Overcast with occasional rain and drizzle. Fairly calm winds. Temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s.
Overnight I woke up a couple times to heavy rain, but by daylight it had let up.
After getting up this morning, I mostly worked on pictures and photojournals.
I’m getting closer to caught up with January. If I can manage a similar effort, I could be caught up by the weekend.
This afternoon I went over to Japonski Island to poke around a bit. Three birds I’ve not yet seen this year were reported this morning. I didn’t have much hope for the Peregrine Falcon (which was reported as a fly-over), but thought the flicker and Bohemian Waxwing were a possibility.
I had a call for part of the time. Between that and the drizzle, I mostly stayed in my car and watched.
While on my call, I kept an eye on the hawthorne tree at Sealing Cove. It was probably 30 minutes after I started watching that I saw the waxwing up on a wire above the tree. I suspect it had been on the far side of the tree the whole time. (I didn’t check the tree carefully when I arrived.)
At the channel I was a little surprised to see a good-sized flock of Barrow’s Goldeneyes down towards the Coast Guard dock. I’ve seen as many as a handful in the channel earlier in the season, but there were 25 in this flock.
I drove down Seward Avenue with the idea that I would stop and look at some mosses on one of the outcrops at the end. Someone was parked in their vehicle there, so I decided not to stop.
On the left is Peltigera neopolydactyla and on the right P. membranacea
Instead I stopped at an outcrop a little further up the road. Instead of attending to the rocky part, I got distracted by well developed Peltigera growing on a mossy slope adjacent to the road. P. membranacea and P. neopolydactyla were growing together. This made a nice opportunity to compare them.
In the field, it didn't seem like this Peltigera had veins, so I wasn't sure what it was.
While I was there, I noticed another one that seemed a little different. The color of the others was variable, but none seemed quite as green as this one. It also was much more consistently showing the white underside where the margins were curled over a bit. When I looked underneath, I was struck by the lack of veins. I’m not sure, but I think it might be P. malacea. I’ve not knowingly seen P. malacea though it’s possible I have pictures that remain unidentified.
When I first saw this, veins weren't apparent. After a piece I brought home had dried a bit, I could see there were broad veins and decided this was P. neopolydactyla (perhaps just a younger part)
I brought a piece home, and after it had dried, I could see there were actually broad veins. I’m pretty sure it is P. neopolydactyla. Perhaps it’s a younger part.
I was able to complete getting my July observations into iNaturalst. I’ve now started on August. I’m up to 944 species from Sitka with an additional 19 from elsewhere in the state. I’ll easily surpass 1000 for the year in Alaska. It’s a little less clear to me whether I will make it for Sitka, but I think I probably will.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
