Patch lowlights

It was pretty quiet down on the Nanaimo waterfront at lunchtime today, single pigeon guillemot and common loon offshore the only things of note.
A Bewick's wren was singing from one of the ornamental conifers, and the male Anna's hummingbird was perched up in his regular spot.

On my way home from work I noticed a merlin in pursuit of a starling over the highway near Petroglyph.
I went straight to the estuary for an hour, but it was painfully quiet. The ducks and gulls were miles out, with the tide, and there were no songbirds to be seen or heard at all. And I mean none. Not a song sparrow, not a towhee - nothing. In fact, other than a multitude of ravens, there was nothing until a lone flicker appeared. Its starring role was soon eclipsed by the appearance of a northern shrike - phew!
I need a better local patch...
Back in Blighty, I would have been trampling along the Lune estuary flushing smart wheatears and hearing chiffchaffs singing from the hawthorns on a day like today - mind you, I can't remember ever finding an American kestrel down there, so I suppose it's all relative!