Partly cloudy early. Clouds building in the afternoon, with rain and wind developing as darkness fell. Heavy rain and gusty wind this evening. Temperatures in the 30s early and the 40s later.
Today I was back to work. Due to start observing at 8am, it was an early start relative to my recent schedule.
I was running a couple minutes later than I planned, due in part to the weather. Given the forecast, the clear skies overhead and frosty windows were a surprise.
It’s been over three weeks since I last spent extended time observing Sawmill Cove. I saw more goldeneye and scaup, and fewer (no) murres compared to what I was seeing previously. Marbled Murrelets were around, but not coming as close to the dock as often. It’s hard to say if that is just today’s variation, or if it will be consistent. I’ll get a chance to see, as I expect to be observing for another 3-5 days before they’re done with the part of the project we’re needed for.
A group of Pacific Loons spent much of the day in the cove. It started out with two small groups. They joined together to a larger group, and over the next two hours or so slowly added one or two more at a time until there were 14. They dove an surfaced together. I wonder if they do some sort of cooperative foraging thing underwater.
Three killer whales moved into the bay this morning, and then out again early in the afternoon. Apparently at one time they were quite near the shoreline along Sawmill Creek Road, but they were far out from where I was when I saw them.
We also saw a Humpback Whale. I’m curious if it’s the same one that frequented the bay in late November and December, but hard to say.
Today they ran into an obstruction when trying to drive one of the smaller fender pilings. They spent two hours this afternoon dredging to clearing out the woody debris. I didn’t count, but am guessing it was 15+ bucket loads they pulled out, each with plenty of wood. Given how much wood was coming out, I was surprised they haven’t had more trouble. Maybe most of it is small enough and the larger pilings are heavy enough that they get broken up, even with the vibratory hammer. One log they pulled out today was on the large size, and seems likely to have been the main obstruction.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
