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Evening Low Tide at Sandy Beach

Mostly cloudy and scattered rain into the afternoon. Partial clearing later in the afternoon. The stars were shining brightly to the south and west when I was at the beach this evening.


I found the first moth at my porch light this year when I stepped outside this morning. There were actually two. I think one of them was the moth Rowan found inside late last week and I released.

I had a four hour observing shift starting at 10:30am.

I was already on my way (with little time to spare) when I realized I had left my second raincoat at home. It probably would have helped a little. Rain fell for much of the first half of my time. However, the bigger issue for my comfort was a chilly north wind.


I did not see any mammals during my watch, nor any unexpected birds. A couple different gulls checked us out. One Herring Gull (or on that side of the Cook Inlet Gull spectrum) spent a bit of time near the boat. Later, a Glaucous-winged Gull perched on top of the drill rig. It seemed unperturbed by the clanging of the machinery. When I pulled my camera out and started taking pictures, it took off.

The remainder of the afternoon I spent chatting with my brother.


This evening I joined Connor down at Sandy Beach. He found at least a couple of new species for me. I may have picked up a couple of others as well, though ones I’m not likely to get species names on any time soon.


We poked around in the rocks north of the sandy area. Our efforts were assisted by atmospheric pressure making the tide drop to -2.5 ft, more than a foot below predicted.


Highlights included my two spotted keyhole limpet and greenmark hermit crab, both found by Connor. Also a striking red sea anemone which I noticed.

My iNaturalist Observations for Today

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