Sitka Nature

It’s been a fairly busy week. I’m (still) working on getting my home office cleaned/organized, and that is part of the reason I have not updated so much recently. I also recently was hired by Allen Marine, a local tour company, to be a naturalist. Although I do not feel exceptionally qualified for the job, that’s probably more about my tendency to think about all the stuff I do not know, rather than to recognize all the things that I do know.

Weather: The clouds and rain persisted through much of the week, though there was sun on a couple of days. There’s been a good breeze on a number of days. Temperatures in the upper-50s during the day.

Birds: Saturday there was a flicker (possibly two) that was quite active around the house. It was calling loudly and would move around the trees in the area, leave for a time and then return.

One thing I learned on the Allen Marine boats was just how close some of these water birds are to town. I was thinking they were well away, but there are many birds in among the islands. They are not so close to the road system, but I would not need to go out on big water to see them in a kayak.

It was fun to see all the birds out at St. Lazaria on Wednesday. There were Tufted Puffins, Common and Thick-billed Murres, Pelagic Cormorants, a couple of Peregrine Falcons, a Black Oyster-catcher, aukets, gulls, murrelets, and probably a couple of others that I am forgetting.

While on the beach near Shoals Point, I heard then saw a Greater Yellowlegs calling from along a creek just up from the beach.

I spent a little time watching the Tree Swallows at their nest on Tuesday. I am not sure how long it takes these birds to fledge, but I imagine they will be fledging soon. While I was watching them, a guy told me that last year there had been sapsuckers in the nest.

Flora: The beach peas were blooming along the beachs on Kruzof. The orchids seem to be close to blooming. I am not sure if Kruzof tends to be earlier or later than around town.

Mammals We saw humpback whales on the tours. One of the captains also told me he saw a Minke Whale while we were on the beach.

There were quite a few sea otters with pups near Black Rock. There were also some in other locations.

Along the beaches I saw many deer tracks, as well as mink, river otter, and possibly marten tracks.

I hiked Harbor-Gavan Ridge from Harbor Mountain to town today, so did not spend too much time at home.

Weather: This morning it was mostly cloudy, but by noon, heavier clouds moved in and brought rain. Along the trail there was a little bit of wind, but not much. There appeared to be some fresh snow at the higher elevations of some of the peaks behind Harbor-Gavan Ridge. It looked like it might have been around 4000 feet.

Birds: It seems that many birds have young out of the nest. It was difficult to say for sure, but I think I saw juveniles of the following species, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, Varied Thrush, and maybe a Song Sparrow.

There were also many birds singing. I am not sure if they are birds that are nesting later (or again), or if they just continue to sing throughout the summer. I guess I tend to assume the singing has something to do with breeding, but I’m do not know.

On the way home I happened to notice a Steller’s Jay in the trees along the back road by Hames Gym. It seemed to be acting a little bit different than I have seen in the past. It was hopping about from branch to branch (so far, not too unusual). I walked over by it and it did not seem too concerned with me. It made a clicking noise (I’m not sure if it was with its beak or voice) then a breeaw sound. I don’t think it was the Red-tailed Hawk imitation that they can do, but it was somewhat similar. It repeated this call a few times. I eventually noticed there was a second jay nearby, but it did not call while for the brief time I watched them.

Flora: Things are pretty well along. The early bloomers are at or past their peak. Although I saw the plants, I did not see any Cooley’s Buttercup flowers. Species blooming included Salmonberry, Rosy Twisted-stalk, Sitka Valerian, Stream Violet, Alaska Violet, Caltha-leaf Aven, Dwarf Blueberry, Alaska Blueberry, Wedge-leaf Primrose (nearly done), Tall Mountain Shooting Star, Fern-leaf Goldthread, Columbine (just getting started), Nootka Lupine, Net-leaf Willow (just getting started), Siberian Miner’s Lettuce, Alaska Saxifrage, Alpine Azalea, White Mountain Heather, Alaska Mountain Heather, Yellow Mountain Heather, Black Lily, Narcissus Anemone, Labrador Tea (in the muskeg near Gavan trailhead), Northern Geranium (just getting started), Alaska Paintbrush, Red Paintbrush, and some graminoids (sedges and grasses).

Plants that were not flowering, but had significant growth included, False Hellebore, Broad-petalled Gentian, Sagewort, and Hawkweed.

It looks like the salmonberry crop at higher elevations may not be a bust. There were lots of flowers on the bushes that line parts of Harbor Mountain Road. They were undoubtedly protected by snow during the March cold snap and the cool weather in April.

Other Notes: There were fresh deer tracks on the trail in a number of locations.

I observed a squirrel in the subalpine Mt. Hemlock krumholtz on the south slope of Harbor Mountain. I do not remember seeing one there before. I did not pay attention to how close this patch of dwarfed trees was from the main forest, so it might not have been much of a journey for the squirrel to get there.

Weather: It was overcast through much of the day with some rain. This evening the clouds broke a little bit and let the sun shine through for a half hour or so before sunset. Winds were light.

Birds: A number of birds were singing throughout the day around the house. Of particular note was a Pacific Slope Flycatcher. It is the first time I have heard one of them in the neighborhood.

The Townsend’s Warblers do not seem to be singing so much in the last couple of days.

Flora: The lupine in our yard are going strong. I think most of them are a domestic variety, but there is one purple one. I don’t know if it is a native plant, or the offspring of the others in our yard (possibly crossed with a native plant).

I have been trying to get things organized around the house lately, so have spent little time outside. I was able to get out on an Allen Marine tour Tuesday evening, and saw some interesting things (the photos are from that trip).

Weather: Weather has been overcast with periods of rain. Highs have been in the low-to-mid-50s. There has been some wind, but not too much around the house. On the tour, it was fairly rough in places exposed to the sound. It seemed to me the waves were coming out of the south or southwest, but I am not sure.

Notes from the Tour: On the tour I saw a number of Marbled Murrelets. It was a little rough to try and get pictures, plus in a boat so large, they did not stick around for us to get close. I was able to see the Long-tailed Duck that has shown up in the channel (see photo below). A long-time local birder said this is the first one she has ever seen here in the summer, though they are fairly abundant in the winter.

We were able to observe an active Bald Eagle nest. One of the adults flew in and was feeding its young.

There were several sea otters with pups that we were able to observe as well.