Watching the feeder

Ever since we moved to BC we have been feeding the birds. The very simple wire cage with slabs of lard filled with seeds attracts a wide range of birds. Every morning between 10 ish and 11ish there is a parade of birds to the feeder. This morning I watched the Chestnut Backed Chickadees in two and threes peck away the seeds. The Varied Thrushes - 3 of them - were hanging around the base of the feeder. They don't seem able to get a grip on the feeder but they do a great job of the cleanup below the feeder. One of them would regularly come up on to the deck to see what could be found - invariably there as a seed or two to reinforce his efforts.

Rain fills the River and tributaries

Two days ago yet another storm hit the Island bringing with it lots of rain. For 36 hours we were pelted with rain and some wind. The result is that the Puntledge River is way up - and the Park partially flooded. The River went from its usual crystal clear to a murky grey with the sludge brought in through the creeks and streams. We anticipate that once this high water diminishes many of the salmon remains will be gone. Of course the sad part about that is the eagles and gulls will also leave.

2006 Ends

As 2006 comes to a close the behaviour of the eagles along our stretch of the Puntledge continues to fascinate us. We have been watching what we think are five eagles; three adults and two juveniles who continue to hang out and hunt along the shore. They seem to revel in hanganging the gulls scavenging on long the shore; the fly bys are fabulous.

There is one juvenile who is just beginning to get his/her white feathers. The mottled brown and white is spectacular. With so many eagles around there is lots of opportunity to watch them watch the river as they perch on the trees and snags presumably surveying for food. For scavengers they are truly magestic birds.

There has been an increased activity over the last couple of weeks. My memory says this is the norm for this time of year. I'll use this diary to keep track of their presence and absence in the coming year.

Learning how to do links and post photos

So, I work at North Island College.

Here is our family's Christmas photo.

My First Blog entry

It's December 28 and Kate has just taught me how to begin a blog. This is an experiment to explore logging activity on the Puntledge River; birds, animals, kayakers, tubers and ...!