Winds were fierce through the night, topping out with 53 mph sustained winds on the 3:53 observation (81 mph gust) and a gust of 86 mph the 4:53 am update (though down to 37 mph sustained). The breeze was still quite stiff when the kids and I walked down to Totem Park later in the morning. Park trails were closed due to high winds, so we just walked down the beach a ways before heading back. The play of light as sun rays illuminated rain squalls through small gaps in the clouds. It might have been nice to get some video (straight or maybe time lapse) – but conditions weren’t so inspiring for hanging out in the open very long.

Later this afternoon I heard a report of a Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake. I made a quick stop at the lake and grabbed some pictures of it, but will write it up in a separate post.

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The wind was stili blowing hard when we saw sunligiht briightening a rain squall this morning.

Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake

Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake

Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake

Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake

Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake

Red-throated Loon on Swan Lake

On today’s cultural mentoring calls we talked about the impact of having someone to tell stories to. Someone who is able to listen fully and share in the excitement of an experience we wish to share. I was reminded again of how many times Connor or Rowan come to me with a story they want to tell me. I don’t always have the time or energy to fully engage with them in those moments – and sometimes I wonder if that will have a lasting negative impact on them. Fortunately, I’m not the only one they have to tell their stories to. As I listened to what other participants had to share, I reflected on my own experiences. I don’t really remember specifics of wanting to tell my stories when I was a kid – though I have no doubt I was like most other kids in this regard. By the time I reached adulthood, I was become pretty good at tempering my enthusiasm. While an even temperament probably does have some benefits, the way I’ve pursued it seems to have made it more difficult for me to provide a good reception for the story telling of others. I think it also has made it more challenging for me to engage as fully with the natural world as I might be capable of. Connecting with the natural world tends to lead to experiences which want to be shared. This sort of sharing invites a certain amount of vulnerability since not everyone is receptive to such stories. It can feel very personal (in a negative way) if someone does not hear and respond positively to the story of a personally meaningful experience.

On the other hand having a reliable/safe space to share a story can be a powerful motivator for paying more attention to what’s going on. Others on the call had good stories about this, and I can speak to it from my own experience. When I’m trying to keep up with regular/daily posting here, I always have in the back of my mind that I should be paying attention to things lest I miss something of interest. At this point I don’t get many comments, so the blog is not particularly interactive, but even so – it’s a place to share my stories, and as such, it helps. Listening to the shares of others, I was reminded how having someone receive the story, take an interest in it, and ask good questions can have an even greater positive impact. I liked how one of the participants shared how, when he told the story of an experience to someone who was a particularly effective listener, he was able to get so into it that he felt like he was back in it even though it had happened a while before. Apparently this didn’t happen most of the time, even with people who were generally interesting in hearing what he had to say. I would like to reach a point where I can relive moments in that way as well as create the space for others to tell their story in a way that they can do so as well. I imagine it will take a while to get there, though.

Strong winds blew through last night. I hadn’t heard the forecast, but while walking downtown last evening definitely noticed how strong the wind was blowing. By the time I walked back home some time later, it was quite calm. I heard today that there were actually snow wheels at SJ where the wet snow had been blown by the snow and accumulated into wheel shapes as they rolled across the surface.

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Strong winds sculpted the snow along the Wall.

Strong winds sculpted the snow along the Wall.

The kids and I braved the wind to walk down to the park and see what might be around. I thought the gusts of wind pushing spray across the bay was particularly interesting.

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Red-breasted Sapsucker along SJ Hatchery outflow.

Red-breasted Sapsucker along SJ Hatchery outflow.

Pacific Loon along Sage Beach.

Pacific Loon along Sage Beach.

Pacific Loon along Sage Beach. This bird seemed to have an injury or abnormal growth just behind its head.

Pacific Loon along Sage Beach. This bird seemed to have an injury or abnormal growth just behind its head.

A lone male Common Goldeneye was riding t he waves.

One of the buoys marking the tideflats at Totem Park was taking its share of waves.

Wind-blown spray blurs the view across Crescent Bay.

From time to time an especially strong gust pushed spray across the water.

Indian River from bridge in Totem Park.

Ducks taking refuge from the wind close to shore.

A male Gadwall was hanging in with the Mallards at Totem Park.

Red-breasted Sapsucker on alder tree near SJ Hatchery.

Red-breasted Sapsucker on alder tree near SJ Hatchery.

The kids and I took a walk down to Totem Park late this morning. By that time the snow had stopped falling, but winds were still whipping around. From time to time we would see a snow devil spinning around – probably from a gust that wrapped around a barrier into the calmer side of things. At the park, the bigger gusts were howling through the trees and lifting spray off the water to push it across the bay. The winter storm warning is in effect until 5am tomorrow, but from the sounds of things outside the house, winds have already subsided substantially.

I took quite a few pictures, but haven’t had a chance to get through them all yet. Hopefully will be able to get them posted in the next day or two.

Walked over to the new house this morning and then made a trip to SeaMart this afternoon, but other than that was in doors. Heavy overcast prevailed, though the wind was primarily out of the east – I was blown right along while walking down Sawmill Creek Road from Jeff Davis Street. I thought the texture of the clouds was interesting in the pictures I took from the SeaMart parking lot this afternoon.

Heavy overcast prevails over Sitka Sound in this view of Mt. Edgecumbe from the SeaMart parking lot.

Heavy overcast prevails over Sitka Sound in this view of Mt. Edgecumbe from the SeaMart parking lot.

Heavy overcast prevails over Sitka Sound in this view of Mt. Edgecumbe from the SeaMart parking lot.

Temperatures remained quite cold, but winds diminished significantly by later this afternoon. It was interesting to see all the polished ice intermixed with thin patches of wind sculpted snow. As windy as it got here over the last couple of days, it was much stronger elsewhere.

From today’s weather synopsis:

THE WEATHER PATTERN THAT CAUSED FREQUENT WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FROM JUNEAU TO SKAGWAY AND THE CENTRAL OUTER
COAST IS GRADUALLY WEAKENING. THE HIGHEST MEASURED WIND GUST WAS
150 MPH /130 KNOTS/ AT SHEEP MOUNTAIN SOUTH OF JUNEAU AT 3540
FEET ELEVATION. HIGHEST WIND GUST AT SEA LEVEL WAS 103 MPH /90
KNOTS/ AT CAPE SPENCER IN CROSS SOUND.

Forecast is for relative calm tomorrow and winds picking back up later in the week s a low approaches the coast of British Columbia. Fortunately, temperatures are also forecast to rise.

Pictures from today were taken as I walked across Swan Lake near sunset – hence the shift towards blue and lack of brightness (though I could have neutralized these things in processing, I found the contrast on the snow made it easier to see the texture and shapes if I left it as it was).

I didn’t notice too much unusual in the way of birds today, but one thing did stand out – there were three Great Blue Herons flying south over Swan Lake as I started across it. Perhaps they had all been roosting in trees around the lake and were headed to the beach for low tide. There certainly wasn’t any open water for them to fish around the lake.

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Wind blowing snow across Swan Lake caused sculpted drifts where something was able to capture snow.

Much of Swan Lake was wind polished ice, but there were still patches of snow that held on.

Wind blowing snow across Swan Lake caused sculpted drifts where something was able to capture snow.

Wind packed cold snow did not allow for very deep track impressions.

I spent much of the day sleeping today, still trying to fight off a cold. My brother and I did walk down to the library this afternoon to watch a presentation on pack rafting in Alaska. Winds were pretty stiff coming and going. It was blowing pretty much out of the east, so at our backs on the walk there, but gusting right in our faces on the way back. Combined with temperatures in the teens, it was a chilling walk.

I’ve been paying more attention to snow blowing off the peaks during this recent spell of cold/clear weather, so it was interesting today to see how few peaks could actually be seen. Skies were clear overall, but my guess is that white-out conditions prevailed on most of the higher snow laden peaks. It would be interesting to see the snow sculptures that must have been created with drifts being deposited and carved by the wind.

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The Lucky Chance ridges are almost completely obscured by snow blowing off the higher peaks.

Airborne snow driven by strong winds partially obscures the Sisters.

White caps and blowing spray make for rough conditions in Eastern Channel. Seas are somewhat calmer in Crescent Bay.

I spent most of today trying to sleep off a cold, but finally decided I should get out for at least a little while late this afternoon. So I used a trip to the post office as an excuse and walked there via Totem Park.

It was cloudy for much of the day, but as the sun dropped toward the horizon, it broke through. There was a pretty good east wind blowing – but I mostly noticed it out toward the southeast end of the flats – other parts of the walk were more protected.

The usual birds were out and about along the shore – including a Common Murre or two in Crescent Bay. The Bald Eagles were apparently feeling predatory or something – they don’t always spook the Mallards off the beach, but a couple of times today I noticed them responding to the flight of Bald Eagles. Also of note were 10 Canada Geese feeding along the flats in front of the Visitor Center.

On the way back from the post office I was able to catch a pretty nice sunset.

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A gull soars in front of the front peak of The Pyramids.

Snow blows off the twin peaks which make up the the southeastern end of the Pyramids.

Middle Sister illuminated by a late afternoon sun that broke out from behind the clouds as dropped low in the sky.

Canada Geese at Totem Park feeding in a shalllow tidepool that reflects the colorful sky at sunset.

Canada Geese at Totem Park feeding in a shalllow tidepool that reflects the colorful sky at sunset.

Winds gusting much stronger than at sea level were blowing snow off the peaks of the Pyramids.

Pilings off of Sage Beach are silhouetted by the colors of sunset reflecting off the water.

Pilings off of Sage Beach are silhouetted by the colors of sunset reflecting off the water.

Not much outside time today – pretty much just my walk over to UAS (and a hurried one, at that).

Temperatures have started dropping again, with the forecast for even colder overnight and tomorrow. Outside of the wind, today’s temperatures weren’t bad, but a breeze that seemed to be variable out of the Southeast (mostly) and East made things seem quite a bit colder. It seemed odd for the wind to be out of the Southeast when that’s more associated with low pressure, clouds and rainy. I suspect it was really more of an East wind, but the topography of the island resulted in the wind getting bent around to come out of the Southeast in the downtown area. It was mostly clear, but there were some high level cirrus clouds as well as some lower clouds that formed around some of the mountains.

On my way across the bridge I noticed a Raven carrying a stick flying from near the fuel dock (where I first saw it, anyway) south under the bridge to where it landed in a tree on Turning Island. I took a brief look, but couldn’t make out a nest or anything where I saw it land, but I did not have time for an extended investigation.

Winds picked up through the morning and by this afternoon it was blowing Southeast with strong enough gusts that the crew working on roofing the new house decided it was prudent to shift their efforts to parts of the job that didn’t have quite so much exposure. Accompanying the winds was a moderate rain that seemed heavier as it was driven by the stronger gusts.

Connor and Rowan had seen four Trumpeter Swans on Swan Lake this morning, so they wanted to stop by and check to see if they were still there. I had arrangements to test drive a pick up just up the street, so we all walked to the lake together. There were 40 or more Mallards and a few gulls resting on the ice around the open water adjacent to the peninsula. It was interesting to see the wind whipping the rain and surface water across the ice that remained over much of the lake. The south end of the lake had opened up quite a bit since I walked by on Monday, and I saw at least two Ring-necked Ducks along with a handful of scaups.

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Gusty winds blow water across the surface of the remaining ice on Swan Lake.

Gusty winds blow water across the surface of the remaining ice on Swan Lake.

Wind driven waves and rain made for a blustery wet afternoon at Sandy Beach.

Early this morning temperatures hit 52F, near the record high (54F) for this date. After the rain started, the air cooled off pretty quickly to the mid-to-upper 40s, where it stayed much of the rest of the day. During the afternoon, the rain let up, and the relatively warm Southeast wind started drying things off.

The walk over to UAS was largely uneventful. Though it was interesting to see a Great Blue Heron with its back to the wind and head plumes being held up over its head by the gusting breeze. Rowan said she thought it looked like a giant kingfisher that way.

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A gusty Southeast wind pushes waves across Crescent Bay.

Heavy stratus clouds blanket the skies over The Channel.

Installed last fall, this wind turbine is generating power for the Coast Guard cutter station as part of an experimental project to guage the feasibility of wind power in the area.

Installed last fall, this wind turbine is generating power for the Coast Guard cutter station as part of an experimental project to guage the feasibility of wind power in the area.

Great Blue Heron with head plumes pushed up by a gusty wind.

I took a brief walk this afternoon down by the beach then through the park to the post office. My timing turned out to be good, as the rain had stopped and I even managed to catch a break in the clouds which allowed the sun to shine briefly while I was down by the beach.

When I left the house, I noticed quite a bit of bird activity. Although I did see a couple of chickadees at the feeders, mostly what I observed was a lot of high-frequency calling going on from juncos, chickadees, kinglets, and sparrows. It almost seemed as if they were a bit frenetic – perhaps they were taking advantage of the break in the weather to forage as much as they could in the short time they had remaining before sundown. When I got to the bottom of the hill path on the short cut to Lincoln Street, a Winter Wren popped up and chirped at me. I paused to look at it, and watched it fly ahead to a clump of lady ferns, where it disappeared under the remains of last years fronds. I heard a couple more chirps from it as I walked by.

Just as I arrived down at the water, a break in the clouds to the southwest allowed the sun to break through and illuminate the shoreline from the rocks where I was standing over to the forest standing above the beach at Totem Park. The direct light did not last for long, but its warm tones highlighted the rocks and trees on the beach, as well as the white foam at the edge of the water where the pulsing waves thrown up by the brisk SW wind were breaking apart on the large boulders only partially covered by the high tide. Offsetting these warm tones were the darker blues and grays in the background, where waters reflected the heavy overcast still blocking the sun, as it had for most of the day.

Out front in front of the park I noticed 8 Barrow’s Goldeneye, diving repeatedly to forage under the waves where they were breaking over the flats. Further out were 3 Red-breasted Mergansers – a species which has seemed to be sparse along the road system this winter – though I counted over 40 of them just south of town on the Christmas Bird Count at the beginning of the month.

Indian River was running higher than normal for this time of year. It was in no danger of flooding its banks in the park, but the rains combined with melting snow brought on by warmer temperatures covered all the unvegetated gravel and cobbles in the river bed.

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A decent breeze kicked up waves that broke on the rocks near Totem Park.

A decent breeze kicked up waves that broke on the rocks near Totem Park.

Totem Park Trail

Rain and melting snow raised the water level in Indian River above normal winter flow rates.

A decent breeze kicked up waves that broke on the rocks near Totem Park.

Winds gusting to near 60mph buffeted Sitka causing a fair amount of wave action even along protected shorelines.

The the last couple of weeks have seen quite a bit of stormy weather around Sitka. Saturday had the highest winds of the fall storm season so far with sustained winds over 30mph and gusts up to near 60mph.

Winds were out of the West-Southwest, pushing the waves through Middle Channel to crash against the south end of the runway. While on a brief walk Saturday morning, I could see the waves splashing up above the level of the runway, and I heard later that at least one flight was canceled due to boulders which had been thrown up on the runway.

Winds gusting to near 60mph buffeted Sitka causing a fair amount of wave action even along protected shorelines.

A fairly steady breeze with warm sun made for nice kite flying weather.

The short version
As a child, with the wind I flew kites
My kids want their own to take flights
Kites Up! Now in Trees!
Dad, rescue them please!
Now flying again to the heights

The Long Version
When I was about Connor’s age, I spent many summer hours flying kites down on the Sheldon Jackson College lawn. Given the way time and memory seem to work, there may have only been a handful of days that I flew my kites, but I do remember multiple afternoons spent watching the tiny speck of a kite several hundred yards distant.

Sunny summer afternoons are often accompanied by fairly strong sea breezes, and the extense of campus lawn, mostly free of obstacles, provides a good place to get a kite up in the air. I remember discovering when I was younger that when the kite got well up in the air, the wind seemed to be much more steady. After a little work and attention to keep the kite flying upward for the first spool or two of string, I could usually just let the string go at a steady rate and feed out as much as I had. I do not remember the most I ever let out, but I do know I tied quite a few spools of 100 yard kite string together.

This week has been just about perfect for flying kites in the afternoon, but for some reason today was the first time it occurred to me that Connor, Rowan, and I could take their kites down to fly them. They each had a brand new kite their grams had purchased for them some time back, so we took them and headed down to the lawn.

It took a few minutes to get Connor’s peregrine falcon kite put together, and while he was trying to get it up in the air by himself, I put together Rowan’s slightly more complicated butterfly kite. Connor and I were then able to get his kite up in the air high enough that it was reasonably stable, though it still required attention to keep it from going into a nosedive that it would not recover from. I gave Connor a couple of suggestions and then went to help Rowan get her kite in the air.

Rowan and I were able to get her kite flying, and I was giving her a couple of pointers for keeping her kite up when I realized that her string was going to cross with Connor’s. It had not occurred to me that different kites might fly at different angles to the wind, but that seemed to be exactly what was happening. There was not enough space to keep the strings from touching, and it took only a short time for Connor’s string to break from the friction. Free from it’s anchor, his kite started blowing back toward the bottom of our hill, and I told him to go look for it, since it looked like it would land somewhere accessible. Meanwhile, Rowan’s kite was still flying strong, so I handed it off to her and watched for a couple of minutes to be sure she had the hang of it.

I found Connor winding up his string while looking up at more draped in the trees at the bottom of the hill. His kite was apparently suspended in those trees, though he had not actually seen it. I told him to go give his sister a hand while I tried to recover his kite. I hadn’t made much progress on his string, though I had spotted where the kite was dangling high in a tree, when he returned to inform me that Rowan’s kite had become stuck in the large spruce in the center of the campus quad. I sent him to tell her not to pull on the string and set about trying to figure out if there was any hope for his kite.

Connor’s kite was well up in a tree that I would not be able to climb without a ladder (and even then, not easily). However, string still attached to the kite was mostly hung up in branches lower branches, so I freed it as much as possible and told Connor to watch is kite in case the wind started to blow it down. I figured climbing would be the last resort.

I returned to the quad to find a very sad Rowan sitting with her head down below the tree with the kite string stretching up from her hand into the tree branches above. She had not thought about the fact that her kite could fly into the tree, so had not taken any steps keep the string away from the tree. Not hearing Connor pass on my warning to not pull on the string, she had pulled on it and probably made it get bound up a little tighter in the branches. However, I suspect it was tangled even further by the efforts of a friendly passer-by who apparently pulled even more (and went so far as to climb the tree to see if he could get it out, though I didn’t find out about that until later). By the time I arrived, the string was inextricably wound around the end of a branch, and no amount of changing angles, giving slack, or pulling would help it release (spruces are particularly clingy in such circumstances). In the end, I just pulled until it broke, but the kite itself was just dangling, so it seemed like if I could free the string (or at least break it close enough to the kite), the kite would be free to fall down, or get blown out with a decent gust.

Large open grown spruce trees often have branches as far down as there is light and on a tree that has not been pruned back, these branches can be quite large. The large lower branches made climbing the tree relatively easy, though there is a downside; spruce trees are also quite prone to leaking sticky sap. The sap has a pleasant resinous smell, but it is hard to clean. The kite itself was too far out for me to reach, even going out the limbs. I tried shaking the branches, but that did not dislodge the kite, either. Not ready to give up yet, I decided to climb to the top of the tree and was able to reach the string there. However, all the pulling I could muster did not do much to free the kite, I merely managed to break the string a bit closer.

Meanwhile, the gusting wind had freed Connor’s kite from the branches, though it was still attached to the string which was hung up in the branches. The kite did seem to be slowly pulling the string through, and I told Connor to stand there and watch it in case it came free, or pulled enough string through for the kite to reach the ground. By the time I was done climbing after Rowan’s kite, Connor had his kite in hand. I broke the string for him and pulled the other end until it also broke, leaving a section of string draped in the tree, but we had plenty remaining to fly his kite with. With Connor’s kite now retreived, he and I got it flying again, while Rowan visited with a new friend she had introduced herself to while I was climbing after her kite.

My only remaining hope for getting Rowan’s kite was to get a stick long enough that I could reach the kite with it. After flying his kite for a few minutes, Connor volunteered to go look for a such a stick. When he returned with a old branch that was 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 8-10 feet long, I wasn’t sure it would be adequate, but I figured it was worth a try. Unfortunately, it was not long enough to reach the kite from near the trunk, so I climbed further out on the branches. They were plenty sturdy enough to hold my weight, and there were enough of them that I had many things to hold on to, but I’m still not sure how sensible it was to be out there while trying to reach out with a large stick that was very awkward to maneuver (I certainly would not have been thrilled to see Connor or Rowan doing something similar). Despite the awkward moments, I was able to get out far enough to get the kite string hooked on the end of hte stick and pull on it until it broke and released the kite. From there it was a simple matter to climb down and knock the kite out of the lowest branches where it had landed.

We did try flying Rowan’s kite again, but unfortunately one of the support sticks had broken, and the kite was not inclined to get much lift except in the strongest gusts (which by this time were infrequent, as the wind seemed to be settling down a bit).

At around 1am, the temperature at the house was 54, though I noticed it was only 48 according to the local weather reading (at the airport). Typically it is cooler at the house (and it had been earlier in the day). Over the next 20 minutes or so, the temperature dropped down to 48 at the house as well. I went outside to take a look and saw the stars. I am guessing the break in the clouds moved in from the west, with temperatures to dropping as it went.

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

Mystery Call: This is almost certainly a gull. I am not sure which species, though. My best guess would be a Mew Gull or maybe a Thayer’s Gull. I do not know what it was doing flying over at 00:57 during a relatively calm period before the wind and rain kicked up again. Download Mystery Call

Birds in the Storm: The small song birds don’t have the luxury of waiting out hard weather. This short clip is of kinglets or chickadees calls that can be heard over rain and wind. Recorded at 08:26. Download Birds in the Storm

Wind: The wind blew strongly throughout much the night. In this clip, it’s possible to hear moving through the trees in the backyard.
Recorded at 03:02. Download Wind

Ravens: I’m not sure what these Ravens were doing. Recorded 09:15. Download Ravens

The Wind: Gusts of wind blew through the trees throughout the night.Download The Wind

Belted Kingfisher: Belted Kingfishers occasionally fly through the neighborhood, mostly going between Indian River and Sage Beach. Belted Kingfisher 1; Belted Kingfisher 2

It was fairly rainy through much of the night with a bit of a breeze, both of which will be noticable in the various clips. Mostly it was quiet (other than the sounds of the wind, rain, and the occasional car or plane), but I did catch a few things.

Western Screech Owls: I believe there were two owls calling back and forth. Recorded around 11:30pm. Download Western Screech Owls

Mystery Call and Breeze: This clip starts out with a sound that I might think was a child screaming, but for the time and the quieter follow up. I’m not sure what made the call. There’s a brief few notes from a Western Screech Owl followed by the breeze rustling tree leaves. I didn’t note the time of this, but I believe it was between midnight and 2am. Download Mystery Call and Breeze

Falling Branch: Early in the morning, a branch spontaneously broke and fell. It was not particularly windy at the time, so perhaps it was just an accumulation of moisture in the branch after the night of rain, and it gave way. Time not noted. Download Falling Branch

Steller’s Jay: A longer clip of a Steller’s Jay moving through the back yard and woods. Download Steller’s Jay