Partly cloudy early, but overcast for much of the day. Winds were fairly calm.
I spent part of the day out on the Chaicheis.
The weather hasn’t been that good lately for getting out to Shoals Point or Low Island, though I would like to get out there in the next week or so. This is the window with the best chance of finding a Red Knot. These do not show up along the road system most years, but are probably uncommon on shorelines of the outer sound.
Today there was a bit more swell than KL wanted to deal with to go out that far, so the Chaicheis were offered as an alternative.
I spent most of my time there poking around the splash zone checking out Stereocaulon lichens and noting other things which caught my eye.
There were at least a couple of fairyslippers (Calypso bulbosa) blooming, and the shooting stars and Alaska paintbrush were getting started as well.
A decent sized flock of Surf Scoters is still hanging around the Chaicheis. They took off while we were still some ways out, but reviewing my photos I was able to pick out one Black Scoter in the mix.
There are many Marbled Murrelets around now (after being scarce earlier in the year).
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
