Shingle Spit nest - 2018 Season

[boonibarb]

The Shingle Spit Nest is very close to where you get off the ferry that arrives at Hornby Island when you come over from Denman.
The Nest is a bit hard to spot, but you can see the Eagles coming & going & perched in Trees near the ferry.
This is a beautiful spot, overlooking Shingle Spit, a really cool formation, the waters of Lambert Channel, which run between Hornby & Denman, Denman Island itself, & an almost never-ending spectacle of wildlife including Ducks, Great Blue Herons, Eagles of all ages, Orca & even Humpback Whales, as well as Cormorants, Black Oystercatchers, you name it.

To see what happened in this territory last season, & to find links to previous seasons, click here.

[boonibarb]

 
This was a sunny cold day & i thought we might get some Sun at Shingle Spit!
On our way down there, i noticed all the fabulous fresh white snow on the Trees on Mount Geoffrey, something fairly rare around here.
It looked spectacular, so i was hoping to be able to get a foto of that from the Spit.
 
december 30 2017 14:09 - snow on Mount Geoffrey
 

 


i was really pleased to see a Purple Martin back from migration already!
This has got to be a record.

december 30 2017 14:15 - an awfully large Purple Martin
 

 

 

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

[boonibarb]

 
Not sure i really would have noticed what was going on here, except for wren*s fotos she got at Phipps Point as well, of Gulls harvesting Arbutus berries!

december 30 2017 14:27 - Gulls nabbing Arbutus berries at Shingle Spit

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju7TqgFyRk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju7TqgFyRk</a>


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

[auroradawn]

Guess larger Purple Martin boxes are needed 

[winterwren]

I was watching the gull near this nest today... And of course I had a good look at the nest while I was there.

Definitely some new branches added.
Crows were all around the nest, I was wondering what was going on.
And surprise! A really quick changeover of eagles.
After which the crows dispersed.
Were they hoping to steal eggs while the eagles were switching?

I can't see anyone in this photo but I'm pretty sure it was a switch I saw. The second eagle is perched on a tree nearby after what looked like a brief fishing expedition.
March 27, 2:20 pm

[winterwren]

While I was there, I said hi to the Double-crested Cormorants on the dock. They're just starting to grow their crests... Some have black ones, some white ones.

One of them has leg bands! looks like KE8?
March 27, 1:35 pm



These ones were having a discussion about seating arrangements, resulting in one of them having to move over. Two of them are showing expanded gular (throat) pouches... Like a miniature version of a pelican's. First time I see this.

[Tigerlady105]

Very nice to be able to see something for the first time, wren.