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.

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.

The weather in the week leading up to the birding cruise I had planned did not inspire confidence. I had some hope as the week went on and the forecast for Sunday was for mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers with light winds. Given the wind and rain of the week, that sounded pretty good. I set out for the boat a little before 3pm and actually saw some sunshine. Winds were calm, and it looked promising that we might be able to get out to St. Lazaria. While getting the boat prepped for the cruise, I saw several swallows flying around the dock. They were probably barn or cliff swallows, but I didn’t get a great look at them.

We loaded up 23 passengers at Crescent Harbor and headed out into overcast conditions with light wind.

Between Crescent Harbor and the end of the Causeway, there were more Red-necked Phalaropes than we could count.

Cormorants (Pelagic and Double-crested) and a Glaucous-winged Gull on Black Rock
Our first stop was to look at Black Rock and Bare Rock. There were probably 30-40 cormorants, both Pelagic and Double-crested (which seem to have arrived back in the sound after a summer spent elsewhere). Someone saw a Bonaparte’s Gull on one of the rocks and there was a Harlequin Duck swimming nearby. There were a few other gulls, but I did not pay too much attention to them (though a Glaucous-winged Gull did show up in one of the photos I took). A short distance away on the other side of the boat was a pair of Pigeon Guillemots, one a juvenile, the other an adult. (For the mammal lovers, there were also several Sea Otters in the area.)

From Bare Rock we headed out toward St. Lazaria. Some folks seemed interested in several humpback whales near Vitskari Rocks, so we stopped to watch them for a few minutes before continuing on. We went by several small groups of puffins and murres, but figured we would wait to see them at St. Lazaria. We also saw a Black-legged Kittiwake flying by.

Murre with Fish: Common or Thick-billed?
One of my goals was to get a better idea of how to distinguish Thick-billed and Common Murres. We did observe what appeared to be a classic Common Murre. It had no white along the beak, thin-ish bill, streaking on the sides. A little later, we saw a bird that appeared to have a big white stripe on the bill and seemed likely to be a Thick-billed Murre. Upon closer inspection, it actually looked like the bird had a fish in its beak, making it a little more difficult to judge. Based on the photo above, my guess is that it’s a Common Murre.

Peregrine Falcon on St. Lazaria
On St. Lazaria we saw a couple of people (probably the scientists working there), as well as many murres some Pigeon Guillemots and Tufted Puffins. We also saw a Peregrine Falcon perched in a tree. It was some distance away and the lighting was dim, but the mask was distinctive.

Horned Puffin in Flight
After going around the north side of St. Lazaria, we headed out toward Sitka Point on the south end of Kruzof Island to look for Horned Puffins. Scott (our captain) told me they tend to be much less comfortable with approaching boats than their close relatives the Tufted Puffins. For awhile we did not see anything, then Scott pointed out a couple of Horned Puffins in front of us some distance away. Sure enough, they took to the air while we were still quite some distance away. We drifted in the area and the longer we stayed, the more Horned Puffins seemed to appear. It did not take too long for us to realize they were flying in and out of
small caves on the shore. They seemed to have a fairly consitent flight pattern around the boat. They would fly fairly close, but I never did see one close to us in the water. There was a brief discussion about why the Horned Puffins are so rarely seen at St. Lazaria. I also wondered why the birds that preferred St. Lazaria did not also nest out on the south end of Kruzof. The shoreline looked fairly similar to me.

White-winged Scoters? Goldeneye?
While we were watching the Horned Puffins, I happened to notice two birds flying away. I snapped a photo of them and when I got home, I had a little trouble figuring out what they were. Initially I thought a Goldeneye, but they seemed to not have enough white, so my next best guess is White-winged Scoter, but I am not sure.

After spending some time watching the Horned Puffins, we turned back and took a look at the eastern side of St. Lazaria. We passed a Peregrine Falcon flying west. When we got back to St. Lazaria we picked up a couple of Black Oystercatchers on the rocks. From there we headed back toward Inner Point since a couple of people mentioned that sometimes the birds are plentiful near there this time of year.

As we approached Inner Point, we saw several Scoters. There was some debate for awhile as to whether they were Black Scoters or Surf Scoters, but I think the consensus ended up being that they were Surf Scoters, though there may have been both. I never really got a great look at them. In the same area there were also several Marbled Murrelets.

American Wigeons (?)
The last mystery of the day was a flock of a dozen or so birds that looked roughly the size and shape of geese. They flew off when we approached, though they were still far enough away as to be difficult to identify. I did get a couple of pictures of them in flight and they look an awful lot like American Wigeons to me from the photos even though they looked larger than that at the time. I guess it can be difficult to judge distance (and therefor size) on the water, so that may have played a role in the confusion. As a follow up, I think that Scott and I saw the same flock of birds flying over Crescent Bay after we dropped everyone off at the harbor and were headed toward Jamestown Bay. They flew over us and in toward Indian River, though I did not seem them fly down for a landing.

Species List:
I saw: Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Common Murre, Marbled Murrelet, Surf Scoter, Pigeon Guillemot, Peregrine Falcon, Black-legged Kittiwake, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Black Oystercatcher, Red-necked Phalarope, Glaucous-winged Gulls.

Others reported seeing: Bonaparte’s Gull, Rhinocerous Auklet

Other possible sightings Included: Thick-billed Murre, American Wigeon, White-winged Scoter

Overall it seemed to be a pretty successful trip. There was a good turn out and the folks who went seemed to enjoy it. It seemed to go well enough that I may try to organize more for next year. One thing Scott mentioned to me is that it can be good to have a mission for a trip. Some possible missions for future trips that I would like to do include;
The Alcids (looking for the auklets, murres, murrelets, and puffins of Sitka Sound)
The Pelagics (try to get out far enough to see the Albatrosses and other birds of the open ocean)
Winter Birds (view birds that winter around Sitka Sound)
Waterfowl Migration (look for waterfowl in the bays around Sitka)
Shorebird Migration (a day trip to Port Krestof to look at the shorebirds)