This morning the moonset was interesting, and though I narrowed down my selection of photos drastically, I still could not seem to limit myself to just a couple. Other photos are from an afternoon cruise on an Allen Marine boat with people from SJ.

Observed 2 February 2007.

Observed 2 February 2007.

This location gives pretty good look at intertidal zonation for at least the upper tide level.

This afternoon we went on an Allen Marine trip for a couple of hours. It was a little breezy, but there were plenty of whales out towards Vitskari.

Weather: Another day of clear and chilly conditions. Winds were a little stronger. There was a pretty good breeze coming out of Silver Bay, it looked like.

Birds: I saw a few birds while we were on the cruise, but I did not get too good of a look at any of them. I think I might have seen some White-winged Scoters, however.

Marine Mammals: There were quite a few whales out toward Vitskari. I got photos of at least 6 different whale tail flukes and I know there were at least a few more that I did not get photos of. Some of them were feeding quite close together.

Flora: It was interesting to see that there is a Mt. Ash tree along the Lincoln Street that still has most of its leaves, and they are green. Of course in the cold temperatures, they were dry and curled up a bit, but it seemed pretty late to have not lost leaves. I also noticed that many of the salmonberry plants along the hill had not dropped leaves before the cold. I wonder if the late spring kept the leaves from ‘wearing out’ and falling off as easily as they might ordinarily (or maybe this is typical and I just haven’t noticed before).

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.

I have been busy with a number of different things over the last couple of weeks and have not managed to make time to keep up with the updates of daily observations. Over this time, I have managed to get out a few times, including a couple of kayaking trips to Crescent Bay, and a trip or two to Starrigavan Estuary. I may write a couple of entries and back date them if I can remember enough of any of these trips that seems like it might worth keeping a record of here.

Weather: Despite October’s fierce reputation for inclement weather, I seems like there may have already been more ‘nice’ days this month than in August and September combined. (Where ‘nice’ means significant sunshine or at least very minimal rain during the day. Warm temperatures are good too.) There certainly have been some rainy days, but on a number of those days, temperatures hit the upper 50’s and it seemed kind of nice with the warmth.

Birds: The peak of fall migration seems to be behind us. I have not seen any warblers for the last week or two. I see an occasional Hermit Thrush, and the number of sparrows of all types (except for resident Song Sparrows) has dropped significantly.

Interesting birds I have seen around the house the last week or so have included a Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, and a Brown Creeper.

The Steller’s Jays are still coming for peanuts. For a week or so there was only one, but a couple of days ago a second one reapeared. The second was far more bold, and I think it may have been the bird that we first started feeding peanuts. I am not sure why it disappeared for awhile, but it did seem to have a droopy left wing when it was perched. I did not notice any problems with its flight, however.

I do not know if this is an unusual year for kittiwakes, or I’m just getting out on the water a little more, but I’ve regularly seen a number of different Black-legged Kittiwakes this fall.

I have also seen a number more non-Bald Eagle raptors than I am used to. In addition to the Sharp-shinned Hawk I saw at the end of September, I have seen what I think is a Merlin a couple of different times as I drove back toward town from the Airport (near the long term parking area). Yesterday it was the young Red-tail Hawk (which we caught a glimpse of today as well). Today there was a young Northern Harrier on Harbor Mountain and another raptor that was too far away for me to tell with certainty (though I’m pretty sure it was not an eagle).

Flora: Plants are definitely responding to the diminishing daylight. Pond-lilies on Swan Lake are largely gone. Mt. Ash trees and the willow in the back yard have yellow leaves that have started to fall. The alders seem to be putting up a fight, as leaves have been slow to drop. Perhaps with the late start they got this spring, they are trying to get everything they can out of these fall days.

Despite the late season, I did notice some yarrow still blooming along Blue Lake Road a couple of days ago.

Other Notes: There are still a few nearly dead pink and/or chum salmon in the lower stretches of Indian River, but most of them seem to be gone. Though I haven’t gone to look for myself, students have told me that there are quite a few silvers in some of the holes a little up river, however.

A couple of different students told me about seeing a pod of Orca come pretty close to shore at Whale Park last week. That would have been pretty neat to see. It reminds me of the thought I try to remember when I’m unmotivated to get out and feeling like there’s probably not much to see anyway: ‘The only thing you can guarantee about seeing interesting things in nature is that you won’t see anything if you don’t get out.’ I suppose the corollary is that the more you get out, the more you will see.