Despite overcast and light rain, I decided to see if the hybrid duck would be up along the shore with the high tide around noon. It was there, but never came particularly close to me during the time I spent on the beach. At one point I saw over a dozen American Robins fly up to the trees from down the beach, and there were several Varied Thrushes calling from the forest behind me. A few Ruby-crowned Kinglets were singing in various places, but I was a little surprised to see half a dozen or more flitting about the large-ish willow near the ceramics building on the Sheldon Jackson campus. They are constantly moving, so hard to get pictures of, but I managed to get a handful I decided were worth keeping.

During my time out today, I noticed at least four different species of moths, Epirrita pulchraria, Cladara limitaria, Anticlea vasiliata, and a Eupithecia sp.

Today was also the first day I saw a salmonberry blooming, though as I write this, I can’t remember where I saw it. I guess that’s why I record observations as I wander, it will be in the database for future reference. There are also many plants getting going, including a bunch that look like seedlings on the beach. I suspect they are Atriplex, but they’re coming in thicker than I might have guessed, and it makes me wonder how so many seeds managed to not get washed away by the high winter tides. Perhaps they aren’t really seedlings? Now that I’m reflecting on this, I wish I had taken some pictures, so hopefully I get back down there before things get too far along.

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I went for a walk this morning and saw some Song Sparrows getting in to it along Etolin Street. The recording above is one singing in the Donnelley’s yard, it had been trading songs with another one across the street. I even saw them have a brief physical skirmish sort of in the middle of the road. It seems like there are quite a few more Song Sparrows along Etolin Street than in the immediate vicinity of my house. I suspect it’s because there is better habitat for them (in the form of more shrubs).

Down at the park I saw a Northern Pintail and a Black-bellied Plover. I didn’t find the Marbled Godwit I saw yesterday evening. I also heard at least one Golden-crowned Kinglet singing as well as a Pacific Wren and multiple Varied Thrushes.

Time of sit: 7:45-8:05pm

The neighbors appeared to be having a get together, as there were 7 or 8 additional cars parked along the drive during my sit. However, they were all inside and the neighborhood was quiet. There seemed to be little or no breeze, and while I could hear some birds, they were all in the distance. The only close sounds I heard were the rhythmic dripping of water from the roof where the remains of last night’s couple inches of snow were continuing to melt.

In the distance I heard Varied Thrush both northwest as well as to the south and southeast. What robins I heard seemed to be northwest quite some distance away, and at one point I also heard a Song Sparrow singing from that way. Any gulls that might have been down near the entrance to the park were quiet, but I could hear gulls from downtown. About mid-way through my sit something flushed many gulls off the buildings downtown where they like to hangout, and I saw them flying southeast toward the park.

I’m not sure why it was so quiet around the neighborhood proper this evening, but shortly after I went back inside I did hear a robin singing in the backyard. It seems plausible that it was the same robin I listened to last night.

Temperatures have been significantly warmer since last weekend. It’s been a little strange since even though the temperatures are up in the mid-40s, it doesn’t always feel warmer. I suspect it has something to do with the on-going breezes and the increase in humidity that tends to put a chill in the air. Despite warmer temperatures and some rain, the only the surface of the ground has thawed. While the ice remains below, the top layer gets over saturated with moisture and puddles form or the dirt can become a bit soupy. If temperatures remain this warm, I imagine the ground will thaw out before too long.

I’ve not done a lot of birding lately, but have noticed the first spring migrants in the form of increased gull numbers. It’s possible some waterfowl have begun to move as well, though I’ve not been looking in places where that would be clear. Some mornings around the house the bird activity has been quite high, with many Varied Thrush calling, and a Pacific Wren singing down the hill to the east-northeast. A couple of days ago I noticed a Red-breasted Sapsucker working over a Mountain Ash – the first time I’ve seen a sapsucker on a deciduous tree this year (they focus on conifers in the winter).

I haven’t seen a deer in the neighborhood for quite a while, but Connor said he saw some tracks at the edge of a pile of sand down at the base of the hill to the southwest of our house.

I haven’t noticed much in the way of spring plant emergence other than domestic plants (crocuses, snowdrops and rhubarb). Given the warm temperatures of late, I imagine the first blueberries will be blooming shortly.

Most active were the Pine Siskins – they were chattering from the trees to my east and southeast. They’re fairly aggressive and noisy at most times, but they seem to be spreading out a bit – perhaps they’re starting to separate into breeding pairs. The juncos were also chittering amongst themselves, with an occasional trilled abbreviated song thrown in. They were also mostly to my east and southeast, though lower down in the trees. I saw them flying over the house to south of me as well. Chestnut-backed Chickadees were regular, but less frequently calling, I’m not sure if they were just passing back and forth, actively feeding, or something else. A couple of times down the hill a little further off to the east, I heard a Winter Wren singing. Varied Thrushes gave a few short-quiet buzzing-calls, though mostly they were quiet (I did see one fly up to an upper tree branch when I started walking back to the house).

There were ravens calling in the further distance, and also at least one raven (possibly more) flying over the area repeatedly (though not in any pattern I noticed) making a call I find reminiscent of a shorebird. It’s kind of a rapid “tu-tu-tu-tu” or something like that. I’ve heard them make it in the past, though right now I can’t remember if it was only in the spring time or not. I did see a second raven carrying what appeared to be nesting material yesterday – so I’m curious if the call is something related to courtship/breeding.

When I first sat down at the tree I didn’t notice any sapsucker wells. This seemed odd, since the warmth of this location seemed like a good prospect to induce sap flow. It did not take much specific looking to find several wells tapped in the tree – most of them closer to the base, almost even into where the duff was covering the start of the roots. Most of the wells looked pretty dry, but I did notice more than one with small beads of sap starting to form.

At one point during my sit, I heard a squirrel alarm from the trees ESE of me, then some scurrying in the brush and leaves a short distance directly to my east. I looked over and startled a squirrel that had come down from the trees and started toward me along the ground. It jumped back to the nearest tree, climbed up to get a better look at me and then proceeded to take a detour, jumping from branch to branch and crawling along above my head. A short time a later, a second squirrel did the same thing, though this one took some time to check me out further from the trunk directly above my head. It came towards me head-first, then backed up, shifted a little bit to the side, seemingly trying to figure out who/what I was. After a few moments, it must have decided I was no longer interesting, as it returned to its former quest of chasing the first squirrel (or so it seemed to me). A few minutes later they both came running back toward the direction they had come from, with one in close pursuit of the other.

A substantial bit of melting occurred with ice on the ground through the day, but as soon as the sun was down near the horizon, it started to freeze up and become quite slippery. I actually found it kind of fun to slide down/along icy patches, but it can be treacherous.

Walking down along the harbor about 45 minutes after sunset, I enjoyed the thumbnail crescent of the moon with a bright Jupiter (I think) nearby. The lingering colors of the sunset were reflected in the harbor’s calm waters along with the harbor lights now starting to turn on. I noticed the silhouette of a Great Blue Heron standing at the water’s edge – as we approached, it’s head smoothly turned so it could keep an eye on us; suddenly twisting rapidly to look with the other eye when we had walked past it. I stopped briefly to look at it and see if it would fly off, but apparently that was not enough of a break from accepted human behavior to make it decide to move locations.

Sapsucker weather continued today, though it did begin to moderate. Temperatures reached the mid-20s, warm enough that the sun warmed ground was sufficient to start melting ice along the roads and sidewalks. Forecast is for increasing wind and cloudy conditions with temperatures still remaining chilly, but not nearly so cold as over the past few days. While out today, it seemed like the predominant wind was out of the east, though it was a bit swirly – a couple of times I was hit by small gusts coming out of the west. It also seemed as though on the water waves were coming partially out of the south.

I went on a walk around the park to get to the Post Office. I was curious about how many sapsuckers I would find. I don’t have the count handy, but I think it was at least 10 between the house and the end of the park near the river mouth, plus an additional couple later in the day that I saw in the neighborhoods around the new house. The tide was up during my walk and I noticed Mallards and Barrow’s Goldeneye were feeding quite close to the shore along the rocks at the northwest end of the little sandy cove between Merrill Rock and the bed rock out crops before Sage Rock (this was in addition to another 50 or so Mallards sleeping on gravel at Sage Beach). It’s not unusual to see Mallards close in like this, but I don’t often see Barrow’s Goldeneye feeding quite so close to shore.

Crossing the river, it appeared the ice was starting to collapse and the river was running higher. Given the still below freezing temperatures, this seemed a little odd and I didn’t think the tide was high enough to push quite that far up the river. Perhaps I should have checked out when temperatures were still down in the teens. Quite a few Varied Thrushes were foraging along the river banks, while one American Dipper was splashing about in the open water in the center of the river.

On my return from the post office, I noticed something running across the street in front of the drive to the lower park parking lot. I suspected it was a cat, but didn’t get a great look before it was out of sight behind a house. I decided to investigate more closely and found that it was a cat. It had caught a sapsucker (no doubt when it was at the base of a tree tapping – they’re not accustomed to cats as predatory threats, I suspect). I heard a squeak or two from the sapsucker and approached to investigate more closely. The cat was distracted by me, and the bird took the opportunity to roll upright and take flight, returning to the spruce trees near where it had been captured.

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Part of a group of Barrow's Goldeneye observed in front of Merrill Rock.

It's been cold enough for ice and slush to form and persist along the shoreline.

It's been cold enough for ice and slush to form and persist along the shoreline.

Wind shaped snow adds texture to the surface of the mountain slopes.

I’m trying to get out with the kids on at least a short hike once or twice a week. On at least one trip a week I would like to make sure we go up a significant hill. Hopefully starting this way will make it easier to get the kids (and myself) out on more lengthy or strenuous hikes without as much resistance. To this end, for the second Saturday in a row, we hiked up the trail from Herring Cove. While we hiked all the way around Beaver Lake last time, this time we only went up to the Bear Mountain waterfall view point. Like last week, I had done a bunch of squats the day before, however this time my legs did not feel particularly fatigued as we walked up the steeper portion of the hill.

Overnight the temperatures dropped sufficiently for precipitation to be mixed with snow. By the time we were driving out the road, we were seeing mostly snow, though it was still mixed with a bit of rain. As we hiked up the trail, we were seeing pure snow with increasing intensity. Near the waterfall viewpoint a half inch or more had accumulated in openings, with more falling steadily. As this was about 400 feet elevation, I half expected it to be mixed with rain again as we went back down, but by the time we returned, it was snowing at sea level.

The weather forecast described indicated this snow occurred as colder air from the north was pulled to the south over the Gulf of Alaska and then east as it wrapped around a low pressure center. I don’t think it is often the case that Sitka gets snow while Juneau is still seeing rain and temperatures several degrees warmer, but such was the case today.

Throughout the rest of the day, there were periodic snow and hail/graupel showers – sometimes even fairly intense. I also noticed a break or two in the clouds which allowed the sun to brighten things up for a bit.

Over the last two days a couple different people mentioned how frantically it seemed like the juncos and other sparrows were feeding. Marge suggested they might be sensing the coming snow – a behavior she has noticed before. It certainly seems like being able to gorge prior to a food-obscuring snow storm would have some survival advantage for our small winter residents.

The trail was pretty quiet on the way up – though I did hear a Pacific Wren or two. On the way back down, there was a loose flock of 20 or more Varied Thrush (it’s always hard to count these – as they are difficult to see when not moving, and they tend to be dispersed over a fair area).

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View of Herring Cove Creek near the top of the hill.

View of Herring Cove Creek near the top of the hill.

Rowan watching Herring Cove Creek from a trailside observation point.

When water levels are quite high, the creek flows under this bridge, but most times it appears to be a dry creek bed.

Rainfall was continuous today, though the intensity varied from moderate to heavy. All told, over an inch of it was recorded at the airport recording station. No doubt more fell in some of the wetter areas of town. Temperatures dropped slightly, falling into the upper 30s after spending the past several days in the 40s. The forecast is for continued cooling, with snow mixing in and then predominating over the next couple of days. As a result of today’s slightly cooler temperatures, the snow level dropped to the point where the top of Gavan Hill had snow covered trees. During my walking I only noticed a south wind blowing while I was down near the harbor. For some reason it didn’t seem to have much staying power across the land – at least not at ground level. The wind blown precipitation (snow at higher levels and rain lower, I imagine) or wispy clouds were being pushed along the slopes of Gavan Hill suggested there was plenty of action higher up, however.

My outside time today consisted primarily of a bit of walking around to visit the new house, downtown, and then over to Marge and Tedin’s to get the bird observations from last week. Swan Lake is still mostly iced over, though the open water is increasing in area. I saw 5 or more Ring-necked Ducks on the lake today – up a couple from previously. I also noticed 3 or 4 American Wigeons in open water toward the upper end of the lake. I took a short cut across the sedgy area at the very upper end of the lake flushing 8 Mallards who took off at my intrusion near their hangout. As they flew I was a little surprised to see a Pacific Wren pop out of a clump of last year’s sedges. Oddly silent (I would have expected some alarm chips at least), it landed in a nearby alder branch to take a size me up before flying on. It seemed a strange habitat for wrens – I’m much more used to seeing them in brushy and/or forested areas. While at Marge and Tedin’s, I was able to get some decent looks at the White-throated Sparrow that’s been splitting time between there and the feeders near Moller Park this winter. Would be nice to get more pictures of this species, but today wasn’t so great for that.

Of course there were many other bird sightings today, but the highlight of my day was probably the 10-15 (or more) Varied Thrushes with an equal number of Dark-eyed Juncos I watched for a few moments out my back window as they foraged in the backyard. I was standing up and getting things together to go when motion caught my eyes. I looked out back and didn’t see much, until I caught another little movement and saw a Varied Thrush hopping about. It didn’t take long to realize there were quite a view thrushes and juncos back there, and I was fascinated by how well they all blended in. The effect it created was that chunks of the ground itself were shifting about.

It’s easy to understand how juncos can blend in with their drab browns, grays, and blacks, but Varied Thrushes have such bright oranges that seem so boldly contrasted with the darker grays and blacks it seems like they should stand out. Instead, even when I was watching the bird as it stopped moving, it almost seemed to disappear against the background. With the whole backyard covered by a loose flock of these birds it was somewhat disconcerting to catch the movement in my peripheral vision only to see what at first glance appeared to be just the ground and ground cover. Only when the bird standing there moved again did it become obvious that it was there. The overall effect of the 20-30 birds scattered in the yard was a little unsettling since the ground isn’t supposed to move like that.

Marge Ward has lived in Sitka for over 60 years and Marlys Tedin nearly as long. They have been recording their daily bird observations since 1980 using 5×7 inch note cards, with a row for each species. This time of year the number of species they observer in a given week doesn’t usually require more than two cards, though at other times they may nearly fill three. Marge often writes additional notes on the back giving additional details about some observations of particular interest, weather observations, or reports of non-bird plants and animals.

Although their records are an amazing store of information about bird occurrence in the Sitka area, it is not so easy to sort through and access in card form. Over the past year or so, I’ve started working to get their observations into a computer database by using a CyberTracker application I created for that purpose. Last winter I made some progress on getting through the historical records, but as the season changed, I became busy with other things and have done little work on the older records since then. I have kept up with current observations, however. I try to visit them most Fridays to get the most recent week’s observations put in.

My only significant time outside today was walking over to Marge and Tedin’s place. Temperatures have continued to be in the upper 30s and low 40s, and although the ground remains frozen, most of the surface snow and ice in the central part of town is gone. It had been some time since I was by Swan Lake, and I was interested to see that it remained covered in ice, though the ice had an inch or more of water on top of it. (I remember walking/skating across the ice in such conditions more than once when I was on my way home from my paper route – but I don’t think I would feel comfortable doing it these days.) Despite the lack of open water, there were 45 or more Mallards and over 10 Glaucous-winged Gulls at the peninsula.

While visiting with Marge and Tedin, I mentioned that robins had been around this past week, but they said they hadn’t seen any at their place. Apparently, in winter at least, the robins prefer other neighborhoods. We also talked about the arrival of Pine Siskins at feeders this week. There had been a individual Pine Siskin or two visiting the feeders at my house, but today there was a sizable flock feeding on the ground in the neighborhood, and making stop by our feeders. I noticed another flock foraging on a gravel driveway along Lake Street – I suspect they were going after conifer and/or alder seeds that were probably released during the last cold snap. Marge commented that the first flock of siskins she had seen at their feeders in a while was today as well.

During our visit we had commented on the abundance of Varied Thrushes this year. I mentioned seeing a couple of loose flocks while on a hike up Indian River last weekend. It was interesting because they weren’t together like a flock of starlings or finches might be, but rather moving in a much more distributed association. When Marge and Tedin dropped me off at the bottom of the hill, we saw 10 or more Varied Thrush – most of them foraging on a mossy roof, but a few more poking about on the gravel road in front of the maintenance building. When they spooked as I got out of the car, they all flew off in the same direction, but only one or two at a time.

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Marge Ward and Marlys Tedin's observation notes for 11-17 Jan 2011.

Marge Ward and Marlys Tedin's observation notes for 11-17 Jan 2011.

Marge Ward and Marlys Tedin's observation notes for 11-17 Jan 2011.

My primary impression of winters in Sitka is not so much shaped by cold temperatures or the amount of snow that falls, but rather what happens in the days after it snows. When a high pressure from the Yukon pushes over Southeast Alaska, we can get a period of days to even a couple weeks of temperatures down into the 20s and teens. As the high pressure weakens together with a low moving in from the Gulf of Alaska, it’s not unusual to get a day or two where snow falls before it warms enough to become rain. All too often, it seems like the temperatures rise to only just above freezing and remain there for several days. It’s also not unusual for there to be wind and decent amounts of rainfall as well. Today was a day like that.

Late last night I noticed the snow in the backyard seemed exceptionally bright, so I stepped out on to the front porch to have a look. High in the sky towards the south, I could see the practically full moon shining through a thin layer of clouds. This break in the heavy cloud cover allowed the ground to cool off dramatically – something it did not need that much help with considering all the snow, slush, and ice that was already there. By the time the sun was rising, heavy clouds were back, and it had started to rain. Over 3/4 of an inch fell throughout the day, and with snow and ice effectively blocking drainage down and over the surface, pools of standing water formed. Where foot or vehicle traffic had been adequate to compact the snow, but not enough to wear it completely away, this resulted in a layer of water over a sheet of ice. These treacherous conditions are one of the hallmarks of a Sitka winter, for me.

My memories of winter are probably shaped in no small part by the 4+ years I spent walking my paper route five days a week delivering the Sitka Sentinel. The physical difficulty and discomfort of walking along the icy and slushy sidewalks and side roads (or getting sprayed by slush churned up by passing motorists on the main roads) in cold rainy and dark conditions probably makes these times stand out more to me than they might for others. I don’t really remember how I felt about it at the time, but these days I do not mind it too much. It can be a little annoying when I catch an especially slippery spot of ice and land on my butt in a puddle of ice water, but fortunately that does not happen too often. It can even be fun to sort of skate along the lumpy sidewalk ice like I did a bit this afternoon.

I only got outside briefly today. I decided to take a short walk over to the new house to see what progress they had made since yesterday. Around the house through the course of the day I noticed the usual suspects calling – even heard some Varied Thrushes through the windows this morning. Connor and Rowan were excited by Pine Siskins visiting the feeders they had set up. They tried, but were unable to get any video, however. They got the camera a couple of times, but it seems as though the siskins would spook and fly off before they were able to record anything.

Most likely an eggshell from a recently hatched Varied Thrush. The adults of many species apparently take the shells away from the nest so they do not become an attractant to predators.

This eggshell fragment was laying on the moss at the edge of a gravel bar on Indian River shortly above the second bridge. Given the size and color, I figured it must be a thrush egg. However, it seems a bit too early for Hermit Thrushes and especially Swainson’s Thrushes to have nestlings. American Robin eggs are pure blue, and the book I have about eggs and nestlings shows Varied Thrush eggs being pure blue as well. I took a look on the Birds of North America On-line account of Varied Thrush and found a photo there of eggs with light speckling. Though that example was not nearly as speckled as this, given the time and location, my best guess is this was from a recently hatched Varied Thrush. I do not expect the nest was particularly close, as it is my understanding that many bird parents will carry such things away from the nest in an effort to help avoid detection and predation of their young.

Most likely an eggshell from a recently hatched Varied Thrush. The adults of many species apparently take the shells away from the nest so they do not become an attractant to predators.

Pile of Varied Thrush feathers observed in Totem Park.

While taking a shortcut through the park yesterday, Connor and I happened upon four piles of Varied Thrush feathers like the one seen here. I could not decide how many kills the feather piles represented, but I’m pretty sure it was more than one and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was less than four. Most were dominated by body feathers, and a couple had flight feathers as well. Given the still fluffy nature of the body feathers and the fact that they were still fairly well contained despite a significant blow Friday night and Saturday, I suspect they were relatively fresh. However, I’m not absolutely sure because I do not know whether the wind would have blown through that exact area in such a way to spread the feathers, nor do I know how long body feathers stay fluffy in snow and rain.

Another question is how far apart the kills were made (assuming there were in fact more than one). The piles did have varying amounts of body feathers, but I am not sure whether that might have been due to moving during plucking, or if the wind might have blown some away on the older kills.

As for what made the kills, I am suspecting an owl, probably a Western Screech Owl, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a Sharp-shinned Hawk or Northern Goshawk. I’ve heard that owls will usually eat the bird whole, while hawks will leave parts such as the wings, head, and feet. I did not see any parts, so this might suggest an owl was responsible. I suppose it’s possible that a screech owl has a nest in the area and was getting food to feed its mate.

Varied Thrush Calls: This Varied Thrush gave a nice demonstration of some of the different calls they make.
Download Varied Thrush Calls

Wind Gust: The wind was really blowing through the trees at various times last night. Recorded at 00:57. Download Wind Gust

River Otter and Mystery Sound: Another clip of river otter chirping in the distance on a windy evening made more interesting by some strange high frequency sounds. I do not remember noticing them when I first went through the recording, but I cannot figure out how they would have been introduced during a simple copy/paste operation. I have included a Spectrogram of the clip to show how the mystery sounds extend out of the frequency range I can easily hear. It seems odd that they go through each channel sequentially, but I am at a loss to explain why that might happen. At this point I am thinking it’s most likely some type of interference, though perhaps it is biological in origin. Download River Otter and Mystery Sound

Varied Thrush: Another type of call from Varied Thrush. Recorded at 08:25. Download Varied Thrush

Red Squirrel: Recorded at 07:41. Download Red Squirrel

Varied Thrush: Both ‘songs’ and their contact calls (sound like ‘chup’) can be here. I think the singing birds might be hatch year individuals, as they sound somewhat tentative. Recorded at 07:42. Download Varied Thrush

Varied Thrush: What I take to be a single bird practicing his(?) singing. Recorded at 07:46. Download Varied Thrush

Red Squirrel: I am not sure what, if anything, this type of vocalization means coming from a Red Squirrel. They can (and this one did, though I cut the clip short) go on for several minutes chattering away like this. Download Red Squirrel

Pine Siskins: One of the fairly distinctive elements to Pine Siskin vocalization is the zipper call. That call can be heard a couple of times in this clip. Download Pine Siskins

Mystery Calls: I am pretty sure these are from a Varied Thrush, but it’s not their typical sound.Download Mystery Calls

Winter Wren Singing: Although they are not singing as frequently or powerfully, the Winter Wrens are still occasionally belting out a stanza or two of song. I am not sure when/if the Winter Wrens stop singing completely for the winter.Download Winter Wren Singing