Month: February 2012

Colorful Sunrise, Sunny Day

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Sunrise

I was up for the 8am sunrise this morning – was nice to see some good color in the morning sky. The day turned out to be quite pleasant – sunny with little wind (in town, anyway) and temperatures in the 40s. As one person I walked by said to me – “it’s the first unofficial day of spring.” Of course there’s almost certainly going to be plenty more cold/wet weather before winter completely gives up its hold, but days like today feel like a bit of a gift – the trick is not being disappointed when they don’t continue.

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Red-throated Loon

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Update (4 Feb): The loon was still alive and in the same place as of 9am this morning, but was dead by 10am. Jen C. picked it up at that time – she said that upon examination they discovered it was thin but without any obvious other problems – so it may have a parasite … Read more

High Winds and an Unexpected Loon

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Breakinig Clouds

Winds were fierce through the night, topping out with 53 mph sustained winds on the 3:53 observation (81 mph gust) and a gust of 86 mph the 4:53 am update (though down to 37 mph sustained). The breeze was still quite stiff when the kids and I walked down to Totem Park later in the morning. Park trails were closed due to high winds, so we just walked down the beach a ways before heading back. The play of light as sun rays illuminated rain squalls through small gaps in the clouds. It might have been nice to get some video (straight or maybe time lapse) – but conditions weren’t so inspiring for hanging out in the open very long.

Later this afternoon I heard a report of a Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake. I made a quick stop at the lake and grabbed some pictures of it, but will write it up in a separate post.

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Organizing Documents

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There was some nice color in the sunrise this morning, but that was the high point weather-wise. Overcast skies this morning turned to heavier clouds with increasing winds and rain. By this evening it was quite windy and wet. On the plus side, temperatures are in the low 40s, so the mess of ice and … Read more