Partly cloudy into early afternoon, becoming overcast. Calm winds, temperatures in the low 40s.
Mostly clear skies this morning motivated me to get out. I took advantage of mobile technology to participate on scheduled calls while out and about.
Gulls were finding something to eat at the surface of the water
Out at the kelp patch pullout, I noticed a couple gull flocks that appeared to be in a bit of a feeding frenzy.
While I watched, a Bald Eagle or two made a pass. It was enough to scatter gulls, but the eagle(s) didn't seem to find anything of interest
An eagle or two flew over and checked things out, but did not stick around.
They gradually moved towards Sea Mart. The movement was not continuous. They would fly from one spot to another, then return near to where they had been. I am curious what they were finding.
I did not see any other diving and/or fish-eating birds in the mix. I suspect whatever the gulls were excited about was not fish. Perhaps krill?
I thought something might have washed ashore when I saw a group of gulls on the beach at Sandy Beach. When I checked where they had been (they left before I got there), I didn’t see anything.
Clouds to the southeast prevented direct sunlight until mid morning. It finally got high enough to brighten up the slopes of Mt. Edgecumbe.
I saw three White-throated Sparrows at Sealing Cove. Two were tan-striped and one White-striped. Over the past few weeks I’ve only seen one at a time, so it was interesting to have all three present at once.
Early this afternoon I recorded a conversation for my radio show on Sunday.
Afterwards, I revisited the downed hemlock just past Whale Park. I had neglected to collect a lichen that turned out might be of particular interest.
I got it, and ended up documenting and collecting several others.
Among them I picked up four Hypogymnia species which I think may all be different ones. I photographed two other species. One, H. hultenii is one I knew. The other I thought I might know, but now am thinking I should have collected it. It could be the same species as one that I did collect, but it isn’t immediately obvious to me that it is.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
