Cinnamon teal twosome save the day

Had a troll around the Nanaimo River estuary for an hour and a bit this morning from 6.30am.

Sadly I didn't find any major rarities, despite my undying optimism, but it was good to be out early. A mini-fall of yellow-rumped warblers had obviously taken place, with at least 30 birds along the long hedge. No other warblers among them sadly, other than a handful of orange-crowned.
A peregrine was sat out on a stranded tree-stump.
A pair of male purple martins were mucking around (pic) and the female northern harrier was hunting over the marsh. A singing American goldfinch was by the big oak.

After work, I bobbed along to Holden Creek. The water levels were extremely high.
A pair of cinnamon teal were a very pleasant surprise. The spotted sandpiper was still present, as was a single greater yellowlegs. It took me a while to locate any small waders, they were feeding in the small muddy puddles in the farm fields. Again, the majority that I could see were least sandpipers, plus a handful of westerns.
A lone cackling goose was among the Canadas.
The local killdeer have at least three hatched young.
Driving round to the estuary along Gordon Road, I had a pileated woodpecker fly over and a pair of wood duck were in the wet area.
The estuary was busy with people, but a few birds were still around... 3 belted kingfisher were flying around and all the common hirundines were seen. Otherwise it was pretty uneventful.