Morning Glory

Got up at first light this morning, and headed down to the Nanaimo River estuary for a bit of a migrant-seeking session. 
It took some doing to be honest; the birds weren't exactly coming thick and fast, and it didn't really get going until after 7am. The light was lovely, and the view to Mount Benson was pretty impressive (see pic).
The distinct call of yellow-rumped warbler alerted me to 4 birds as they dropped from the sky and landed in the long hedge. They didn't stay long as a Cooper's hawk soon came skimming along and send them flying.
A common yellowthroat was in among a group of savannah and white-crowned sparrows, plus a lone Lincoln's.
The juv northern harrier put in an appearance, and stayed around long enough to allow me grab a snap.

A second, large juvenile Cooper's hawk, came through and landed briefly on the viewing platform.
A greater yellowlegs was calling somewhere out on the estuary.
A pair of yellow warbler then dropped out of the blue and fed briefly in a small hawthorn before taking of again.
Another couple of Lincoln's sparrows were in the brambles below the platform with 4 purple finch and several WC sparrows. Another 3 were similarly, with WC & savannah sparrows beneath the big oak.
16 American wigeon flew over, heading roughly south and a belted kingfisher was rattling away on the river. All in all, there was a bit going on, but not quite as much as I'd hoped for. Oh well, there's plenty of autumn left...

After work, Jenny and I had a walk down to Hemer Park. There wasn't a great deal to see, though I counted 30 American wigeon and 3 pintail on the pool, along with the obligatory wood ducks, mallards and 3 green-winged teal. A pair of pied-billed grebe were on the big lake, and we came across this striking partial albino American robin. Quite a looker!