Sitka Nature

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.

We went for a picnic with friends out to Starrigavan.  After eating, a group of us took a hike around Mosquito Cove trail.  This evening after church, we went to McDonalds with friends.  On the way home I stopped at Swan Lake to take a look, but I did not have my camera, so I was not able to take any photos.

Weather:  There was some low clouds and fog in the morning.  They started clearing off through late morning, and there were some cloud breaks before it became overcast.  The rain held off until later in the evening.

Birds:  At swan lake this evening I saw a Green-winged Teal and I am pretty sure there was also an American Wigeon.  There were many Mallards with young in various stages of development.
Flora: It has been awhile since I hiked Mosquito Cove.  I had forgotten how lush some of the mosses are along the trail.

The big thing of the day was slime molds.  I think there were at least four different kinds of slime molds that we saw along the trail.  Some of them were visible at more than one location.

Melissa was looking at the beach fringe at Mosquito Cove and noticed a Galium that did not seem to be cleavers or sweat scented bedstraw.  After looking it up in the book when we got home, she concluded that it was probably little bedstraw.

Other Notes:  Bear droppings were plentiful along the trail.  A sign posted along the trail indicated that bear had been seen on the trail most days over the last week or so.

There were a couple of seiners making sets just off shore from the beach part of the Mosquito Cove trail loop.

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.

My parents are in town and my dad and I went over to the airport to pick some strawberries. We also went down to the park this evening so he could see what spearscale looked like and to check out the cherry tree.

Weather: Very wet. The rain did actually stop briefly for a time this evening, but not for too long. Winds seemed to be light, when they were noticable.

Birds: The fall migration is getting started. There were at least 50 Black Turnstones down at the park this evening as well as one probably Rock Sandpiper and one bird that I believe was a dowitcher. The bird that I think was a dowitcher had a flight call that seemed a bit different than I remember from the Short-billed Dowitchers, so I am wondering if it could be a Long-billed Dowitcher.

There were some gulls along the beach, with quite a few of them looking like Mew Gulls.

Off-shore aways from the mouth of Indian River, there was a single Surf Scoter.

On the way back from the park this evening, we saw a juvenile Hermit Thrush hopping about catching inch worms.

Flora: Despite the abundant blooms a month or so ago, I could not find any still developing cherries on the tree.

I picked a couple of carrots today. They are doing well. The kids and Melissa both liked their taste.

My dad and I went over to the airport strawberry patch and got about a quart of strawberries. Since the strawberries I tried to transplant a few days ago do not look like they are doing so well (it didn’t help that I waited two or three days to replant them). My dad and I got some new plants and planted them when we got home. Hopefully they will do a little better.

Other Notes: I have heard that there are a number of bears around town currently. There were signs on the trails near the Raptor Center indicating that a bear had been seen in the area recently. I also heard about a couple of bears out at Starrigavan and one up along Edgecumbe drive. With the poor berry crop, I wonder if bears will wander into town more than they have the last couple of years. Hopefully, for the sake of the bears, the salmon run is not too bad. They have started to move up into Indian River and there were quite a few jumping along the shore by Arrowhead Trailer Court near the mouth of Indian River.

There was a seal that was hanging out in the water of what would be the southern large tidepool. It seemed to be staying in one spot, though it would sometimes dip its head under the surface. We saw it on our way down the beach, and also on the way back, 15 or 20 minutes later.