Very heavy snow kept us indoors for the first 4 days of the year. It was snowing again this morning but we headed east where mysteriously everywhere was almost snowfree…
On this particular cape there were almost no birds except this Peregrine.
The local Steller’s flew by the port but I wasn’t really ready when it did.
The local Steller’s is back.
You can’t see it from these pics but it’s right eye looked damaged (it wasn’t yellow). Its right eye was OK last year. I’m assuming it’s the same bird that winters in this place every year but who knows?
A quick trip out east today. Not much about except for a few raptors, gulls and ducks…
Not a great day for photos again, for various reasons I’ve been struggling a bit recently to get any nice shots at all.
You can’t really see it from these pics but there was a lot of snow the last few days…
A couple of Olive-backed Pipits was a surprise near Esan: I don’t often see these in winter.
Both species of eagle were around but high in the sky. One port had a couple of Slavs at least…
Thousands of kittiwakes east of town today…
None of them had red legs.
A quiet day east of town trying to forget World Cup blues…
The usual winter birds were around including Glaucous-winged Gull, Brent Geese, White-tailed Eagle and several Peregrine.
Long-tailed Rosefinch and a small flock of Asian Rosy Finch were present but no photos of those.
Here are some Harlequins in the shade…
Esan was a bit quiet last weekend.
Both species of eagle were around but no photos.
The fishermen were tossing scraps into the water which the gulls appreciated…
I just can’t escape geese: this lone straggling White-front was in parkland atop a cape!
The Ospreys have returned…not great pics it has to be said.
And near my apartment all the snow has gone…
Other birds around on Monday in the Esan area were Glaucous-winged Gull, Harlequin Duck, lots of Brent Goose and a lone White-tailed Eagle.
I was surprised to see this lone Bean Goose in the same place I’d seen 3 Greater White-fronts last month…
A pretty quiet day, the local Steller’s flew around a bit but up high and it was not especially photogenic today.
Only female Harlequins in camera range again…
A quiet Sunday out east today, but it’s difficult to get too tired of the common winter species here…
No matter how crappy life has been the last couple of years I still have a fairly local Steller’s Sea Eagle…
The local Steller’s Sea Eagle has been very inactive this winter. At times I thought it had been nailed to its perch, or frozen to it.
But today it was flying around…
