I had heard a report of a hen goldeneye with young on Beaver Lake almost two weeks ago, and with my parents’ visit it had slipped my mind. I still wanted to go up there and look, and since it was my parents’ last full day in town and the rain was holding off, it seemed like a good opportunity to head up there.

I was a little delayed starting up, so everyone got ahead of me. By keeping a decent (lung bursting) pace up the hill, I was able to catch up with my dad and Connor just as the trail comes off the steep section. I never did see Rowan until we all got to where she was waiting for us at the Bear Mountain waterfall viewing bench (which also was the spot, after sitting for a couple of minutes, that my breathing finally normalized – I could stand to be in a little better condition). My dad and Connor continued on, while Rowan and I sat for a few minutes.

Rowan lead me along the trail, and as we were nearing the high point, I noticed something scurry across the trail a few yards in front of her. I asked if she saw it, and she had, but originally had thought was some sort of insect. It was quite fast and small, visible only for a moment or two before disappearing under rotting wood on the uphill side of the trail. We poked around briefly but could not see where it had gone. Given the size, I’m suspecting it was a shrew.

When we finally caught up with Connor and his grandpa at the lake, the elder was just coming down from a tree where he had climbed to get Connor’s fly unstuck. There were fish rising not far off shore, but trees growing along the steep slope between the trail and the lake shore made the back cast a little precarious. Connor had a fish rise to his fly while I was watching, but didn’t hook it. He offered to let my dad try a couple of casts but he got caught up in a different tree (this time it didn’t require climbing the tree to get it loose). Connor moved around to a little platform with much less fly eating vegetation behind. Rowan opted to stay and watch Connor fish while my dad and I continued around the south side of the lake toward the outflow creek.

Before my dad and I separated (he to go look for berries, me to continue around the loop), we ran into the only other hikers we would see for the day. One of them was the person who reported the young ducks (I had heard about it from her mother), so I asked about it. She said it had been about 3 weeks earlier, and they were still downy young at the time. It was a female goldeneye (almost certainly Barrow’s Goldeneye, I think). It seemed unlikely that downy young would have matured to the point of flight, but I did not ultimately see any on my hike (I even took a quick look on the smaller upper lake).

Heading up and around the loop, I was a little surprised at how many caterpillars I saw on the Triantha spp that were developing seeds. I collected several and hope that perhaps I’ll be able to find out what they turn in to.

We all met up at the junction between the loop trail and Herring Cove trail and headed down (mostly) together. Once we hit the downhill section, Rowan started speeding ahead and my dad worked on keeping up with her. Connor was going a bit slower, so he and I trailed a little behind.

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It’s not quite the official beginning of winter, but planning for spring is already starting to occur. Today Pacific Herring were in the news, so I decided to post a photojournal entry from last April during herring spawning time (the picture that leads this post is from that entry).

Today’s news was about the preliminary guideline harvest level of 29,000+ tons for the herring sac roe fishery. Although subject to revision pending winter test fisheries, it would be a nearly 10,000 ton increase over last year’s harvest (which was either a record, or pretty close to it). I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to it all, but I do know the quota is not without controversy. Herring is an important food for local humans as well as many other species of fish and mammals and the history of herring fishing around the world isn’t particularly inspiring. More than a few people are concerned there could be a crash of the stock (like there has been almost everywhere else herring has been fished commercially). On the other hand, the state fish and game argues they are using the best available science to manage the fishery, and so far the fishermen seem inclined to catch as much as the state says they can.

Personally, I’m not really sure what to think – with a background in mathematics and statistics, I’m curious about the model they use. I wonder how much they test it (via simulation) for behavior if assumptions aren’t met – how much they quantify the error in their estimates, and how good that quantification of error is. In recent years the population of herring has seemed to increase dramatically, and I think I remember hearing the demographics have changed as well. However, I’m not sure if anyone knows why – and if that isn’t known, then I wonder if it will it take too long to notice if/when conditions revert to keep the population from crashing due to fishing pressure and poor recruitment? On the other hand, if abundance really is driven by ocean conditions (which seems obvious, at least in part), then perhaps it doesn’t really matter how many fish are caught (within certain limits, anyway). After all, there has been heavy fishing pressure for years, and the population seems to have been increasing.

Clearly I have far more questions than answers – and that being the case, I’m sympathetic with the idea that perhaps there should be some sort of hard cap on the quota since I think it’s a good idea to be more conservative than not when it comes to a resource like herring. However, I am interested in the modeling and such, and if I had a better sense of what’s going on there, I could imagine getting to the point where I was convinced high quotas of recent years were sustainable. That said, I’m not particularly politically inclined, so I find it somewhat frustrating to try sorting through the strongly held opinions (some more informed than others) to have a good and/or informative conversation about the subject, so I mostly just leave it alone.

Today Connor, Rowan and I went out with my dad and a friend to see if we could find a deer at Deep Inlet. Connor was quite enthusiastic and hopeful that he would get to shoot his first deer, or at least be able to see one cleaned/prepared for packing out. It was a sunny pleasant day with little wind, a little chilly in the shade, but not like a day I remember when I was a kid.

After hiking up the hill together, Rowan and I split off from the others. We saw plenty of tracks, but no deer. The last time I was up there was probably when I was around Connor’s age, so though it wasn’t too familiar, I was kind of surprised that I recognized as much as I did. (One thing is for sure, the hike up the hill wasn’t nearly as bad as I remember.) We joined back up after a bit and hiked back.

Along the way back, we followed a bear trail that had some relatively fresh tracks (probably from the day before). I was also interested to see a spot where the trail led up to a sign tree and the vegetation in the trail was distinctly different than that on either side of the trail (or even further away from the tree along the trail).

We checked out where the dead Gray Whale had been hauled last spring. I was a little surprised to see how little of it remained. I guess people came out and salvaged the bones, as there were none of those left that we could see. All we were able to find was a patch of what appeared to be skin/blubber. It seemed odd that bears hadn’t eat it down, but perhaps it wasn’t so good for eating for some reason.

It was a pleasant trip back in the boat – the kids each got a turn at driving. It took Rowan a while to figure out how to keep things going in the direction she wanted to go. We ended up turning circles for long enough that I started to get dizzy, but she finally started to get the hang of it. At the green can out off Galankin Island we saw a lone Steller’s Sea Lion laying out in the sun. It raised its head briefly to look at us before relaxing again.

We ended up making it home by early afternoon.

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This Great Blue Heron was perched on a harbor piling as we were getting to the boat.

This ancestral bear trail led up and past a sign tree.

This ancestral bear trail led up and past a sign tree.

I was struck by the difference in vegetation on and off the trail.

A Steller's Sea Lion was resting on this green buoy on our way home. It took a second to raise its head and look at us before relaxing again.

A Steller's Sea Lion was resting on this green buoy on our way home. It took a second to raise its head and look at us before relaxing again.

A Steller's Sea Lion was resting on this green buoy on our way home. It took a second to raise its head and look at us before relaxing again.

Connor and Rowan brought back a couple of silver salmon from fishing down by the Sheldon Jackson hatchery.

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The fish on the right lost a bunch of scales when Connor found it necessary to drag it up over the rocks and barnacles to bring it in before Rowan arrived to help.

The silver salmon are big enough that Connor and Rowan often need to team up to bring them in. One holds on to the pole, while the other nets the fish.

Pinks are in at the Sheldon Jackson hatchery, and Connor was pretty enthusiastic about catching them.

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Connor and his friend Kobi fishing for pink salmon at Sage Beach.

Connor and his friend Kobi fishing for pink salmon at Sage Beach.

Pink Salmon are back in at the Sheldon Jackson Hatchery, and Connor is excited to catch them. Today he brought home two.

The Dolly Varden have started to show up near the beaches again. Rowan and Connor have been fishing for them this week, and Rowan managed to catch a 14″ Dolly (her first) this morning.

I noticed three Red-breasted Sapsuckers engaged in what I take to be courting behavior. They flew between various trees and utility poles near the corner of Jeff Davis and Sawmill Creek Road. They checked out some of the holes on the utility poles and seemed to be following each other around. Unfortunately I didn’t really have time to stop and watch them for an extended period, but my guess is two of them will pair up and nest in one of the two utility poles where there have been nests in several prior years.

On the way to UAS, Connor pointed out a dandelion flower. It was the first fully blooming flower I’ve seen this spring. (I’ve previously noted blueberries and skunk cabbage, but the flowers weren’t completely open at the time).

Herring spawning was taking place at Sage Beach. Connor joined the gulls in trying to take advantage of the opportunity, and managed to come home with several fish.

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Herring spawning activity brought birds and Connor to Sage Rock in hopes of catching some fish.

Herring spawn turns the water pale and results in foam being pushed up on the rocky shore.

The Pyramids rise behind Crescent Bay where gulls obscure the view of fishing boats in town for the herring fishery.

When fish get near the surface, gulls quickly fly in to try and get a meal before the fish dive down again.

Herring weather is the name given to spring days when sun and squalls move through with snow, rain, and hail. Here a squal is obscuring the Pyramids, though not Mt. Kincaid.

Connor's catch of herring. He will freeze them to be used as bait for halibut when his grandpa visits later in the year.

Connor's catch of herring. He will freeze them to be used as bait for halibut when his grandpa visits later in the year.

Connor and Rowan spent some time fishing for herring down at Crescent Harbor today.

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Hairy Rove Beetle (Creophilus maxillosus) found in the yard.

Hairy Rove Beetle (Creophilus maxillosus) found in the yard.

Connor spent some time fishing for herring while they were in at Crescent Harbor.

Connor spent some time fishing for herring while they were in at Crescent Harbor.

Rowan wanted to fish,but said she wouldn't handle the fish until she was older (maybe when she was 10 or 13), so Connor helped out.

Rowan wanted to fish,but said she wouldn't handle the fish until she was older (maybe when she was 10 or 13), so Connor helped out.

They ended up catching 27 herring in an hour or two.

I only took a few pictures on the Whalefest food web cruise today, and kept just three.

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This afternoon the kids went fishing with my dad down at Sage Beach. They had some success, but found it necessary to wade (except for the who got a ride from grandpa).

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Connor landed a Dolly Varden while fishing at Sage Beach.

Connor is especially fond of fishing and has been asking about going for quite a while. I finally got around to purchasing a fishing license today with plans to get up early with Connor to go fishing early tomorrow morning, but it was a nice evening and Connor suggested we go this evening, so I decide that would be okay.

It’s about the time of year the Dolly Varden are making their return to the sea after wintering in freshwater lakes. It is also the time when salmon fry are making their outmigration from rivers, so that provides a decent opportunity to fish for Dollies from the beach. When we arrived at Sage Beach to a falling tide, there was just enoug land showing to make it out to Sage Rock. We set up fishing from there. At first I cast a few times, then I got Connor set up and let him go. I went a short distance away and cast for a little while longer before helping Rowan.

Connor landed a Dolly Varden while fishing at Sage Beach.

Before too long, Connor had a fish. He had it on the rocks almost before I realized he even had a fish. It was not particularly large, but he was excited to catch it. He managed to get the hook out, and I did a hack-job of cleaning it. It was starting to get late, so I let Rowan cast a few more times while I cleaned, then I cast a few more times, getting one strike (but not hooking the fish) beore we packed up to go. Before leaving the beach we picked some Goose Tongue (Plantago maritima) to cook with the fish.

When we got home, I started a fire, and cooked the fish and goose tongue wrapped in foil together in the coals. The fish turned out quite tasty, but none of us cared much for the goose tongue. Connor commented that he’s liked all the greens we’ve picked and ate so far, but he didn’t like these.