Sunny and breezy, though much less windy than yesterday. Temperatures to the mid-30s.
Rowan wanted to get lunch at Backdoor. On the way she pointed out a bunch of crocus up in a yard along Seward Street.
After lunch we went out to Starrigavan.
I was curious if swans were still around. Last year, all but one had left by this time. In some years they’ve left as early as February, and other years as late as April. It seems to depend a great deal on how cold the late winter is (they leave earlier when it’s warmer).
I saw only three swans, all in Starrigavan creek by the bridge (the tide was up). I suspect they’ve left, as on prior trips 10-15 have generally been visible in the estuary area. None were at Swan Lake when we went by there, but some were reported at Totem Park (presumably the same ones that had been at Swan Lake).
In Starrigavan Creek, Mallards and three Green-winged Teal seemed to be getting food off surface of creek. I am curious what it was.
My best guess is seeds from the trees (spruce and alder, probably hemlock as well).
Seeds of alder, spruce, and probably hemlock floating on Starrigavan Creek
I heard multiple Squirrels calling during my time on the bridge over the creek. One wanted to come across but thought better of it as it approached me.
Our next stop was Magic Island. Other folks arrived at the same time, so we went to the bedrock mini-cliff. There was a nice pocket there in the sun and out of the wind
This fire ring was new to me
I saw a whale out closer to Kasiana Island than our shore.
Flies were active where there was old seaweed, but I didn’t work too hard to take many pictures. There weren’t many where we were sitting.
A Pacific Wren came by foraging repeatedly. On one visit, it went right under Rowan’s legs. She was sitting on a small ledge, and had her feet out.
This wren returned repeatedly to poke around in the mosses and rock crevices looking for food
Before leaving we did a little easy climbing on the rocks.
We saw a few people out on Swan Lake. So Rowan and I walked around for a bit.
This evening I downloaded my observation data from iNaturalist and looked at my species accumulations. I didn’t quite get all the data I wanted (I hadn’t selected some columns), so I will need to download it again. They discourage doing it often (resource intensive), so I’ll wait until I’m caught up with 2022 observations.
I’ve had a remarkably steady increase in total species, at about ~110 per year for 20 years now. (I am looking only at Southeast Alaska observations). It will be interesting to break it out by taxonomic group. I suspect birds and vascular plants will show something closer to a curve over time.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
