It was interesting to see the progress they’ve made in expanding the runway. A lot of rock has gone in already, and they’re still moving more of it into place everyday.

Tuesday
We went back to the park, and both kids decided to wander through the woods. The tide was up, and the weather wasn’t so pleasant, so I made quick work of my beach watching and walked along up the river side of the beach-side loop. While near the bridge, I saw an eagle flying through the forest, again looking like it had a murre in its talons. The forest is thick enough that I did not even bother trying to figure out where it went, but continued on out to the main entrance. Despite waiting a while along the trail, I had not seen Connor and Rowan come out, so I decided to wait a bit longer near the visitor’s center.

Thoughts
I don’t know how often eagles take murres. I’ve never seen it happen before, though that could be a function of where murres are usually found. On Monday there was a pretty large group of them off Jamestown Bay, and I suspect that’s where the first eagle picked up its bird. It was a little more difficult to tell if they were still out there on Tuesday, but I suspect at least some were. In talking to Marge Ward, she thought some eagles might have started to figure out murres could be a good food source a couple of years back when there were many eagles in town starving to death (dozens were turned in to the raptor center by March – more than usually were turned in over a full year).

There were other odd murre occurrences this week as well. I heard of at least two dead murres found with no apparent injuries, one on the water, and another washed ashore. There is at least one murre that has been seen almost constantly in Crescent Harbor. I saw it yesterday, and it seemed fairly lethargic, though it’s possible that it is more active at other times. I also saw an additional couple of murres at the mouth of Crescent Harbor. I do not think this is very typical. It makes me wonder if there’s an illness afflicting the murres, killing some of them, and making others a little less able to avoid predation.

The kids and I took a short walk through Totem Park hoping to pick up a Red-breasted Sapsucker for count week, but were unsuccessful in that regard. We did hear a Red-tailed Hawk call, so that more than made up for the miss on the sapsucker. We also found a fairly large Ganoderma growing on a hemlock.

A little later I watched a Common Murre that seemed strangely lethargic in Crecent Harbor. There were another two at the mouth of the harbor, one of which I watched climb up on a rock – though when I walked out on the breakwater, it slid back into the water and swam off. I am wondering if perhaps there’s something going on with the murres around here.

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Rowan was impressed by the size of this Ganoderma tsugae we found in Totem Park.

Rowan was impressed by the size of this Ganoderma tsugae we found in Totem Park.

Ganoderma tsugae growing on a western hemlock in Totem Park.

Ganoderma tsugae growing on a western hemlock in Totem Park.

Common Murre in Crescent Harbor.

Common Murre in Crescent Harbor.

Common Murre in Crescent Harbor.

Common Murre in Crescent Harbor.

Common Murre in Crescent Harbor.

Walked down to Totem Park with the kids again today. It was pretty rainy for much of the time we were there, though the rain stopped and skies lightened a bit before we left.

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Remains of a bird, probably a Common Murre, most likely consumed by an eagle.

Many feathers are caught in the branches where a Bald Eagle is plucking its lunch (probably a Common Murre).

Many feathers are caught in the branches where a Bald Eagle is plucking its lunch (probably a Common Murre).

Buckiella undulata growing at base of a spruce tree.

Mt. Kincaid casting shadows into the mist and.

I had intended to take a short walk down to Totem Park to check if any shorebirds were out that way and hopefully find a Rock Sandpiper – a species which I know is around, but had not been seen during yesterdays bird count. It didn’t quite work out that way, but that was because there were interesting things to be observing.

First up was a Western Screech Owl on Etolin Street – the first I’ve seen in daylight, and only about the third time I’ve actually seen one at all (though I’ve heard them many times).

Then down at the park I got distracted by conversation with a couple of different people – heard some interesting things about the goings-on of birds an other animals. Including ducks at Totem Park and Sea Otters out at Halibut Point Rec. (In one of the videos [update: no longer available] made by one of the people I was talking to – there is part of it you can observed Mallards working over the cobbles in Indian River for food, as well as seeing a Common Merganser try and come in to steal some bites – at least that’s what I think is going on.)

While out on the flats looking for the shorebirds, I looked up as the gulls and crows went into a bird plow. Spotted an eagle with something in its talons flying my way.

There was an odd duck out in the bay in front of Indian River mouth – too far away to get a very good look at. Also lots of birds out from Jamestown Bay, too far to identify as well.

Finally I started back home and then spent more time watching and photographing the owl, as well as showing some other passers-by.

The whole time there were interesting atmospheric displays as the clouds were breaking up in front of the sun.

In the end it was a fairly full day wandering around, seeing the sights, and then editing the photos later. I think the owl and eagle photos deserve their own post. The photos are in the album here, but I think I’ll write a separate post in the next couple of days to tell those stories a little better.

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Western Screech Owl found roosting in a spruce tree along Etolin Street.

Western Screech Owl found roosting in a spruce tree along Etolin Street.

Western Screech Owl found roosting in a spruce tree along Etolin Street.

A Great Blue Heron patrols a tidepool at Totem Park with Mt. Edgecumbe rising behind O'Connell Bridge in the background.

Bald Eagle flight with Common Murre prey.

Bald Eagle flight with Common Murre prey.

Snow-covered Mt. Edgecumbe as seen from Totem Park.

Sun rays radiate down over Eastern Channel with the Pyramids providing a dark background.

Sun rays radiate down over Eastern Channel with the Pyramids providing a dark background.

A Trumpeter Swan takes off from Indian River Estuary with storage containers making for a fairly developed looking background.

I was puzzled by this bird until getting a look at it in this full resolution (drastically cropped) scale. I believe it is a young White-winged Scoter.

Female Common Mergansers foraging in shallow water at Mouth of Indian River.

Female Common Mergansers foraging in shallow water at Mouth of Indian River.

Female Common Mergansers foraging in shallow water at Mouth of Indian River.

Sun rays shining from behind clouds with a bit of iridescence in the clouds at the lower left.

Cumulus clouds and sun rays.

Cumulus clouds and sun rays.

Western Screech Owl found roosting in a spruce tree along Etolin Street.

Western Screech Owl found roosting in a spruce tree along Etolin Street.

Bald Eagle flight with Common Murre prey.

Bald Eagle flight with Common Murre prey.

Bald Eagle flight with Common Murre prey.

The first has taken off and the next two are getting ready to get up to speed.

Common Merganser gaining speed to achieve flight.

Horned Puffin observed near Guide Island.

It was a good day for alcids out on the water yesterday. There was little wind, and the islands did a good job of blocking the swell, so conditions were good for viewing. Highlights included a Pigeon Guillemot back in its summer blacks, a couple of early Rhinoceros Auklets, a Horned Puffin, bunches of Marbled Murrelets, and over 1000 Common Murres (with some already back in their summer dress). There were quite a few murres in Krestof Sound and other locations, but the vast majority observed were in Nakwasina Sound.

Rhinoceros Auklets are Rare to Very Rare around in the winter.

Horned Puffin observed near Guide Island.

North side of the west end of St. Lazaria.

Sunlight on St. Lazaria Island on an early June evening.

I was reminded of a trip out to St. Lazaria earlier this month when I ran into someone I know who is spending the summer out there working for the Fish and Wildlife Service monitoring seabird populations. St. Lazaria is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and is home to hundreds of thousands of breeding birds, mostly storm-petrels and alcids.

I was interested to find out that most of the alcids have only just begun nesting, though the Fork-tailed Storm-petrels are much further along, with some chicks already present in the burrow nests. The Glaucous-winged Gulls also had chicks, but it sounds like many of them may have perished in an unusually strong storm for this time of year. The waves were crashing up on the outer cliffs, and even wrapping around the west end of the island and battering the usually well protected cove, totaling the skiff used by the FWS scientists and moving the anchor around to the east side of the island in the process. Carrie said she thought the waves were probably 18 feet high, splashing well up the cliff. The sound of the waves was impressive, creating a feeling like the cabin was shaking, despite not being directly exposed to the waves. Hearing about this storm reminded me of my desire to get out to a remote stretch of the outer coast before a large storm rolls in and watch the waves pound the shoreline (from a safe distance, of course).

Waves would have been crashing well up the cliffs shown here during the storm.