More snow on the ground today, but partly cloudy skies this morning. Clouds increased through the day, and it was mostly cloudy by mid afternoon. Winds were calm.
The Townsend’s Solitaire was in the yard again this morning and then again in the early afternoon. It’s not the first time I will accumulate many more photos of a visiting rare bird than I have of much more common species. It’s hard not to when I know there are so few opportunities, and this one has been so cooperative at times.
With more observation time, it’s been interesting to slowly gain what I think is a better sense of the Solitaire’s behavior.
It will spend extended periods of time in the same place, occasionally hopping to a new branch and staying there for awhile. Unlike other wintering berry eating birds I’ve seen here (I’m thinking of waxwings, Pine Grosbeaks, robins, and Varied Thrushes), this Solitaire seems content to grab a berry only every few minutes. The other species seem to feed pretty constantly when they’re feeding, picking one berry after the next.
I’ve also noticed the Solitaire taking erratic lines flying from location to another. Presumably that helps avoiding getting picked off by a predator. I’m wondering if the way it flies is distinctive to distinguish from other species from a distance.
Connor spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk in a tree across the street to the north. It took me a bit to find it, and I was surprised he noticed it. It was far enough away that I could only really see it when I looked through binoculars or with my camera/telephoto lens. He said when we was drinking some water and looking out the window, it just looked like a bird might be in the tree, so he got his binoculars to take a closer look.
I went for a drive this afternoon. Snow accumulation at each end of the road did not seem any greater what was at my house, and may have been a bit less.
The tide was out fairly far. Predicted to be around 0.6 ft, high atmospheric pressure pushed that down to a -0.8ft. Tomorrow night a low pressure center is forecast to pass not too far south of Sitka, so I will be curious to see what the differential is when I get a chance to check on Thursday.
There were plenty of birds far out on the beach and in the shallows beyond that at Starrigavan, but somewhat conspicuous by their apparent absence were the six Trumpeter Swans that were there yesterday. I went by the lake and there were only 8-10 swans there, though it’s possible some (or all) the others went to the mouth of Indian River. It will be interesting to see if the Starrigavan swans return, or if they have departed for this year. It seems a little on the early side for departure, but they have left earlier.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
