It was sunny today, so I decided to make another trip over to Alice Island in hopes of finding the Lapland Longspur in better light than I had yesterday. On the way back, I took a side trip to the ramp in order to have a look at the channel. Other than this short trip, I spent most of the day inside.
Weather: It was mostly sunny with a light wind that seemed to be coming out of the southeast. I noticed a few clouds hanging over the high peaks of Baranof, and some small puffy clouds scattered here and there over the rest of the sky.
Birds: The Longspur was where I found it yesterday, constantly foraging on the gravel road.
While I was on Alice Island I noticed at least two or three different Song Sparrows that went through long spells of chirping. It seemed like they might be alarming, but I couldn’t figure out what it would have been about. The sparrows were quite some distance apart from each other. I was somewhat centrally located, and while one of the birds may have been concerned about me, I’m pretty sure the others weren’t.
I saw a flicker while I was on the island and also a flock of small birds that I think may have been Pine Siskins.
In the channel there were quite a few Long-tailed Ducks and the usual assortment of gulls. When I arrived to look, there was a pair of Buffleheads near the shore. I had never noticed the iridescence in the black head feathers of a male before. Today the light was right and I saw basically a full rainbow (see photo above).