The forecast was for thunderstorms moving through, but this morning it was sunny over town, so I decided to get out and go kayaking between my morning and early afternoon classes. I headed out from Sage Beach up to the Northeast end of the channel and back. It took me about 25 minutes to get from the end of the channel back to Sage. The blue skies persisted into the afternoon, and I decided to head back out after my last class for a couple of hours. This time I went Southwest toward the Eastern Channel and the mouth of Silver Bay. From the middle of Eastern Channel near the mouth of Silver Bay, it took me about an hour to paddle back to Sage Beach. This included a couple of brief stops to take photos of Marbled Murrelets. It probably helped that the wind was in my favor.

Weather: Despite the forecast, the clear weather persisted over town. There were clouds in the distance, but they never really moved on-shore. There was a little breeze coming out of the north when I was in the channel this morning, and it seemed to be coming out of the south when I went to Eastern Channel this afternoon. I think overall the prevailing wind throughout the day was light and out of the northeast, so I am not sure why it was blowing out of the south/southwest when I was out this afternoon.

Birds: My goal (other than just enjoying the nice day) for this morning’s paddle was to see if I could get pictures of Long-tailed Ducks and/or loons in the channel. I did see a couple of groups of Long-tailed Ducks, and was able to get photos of some of them (see above). The first group had 9 birds, and the second 8. I am pretty sure they were different birds.

The gulls seemed to be much less numerous in the channel than the last time I went out that way.

In among the gulls there were several scaups. Most of them seemed to be females or first year birds, but I did not look that close.

I did finally spot a Loon near the breakwater at the Northeast end of the channel. I tried to guess where the loon would come up, but did not have too much luck. Still, I was able to get photos that provided enough detail for me to think it was a Common Loon.

There were several Buffleheads in the area of the breakwater near the Coast Guard gazebo.

This afternoon, as I paddled past the park, I spotted a bird that I thought at first might be a loon. The pictures I took make it seem likely that it was actually a Red-breasted Merganser. It sure looked bigger than that at the time.

There were gulls scattered throughout from Crescent Bay to Eastern Channel. On at least a couple of different occasions, I saw small flocks of gulls actively flying and diving together in a small area. I suspect there must have been some small fish near the surface.

When I got out into Eastern Channel, I started seeing and hearing some alcids. I was not able to get close enough to tell whether the Murres I saw where Common or Thick-billed. There were several Marbled Murrelets, and I was able to get photos of a couple on my way back in. These were actually not too far off-shore from Harris Island.

There was a single loon right out in the middle of Eastern Channel near the mouth of Silver Bay. It was too far away for me to get a positive identification of it, however. I did take a picture, so perhaps someone with better skills than me will be able to tell what it was.

This evening there was a Red-breasted Sapsucker on the trees along Hillcrest Drive. It is the first one of those that I have seen around the house in almost two months.

Other Notes: When I was just paddling in to Sage Beach this morning, I noticed several whale spouts that looked pretty close. If I had to guess, I think they were probably out from Jamestown Bay. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had class that I needed to teach, I would have headed out toward them right then. As it was, they provided some motivation to get out in the afternoon. By this afternoon, they had moved out into the middle of Eastern Channel west of Sugarloaf Mountain. I was operating with time constraints again this afternoon, and though I got close enough to actually see their bodies, I did not have a chance to spend as much time watching them as I might have prefered.

This summer I was given a kayak to take care of while its owner is out of town for a year or so. He told me to use it as much as I want and I finally made it out on my second paddle today.

The forecast for was partly cloudy skies and light winds. If anything, the actual weather was better than that. It was a little chilly as I got things out, but once I was down near the water, the combined warmth of the sun’s direct and reflected rays was enough to keep me pleasantly warm.

When I got down to the beach, the Sheldon Jackson College introductory sea kayaking class was preparing to embark on a day trip. I got out in the water before they were ready and paddled a short distance away to look at the Fork-tailed Storm-petrels that were flying nearby.

As I headed out, I heard an expulsion of breath behind me that sounded like it was a little closer than I might prefer. I turned to look and sure enough, there was a large sea lion. It was not actually very close, but it’s easy to feel intimidated while sitting in a kayak when an animal that large is swimming nearby. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like if a truly large animal like a whale came up near where I was paddling. The sea lion swam further out in the bay where it was joined by a second and they leisurely consumed a late breakfast of fish. As they splashed around, several gulls flew in to clean up the scraps.

After paddling out in front of the Crescent Harbor breakwater, I decided to turn around and join the class for a little while. As I paddled back to where they were waiting for all the people to get in the water, I saw a bird I did not recognize. I tried to get a couple of pictures before it tired of my approach and swam off. A little later I realized it was probably a Pigeon Guillemot.

I paddled with the class across Crescent Bay to the islands. From there they went through the islands on their way to Aleutkina and I spent a few minutes just sitting and relaxing in the warm sunlight before crossing back towards Indian River. Fortunately, motor boat traffic was very light and the sounds of town were distant. The warm sun, calm water, and quiet was a welcome respite from the cool rain and noisy rushed hustle and bustle that have characterized much of my life for the last few days.

As I approached the cove into which Indian River empties, I saw many ducks, Scaups, Scoters, and Harlequins primarily. I was trying to approach them slowly to get a better look and maybe some photos, but they were spooked by another kayaker who had launched from Eagle Way beach. She approached me thinking that I was her paddling partner, but I wasn’t.

From there I paddled up into Indian River. I made it up into the upper part of the estuary, before turning back and drifting back out. It seemed like the birds were not quite sure what to think of me, especially if I was not paddling. They definitely seemed to be more tolerant of me in a kayak than if I had been walking on the beach.

By the time I came back out from the river, some of the ducks that had flushed previously began to fly back. I thought I would try to get a little closer to them by approaching from a direction where I could mostly drift slowly closer. To this end, I crossed the cove and paddled out a little way. My ability to read current and wind are poor, and this approach was not too successful. I did get close enough that I was able to identify the Greater Scaups and many of the Surf Scoters. There were some other scoters that I was not sure about however.

For the next hour or so I alternately sat and drifted to watch birds and paddled to gradually make my way back toward Sage Beach. During this time, I had a seal check me out. Seals tend to be quite a bit more subtle than sea lions, and it was much less intimidating to have the seal approach me than it had been to see the sea lion earlier.

One of the main motivations for getting out on the kayak was to try photographing the Storm-petrels. I saw many of them, a couple even flying close enough that I just about could have grabbed them. Unfortunately, between their small size, quick flying, and gentle rocking of the kayak, it was very difficult to keep the birds in focus when they came close. The times they did approach from a direction I might have been able to keep up with I had the camera stashed (it’s definitely not waterproof). Other times they just did not happen to circle by in an optimal way. I did get some photos, but they were all so blurry that I did not keep any of them.

As I was heading back in, I tried drifting up to Sage Rock to see how the birds there would respond. There were cormorants, gulls, Harlequin Ducks, Surfbirds, and Black Turnstones on the Rock. None of them flew off until I was quite close. They seemed curious about me, but let me get far closer than I have ever managed to get when I have tried to approach from shore.

Finally I waited off Sage Beach a little bit to soak up a little more sun before Melissa and the kids came down to the beach to see me in.