Golden Holden

On the way home from work, Jenny and I stopped off at the Chase River Estuary park trail - a lovely wee spot, probably not too bad for birds at the right time of day/year...

Anyhoo, I dropped the missus off and legged it down to Holden Creek.
Quite an increase in the number of least sandpiper this evening with approx. 60 birds scattered around the marsh. The killdeer have 'lost' two of their chicks. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one is unfortunate, to lose two, looks like carelessness...
A single greater yellowlegs and 2 spotted sandpiper were on the main creek.

Up to 8 American pipit were feeding on the marsh, and a couple showed on the muddy creek edge briefly (pic left). Got chance to have really good look at these spanking birds - absolutely gorgeous, far better than silly bluebirds or flashy warblers.
No sign of the semi-p plovers.
3 cackling geese and 4 white-fronted geese had dropped in and joined the 'resident' Canadas.
All the swallows were showing really well in the glorious golden evening sunlight, including the cliff swallows which were gathering mud again on the creek.

Popped by the boggy area on Gordon Road to have a listen for rails but there was nothing doing. A pair of common yellowthroat were nest building and the drake wood duck was there again - where's the female gone? In a hole somewhere nearby?

Oh, forgot to mention yesterday - had my first house wren of the spring down at the Nanaimo River Estuary.