Spencer Island Natural Wildlife Reserve (Again)

I started a New Year's Resolution early today - to go out for a hike every day I'm not working, come rain or shine unless the weather is truly treacherous.  So today I went to Spencer Island Natural Wildfire Reserve for the first time in - searching blog - just over 2 years.  Not quite sure why I go there - it's right by the freeway so you have traffic noise, it's next to a waste treatment facility so the smell can be disgusting and half the island is set aside for hunting and I am no fan of guns or hunting.  But it's easy to get to - half an hour drive north - it's a flat and unbusy 4 mile hike, and the birdlife is amazingly abundant - loads of ducks in the water, loads of songbirds in the brush, and loads of birds of prey - including a brief glimpse of a huge bald eagle - perched in the trees.