On a Lifelong Journey to Learn my Place
Animals
On many occasions I’ve noticed Ochre stars (Pisaster ochraceus) gathered up together in semi-protected rock crevices. It’s easy to imagine they do that because it’s a good place to stay together and have protection from pounding surf when thee tide is at that level, and the effects of drying when the tide drops lower. However, … Read more
Weather-wise, things seemed much nicer than forecast, at least in the morning, though I didn’t spend a lot of time out in it. I decided to take care of several collections from the past week or two that had been sitting in my freezer. It was time to free up the containers and take care … Read more
While doing the breeding bird survey recently, I happened to notice a thrush land in a tree across from where I was about to start counting. It hopped around a little bit, and then settled in. It took me a moment to realize that the bird must have a nest that it was sitting in. … Read more
I woke up fairly early this morning (5:30am) and heard one of the neighborhood Song Sparrows singing. There are several around the broader neighborhood, but one in particular favors a perch that makes it very audible from my place. At some point I’ll try to go through and see if I can figure out how … Read more
This morning started very early – as the only day forecast to be nice weather this week, it seemed like the best bet for getting the breeding bird survey done. The survey consists of 50 stops, each .5 miles apart. At each stop I was supposed to observe (listen/look) for 3 minutes and record all … Read more
Ancient Murrelets are considered fairly common in Southeast Alaska, except in winter, when they are considered uncommon. However, it seems they are not actually very common through much of the region, as no local checklist currently lists them as more abundant than uncommon (Glacier Bay), and all the checklists from inside waters have their occurrence … Read more