Weather: It’s been pretty wet for the last few days. Today we had a record rainfall for the day, almost 3 inches fell, with much of it coming before noon. Winds were pretty stiff this afternoon.
Birds: There have been lots of birds around. I’ve seen Townsend’s Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Hermit Thrushes, Varied Thrushes, Robins, Steller’s Jays, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and possibly Lincoln’s Sparrows.
Today when we went for a drive and checked out the birds from the ramp on Japonski Island there were lots of sparrows in the grass and shrubs between the ramp and the beach. I’m sure I saw Savannah, Song, and Golden-crowned Sparrows, but am less confident about whether I saw a Lincoln’s Sparrow. There were also several Black-legged Kittiwakes out in the channel and at least one storm-petrel (which I was unable to identify at the time due to the distance and unfamiliarity with the species).
Other Notes: I saw a deer track a couple of days ago in the mud on the shortcut to Sage Building. It’s the first track I have seen around the neighborhood since spring. A student told me about seeing a deer somewhere near the dorms as well.
There was a clump of Inky Cap mushrooms growing in the grass not far from the road up to DSH on campus.