With clear weather prevailing in the days prior to and including the winter solstice, it was a good year for observing the sun during the time when the light and warmth we receive from it is a minimum. Many of the things I noticed this year were things I was vaguely aware of before, though I spent a some time trying to improve my understanding.

On the solstice, the sun rose in the southeast at 8:39 am, with sunset occuring in the southwest at 3:21pm, 6 hours and 42 minutes later. The locations of sunrise and sunset are basically 45 degrees south of due east and west respectively. The earliest sunset actually occured a week before solstice, when it was setting at 3:19pm. The two minute gain of afternoon light was more than made up for by five minutes lost in the morning, with sunrise on 14 December occuring at 8:34am, and on 21 December at 8:39am. The latest sunrise, 8:40am, occurs about a week after solstice. It is not until 4 January that the sun rises earlier than on the solstice.

The sun reaches its highest point in the sky when it is due south. This occured south at noon on the solstice when it was 9.6 degrees above the horizon. For comparison, on an equinox, it reaches a maximum of 33 degrees above the horizon with it passing 9.6 degrees at 8:25am and 5:55pm. On the summer solstice the maximum height is 56.5 degrees above the horizon and the equivalent height of winter solstice noon occurs at 5:45am and 8:20pm. The low height of the winter sun gives us long shadows when skies are clear, and the all too familiar dimly lit days when heavy clouds are overhead.

I made extensive use of this handy sunrise/sunset Calculator (which also includes sun altitude and the time when the sun is due south) for this post.

Recently I found out that Google Earth has added the ability view weather satellite imagery as a layer. Although I have found the satellite imagery for the northern Gulf of Alaska and Alaska before, looking at things on Google Earth makes it much easier to see the big picture as well as what is going on regionally.

For example, in the photo at the top of this post, notice the band of clouds stretching from near the equator all the way up into Southeast Alaska. The weather at this time was warm for the time of year, temperatures were in the low-to-mid 40s, and it was rainy. Looking at the weather pattern at the time, it seems likely this was due to warm air moving up from lower latitudes, cooling as it moved north, but still resulting in relatively warm temperatures.

Compare that to the current situation with clear skies and winds out of the north. Today’s satellite imagery shows the clear conditions prevailing over southeast and to the north. If you watch the 24-hour sequence of images (also available on Google Earth by clicking on the Weather > information layer), you can also see the clouds in motion.

It’s a fun thing to play with, and I suspect it will help my understanding of the regional weather as I compare what I see there with what I experience locally.

I was on O’Connell Bridge looking down into the channel when I noticed a large loon-looking bird that seemed much paler than I would have expected. It seemed to be favoring a spot near ANB Harbor, so I decided to go down and give it a shot. When I arrived down at the end of the dock, I saw that it was out in the middle of the channel. After waiting a few minutes, I was very grateful that the loon came up near where I was standing and let me take some photos. Probably best considered Rare in Winter in the Sitka area, this was the first Yellow-billed Loon I have seen.

Although Yellow-billed Loons are paler than Common Loons, this individual seems especially pale. This, in combination with strong patterning on the back suggests that it may be a juvenile, though I’m not positive about that.

For comparison, here is a Common Loon taken a few minutes earlier with similar lighting.

A Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Red-breasted Nuthatch trade calls. This was one of the last times I heard a nuthatch around the house, though I have heard them elsewhere in town, since. Recorded the morning of 11 November.

After my return, the Bald Eagles seemed to be the first birds to greet the day. Some mornings they are perched in the trees right behind the house. Recorded morning of 29 November.

The night of the 29-30 November, was a busy one for Marbled Murrelets. There are two clips on this recording, the first one sounds like the bird was quite close, and if I’m interpreting the sound correctly, there’s the smear of an echo with it. The second was from 10 or 15 seconds later, more distant. Perhaps the same bird on a return flight? Recorded at 03:28 am.

Chestnut-backed Chickadees are reputed to be cheerful even in foul weather. This one didn’t seemed to have its spirits dampened by the chilly November rain.

Ravens make a wide variety of different calls. On this recording there are three different clips with 4 different types of calls in the foreground (and another in the far background). Perhaps some day I’ll come up with descriptive names for the different ones I record. Recorded morning of 30 November.

More Raven calls, these from the morning of 1 December. This clip features what I might call the frog croak call as well as the more typical caw.

I still run into the occasional late fall mushroom as the temperatures have been dropping. I liked the lantern-like effect of the light through the gills of this one. I’m not sure what species it is.

I have 4 nights of window recordings I need to get published, but that probably won’t happen until sometime next week.

It has been chilly the last couple of days, with partly cloudy skies overnight, but I still was a little surprised to see how much of the surface of Swan Lake was covered in ice. It was thin ice, though Mallards were able to land on it without breaking through. At this rate, perhaps it will be another winter like last, where the lake froze up at the end of November and never completely thawed until at least March or April.

Trumpeter Swan: At first I was not even sure this was an animal call. After a couple of listens I realized it sounded like a swan, and a quick check of the Birds of Alaska CD confirmed it. Download Trumpeter Swan

Hairy Woodpecker: I am not absolutely sure about this call, but I’m confident that it’s a woodpecker. Although it seems clear the woodpecker must be flying from left to right, the wingbeats that are heard in this clip are probably from a Raven, not the woodpecker.
Download Hairy Woodpecker

Dark-eyed Juncos: These juncos were getting after each other a bit. In recent days I have been realizing that I have not seen many Dark-eyed Juncos around lately. I’m not sure why that is, but apparently they’ve returned to the neighborhood for at least one morning.
Download Dark-eyed Juncos

A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the first sunny day in ages and went for a hike up Indian River Trail. With only 3 hours or so, I did not have a lot of time, but it was nice to get out and enjoy the bright conditions.

I made it as far as Billy Basin Creek bridge before I turned around in order to get back in time for my afternoon responsibilities.

On the way back, I noticed some fresh Brown Bear tracks in the mud. They were headed down the trail. They seemed pretty obvious, but I had not noticed them on the way up. It could have been the lighting wasn’t as good, since the sun had not risen high enough to light the valley bottom, but it’s also possible that the tracks were made in the hour or so between the times when I passed that spot on the trail.

Mystery Call: I have no idea what made this noise.
Download Mystery Call

Songbird Chirps: Context seems to be fairly important for identification at times. I’m pretty sure these are chirps from a Dark-eyed Junco right outside the window. I know it’s a small song bird, but without being able to see the bird, I’m not positive about the id. Normally such chirps would alert me and I would look to see the bird. Most likely, even a quick flash would be enough to id it at that point, but without more context, I’m not confident in the id with just the sounds.
Download Songbird Chirps

Mystery Call: These are the strongest three calls I got. I could hear 7 of them all together, starting quietly, building in strength and then fading again. Presumably that represents a flyby, but I still don’t know what species it might be. The shorebirds I would expect to be seeing this time of year do not sound like this, as far as I know.