Cloudy with some snow showers in the morning and rain showers later. Calm winds.
It was my first wet day out at Sawmill Cove for this project. Though it was nowhere near as wet as last year when I was working there through the night during a 24 hour period that saw 3+ inches of rain at the airport (and likely more at Sawmill Cove).
This morning’s shower featured big flakes of snow. It was sufficient to create a thin layer of very wet snow/slush. This mostly melted off as the day progressed.
There were delays to the pile driving start today. Although we started observing early, it was nearly midday before any pile driving happened.
Today’s driving was all done with the impact hammer.
I was on break and able to watch the driving from a closer vantage point today. Small fish were jumping out of the water near the piling as it was being impacted. I think they were young herring. Eventually I noticed some floating near the surface. It seems the ones that were swimming in close to the piling did not do well with the vibrations put out from the piling being impacted. One young Short-billed Gull was braving the noise (though it still flushed when people moved around on the barge) and grabbing up some of the fish that were stunned or dead at the surface.
While on break I poked around a little bit on the finger of land. I wanted to revisit mosses I had noticed while stationed out there. Today I saw many more. Perhaps because I was more in that frame of mind, but I think also because they were fluffed up a bit more with the wetter weather. I would like to spend more time out there taking a more thorough look. I suspect it’s a good spot for them in part because the location between the river and ocean provides for consistent humidity.
I spooked a heron both coming and going. It was perched on the same utility pole each time. I guess I took long enough that it returned and then was unhappy with me for a second time.
I took pictures of birds while waiting for the pile driving to begin. Just as well, as they weren’t happy with the impact hammer. During the longer break between pilings, they had just started to move back in to the cove, but promptly took off again when the hammering started up.
Two killer whales moved through today. This morning one of the observers saw them leaving the bay (I got a brief and distant look). Then they were moving back into the bay this afternoon. One of them looked like the male we saw over the weekend, but it’s hard for me to be sure. Their presence may be a contributing factor to the low number of sea lions we’ve been observing.
I noticed flashes of silver in the water below the dock. I suspect they are young herring. It’s probably what’s drawing the birds in. I’m not sure how widespread they are, but based on the numbers that showed up in the small area around the piling (which was quite shallow) and what I saw flashing by the dock, it seems likely there are many herring in the bay.
As the post watch was winding down, I noticed some dead herring floating near the surface. Presumably they had drifted out from the pile driving. Though I left before the gulls noticed them, I suspect they made quick work of them not long after.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
