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.

A Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Red-breasted Nuthatch trade calls. This was one of the last times I heard a nuthatch around the house, though I have heard them elsewhere in town, since. Recorded the morning of 11 November.

After my return, the Bald Eagles seemed to be the first birds to greet the day. Some mornings they are perched in the trees right behind the house. Recorded morning of 29 November.

The night of the 29-30 November, was a busy one for Marbled Murrelets. There are two clips on this recording, the first one sounds like the bird was quite close, and if I’m interpreting the sound correctly, there’s the smear of an echo with it. The second was from 10 or 15 seconds later, more distant. Perhaps the same bird on a return flight? Recorded at 03:28 am.

Chestnut-backed Chickadees are reputed to be cheerful even in foul weather. This one didn’t seemed to have its spirits dampened by the chilly November rain.

Ravens make a wide variety of different calls. On this recording there are three different clips with 4 different types of calls in the foreground (and another in the far background). Perhaps some day I’ll come up with descriptive names for the different ones I record. Recorded morning of 30 November.

More Raven calls, these from the morning of 1 December. This clip features what I might call the frog croak call as well as the more typical caw.

Marbled Murrelets: I suspect all of these are Marbled Murrelets. I’m confident in the first one, and the last part of the second, but less so about the others, as the calls are more like chirps than the ‘keer’ calls of Marbled Murrelets. However, I would not be surprised if Marbled Murrelets chirp also. The initial chirps in the second clip have a very similar sound quality to the following ‘keer’ calls, so it seems likely to be a Marbled Murrelet throughout. Trying to puzzle these chirps out has made me curious if Marbled Murrelets might respond to River Otters chirping.

Marbled Murrelets: The first Marbled Murrelet calls I noticed were just before 3am. They continued on sporadically through at last 5am. It’s not really known why Marbled Murrelets fly inland during the night throughout the year, though in the summer they do so to visit their nests.
Download Marbled Murrelet 1
Download Marbled Murrelet 2
Download Marbled Murrelet 3

Mystery Call: There’s probably not much hope for figuring out this call. The first call is obscured somewhat by a Marbled Murrelet call, and a second call is much fainter.
Mystery Call

Duck Flyover: I think I’ll try to start paying more attention to the sound of ducks flying in order to see if I can figure out species by the sound of their flight.
Duck Flyover

Raven Calls: Another Raven vocalization that I’ve not caught on recording previously.
Download Raven Calls