Sitka Nature

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.

I took a couple of other folks out on a hike up the West Fork of Indian River valley today. Our intention was to visit the large hemlock tree my brother showed me a couple of
years ago.

Weather: It started out cloudy, with the cloud layer at around 2000 feet. By around noon the clouds had started breaking up, and sunny skies prevailed throughout the rest of the day. There was a good breeze, though I failed to note the direction.

Birds: The woods were much quieter than last time I went up Indian River. There were a number of juvenile birds, including Winter Wrens, Varied Thrush, and what I think was a Hermit Thrush.

One of my hiking companions had to head back early and told me later that he had found a hawk feather on his way back. He thought it was from either a Sharp-shinned Hawk or juvenile Goshawk.

As has been the case quite often in recent days, there were eagles active around the neighborhood. One even spent some time perched in a relatively small tree right across from the house.

Flora: Flowers blooming included Heart-leaved Twayblade, Ground Dogwood, Mountain Arnica, plantanthera orchids, and a few others I do not recall right now.

The most interesting plant experience for me was probably the discovery of many patches of Goblin’s Gold moss. I did not have my tripod, so I could not get very good photos of it, but many of the root wads from overturned trees had it growing on them.

We did measure the hemlock tree to be over 100 inches in diameter. In addition to this, we measured a few spruce trees that seemed fairly large. The largest of those we measured was over 90 inches in diameter.

There was a white slime mold in evidence on the trunk of a tree that had fallen down some time ago.

Enchanter’s Nightshade is a small plant that forms a ground cover in some places. It was abundant throughout the hike today, though in one place there was a small area with none growing in it, though it was growing all around. The patch of ground was not totally bare, but it definitely did not have many plants growing in it compared to ground just adjacent. There was not a clear reason that I could see for this to be the case.

Invertebrates: In the middle sister muskeg where I previously observed emerging dragonflies there were many adult dragonflies and damselflies in evidence. I was puzzled somewhat by how small they seemed to be. I am pretty sure the newly emerged dragonflies I saw before were Hudsonian Whitefaces, and today there were definitely many of these flying around. However, the ones flying around today seemed distinctly smaller than what I had seen before. I also noticed this effect with a couple of Four-spotted Skimmers. My best guess is that when their exoskeleton dries, it shrinks somewhat. I previously observed them just just after emergence, so perhaps they were still not completely dried out.

Also in the middle sister muskeg, we had some fun looking at the critters in the puddles. I pulled out a large caddisfly encased in its larval home. Apparently these insect larva build their home with miniture logs which they extrude after processing plant fibers. They are able to stick them together to make a long tube in which they live.

In addition to the many different creatures living below, I happened to notice a spider running across the surface of a puddle. This was not something I remembered seeing before.

This evening the kids brought in a large dark colored moth they had found in the back yard. It seemed unable to fly, though I do not know why. Its underwings were more of an orangish color.

Mammals: As has been the case most times that I have been up this way, there was relatively fresh bear sign. We saw some tracks and places where skunk cabbage had been uprooted, but more significantly there was some pieces deer hide (that did not look too old, the hair did not seem to be coming out yet). Near the deer hide was a place at the base of a tree that looked like it had been dug up and recovered recently. We took that as a sign to keep moving.

There were a few different locations that looked like deer beds.

I hiked Harbor-Gavan Ridge from Harbor Mountain to town today, so did not spend too much time at home.

Weather: This morning it was mostly cloudy, but by noon, heavier clouds moved in and brought rain. Along the trail there was a little bit of wind, but not much. There appeared to be some fresh snow at the higher elevations of some of the peaks behind Harbor-Gavan Ridge. It looked like it might have been around 4000 feet.

Birds: It seems that many birds have young out of the nest. It was difficult to say for sure, but I think I saw juveniles of the following species, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, Varied Thrush, and maybe a Song Sparrow.

There were also many birds singing. I am not sure if they are birds that are nesting later (or again), or if they just continue to sing throughout the summer. I guess I tend to assume the singing has something to do with breeding, but I’m do not know.

On the way home I happened to notice a Steller’s Jay in the trees along the back road by Hames Gym. It seemed to be acting a little bit different than I have seen in the past. It was hopping about from branch to branch (so far, not too unusual). I walked over by it and it did not seem too concerned with me. It made a clicking noise (I’m not sure if it was with its beak or voice) then a breeaw sound. I don’t think it was the Red-tailed Hawk imitation that they can do, but it was somewhat similar. It repeated this call a few times. I eventually noticed there was a second jay nearby, but it did not call while for the brief time I watched them.

Flora: Things are pretty well along. The early bloomers are at or past their peak. Although I saw the plants, I did not see any Cooley’s Buttercup flowers. Species blooming included Salmonberry, Rosy Twisted-stalk, Sitka Valerian, Stream Violet, Alaska Violet, Caltha-leaf Aven, Dwarf Blueberry, Alaska Blueberry, Wedge-leaf Primrose (nearly done), Tall Mountain Shooting Star, Fern-leaf Goldthread, Columbine (just getting started), Nootka Lupine, Net-leaf Willow (just getting started), Siberian Miner’s Lettuce, Alaska Saxifrage, Alpine Azalea, White Mountain Heather, Alaska Mountain Heather, Yellow Mountain Heather, Black Lily, Narcissus Anemone, Labrador Tea (in the muskeg near Gavan trailhead), Northern Geranium (just getting started), Alaska Paintbrush, Red Paintbrush, and some graminoids (sedges and grasses).

Plants that were not flowering, but had significant growth included, False Hellebore, Broad-petalled Gentian, Sagewort, and Hawkweed.

It looks like the salmonberry crop at higher elevations may not be a bust. There were lots of flowers on the bushes that line parts of Harbor Mountain Road. They were undoubtedly protected by snow during the March cold snap and the cool weather in April.

Other Notes: There were fresh deer tracks on the trail in a number of locations.

I observed a squirrel in the subalpine Mt. Hemlock krumholtz on the south slope of Harbor Mountain. I do not remember seeing one there before. I did not pay attention to how close this patch of dwarfed trees was from the main forest, so it might not have been much of a journey for the squirrel to get there.

Originally I had been thinking that I would like to hike up the Middle Sister, but clouds were still obscuring the mountain peaks, so I decided I would just head up the valley. I considered going up beyond Indian River falls, but became distracted by the calls of Townsend’s Warblers between the first and second bridges and wandered of trail to record the variation I was hearing. By the time I had finished that, I was well on my way to the muskeg below the Middle Sister and decided I would visit it.

Despite the clouds over the peaks, it was partly cloudy in the valley, and the muskeg was experiencing full sunshine for much of the time I was in it. It was the first warm sunny day in quite some time and it did not take too long before I saw my first dragonfly of the day. After awhile, I realized that it was a day of emergence for these insects that spend their early years in the water (see related entry). At least one bird was taking advantage of the emerging dragonflies, as I saw a robin with a beak full of teneral (recently emerged, but not yet flight able) dragonflies.

I heard more birds than I saw on this hike. In addition to the previously mentioned Towndsend’s Warblers, I heard many Pacific Slope Flycatchers, and Hermit, Varied, and Swainson’s Thrushes in the woods between the trailhead and the muskeg. There were also quite a few Red-breasted Sapsuckers flying between the trees.

On the way up, I heard a sapsucker nest just after I crossed the last small creek before the muskeg with a bench. I was able to determine that it was in the large spruce dead spruce tree just after that creek on the uphill side of the trail. The nest hole was at least 30 feet or so up in the tree and the calls were not as loud as I have heard in the past. Since I had not heard anything last time I was on the trail a few days ago, I suspect the birds had just hatched out in the past day or two. On my return, the nest was silent.

When I stopped at the bench in the muskeg, I heard swallows flying overhead. I looked up and saw a few of them, though I am not sure whether they were Tree Swallows or some other species. When I looked up, I also noticed that there were quite a few eagles soaring over the valley.

Along the edges of the muskeg below the Middle Sister there were many juncos keeping to the scrub trees and calling softly back and forth. I also heard some of their trilling songs. Chickadees and at least one woodpecker were also in the area. I heard a Wilson’s Warbler calling periodically from the thickets on the Gavan Hill side of the muskeg.

The muskeg was well on its way to summer green. Burnet and buckbean had leaves out and some of the buckbean was starting to flower. It will be awhile before the burnet flowers, it looks like. The Bog Rosemary and Bog Laurel were nearing their peak blooming, while the ground dogwood and swamp gentian were just getting started (I was actually a little surprised to see a few swamp gentian flowers, as I tend to associate them with later summer). Three-leaf Goldthread and Tall Mountain Shooting Star both appeared to be past their peak.

In the woods, both Rosy and Small Twistedstalk in bloom. Single delights were almost open and the start of flower buds could be seen on the One-sided Wintergreens near the first bridge.

One the return, I noticed some of the yellow slime mold that appeared to be the same kind that I had noticed previously in the park. It looks like it has some fairly solid form, but when I touched it, it was pure slime, with no significant structure to resist my touch.

Although I did not see any especially fresh bear sign, it was clear that they use the muskeg below the Middle Sister fairly often. Most of the activity seems to be at the upper end, but there were places where bear scat had been deposited last fall and seedling salmonberries were growing throughout the muskeg. In the upper end there are clear trails, and it looks like a good sized pond that the bears dip into. I’m not sure whether they roll around in it or what, but there was a clear trail going out of it and the mud was still in suspension in the water. I am not sure how long it takes for the mud to settle out of suspension, but the tracks did not look too fresh (not that I am any great expert at aging tracks).

I noticed a lot of spiders and ants throughout the muskeg. I think I may have seen a couple different species of spider, and at least one of them appeared to be a jumping spider. This is the first time I remember seeing a jumping spider around here, though they were fairly common down in Idaho when I was there (which is why I know what they are). Whatever the spiders were chasing, it did not seem to be ants. I saw one come into contact with an ant and if anything, the spider seemed to want to avoid the ant. As far as ants are concerned, it seemed like everywhere I stopped, there were ants crawling all over the place. One ant even managed to crawl up inside my pants and it felt like it might have bit my leg. At one point I noticed a dead moth and upon closer inspection, I saw an ant crawling on the wing. The ant was coated in the fine scales that cover the wings of moths.