Weather: Once again it was another day without significant rain. It varied from partly to mostly cloudy throughout the day. I am not sure how warm it got, but I think it may have hit 50. There was not a heavy frost this morning, though it’s possible there was a light frost in places. Winds were calm this morning, but I was not paying enough attention later in the day. This evening the kids and I went for a walk down to the beach and over to the park. On the way back, I noticed some clouds with rain (possibly virga?) illuminated pink by the light of the setting sun.
Birds: The flicker was back again this morning, but only briefly. I heard it calling in the distance and then again near the house. It started drumming and quickly stopped as if it were interrupted. I did not hear it again after that except in the distance. The kids were up and making noise, so it is possible that it was disturbed by them. When I went out a few days ago to investigate, it was quite wary, so it is also possible that someone walking by may have been enough to get it to move on.
On our walk, we did not see too many birds. There were few birds down at the beach. The tide was out and it looked like there were ducks of some sort out on the water, but I did not get close enough to have a good look. Quite a few gulls flew overhead, the majority of them heading in the direction of town. In the park I heard what I think was probably a kinglet (perhaps more than one), a winter wren was singing, and there was also a brown creeper singing. I was going to try to get a recording of the creeper, but between the kids and talking to someone I knew for a few minutes, I was unable to do so. As we were coming up the shortcut hill, I noticed a bird chirping repeatedly. I think it was probably a winter wren, and it very well may have been an alarm, but I am uncertain about that.
Other Notes: There was a cat down at the beach eating on some dead herring that had washed ashore. There has not been any spawning in the area (and herring do not typically die when they spawn), so I am not sure where they came from (I saw at least three of them).
Apparently the deer have been all over campus. A couple of people told me about seeing them by Family Housing, one guy told me about seeing them by the Gazebo/Flume with people walking by within 20 feet.