The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
January 8, 2015
Salish Sea, PNW
It's barely above the water at high tide and has no vegetation, so this scrap of land isn't a named island. I call it Harlequin Rock since the day years ago when I first kayaked out there and saw a splendidly colorful Harlequin Duck jump off and swim around it.
There's one mysterious hunk of metal embedded in the rock. Birds perch on it, like this Kingfisher. It's possible the T was used in earlier days as a reef-netting anchor; this was a major salmon fishing and processing harbor in the last century.
The rock drops steeply to the sandy bottom - a good foraging spot for sea birds and marine mammals. It is small, about 10m by 5m (30 ft x 15 ft), but that's big enough for wildlife to rest on, and far enough from land so they are safe from people. I paddle out there if the wind and swells aren't too much and usually see wildlife in the vicinity. I have never landed on the rock, and wouldn't. Too steep and rocky and often waves are breaking on it. The Strait of Juan de Fuca is beyond the rock, directing wind and rough water from the open ocean into the Salish Sea. There are days when it would be dangerous out there in a kayak.
Today the water was quite calm. Groups of mergansers, ducks and cormorants paddled just beyond the rock.
There were half a dozen Harlequins who made their way over to the Rock. Some fished, some climbed out and groomed.
I saw 1 female (brownish), 3 adult males (colorfully patterned) and 2 juvenile males (somewhat less colorful) in this small flock. I have no idea what the nature of this grouping is. Can you tell which age and gender each of these Harlequins is in the photos above and below?
A taste of some of the other wildlife I've seen out at Harlequin Rock at other times to round out the Bucket today...
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
Black Turnstone:
River Otter. This fellow was in a group of 5; it was climbing up onto the rock to get a good look at me in my kayak. I make a point of staying far enough from wildlife so they are not scared away. It means my photos aren't as sharp as they might be, but I respect their right to be out working since I'm just playing.
Great Blue Heron:
Pelagic Cormorants. Two adults (blue/black) and 3 juveniles (dark brown):
Bald Eagle and River Otter. The otter had climbed out to groom and the eagle flew in. Even though the eagle was not threatening it, the otter jumped back into the water.
Harlequin Rock looks very different depending on the tide. Today when I was out there it was a medium high tide. The bottom of the yellow lichen is the usual highest tide line. You can judge what the tide was in the various scenes by that.
This distant view is most of Harlequin Rock, seen today at a 6 foot tide, as I headed back into the bay.
It's wet where it's supposed to be here in the maritime Pacific Northwest. Liquid water. I'm hearing the weather is a bit chillier in other parts of the country. Is your water solid, liquid or gas - and how does your wildlife manage? Time to share what's going on in your natural neighborhood.
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