Greedy Birds

Now I’ve shown you the giants of the Great Bear Rain Forest, here are a few extras. When you are sitting around waiting for bears or whales, there is lots of spare time when nothing much is happening, so you pay attention to the smaller stuff. Somehow birds seem an appropriate topic as I prepare my turkey stuffing…

Great Blue Herons stalk their prey in the estuary:

but they also benefit from the leavings of the bears. This one was scavenging in the river:

rather successfully:

Eagles too, despite their noble mien, are scavengers as much as hunters. At one point we had six in view loitering near a favorite grizzly fishing spot. Here is a close-up of a juvenile:

and here is what he/she will grow into:

A local favorite is the Stellar’s Jay, but I got only one good look, in deep shadow:

And an even smaller resident is the American Dipper, searching for tiny invertebrates in the river:

Finally, this gull, seen at low tide from our boat, bit off more than he could chew. We watched him for a good fifteen minutes while he stood motionless, the food apparently stuck in his gullet. It appears to be an octopus, or perhaps a starfish:

Bears are not the only ones stuffing themselves as winter arrives. Enjoy the holidays.