Overcast and calm. Temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s. Very light rain fell occasionally.
I thought it would be my last day observing, but it didn’t worked out that way. Difficulty with the pile driving stretched out today’s activities long enough that they didn’t have time to complete splicing the last section before dark. So I’ll be out at the cove again at first light tomorrow.
Today was calm. The regular bird species were present, but sparse. I saw 2-3 Pacific Loons at a time, but no bigger groups.
A Thick-billed Murre did come in close enough to see. First time I’ve seen it/one this year. It didn’t come in close enough to dive under the dock at all, that I saw.
I’ve noticed the Barrow’s Goldeneyes seem to like the mouth of Sawmill Creek when the tide is low. They seem to be foraging over there. As the tide goes back up, I’ve mostly seen them over by Silver Bay Seafoods.
I did see a lone sea lion this morning. I first noticed it because I saw its breath. It made me wonder why I don’t see the breath of birds. Maybe the air volume of their lungs isn’t large enough for there to be sufficient condensation for me to see from a distance. I don’t know, though.
We had ultimate this evening. Only five showed up, but we played two on three on a small field. It was nice to run around a little bit. With this project winding down, I’m thinking about what routines I might set up to build up my conditioning.
Karen J. mentioned the gulls have made a mess at Crescent Harbor. They’ve really been going after the mussels there. She mentioned it started picking up last winter, and has really taken off this year.
This goes along with the observation from Galankin Island dock, and all the broken mussel shells I noticed on the float at Swan Lake.
I’m not sure if they’re going after mussels more this year, or it’s just coincidental that folks have been commenting on it. Karen said it’s the first time they’ve noticed the gulls really going after them in bulk like this. If this is a new behavior, it raises some questions.
Have they just learned that mussels are good food? That seems unlikely, as gulls always seem to be up for trying most anything.
Are the gulls vulnerable to PSP? If so, perhaps in the past they’ve avoided them for this reason, but it does not seem likely to me that mussels have suddenly become free of PSP toxins in a way that has encouraged gulls to feast on them.
Maybe something else is missing that they would normally be eating this time of year and desparate times call for desparate measures. If so, I wonder what?
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
