I was up and about early enough to catch sunrise at Crescent Harbor (much easier this time of year). Although it wasn’t really cloudy, the pink in the sky seemed particularly intense. Later in the day Connor, Rowan, and I spent some time at Halibut Point Rec.

[Show slideshow]

Many years July is not very sunny. This year has been an exception with many nice sunny days and temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s during the day.  I haven’t been out hiking as much as I might like, but I have been getting some progress made on my yard with the help of my parents who have been visiting this week. This evening’s sunset was pleasant, so I stopped to take a picture that also showed how little snow is left on the mountains compared to last year when I am not sure this much ever melted off.

Still fighting a head cold, and despite pretty nice weather for this time of year, spent much of the day inside trying to rest.

Snow level dropped a little last night compared to recent days, but still up close to 2000 feet. With skies clearing by around mid-morning (too late for the eclipse, though I had planned to get up and at least have a look, I barely woke up when I turned off the alarm and was pretty much immediately back to sleep), it made for some pretty spectacular views. I have always liked the look of fresh snow part way down the mountain with clear blue skies above.

Was interesting to see both a Common Loon and a Pacific Loon at the mouth of the harbor. The other bird observation of interest was a loose flock of Pine Grosbeaks actively flying and calling around the neighborhood. It was hard to get a good count, but there were certainly at least 7, and I think probably 10 or more.

It was a pleasant sunny day. The kids spent time down at the beach this morning, bringing back a starry flounder for me to photograph. This afternoon we walked over to UAS.

[Show slideshow]

Connor and Rowan found this Starry Flounder at the beach and brought it home to look at before taking it back to release it.

Early Blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium) blooming near Crescent Harbor.

Early Blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium) blooming near Crescent Harbor.

Rowan wanted me to photograph her running up the steep face of the rock at Crescent Park.

Rowan wanted me to photograph her running up the steep face of the rock at Crescent Park.

Rowan wanted me to photograph her running up the steep face of the rock at Crescent Park.

Rowan wanted me to photograph her running up the steep face of the rock at Crescent Park.

Rowan wanted me to photograph her running up the steep face of the rock at Crescent Park.

Rowan takes a look at the school of salmon fry near the shore in Crescent Harbor.

Connor takes a look at the school of salmon fry near the shore in Crescent Harbor.

The Fish and Game biologist reported there were large numbers of Herring in Crescent Bay even after the opening there last week. They have now been spawning for 2 or 3 days along the shoreline – coloring the water a pale green.

[Show slideshow]

Spawning herring have turned the waters green in and around Crescent Harbor.

Spawning herring have turned the waters green in and around Crescent Harbor.

I was up before 6 this morning and took a walk down to O’Connell Bridge. It was enjoyable to take some long-exposure photographs in the predawn light.

[Show slideshow]

The sky is just starting to lighten behond the mountains to the east.

A troller headed out leaves an odd pattern of light trails behind it in this long exposure.

The Sisters are in Silhouette behind the sodium vapor lights casting their yellow glow over the boats in Crescent Harbor.

City lights illuminate O'Connell bridge with Mt. Edgecumbe in the background.

City lights illuminate O'Connell bridge with Mt. Edgecumbe in the background.

O'Connell Bridge before dawn.

A bright glitter path illuminates the waters of Sitka Sound below a nearly moon.

The kids and I walked down to Crescent Harbor this morning to see the unusual currents flowing in and out of the harbor mouth as a series of small tsunamis reached the shore. The largest water level change I noted was probably about a bit over 1 foot, but it was an impressive amount of water to move in the few minutes it took for the water level to change.

[Show slideshow]

Unusual currents were flowing in and out of Crescent Harbor every few minutes due to small tsunamis from the large earthquake in Japan.

Unusual currents were flowing in and out of Crescent Harbor every few minutes due to small tsunamis from the large earthquake in Japan.

Unusual currents were flowing in and out of Crescent Harbor every few minutes due to small tsunamis from the large earthquake in Japan.

Unusual currents were flowing in and out of Crescent Harbor every few minutes due to small tsunamis from the large earthquake in Japan.

Unusual currents were flowing in and out of Crescent Harbor every few minutes due to small tsunamis from the large earthquake in Japan.

Was fairly busy today with various things and ended up running late so had to hurry to get to UAS in time for class, but still thought it worth taking a couple of minutes to enjoy the Trumpeter Swans that flew in and landed at Crescent Harbor. We were walking along the harbor by the cruise ship lightering float when I heard a brief honk and noticed four swans flying over the Lincoln Street side of the harbor coming from the direction of Totem Park. I thought they might fly over to Swan Lake, but instead the banked left towards us and landed in front of the lightering float.

As I walked down the ramp to see about getting a picture, they swam over to check me out as well – so I suspect they’ve been getting handouts somewhere. I took a few pictures and they seemed to decide I wasn’t offering anything they were interested in, so started swimming away. As I was heading back up the ramp, the kids asked about going down to get a better look, so I let them. The swans came back a little closer to make sure they didn’t have anything as well. Rowan told me it was the closest she had ever been to a swan and Connor said they just about could have reached out and touched them.

It’s been a good year for swans along the road system. There have been as many as 12 at Starrigavan – where they seem to stay pretty consistently. At various times I’ve heard of other swans being seen at Jamestown Bay, Thimbleberry Lake, Swan Lake, and now Crescent Harbor. I saw 11 swans at the upper end of a largely frozen Thimbleberry Lake yesterday, and I suspect these 4 I saw today were part of that bunch. I’m not sure why the swans at Starrigavan would tend to stay put more, while these others are apparently more inclined to move around.

Weather today was overcast with little precipitation through daylight hours. This evening it did start raining, however. Winds were calm in town, though it appeared there might be a breeze out of Silver Bay into Eastern Channel when I looked that way from Crescent Harbor.

[Show slideshow]

Two adult and two juvenile Trumpeter Swans in Crescent Harbor.

Trumpeter Swans in Crescent Harbor.

Trumpeter Swans in Crescent Harbor.

Trumpeter Swan in Crescent Harbor.

Two adult and two juvenile Trumpeter Swans in Crescent Harbor.

Two adult and two juvenile Trumpeter Swans in Crescent Harbor.

Two adult and two juvenile Trumpeter Swans in Crescent Harbor.

After catching the free brown bag concert put on by the Jazz Festival the kids and I got caught in a little snow squall. We waited out the strongest of it at the Crescent Harbor shelter as the snow, mostly in the form of graupel, fell. The forecast had called for snow with no accumulation, but by the end of the day the snow on the ground was approaching an inch deep.

The ice at Swan Lake continues to retreat. There were three Ring-necked Ducks, quite a few Glaucous-winged Gulls, at least one Thayer’s Gull, as well as Mallards and scaups. Today’s mix of scaups was different than yesterday’s, with two male Greater Scaups hanging together while another group of 5 Lesser Scaup males dove repeatedly at the edge of the ice. After the Greater Scaups moved around the peninsula to where the Lesser Scaups were, it was interesting to be able to compare them more directly and see some differences.

I noticed a Common Ragwort (Senecio vulgaris) with flowers still present. It was under a pine tree at the town end of the Lincoln Street green belt. Presumably the cover provided by the pine kept the plant from being significantly damaged by the frost. It seems unlikely the flowers will be able to produce seed, but I guess as temperatures rise in the coming months it will be interesting to see.

[Show slideshow]

Snow falls at Crescent Harbor.

Snow falls at Crescent Harbor.

Greater Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

Greater and Lesser Scaups observed on Swan Lake.

An predicted 11.6 high tide was enhanced significantly to look more like a 13ft tide by a strong low pressure system and associated storm.

This past week 2 or 3 low pressure centers merged in the eastern Gulf of Alaska to create an exceptionally strong low pressure system. Strong low pressure systems are typically associated with strong winds, big waves, and storm surge that leads to higher tides. Accordingly, Sitka was under a Wind Advisory from the National Weather Service that lasted from early Wednesday morning through Friday morning. Marine forecasts called for seas to 34 feet (which probably contributed to the surf in coastal Washington).

Coincidentally, the high tide predicted for Thursday afternoon was one of the higher ones of the year at 11.6 feet (for context, the very highest predicted tide of the year tends to be between 12.7 and 13 feet, depending on the year, and much of the year tides don’t get above 11 feet). Based on my subjective impression of the water height at Crescent Harbor (see photo above), I thought it was easily above 12 feet, and maybe pushing closer to 13 feet. Later, I was able to find the coastal water level monitoring data from NOAA and saw that the observed water level was nearly 13.4 ft, almost 1.4 feet above the predicted level.

The highest water level I remember seeing was during the 1984 Thanksgiving Day storm. I remember driving out the road with my parents and brother to look at the ocean near the time of the predicted high tide. Waves were pushing rocks up on the parking lot at Sandy Beach, Nelson Logging Road was well under water, and the waves were splashing up underneath the furthest-out trailer at Arrowhead Trailer Court (subsequently fill and a rip-rap wall was added to protect the trailers). On a subsequent hunting trip, I saw debris that had obviously been deposited by a high tide up in the woods several feet off the beach.

I was able to find historical information on the Sitka Station page of the NOAA Tides & Currents site. The predicted tide for that day was about 12.3 feet, but the maximum reported observation was nearly 14.6 feet. A higher predicted tide and greater storm associated increase made that tide much more significant than the one this past week which was unusually high, but not hugely so.

Yesterday I did not feel all that great after a relatively poor night of sleep, though I did stop by Swan Lake briefly and get out on a walk to the park with Connor.

Today I stopped by Swan Lake this morning after dropping Connor off at school. I also stopped by Centennial Building and to look around on my way home. Late this morning I took advantage of pleasant weather to go for a walk to Totem Park.

Weather: Yesterday was rainy and a bit breezy. Snow level dropped to about 2900 feet or so. Today it started out overcast, but became partly cloudy for much of the late morning and early afternoon. Clouds moved in again later in the afternoon, though I did not notice any rain. This evening after sunset there were clear skies over town. The temperature this morning was near 40, and the snow level behind town was probably around 2700 feet. Mt. Edgecumbe was mostly covered in clouds when I looked, but what I could see through the breaks appeared to have no snow, despite the crater rim’s elevation being between 2800 and 3200 feet in elevation. Perhaps the far side (which is the higher part) had snow, or it was just warmer out there.

Birds: Yesterday the two scaups were still at Swan Lake. I also saw three American Wigeons, and the Cackling Goose. At Totem Park we noted the Ruddy Turnstone, American Pipits, Savannah Sparrows and the Spotted Sandpiper.

This morning at Swan Lake I saw two American Wigeons, two Greater Scaups, a Hooded Merganser (on the HPR side of the lake), and the Cackling Goose.

On the rocks near the Crescent Harbor boat ramp, there were quite a few Black Turnstones and Surfbirds. They alternated between the rocks just inside the breakwater, the rocks on the outside of the breakwater, and the rocks across the Kettleson Library cove. There were probably more than 100 birds in total, with most of them Black Turnstones. I saw perhaps 10 Surfbirds.

As I was leaving the house for my walk, I noticed two Song Sparrows singing back and forth. One was by Austin House, the other in the large elderberry just down the drive. I think the sunshine brought out the urge to sing, as I heard more Song Sparrows singing down along the beach also.

There were quite a few Black Turnstones and a few gulls at Sage Beach. There were also several Harlequin Ducks.

I think I saw a couple of Red-necked Grebes out in Crescent Bay.

There was a Hermit Thrush along the beach at the same place where one seemed to join me for a time on my walk a couple of days ago. A little further up the beach I saw two more Hermit Thrushes. Later I also saw another Hermit Thrush in the woods near the trail as it nears the bridge across the river.

There were quite a few Savannah Sparrows and not quite as many Song Sparrows scatter about foraging at the upper part of the beach.

I do not know if it’s coincidental timing or not, but the number of gulls at Totem Park has been much less in the few days since I saw the goshawk kill the gull. At first I thought it might be because I was visiting at high tides, but today the tide was out a bit and there were still far fewer gulls. There are fewer salmon carcasses on the beach, but most of the gulls on the beach before were not eating at the time anyway. Today I saw perhaps a couple of hundred gulls in 2 or 3 flocks at different places on the tide flats. I saw some Black-legged Kittiwakes out from the beach between the Battlesite and the River Mouth.

At the river mouth there were 50+ Harlequin Ducks, 5 Northern Pintails, a Green-winged Teal, several Mallards, 4 Barrow’s Goldeneye, and around 15 Surf Scoters. The goldeneyes were the first I have seen this fall. Six Common Mergansers flew up to the river while I was watching, but by the time I got up there, I only saw 2 diving at the lower part of the estuary. I was interested to see a Northern Pintail diving with them. I think of pintails as dabbling ducks, so it was strange to see this one diving, presumably for salmon eggs. It seemed to require more effort to get underwater than the mergansers did.

There were quite a few gulls in the estuary and river, but still not as many as I had seen last week and before.

On my walk around the flats I also saw several Pelagic Cormorants and I think one Double-crested Cormorant.

[Show slideshow]