Phipps Point nest - 2017-2018 Season

[boonibarb]

This Nest used to be in a big Fir right beside the main road overlooking the bank out to Denman & Vancouver Island from the west side.
The last couple of years it seemed that the Nest had collapsed & the pair moved inland to one & then another Tree, where they seemed to be incubating but didn*t end up having chicks.
This territory is beautiful, lots of beach front & a full view with beautiful sunsets.
You can read about last year & find links to previous years here.

[boonibarb]

 
It was a sunny day & i wanted to walk with Otto on the beach in the Sun!
So we went down to Phipps Point.
Other people showed up with their dogs & went to the left, so we went to the right.
Right away i spotted this Eagle low down in a Tree.
i could see her looking at me like she was going to bolt so i kept my head down & sat on a log while i got out my camera.
i then took fotos of her from my lap so i could look at her via the monitor rather than looking right at her.
Look at the beautiful dark streaking she still has in her yellow beak.
Looks like she has a full crop?
 
december 20 2017 14:38 - adult Eagle
 




What a beauty!
She blasted off after this foto.
 

 

 
link to my fotos page - 
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[Cawatcher]

What a smart way to capture her!!! 

[Tigerlady105]

Clever thinking, booni, and it worked!   

[boonibarb]

 
We walked until the washed up seaweed got too thick to walk in, then headed back.
i am always examining the seaweed, picking out the plastic & finding other interesting things.
i spotted legs & a beak that didn*t look like a sea Bird!

december 20 2017 15:16 - Barred Owl



For humans, we need to exert to make a fist with our hands.
For Birds, *making a fist* with their toes is the relaxed position.
Hard to imagine, eh?
They have to exert to open the fist of their toes.
So in death, the feet relax into the gripping position.



Some of the feathers visible here.
i was thinking maybe a Hawk?
But now i believe this is a Barred Owl.



i love the globes of light in this one.



i wonder what happened that this Owl ended up in the water?



link to my fotos page -  
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[Tigerlady105]

Interesting discovery, booni.  Poor bird.  'tis a mystery.   

[boonibarb]

 
Found these two Birds inland a ways from Shingle Spit.
The calls of the Dove caught my attention.
Realized afterwards, Red-winged Blackbirds too!
Didn*t know we had those this time of year.
 
january 3 2018 14:07 - Red-winged Blackbird & Eurasian Collared Dove (thanks Nancy & Dawn!)
 

 

 
link to my fotos page -  
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[NancyM]

booni, that dove looks like a Eurasian Collared Dove to me (the mourning doves do not have that dark band across the back of their neck). I love the doves, even if this species is considered invasive here.  I used to have flocks of mourning doves at my feeders but they have been scarce this past year - maybe more predators around.

[boonibarb]

 
We went to Phipps Point for a walk!
There was nobody there!
Yay.
i*d planned on heading south, towards the ferry.
As usual, Otto follows his nose & heads north...
So we go north.
The tide is going out so there are all these wide shallow pools left behind, with shore Birds in them.
i am hoping to photograph them while Otto sniffs.
But huge flocks of them fly off closer to the water line & too far away.
One remains, so i sit & get out my camera.
i have Otto on his leash, with a length of rope tied to it that i found on the beach, that way i can grab him if need be.
He is way ahead, sniffing away, but of course as soon as i sit & try to find this solitary Duck he decides to come back & bump into me & stand between me & my subject, & then he sits on me, sigh...
So i am having trouble finding this Duck with my camera, though i have no trouble with my eye.
This Duck is a long ways away, but i swear they see me, you can see it in their eye.
So i am trying hard to get a foto before they join the rest of the Birds farther out!
This first one is the sharpest, but i like the setting for all of them.
i have never seen one of these Ducks before!
Had to look them up in my Bird books.
But apparently they are quite common this time of year.

february 9 2018 14:39 - Green-winged Teal



Look how the setting colours changed from the last foto to this one.



Uh-oh, my time is up!
Notice the change in posture!







link to my fotos page -  
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[jeavverhey]

Lovely bird and surroundings. 

[Tigerlady105]

Picturing Otto sitting on you, booni!     

[boonibarb]

 
When i*ve passed Phipps Point in the past few days there are often dozens of Eagles in all the Trees on the shore before & after the Point.
i believe there are Herring feeding events going on out there & i caught the tail end of one just petering out there yesterday.
What is also amazing is the THOUSANDS of sea Birds out there!
It is hard to show them in one foto but here i go.
i see Long-tailed Ducks, Harlequin Ducks, Scoters, Mallards, Buffleheads & lots of Gulls, perhaps Mew Gulls are the smaller ones that seem to bob on top of the water like little corks?

march 9 2018 13:55 - thousands of sea Birds





link to my fotos page - 
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[winterwren]

I asked the neighbour of this nest for news today. He says these eagles are not on eggs yet. They seem to be working on their newer nest, the one away from the road, this time.

[boonibarb]

 
There were bits of Herring Spawn happening around Hornby & particularly around the southeast end of Denman.
We*d gone down to the bluffs overlooking the ferry to see if we could see the action.
i posted about that just now under Ground Observations.
On our way home we stopped at Phipps Point to see if we could see anything & we spotted this lovely Sea Lion!
They are in the water but it must be very shallow where they are lying.

march 9 2018 13:48 - sunning California Sea Lion



We could see & HEAR!!! thousands of Sea Birds out there.
So we went up to the road beside the cliff to see what we could see of them.
i see Long-tailed Ducks, Gulls, Scaups, Mallards & Scoters!

march 9 2018 13:54 - Sea Birds during Herring Spawn



The sound was AMAZING, even though they were all quite a ways away.



The numbers of them were amazing!
Hard to show in one foto!





link to my fotos page -  
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/
 

[Tigerlady105]

That Sea Lion seems very content with life.   

Nice shot, booni.