Englishman River, Shelly Road side

Today's outing went to the Englishman River, Shelly Road side.  The weather was cooperative and the participants enjoyed themselves.  The river was running very swiftly with a high volume of water, so the water level in the estuary was unusually high.  Consequently there were comparatively low numbers of ducks but we got some really good sightings of other birds.  Highlights included an immature Northern Goshawk which flew across the river and then through the trees quite close to us, a terrific view of a female Northern Harrier that sailed by very close to us, and some distant calls of White-winged Crossbills.  In this area Northern Harrier is considered to be Uncommon, Northern Goshawk Rare and White-winged Crossbill Casual.  Thanks to the high water levels we had just 30 species of birds but the quality was great.