Low tide at stonewall

Bob took some shots of me walking along the Stonewall reef with my flashlight. The minus 2.1 tide was at around 12:30 am so it was rather hard to see. The light in the top left corner is a boat heading into False Pass.
Because it was so dark, it was hard to get pictures that could show just how far the reef was exposed. There is another extremely low tide in April that will be during daylight hours.







As we approached Stonewall in the light of the full moon (this yellow light is from the boat), we flushed eleven bald eagles from near the top. The thoughts that flashed in our minds were: "Bats - big bats! wait - no bats live here." They were calling out and flying around in all directions. We'd noticed a population rise of eagles over the last few days and thought perhaps it had something to do with the low tides. A few weeks later and they are still here. So we think that it's more likely they are gathered for mating displays and to establish territories. They have been very active, flying in pairs and small groups, attacking individuals in exciting aerial displays. Yesterday I watched one fly backward, head and body angled down as in a dive, up and over a cliff, and moments later could hear the knock of talons locking from a pair of birds over the pass. It sounded like the horn-tangling of big game.










With lights we were able to find a good variety of little creatures-anemones, chitons (leather and lined), purple-ochre sea stars, a sunflower star, calcarious tube worms and spiny urchins. Not to mention thousands of mussels, barnacles, encrusting sponges and seaweeds (rockweed and ribbon kelp).



As the boat was passing by.

Birds pt 4

King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) female and first year male

Notice that the male's bill is beginning to swell on top, as he is transforming into his more spectacular adult plumage.




Females and juveniles are almost indistinguishable among King eiders


King Eider breeding male

King Eiders are often found in flocks with Common Eiders and or/scoters. The breeding male is most distinctive and we have seen them much less frequently than the females and juveniles.


Eiders are of the family Anatidae and are further distinguished as diving (rather than dabbling) ducks. Diving ducks have legs placed far back on the body, a feature that helps to propel them when swimming and diving. They walk with difficulty, most require a running start to take off from the water.



Stellar's Eider (Polysticta stelleri)

The smallest eider, the Steller's Eider is restricted to northern latitudes where it breeds in freshwater tundra ponds. It spends the rest of the year in shallow marine waters. Birders rarely see it outside of Alaskan waters. They are usually seen in small flocks, diving synchronously for food. They rarely mix with other eiders. Currently their populations are declining and they are considered threatened in the United States.

Their wings make a whistling sound in flight and when we saw them last we were able to hear it!




Common Loon (Gavia immer)

Loons hunt primarily by sight and can dive to depths of 250 feet to catch their prey. During breeding season a family of loons can consume up to 2,000 lbs. of fish! Loons also have feet placed far back on their bodies and are especially cumbersome on land. For larger loons, such as this Common Loon (35 inches long), walking on land is nearly impossible and they push themselves along on their breasts when they have to breed.

"Migrating Common Loons occasionally land on wet highways or parking lots, mistaking them for rivers and lakes. They become stranded without a considerable amount of open water for a long takeoff. A loon may also get stranded on a pond that is too small."

They will molt into their more commonly thought of colors (white and black) starting in March.


Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)

Glaucous-winged gulls hybridize frequently with other gulls where their ranges overlap. In the Aleutians they overlap with Glaucous and Herring gulls. In more southern regions they hybridize quite often with Western gulls and in Washington the Western/Glaucous-winged hybrids are the most commonly found. This photograph, however, most closely resembles the Glaucous-winged Gull. We believe the darker gull is a juvenile.

The scene here is an example of kleptoparasitism or the stealing of food (particularly from flight). This is a common practice in food procurement. We frequently see gulls gathered around sea lions (above), harbor seals, land otters, and other birds trying to permanently borrow a piece of food.


Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)




We have seen these very cool looking birds a few times in the past two weeks. Once at Stonewall and then farther south. Both times they were in groups of about 10-20 birds. They are found on rocky shores where they forage for mollusks, worms, crabs, barnacles, and echinoderms (sea stars, urchins, cucumbers...). Their brightly colored bills are used to pry, probe, hammer or stab their food. Males and females have differences in bill structure (females have longer bills) and individual oystercatchers can specialize as either hammerers or stabbers. Juvenile oystercatchers, such as the middle bird in this picture, have a dusky tipped bill.

Ice in The Pass

During the last cold snap, which lasted three weeks, ice began to move through the Pass. We think that it is drifting down from the Bering Sea. Or maybe it's forming closer, in the shallow 1-2 feet waters at the northern end of Isanotski Strait. Either way, for a week or so we had progressively larger masses of ice floating past the house. One morning we caught the otter testing out the free ride.

A sentinel, a table, and a fox

If you look very closely you will see the homestead - to the right of Stonewall, at the bottom of the ravine. This picture makes us very proud of our part amble-part climb to Sentinel's summit!





During freezing temperatures we keep all the outdoor faucets running so that their lines don't freeze. There's one in the greenhouse, one on the fish-cleaning table, and one for the guest cabin that's hidden in the root cellar. The spigot at the table leaks and an icy claw builds up quickly. Living here is great for many reasons, like having it dawn on you that you'd better axe the ice off the table or lose it. We hacked it away after this picture! The table is fine.

Brrrr!!

From late December until about a week ago we had snow, snow and snow! And wind. It stayed below freezing for three weeks, averaging about 20 degrees. I know a lot of you are probably thinking, "well isn't it like 50 below all the time there?" and "doesn't it snow all winter long?" Actually, no it doesn't. We have heard that three weeks of below freezing is actually pretty cold for this time of year! We are after all relatively far south. Currently we are back to the browns and faded greens of bare ground. But the snow should be back any day now.








After a month of molting and no egg production (that was back in October) the chickens came back in full force. We are averaging about 2-3 eggs a day. Which is pretty great considering we lost one chicken to unknown causes and we are fairly positive that another is now longer laying. We sure do love fresh eggs.





Some drifts were past our knees. And all the doorways had to be dug out on a regular basis.




Inde loves the snow.

Night

The raucous neighbors

This is the spot for our fox friend. On any given day, that brings sunshine, we can find the fox lying here.




Looking down on the river otters from the top of Stonewall.





So far this has been the one and only caribou we have had the pleasure of seeing. He was just above the house to the south. We must have been down wind of him because we certainly took him by surprise. I was able to keep Inde beside me and Bob and I were afforded a few minutes to watch the caribou prance back and forth, seemingly unsure of where to go next. By the time that Bob tried to make his way closer for a better picture, he headed out of sight. Less than a minute later we spotted him across the tundra almost a mile away! Boy, they can move fast! We have high hopes for finding some more. There are plenty of tracks to prove that they are all around us.






Often years the eagles build their nest upon this rock pillar. On this day the eagle had snagged a bite of something from the Strait and flew here to dig in. The magpie just would not give up his quest to get in on the action.

The cliffs pouring forth