lot of bright light, we have had a really unseasonably nice December.
Little female Bufflehead Ducks are so tiny, we are always happy when they get closer to us for a photo. This one was at the East Bird Blind.
A Bewickâs Wren was hopping about in the leaf litter one sunny morning.
Black-capped Chickadees are everywhere at the moment. It seems that there are two or three family units at the Salwein Creek Loop. One had a bit of white on its head.
We saw the female Common Merganser again this week.
Coho Salmon are spawning in the Salwein Creek; there seems to be quite a lot compared to the last five years.
Double-crested Cormorants are still standing on their logs. They have to dry their feathers out of the water, as they do not have the natural oils that most ducks have to waterproof their feathers.
We saw the Fox Sparrows again this week on several different days.
Pied-billed Grebes were almost close enough to get photos.
Great Blue Herons were seen every day.
The Hooded Merganser chased after a fish that it dropped.
Dark-eyed Juncos were around as usual.
Golden-crowned Kinglets put in an appearance.
Mallards were found in several spots.
We saw a flock of Pine Siskins with Common Redpolls accompanying them. The photos just barely show the pale red on the head of the Redpoll against the bright, light gray sky. This is a rare sighting for us.
Ring-necked Ducks paddled past.
A Scaup got up on a log and fell asleep.
Song Sparrows were happy to pose in the sun.
We were happy to find a few male Green-winged Teal behind the East Bird Blind.
A few American Wigeon were behind the East Bird Blind this week.
One morning we were happy to find the River Otter family hunting for brunch on the North Lagoon.
Connie and Scott were the Gift Shop volunteers on the 31st and when they finished their hours in the Gift Shop, we joined them on a walk on the new trail to see if we could find the Great Horned Owl recently seen. Connie was the sharp-eyed individual that spotted the Owl high in a Cedar Tree.
A Gray Squirrel was seen under the Cedar tree.
Scott found a pair of Brown Creepers.
We saw a male Downy Woodpecker. We also saw another one at the Salwein Creek Loop several times durring the week.
We stopped in at the Rotary Interpretive Centre for visits with Ann, Janet, Delia, Pearl, Leon, Val, Gordon, Jean, Marilyn, another Jean, Eileen, Mary, Kay, Leanne, Scott and Connie. We really are grateful to all of the volunteers for all the valuable work they do to keep this wonderful place open. We also enjoyed our visits on the trails with Helmut, Bill, Jenny, Larry, Rod, Terry from Kamloops, Mark, Lorraine and Arnie.
At the end of this year, we wish all of you a very Happy New Year. Thank you for taking time to visit our journals, we really appreciate hearing from those people who have taken time to email us. Your emails help to motivate us to keep posting our journals. Until next year, all our best wishes to you.
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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