Published August 8th, 2006 at 11:30 pm in marine, marinemammal, photo with 2 comments
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Today while on tour, we had the pleasure of watching a humpback whale breach multiple times over a relatively short period of time. We had seen the whale near the entrance to Redoubt Bay and watched it there for a few minutes before moving south to view some Sea Otters at Fragrance Island. While we were watching it the first time, it was behaving in a manner that seems typical for the whales I’ve seen this summer. It would make series of short shallow dives, surfacing every few seconds, before making a deeper dive and staying down for several minutes.
On our way back north, we were going to take a look at a gray whale that had been spotted by another Allen Marine vessel. As we were approaching the area where the gray whale had been seen, the humpback whale breached in the distance (though within sight). It started waving its pectoral flukes in the air and rolling, with both a pectoral fluke and tail fluke showing out of water. The gray whale did not seem nearly as charismatic as this active humpback, so we went towards the humpback to get a better look at its activities. While we, a couple of other Allen Marine boats, and a smaller boat or two that were in the area watched, this whale repeatedly breached. It was pretty amazing. I have included some of the photos below.
To all the Red Hat Society ladies who were on the tour with us and read this entry, I hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip. It was fun having you on tour.
Published August 8th, 2006 at 10:27 pm in birds, daily, deer, fish, marinemammal, photo, weather with no comments
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I had two tours today with Allen Marine. Both of them were Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest tours, so we did not have any beach walks.
Weather: It was overcast this morning, with some partial clearing in the afternoon. Winds seemed to be pretty calm. On the way back in to Jamestown Bay after the tours, there was a rainbow. It started out fairly faint, but ended up being one of the most intense I have seen.
Birds: On the morning tour we went out to St. Lazaria and got to see the birds out there.
On the second tour, we had stopped to watch a whale near Redoubt and I noticed flock of about 5 black birds flying. At first I thought they might be geese based on the way they were flying, but a quick look in my camera made me conclude they were cormorants (based on the black color). Watching the whale distracted me from the birds for a few minutes until the captain asked me about them. He was confident they were not cormorants, so we decided they were probably Brants.
The phalaropes seem to be getting more abundant. I saw a few in Crescent Bay today (though I doubt they would have been visible from shore).
Other Notes: There was a doe and a fawn in a small cove near the head of Redoubt Bay.
There were a couple of folks dipnetting in the right falls at Redoubt. We did not see them pull anything in, however.
We were treated to some pretty spectacular breaching by a whale on the second tour (more on that on a later entry).
Published August 2nd, 2006 at 10:08 pm in birds, daily, flora, marinemammal, photo with no comments
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With three tours, it was a busy day for work. We went to Point Brown beach twice and to a beach in Nawkwasina once.
Weather: The rain was not constant, but when it fell, it seemed to come down in buckets. Unfortunately, the time of the squalls seemed to coincide with times I was required to be out on deck helping with lines or loading and unloading of passengers.
Birds: There were quite a few birds at Point Brown beach. I saw several Least and Western Sandpipers. Also, Black Oystercatchers were resting out on the rocky point. A couple of Pacific Slope Flycatchers were working the edge of the forest. At least one of them must have hatched out this year, as I saw another bird feeding it.
Other Notes: The Beach Groundsel seems to be at its blooming peak this week.
We saw a Humpback Whale swimming just past the kelp near Point Brown beach. This was at least the second time I have seen a whale there this summer.
There were a dozen or so Harbor Seals hauled out on a rock in Nawkwasina.
Published July 21st, 2006 at 10:12 pm in bears, birds, daily, fish, flora, garden, marinemammal, photo with no comments
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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.