Today was one of those days that seemed very subdued. I heard few birds calling this morning when I woke up, and the birds I did hear sounded far away. I got ready for class a little early and spent a few minutes walking around by the flume and behind Yaw building. I heard a couple of different juncos trilling, a flicker in the distance a few ravens and crows within hearing distance. Even the birds that were close sounded quieter than usual. It was partly cloudy and cool this morning.
Around noon I took a side trip down to look at Sage Beach before going home to lunch. The tide was near its highest point for the day. Goldeneyes and Buffleheads were swimming and diving near the hatchery outflow and there were many gulls sitting in the water a short distance out from shore.
I spent a few minutes sitting by the spruce tree. As I was nearing the tree, I heard a sound like branches breaking and looked over to see an eagle taking off with some branches from an alder. Skies were overcast with a light breeze from the south. Later in the afternoon I noticed the wind coming out of the east on campus, but I am uncertain whether that was due to a change in the wind or topographical effects creating different winds.
This evening as I was starting for home, but clouds were bunched up over the mountains with mostly clear skies over the water. The transition zone seemed to be nearly overhead and there was a hint of a mist falling. The evening sun combined with the rain to create a nice rainbow behind the campus.
Connor, Rowan and I went for a walk down to the beach near sunset. The tide was out and there were some mallards on the beach near where the outflow from the hatchery runs down the beach. There were some buffleheads and I think goldeneyes off shore. The buffleheads looked very small, I think the distance was deceptive with the tide out. I saw very few gulls present. My assumption is that they were someplace where the herring had been spawning to take advantage of the low tide that was exposing the newly deposited eggs. There was little breeze, but temperatures were chilly.
