Ending November. The 26th through the 29th.

First up... our Thanksgiving was fine. We spent it together. We did make a side trip to Andrea's mum's house to scoop her catbox and take out her garbage. While there, we saw a beautiful Leadback under the trashcan.

Black Friday... November 27th... Since our previous birding trip went awry (we'd looked at snakes instead) we went to the water to look for some sea-birds this time. I added 5 species on to my 2020 list, getting it to the 75 I'd hoped to reach. Here they are.

#71 Red-throated Loon.

#72 Common Eider, a female and a immature male. The Andrea and me of Eiders.

#73 Common Goldeneye.

#74 Ruddy Turnstones.

And #75, Red-breasted Merganser.

So, I'm pleased to have hit 75 with no trips out of this state.

We spent a lot of time watching little brown rats (Norway Rats- Rattus norvegicus) scurrying around the jetty looking for snacks. They were very quick and hard to get a photo of. But I persisted because I realized that in the 11 years of keeping this blog, I have  never pictured a Rat!

The purple headed merganser?

Thus ended our day.

(A couple of Buffleheads, I think, simultaneously diving.)

On Sunday the 29th, we figured we'd try again to see the great influx of birds at our local hiking spot. Once again, we opted to peek at the dens first, since it was sunny if not too warm. (High 40s, low 50s.)

Our pal Blister was out again. His blisters have receded in the past two weeks, leaving little deflated scars along his length. He didn't look bad, though, and we saw him out and about crawling around, doing the little looking-for-food head sway.

Near him was another Garter peeking out into the sun... this fella was still half in the hill... just a tentative peek.

So, how did we do on birds? Not great, but we did add two... #76, a Tufted Titmouse. (Totally on to me.)

And #77, a Tree Sparrow.

While there, we went up the hill that overlooks the path we usually walk on (where the people are at the bottom of the picture) and this perspective certainly gives a different impression!

"Our" Snaplings were released in the river somewhere over the hill in the left of the picture.

This distant hawk was watching the marsh below for a tasty snack.

And that is how our November ended.