Daily Observations

I did not get out at all today, but yesterday I went to Starrigavan to look for Stilt Sandpipers that had been seen over the last few days. I put my bike on the bus and was able to get a ride out the road to within a mile of Starrigavan, or so. That worked fairly well, though it would have been better had I been more familiar with the bus routes and schedule. I rode my bicycle back to town with a stop at Halibut Point Rec on the way.

Weather: The weather the last couple of days has been damp overall. It has not been especially windy, but at times when a rain shower moves through, it has poured rain. The sun has peaked through the clouds briefly each day also. It has still been fairly warm with temperatures ranging in the 50’s with only a slight dip below 50 at night. It’s almost a little surprising how fast the rocks on the beach dried off when the rain stopped.

Birds: I did not find the Stilt Sandpipers. The only shore birds I saw were two Wandering Tattlers. There were people fishing from the gravel bars at the river mouth where shorebirds often hang out, so that may have been why they were not there. There three Great Blue Herons on the rocks toward Mosquito Cove Trail. There were also several gulls, but not really that many, compared to what I have been seeing at Totem Park over the last couple of weeks or so.

There were quite a few more gulls at Halibut Point Rec then at Starrigavan. The gulls seemed to be far more active in feeding than I have seen them at Totem Park. I am not sure why this would be the case, unless it’s mostly a matter of timing.

Also on the beach at Halibut Point Rec were several Crows and quite a few Black Turnstones. I saw a couple of crows begging from another. Based on appearance, it was not at all clear that they were young birds, but the behavior certainly indicated they hatched this year. The presumed parent would pull flesh from a dead salmon and give it to one of the begging birds. It seemed pretty clear to me that the begging birds could have fed themselves, but I never saw them take a bite that was not offered by the parent (though I did not spend that long watching).