Clear skies. Frosty 20s over night, into the mid-30s during the day. Calm winds.
I had been thinking I would walk at least part way up Blue Lake road this afternoon. Before I got around to leaving, I saw a message from Kitty asking if I wanted to walk around the park.
The tide was up (but starting to fall).
A lone swan was on the water not far from the west shore of the park. Looking at my photos, I noticed it seems to have an odd bend in its neck. I suspect it’s the one I saw flying over Swan Lake on the first of the month. [Update: I had been paying attention to the bent neck, but it was not until the next day I finally realized it is a Tundra Swan – though looking closely at this photo, I can see the yellow at the base of its bill, I just didn’t notice it on this day.]
I’m not sure if helmet crabs have a molting season, but there were two shells near each other at the high tide line near.
After walking around the park, I headed out to Blue Lake Road. I changed my mind about walking up when I saw the heavy machine cutting the brush along the road. They may have let me walk by, but I decided to head elsewhere.
Driving back in, I was surprised at how much the tide had dropped in what seemed like it hadn’t been very long. It is still running more than a foot below predicted.
I think both yesterday and today may have been cloudless, by I forgot to specifically check. In any case, the horizon was clear, so I planned to stay out for sunset.
It’s now setting around 5pm so I made sure to get to the bridge around 15 minutes before.
The sun was noticeably closer to Vitskari today. Comparing photos, it appears the location shift was approximately 1.33 times the width of the sun. A quick internet search suggests the sun is ~0.5 degrees, so my rough measurements would suggest it moved 0.67 degrees from yesterday to today. Looking at a table of sunset locations, it shows the sun moving a bit less than a degree each day. I count 5 degrees in 8 days in the prior week or so, which works out to be 0.63, so not too far off.
I tried full manual exposure to see if there was a green flash I had been missing. It’s hard to shift exposure fast enough to keep up with those last few seconds of sun visibility. I did manage some shots, and based on what I saw today at least, I probably didn’t miss green flash. It’s was bright sun with some green edging.
Today I caught the sequence to blue like yesterday, but today had a bit more violet at the end.
I wasn’t seeing the moon as I walked down the bridge, but I suspect it would be showing soon.
Curious where it would be coming up, I drove across the bridge, and as I did, I saw it showing over the flanks of Verstovia.
I went out to the ramp SEARHC made in support of the new hospital and took a few pictures there. Once again would have been better with something other than a telephoto lens. I would do well to at least have my camera bag in the car, even if I don’t carry it with me.
Back at home (closer to the mountains), the moon was just cresting a ridge on Verstovia. I was wishing there was a tree or two on the ridgeline for a nice silhouette. I could see krummholz, but nothing larger. Maybe someday I’ll catch a view with the moon cresting a ridge that has an isolated tree or two.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
