Sitka Nature

I went up to Indian River Falls today and noticed a number of small streams that were still flowing with little ice (while others, sometimes larger streams, were frozen solid). I think the free flowing water must have come out of the ground at a temperature well above freezing and a flow rate such that, despite the cold temperatures, the stream stayed relatively ice free for a while. On one such stream I noticed what were probably the largest needle ice formations I have ever seen. They were at least 6-9 inches tall and seemed to have grown out of the silt/clay that made up part of the stream bed. It was interesting to see the clear layering. I am guessing they represent a cycle of night/day or warmer/cooler, but I am not sure.

I’m not sure how these ice formations are created, but a little internet research indicated that it involves hydrostatic pressure from ground water pushing up the ice. It’s unclear to me why/how that action would be working in this case, since the surface water is right next to the ice formations.

It was getting close to dark on this heavy overcast day and the bird seen here was staying near the tops of the trees. The poor light made it difficult for me to identify this bird at first. This difficulty was compounded by the fact that I was not really expecting to see a robin. My first winter back in Sitka (2002-2003) I didn’t notice any robins. The second winter I saw some in November, but did not recall seeing them much again until January. Last winter I remember seeing robins in January after not seeing them for some weeks before that. This year again, robins have shown up in January.

My best guess is that the robins that are showing up here in January are those that have stayed as far north as possible for as long as possible. When the sustained colder weather of December and January comes, they move only as far south as they must, and some of them end up in Sitka where they spend the rest of the winter. It seems like a plausible scenario to me.

Some students had been planning to spend Thanksgiving weekend camping at Camp Lake and one of them invited me to come up and visit if I wanted. That got me thinking about going to Medvejie. It’s been over a year since I last went there, so I thought it would be good to head out there again. As I was leaving, I noticed the vehicle of one of the students who had planned to go out, and that confirmed my suspicion that weather conditions probably resulted in a shorter trip than originally planned. (Later I talked to a couple of them and it had been quite wet. The two I talked to did not even stay the night due to a thorough soaking of all of one’s gear. The rest of them spent one wet and cold night listening to the sound of avalanches before heading back the next morning.)

As I rode and walked my brother’s bike out to Bear Cove, I felt like I was in pretty poor condition. Still, I persevered to the start of the trail and took my time walking to the lake. I decided to take one of the canoes out on the lake and paddled it past the waterfall. There is a patch of forest alongside the waterfall which I had previously thought might be suitable for hiking up through to get near the top of the falls. Further inspection revealed that this was unlikely, as there was a break in the woods with a steep section of bare rock. While I was looking, I noticed another possible route.

The beyond the falls as you head up the valley, the lower slopes above the lake tend to be covered in dense 4-8 foot brush with an occasional tree. This type of vegetation proves to be a bit of a hindrance to the average hiker. I noticed a place where a small stream of water kept the brush largely at bay. It appeared that this stream came from a draw that wrapped around behind a large rock feature. I decided to take a chance and hike up to see if I get make it up to a patch of woods above the falls.

It turned out that without too much difficulty and only brief detours into the streamside brush, I was able to follow the stream up to where I could get to the woods. Along the way, I noticed subtle indications of what I thought was probably a deer trail. I did not see anything conclusive until I neared the woods and saw quite much more obvious trails that appeared to get fairly frequent deer traffic. I was able to get to the top of the falls, although the view of the falls itself was pretty limited because of brush. However, there was a very nice view looking down the lake.

While I was up above the falls a couple of different times I thought I heard a jet, but based on past experience, I guessed that I was probably hearing avalanches. I looked around for signs of an avalanche, but was not able to see any. There was not much snow below the level of the clouds, so perhaps the avalanches were occurring higher and not making it down below the clouds. It is also possible that they were happening further up the valley and the sound that I heard did not give an accurate indication of direction due to the echoes.

I made it back down without incident, took some pictures from the canoe and paddled back to the trail end of the lake. As I was nearing the end, it started raining hard and I hurried to get back into the relative shelter of the woods.

After visiting with Jim Seeland at the Medvejie Hatchery for a few minutes, I rode and walked (the steep uphill parts) back to the car at Herring Cove. One thing I noticed along the road both coming and going was that there were many varied thrushes. I also saw a number of juncos and a few dippers along the streams at Herring and Bear Coves.

This afternoon I saw a flock of Bohemian Waxwings on the hillside of the Nazarene Church. I probably would not have noticed them, but Connor was interested in something and my brother mentioned that it might be the birds. They were eating the berries from he mountain ash trees that grow there. They stayed there for a few minutes and then flew off towards the police station. They were close enough, I was wishing I had my camera. Oh well. The first time I ever saw a waxwing in Sitka was last week when I saw a single waxwing in the trees around the neighborhood. It did not seem inclined to hang around.