Melissa had a rental car, so I took advantage of the opportunity and made a couple of trips out the road. Early in the day we drove out to Starrigavan to look around, but did not have time to stay for long. Later in the afternoon we went out again in hopes of getting a good look at the comet. Unfortunately, the clouds were above the horizon enough that the comet was only faintly visible for just a couple of minutes initially. It showed up again for another minute or two between cloud bands a little later, but we could not figure out how to get Connor and Rowan to see where to look. Rowan was very disappointed she didn’t get to see the comet (which she seems to call “the common” most of the time).
Weather: It was clear throughout the day. Although it did not seem windy in town, there was a breeze over the water that seemed be coming out of the North. Temperatures were chilly, but not too bad. I was impressed at how much more frozen the streams and harbors are as compared to the cold snap in November. It makes sense that as winter progresses, the ground and waters continue to lose heat and so freeze more quickly, but I’ve never really noticed this in practice before.
Birds: The first year Glaucous Gull was back at the lake, and I was able to get some decent pictures (portraits, even) of it.
We were just passing the ferry terminal on our way back into town this morning when I saw a flying raptor that I thought at first was a juvenile Bald Eagle. However it did not seem quite right and I tried to get a better look. Unfortunately it was heading out over the water and by the time we got to a place where the trees were not obscuring my view, the bird was pretty far away. I tried to get a couple of pictures, but they didn’t turn out so good. I may put them up anyway on the off chance that some raptor expert can do something with them. One thing that stood out (in retrospect) was that the wings were in more of a v-shape while the bird was soaring over the water. I think Bald Eagles tend to have their wings pretty much flat. The bird seemed to be about the size of a Bald Eagle (which is part of the reason that’s what I thought it was at first). I suppose it’s possible that it was a Golden Eagle, but it seems a little late in the year for one of those to be moving through.
I noticed quite a few birds, Bald Eagles and Gulls mostly, soaring out over the water. They were pretty scattered between Halibut Point and Starrigavan.
There were a dozen or more Black Oystercatchers out on the Starrigavan Tide flats on the ocean side of the road.