Partly cloudy early, becoming overcast late this morning. Light rain later in the afternoon. Light winds.
Today was the annual Food Web cruise fund raiser for the Sitka Whale Fest. I’ve been doing this for many years now, and always enjoy getting a chance to visit with folks and see what’s out.
On my walk down to the harbor, I noticed many more robins than had been around previously. I think another wave may have arrived yesterday, or perhaps overnight.
I enjoyed a new whimsical installation in a yard along Etolin Street.
We started by heading north through the channel. I noticed very few birds in the channel, nor anywhere else along our route up to Promisla Bay. Granted, I was partially distracted talking to folks, so I’m sure I missed some, but I feel reasonably confident that there were not significant numbers.
We watched gray whales that were foraging right along the shoreline of Krestof island.
While there, I noticed an interesting lenticular cloud formation over Mt. Edgecumbe.
We went between Middle Island and Kasiana Island on our way out to the sound and points further south. This was the one area I saw many birds. We were going at speed, so I didn’t get long looks, but I did point out the large flocks of Surf Scoters and some cormorants on the rocks.
Our destination was Povorotni Point, where a handful of humpback whales were bubble-net feeding.
As is often the case with these trips, I did not get many photos, as I was too engaged visiting with others.
Walking home, I saw Red-breasted Sapsuckers for the first time this year.
At ultimate this evening only three of us showed up. We tossed around for awhile, then did some more experimentation with my frisbee-baseball mashup idea. We were discussing/debating what arrangement of field and defenders might make the game challenging (instead of grossly lopsided towards offense or defense).
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
