Common Murre in Sawmill Cove
Overcast with occasional rain. Calm with temperatures in the 40s.
Clouds were brighter this morning, and I thought about heading out right away. Instead I finished up my post on Monilinia. By the time I finished, it was lunch time.
I had hoped the skies would stay relatively bright (for an overcast day this time of year), but that’s not what happened.
By the time I ventured out early this afternoon, it was only slighter less dim than yesterday. On the plus side, winds were calm.
One Lesser Scaup in front with three Greater Scaups
Scaups were on the Japonski side of the channel today. This allowed me to confirm there were both Lesser and Greater Scaups in the mix (as expected).
Folks were pulling boats out at Sealing Cove, so I didn’t stay there long.
Common Murres with a possible Thick-billed Murre on Silver Bay
At Sawmill Cove a Common Murre was actively diving near the dock. Much further out I saw many more murres. Among them I’m pretty sure I saw a Thick-billed Murre, and possibly two. They were too far out for very good photos, however.
Brambling with red tootsie roll pop wrapper accent
On a second trip by Sealing Cove, the Brambling came through. It’s been over a week since I saw it (or any reports of it), so good to know it’s still around.
Wood Duck at Swan Lake
I didn’t check on the crane today, but did see three Wood Ducks and the coot at Swan Lake.
I had just arrived home and Connor informed me a Pied-billed Grebe had been reported. The location was not entirely clear, but based on the checklist location and description, we figured it must have been in Crescent Harbor.
Pied-billed Grebe in Crescent Harbor
I started at the end closest to town and walked the main float. Before I got to the far end, Connor let me know the grebe was there not far off the breakwater boardwalk.
I wonder how long the Pied-billed Grebe has been hanging around. Perhaps it’s regularly been in the harbor (I don’t know that folks have been looking there much). There’s a chance that it is one of the ones that had been at Swan Lake prior to it freezing over.
Given the low light, more than one of my grebe pictures was blurry. This was especially true when it started swimming. Although I did have some sharp photos, I decided to experiment with Topaz AI sharpening software (which I had recently upgraded. The result was not as good as having a sharp photo to start with. However, I was surprised with how well it did given the very blurry starting place.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
