Today was one of the nicest days all summer to this point.  As nice as it was, I ended up spending much of the day inside working on catching up on photos in the morning then attending the Paths Across the Pacific in the afternoon. I took a brief walk through Totem Park just after high tide to see if I could find any shorebirds.

Weather:  Sunny and warm with a light breeze.

Birds:  There was a lone Least Sandpiper on the battleground beach at Totem Park.

Flora:  Pacific Hemlock-parsley is blooming at the park.  Fireweed is also reaching its peak blooming.

Today was easily the warmest day that I have experienced in Sitka so far this summer.  I had two tours to work today, with the first landing near Pt. Brown and the second a trip south with a landing at Calligan Island.

Weather:  Sunny and warm, with light wind.

Birds:  I saw a flock of about 4 large shorebirds flying over Crescent Harbor around the time of our first departure.  Between tours I saw another fly over just outside of Crescent Harbor.  I do not know for sure what they were, but I suspect they were yellowlegs.

I saw several flocks of what I believe were Red-necked Phalaropes.

There was a black and white alcid that I think may have been an Ancient Murrelet, though I did not get a good enough look at it to be sure.

It looked like the young eagles were starting to fledge at the nest in the Kasiana Islands.

Flora:  At Point Brown, the group I was with seemed determined to hike back in the woods, so we ended up making it back to the muskeg.  The flowers seemed to be mostly finished where we saw, but there were a few apargidium flowers still hanging on.

At Calligan Island I noticed crow berries ripe on some of the taller rock outcrops on the beach that were covered by moss and crowberry plants.

Other Notes:  There were a couple of sizable rafts of sea otters near Fragrant Island.

Several humpback whales were still active near Vitskari.

We watched a couple of seiners fishing for socky at the entrance to Redoubt Bay.  The net we saw pulled in did not produce a large haul, but it did have quite a few fish in it.

There were several sets of deer tracks in the sand at Pt. Brown beach.

I had two tours today for Allen Marine.  The weather was a little sloppy south of town, so both trips we went over to the beach near Pt. Brown.

Weather:  It was rainy and breezy this morning.

Birds:  There was a flock of shorebirds that flew off the beach while we were there.  They looked large and were quite vocal, though I did not get a good enough look at them to get an identification.

I think I saw a flock of phalaropes flying, though I am not familiar enough with them to be certain.

While we were stopped near Vitskari to watch whales, I noticed a bird that I thought at first was a
gull.  As we approached, I realized that it was not.  Unfortunately, I did not have my camera handy and by the time I got it, the bird was some distance away and I was unable to take a good photo.  I think it was a shearwater.

Flora:  At Point Brown beach the coralroot orchids were just about done with their blooming.  Cleavers seemed to be in their prime blooming time.  Beach groundsel was reaching its peak in some locations, but had not started blooming in other locations on the beach.

Other Notes:  There was a set of relatively small bear tracks along the upper part of the beach.  There were also several sets of deer tracks.

Weather: The rain was minimal today. There was a breeze, though I did not note the direction.

Birds: This morning I heard a buzzing kind of bird call outside and could not figure out what it was. When I went to a window to check, I saw Dark-eyed Juncos. Perhaps some of them are starting to move back down from the breeding areas.

On a walk to the park today, I saw 3 Black Turnstones, 3 Western (Semi-palmated?) Sandpipers, and 1 Black-bellied Plover. This is the first time I have seen a Black-bellied Plover this time of year (though I have not really been looking before, either).

Also on the beach were a few gulls, both Mew and Glaucous-winged.

In the alders up from the woods I saw a flycatcher (most likely Pacific Slope Flycatcher, though it did not call, so I am not certain), what looked like a young Varied Thrush, and a Robin.

Flora: One of the reasons I went down to the park was to photograph a relatively uncommon (in these parts) orchid that I had been told was blooming. I am not certain what species it is yet.

In addition, I saw some Siberian Miner’s lettuce still blooming and the carrot family plants in the upper beach/uplift area are blooming.

Out on the beach, the Goosetongue is well into its blooming. There was also a fair amount of Beach Milkwort blooimg as well. It seemed a little strange that this patch was blooming more than a month after I first noticed it blooming.

Red elderberry berries are starting to turn red.

I found a few ripe huckleberries along the trail along the river side of the estuary.