Overcast, then clearing for a couple of hours, before becoming overcast again. Temperatures in the 40s.
Yesterday’s official low of 48F at the airport, tied the record for highest low temperature in February previously seen in 1998 and 1968. Two freakishly warm January days in 2018 where the low was 52F (Jan 14-15, the highs were 63 and 60) are the only times with warmer low temperatures through the last week of April, when there are two dates with 49F lows (28 April 2005, and 25 April 1965). Low temperatures at 49F or above start to become much more frequent by late May. Going back the other direction, there are 20 November days with lows of 49F or higher and only two in December.
I think it must have rained at least a little overnight, as the pavement was wet this morning. I didn’t see any rain during the day, however.
A sunny break this morning was unexpected. Looking at the satellite imagery, it almost looked like air might have been subsiding as it moved over Baranof Island, creating clearing skies on the lee side of the mountains. Whatever the cause, it only lasted a couple of hours.
I felt motivated to take advantage of the sun and so got out a bit sooner than I might have otherwise (though by no means was it early).
I parked at the bottom of Blue Lake road and biked to Sawmill Creek campground and back.
I considered walking up the hill on Beaver Lake trail, and also riding up the hill to Blue Lake. Instead, I put off those efforts for another day.
I did stop at three places on the way back to look at/for mosses and liverworts. One was a cliff, the other two were near stream courses.
I would probably learn a lot if I made a dedicated effort to survey the non-vascular plants along Blue Lake road (and perhaps even more, if I also did the road along Herring Cove, and then out to Green Lake. Kitty and I have talked previously about making an effort in that direction. Usually the conversations happen this time of year, but so far we’ve never followed up.
I mostly found and made observations of things I had observed previously. Some I have names for, others I know the genus, and a couple I recognized as known-unknowns that I’ve previously observed, but not yet learned what they are.
Before going home, I stopped at the kelp patch pullout to look for birds. I keep watching for a Pigeon Guillemot (which I’ve seen in previous years around this time), but haven’t crossed paths with one yet. I was interested to see what appeared to be a large tree floating in the water. I don’t think the tides have been especially high, so I’m curious where it came from. Perhaps the windstorm knocked it over along a steep shoreline, but it took a while to fully detach?
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
