Happy New Yearlist

I didn't really get any opportunity to kick start my yearlist proper yesterday (1st) so I contented myself with a few glances out of the window and bagged a mix of the usual common waterbirds and such. The highlight of the day however was a sharp-shinned hawk sat up in the trees outside the condo.

Today, I went 'up-north' and spent a few hours with Rich Mooney trawling the French Creek, Columbia Beach and Nanoose areas with the express intention of seeing an ancient murrelet or two. We didn't. However, a few good birds were encountered along the way starting off with a pileated woodpecker that flew over the highway while I was heading to Parksville.
Offshore there were absolutely loads of Pacific loons, plus a few marbled murrelets, common murres, grebes, cormorants, harlequins, a long-tailed duck, etc.
A greater yellowlegs was a welcome find, the first one I've seen since I arrived in October, but other shorebird sightings were restricted to a lone black oik and a flock of dunlin.
At one spot at Nanoose we had crippling views of ALL the alcids commonly found in these waters (marbled murrelet, rhinoceros auklet, common murre & pigeon guillemot) with the exception of the intended quarry. Dagnabit.
Moving from Yellow Point into 'downtown' Cedar tomorrow so my regular stares out to sea will be a thing of the past and as I have now found gainful employment my blog updates will be somewhat diminished from here on in.
Hopefully, once spring rears its welcome head I'll be able to get down the estuary before/after work and the near-daily postings shall resume...

I couldn't resist taking the above pic of this attractive deceased fishy wedged in some rocks by the beach. It looks like how I felt yesterday morning... is this the face of 2010? (it actually looks a lot like a Titan Terrorfish from Gerry Anderson's Stingray to me)