Last Saturday, September 26th, Bucketeers from all around the Salish Sea flocked to the NE corner of the Olympic Peninsula to see what other species are currently migrating to the Protection Island NWR. We found an abundance of birds and seals congregating around this island at the mouth of Discovery Bay.
Glaucous-winged Gulls, Pelagic Cormorants, Double-crested Cormorant,
and a pair of Black Oyster Catchers share these rocks.
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. Snails, fish, insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. 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. 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.
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Follow us past the frothy tidal rips as we leave Point Hudson and you'll hear a tale of our three hour tour.
This bucket will be a joint effort, with everyone contributing photos and pieces of the story. Here's our intrepid group.
matching mole, Milly Watt, bwren, RonK, and OceanDiver
Protection Island came to the attention of Captain George Vancouver in 1792 who wrote that it was "as enchantingly beautiful as the most elegantly furnished pleasure grounds in Europe." The botanist on that expedition, Archibald Menzies, described "vast flights of water fowl." Through the untiring efforts of two women, Zella Schultz and Eleanor Stopps, the island was finally made into a National Wildlife Refuge in 1982 (the only such legislation signed into law during the Reagan administration) and plans for its development were avoided (but not until construction bulldozers had begun destroying the Rhinoceros auklet nesting burrows).
end of Protection Island and one of the sand spits
This Fall bird migration trip was sponsored by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center and provided by the Puget Sound Express. Roger, the PTMSC naturalist, was on board to help identify the birds we were seeing and explain the natural history of the island which is in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains and is very dry. It is mostly grasslands on top with a small forest on the east end that is nourished by fog. There are constantly eroding, high sandy bluffs that are good habitat for nesting seabirds and low sand spits on two ends of the island where harbor seals are often seen resting.
The geology of the island was also interesting, with layered sediment from successive ice sheets and continual sand and gravel slides that create the spits where many birds breed and hang out.
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Traveling across large bodies of water takes energy, so we naturally began our adventure with a feeding frenzy.
matching mole, Ms. mole, RonK, Mr. bwren, bwren, and Milly Watt
Time to take off! All aboard!
Our boat
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As we closed in on the island we were joined by numerous birds paralleling our course - gulls above us, little clumps of the smaller alcids skimming the surface of the water. Upon reaching the island, everyone spilled out onto the deck to look for birds.
In terms of numbers the Surf Scoters were most impressive. They were there in the hundreds - only overshadowed by the vast numbers of Glaucous-winged Gulls that nest on the island. Among the rafts of Surf Scoters, there were smaller clusters of colorful Harlequin Ducks, as well as a few Common Loons. Unfortunately, none of us got pictures of the loons.
Lots and Lots of Surf Scoters
Surf Scoters with accompanying Harlequin Ducks
Here are some closeups:
Male Surf Scoter
Lovely lady Surf Scoters
Recently arrived in the area are the grebes, mostly Red-necked grebes, Horned grebes, and Eared grebes. What makes IDing tricky is that they are in transition from summer breeding plumage (which is very distinctive) to their duller winter plumage. I had at least one fuzzy photo of a Red-necked grebe still in summer dress and I believe this is a Red-necked, in transition (based on the heavy bill),
Possible Red-necked Grebe in transition
And another:
Red-necked Grebe
as compared to a Horned Grebe. Here's one:
The other stars of the show were the Pigeon Guillemots, changing into their winter plumage.
Pigeon Guillemots in winter plumage
More Pigeon Guillemots:
Pigeon Guillemots, non-breeding plumage,
There were also hundreds of Harbor Seals and at least one Elephant Seal living on the shores of the island.
Elephant Seal
Extreme crop of head of elephant seal
One of the plethora of harbor seals
Common Murre with harbor seal backdrop
Heerman's and Glaucous-winged gulls
Just one lone Bald Eagle on this trip. Eagles are usually abundant, but at this time of year most are over on the mainland feeding on salmon in the rivers. This juvenile either didn't get the memo or is perhaps hoping to score some fledgling gulls.
juvenile Bald Eagle
And looking down, we saw hundreds of Cross Jellyfish drifting in a shallow eelgrass patch as we passed by. This is their last hurrah. Like most jellyfish this floating pelagic stage comes to an end in the fall. Each jelly is a few inches across - how many of these translucent creatures can you see in this image?
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The boat made a second stop across Port Townsend Bay near Indian Island. Here there was a breeding colony of Caspian Terns.
Caspian terns and begging Glaucous-Winged Gull chicks
Caspian Terns and their fuzzy chicks
The final highlight was the fly-by of a Brown Pelican. This is really rare in inland waters of the Salish Sea as compared to the outer coast. Roger the PTMSC naturalist mentioned that this Brown Pelican needs to get moving south by November 1 or it will freeze to death over the winter.
Brown Pelican surprise
Appendix
These images weren't part of the tour but were taken on the ferry across Puget Sound on the way to the tour (matching mole).
This group of surf scoters was right next to the ferry.
Pelagic Cormorant
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Addenda to the Appendix: the birds are great but I like lighthouses too (RonK):
Lighthouse at Fort Warden, Port Townsend
The above lighthouse was taken from the tour boat and one below was taken from the ferry "Kennewick" on the way home from the tour.
Fort Casey Lighthouse, Whidbey Island, WA
Your turn!
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"Spotlight on Green News & Views" will be posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and Wednesday at 3:30 pm PT on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.