Mostly to partly cloudy with fog and fog drizzle. Temperatures in the 40s and light winds.
I went for a walk around town later this morning into the early afternoon. My timing worked out so I avoided the west foggy mist of earlier (and to a lesser degree later). I even experienced some sun shining through, though the mountains remained shrouded.
I stopped to observe lichens on the rock wall along Degroff Street. In addition to the crusts (which I mostly overlook because it feels a little hopeless to get names on them at times) I noticed an Umbilicaria like species.
Nice light at Swan Lake tempted me to stick around and see if the Hooded Mergansers or American Wigeons might come close. However, hunger pushed me onward.
After getting some food, I went over to Katlian Street to see what I could at the channel.
Feathers floating on the water’s surface drew my attention upwind to a juvenile Bald Eagle well into what I think was a gull. Two other eagles sat nearby on the float plane dock watching.
I made more lichen observations, this time ones growing on the railing of the pier.
I looked up and spotted an otter at the end of the float plane dock. It seemed to be rolling/scratching at the edge of the dock, then dropped into the water. (I saw the eagle that had been eating fly off – I couldn’t quite tell if it was carrying the remains of the bird it was eating, and now I don’t remember if it was before or after I saw the otter. I’m now wondering if the otter might have prompted the eagles to fly.)
Walking back towards downtown along Katlian Street, I noticed fresh feathers and bright red blood. I’m not sure how long the blood stays so red, but I’m guessing not long. I imagine a larger raptor grabbed a pigeon or gull, then took off with it. There weren’t many feathers. I was a little surprised at how much blood there was. Pigeons I’ve seen eaten by Sharp-shinned Hawks didn’t seem to bleed that much.
Next was up and down Castle Hill (this time a moss and a lichen observed).
The sound of Anna’s Hummingbird stopped me by the cove at the base of O’Connell Bridge. It took me a minute or two to locate it in an alder between the parking area and the shoreline rocks.
I saw my first snowdrops and crocus of the year blooming. I suspect they were out during the earlier part of February, but I didn’t happen to go by any flower beds where they are out early.
While out I started wondering about the lack of lichens on O’Connell Bridge. Lichen’s seem to grow on most things around here. It’s possible I’ve missed some, but even if so, they’re not common. Maybe they don’t like galvanized metal (which might be what the railings are made of?). Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen lichens growing on the steel street light posts or dock pilings, either. I think they are galvanized as well.
This evening I published the first photojournal from last September. I (finally) finished publishing entries from last October, so now have a streak of 5 months/150+ days with published photojournals. If I managed to work through the full backlog, the streak will be closer to 10 times that long. Lots of work to do on that project. I am feeling more motivated since they can show up in the Recent Updates part. I don’t know that anyone looks at them there, but it feels like they at least get a chance to have some attention.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
