Overcast and warm enough (with enough rain) to melt the snow in the yard. Clouds did thin enough a couple of times that, given the lack of sunshine so far this year, I might be inclined to say they were sunny breaks (but friends from elsewhere would roll their eyes at that, for sure).
I did get out for a bit this afternoon to check out the gulls in the channel. I didn’t try counting, but there were at least several hundred, and probably over 1000, though I did not notice any that stood out as looking different.
From what I could see driving over the bridge and looking over towards the park where flats were exposed by a low tide, there were hundreds more over there. In addition, there were additional hundreds near the mouth of Indian River.
Herring fishery is still on 2 hour notice, with no opening called so far. I’ve also not heard of any spawning taking place yet.
They say last year was a massive year for spawn, but it mostly happened on the south end of Kruzof, including all the way around to the outside. There was no commercial fishery last year due to predominantly small fish. There is a massive year class that is just this year large enough for processors to feel they have a market for them. My understanding is it was also a tough year for subsistence harvesters setting branches for eggs because of where the herring mostly spawned.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
