February 18, 2018
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
The wind shifted around overnight and the day was blowing a cold nor’easter Sunday. Really blowing! — 30 and then 40 knots steady, gusts to 50 knots. It was a brilliantly sunny day, typical of our nor’easters, temp around freezing. That kind of weather makes me a little nervous about walking in the woods, with branches cracking and falling, but my usual beach was getting wind-blasted, not a place to hang out long. Can literally get knocked over in the gusts.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge.
We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
|
Did see some cool wind effects in the sand though.
So, too windy on that beach!
Where to go walking on a day like this? Somewhere in the lee of the wind. The nearby southeast facing bay was just the ticket. The ducks evidently thought so too. There were flocks of Buffies, Redbreasted Mergansers and Surf Scoters in the bay, foraging, grooming and snoozing.
The different shades of blue water are a clue to who’s in a catspaw.
Because even over here, protected by a mile of land, some of that gale wind eddies over and down creating patterns across the surface of the otherwise fairly calm water — catspaws. This short video shows some of those catspaws (these were moderate; of course the camera wasn’t running when they exploded across the bay).
(Note on viewing the videos: They are filmed in HD so if you have your YouTube setting on HD it will look better.)
What’s so cool to me about catspaws is that we can see the wind creating them — even though air is invisible — by watching its dynamic effects on a fluidly responsive surface of water. It is chaotic unpredictable turbulence, blowing downward or sideways or reversing itself. When gusts hit the ocean they generate short sharp wind waves, so steep they turn the water dark, no longer reflecting the light sky.
The ducks were oblivious to the catspaws. These are all diving ducks, accustomed to open water, which gets much bumpier than this.
Surf scoters eat clams mostly, either crushing them with their big thick bills or swallowing them whole, letting their gizzard break the shells. To swallow a really big clam they bring it up to the surface to swallow.
This little flock of scoters was making short shallow dives, the bottom about 10-20’ below. Toward the end of the video clip a hen brings up a clam to swallow.
High above, in the full blast of the wind unprotected by the land, and free of the downdrafting eddies, seven Turkey Vultures danced and swooped, mostly facing north, into the gale. Seven is unusual at this time of year. The TVs have been arriving earlier the past few years, a few even overwintering.
Wind has dropped since then though it’s still cold in this Canadian air mass that blew into the Pacific Northwest last weekend. Ice on puddles. Breezy.
Bucket’s open for your nature observations today.
"SPOTLIGHT ON GREEN NEWS & VIEWS" IS POSTED EVERY SATURDAY AT 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME AND WEDNESDAY AT 3:30 ON THE DAILY KOS FRONT PAGE. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO CATCH UP ON DIARIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED. BE SURE TO RECOMMEND AND COMMENT IN THE DIARY.
|