January 14 - Around Town - not really birding

It was another frosty 30° morning with freezing fog.  By 11 a.m., it was obvious that it would be a while before the fog burned off from South Puget Sound.  So, I decided to walk the 2½ miles downtown to do some errands.  The neighborhood Black-tailed deer were out, wishing that all of the apples hadn’t already fallen from the trees.

Black-tail doe Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

The hazelnut catkins provided some color

The catkin is the male flower on this monoecious tree

I was somewhat surprised to find that some of the willows also were developing catkins; it seems a little early for Pussy Willows

Pussy Willow catkins

This wasn’t really a “birding” trip, but I keep track of the birds I see on almost all of my walks, and put them onto eBird Checklists.  On my way down the hill, I saw a number of birds, including a flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows

Golden-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla.  Atricapilla means "black-haired" in Latin

As I crossed the Fourth Avenue Bridge,

Ignore the homeless camp below the bridge.  Most of us do...

I noted a Pacific red cedar hosting a half-dozen Great Blue Herons amongst its branches

The grey dots are herons

and a Common Goldeneye diving for his crab lunch

He doesn't seem to like having his picture taken . . .

Gulls are ubiquitous in this town, flying overhead, as well as perching on railings, piers, and rooftops

"Olympic" gull on Bayview Market's roof

The tide was high, and a lot of jellyfish were undulating through the top of the water column.  This moon jelly (Aurelia aurita) was accompanied by a school of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Hooded Mergansers are commonly seen along the Olympia nearshore

Hooded Merganser hen

I finished my errands and returned home by the same route, enjoying the sun that had burned through the fog for a couple of hours before settling back in later in the afternoon.

Not that bad-looking of a town

There was a drake Goldeneye in the same location where I’d seen him on my way down, and this time he appeared to be more successful

He was luncheoning on a green shore crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis

Some of the Great Blue Herons had dropped from the cedar tree as the tide ebbed

This one landed on the “Rainbow Bridge” which is a railroad bridge built across the estuary back in the day.

The line has since been abandoned, and a few years ago, some of the local artistes took their paintbrushes to the bridge to Perform Random Acts of Art

The paint is beginning to fade on the "Rainbow Bridge"

I walked back up the Garfield Nature Trail to the westside neighborhood, which is somewhat "eclectic."

If Santa Claus didn't come to your house this year, here's the reason

Perhaps, that is why we live here

This Cooper's Hawk made certain I arrived home safely

 

Allyn Waterfront and Perry Creek

Today (Friday) is a "home day", so I thought I'd add onto my notes from yesterday.  On my way home, I stopped at Big Bubba’s Burgers in Allyn for a Blue-cheese Burger and a Blackberry shake - $11.70.  I took the meal down to the Port of Allyn waterfront park to eat my lunch, then walked out on the pier to scan the North Bay of Case Inlet.

Not a Real Great-Horned Owl

Most of the birds there were gulls, allowing a person to sort through a small flock at close range.  It helps if there’s an offering of hamburger bun or stale French fries!

Mostly Glaucous-winged Gulls

Second-cycle Glaucous-winged Gull

Third-cycle Glaucous-winged gull

First-year Gull.  Fairly dark plumage, so I don't know if it's a Glaucous-winged Gull, a Western Gull, or one of our "Olympic Gull" hybrids

While I was out there, I got talking to one of the locals, and asked him about the derelict boat anchored just north of the pier.

The Scamper - derelict vessel

The name on the stern is the Scamper, out of Vancouver, B.C.  He said that a guy had been living on board until January 4, 2017, and substances may have been an issue.  That night, he and a friend apparently had a discussion.  The owner? friend? (I wasn’t certain), 31-year-old Andrew Aldrich, got into his little kayak and paddled toward shore early in the morning “to get some tools”.  His overturned boat was found on the beach the next day.  The Coast Guard and Sheriff searched, but the body was found and recovered on Friday February 17^th by another kayaker.  Of course, Aldrich hadn’t been wearing a life jacket.  The guy I was talking to said he was the one who recovered the body - “just part of a day’s work”…  We should give Kudos to those who serve the Public by dealing with the seamier and sorrier side of Life.

The Port of Allyn came into possession of the vessel when Aldrich’s brother asked if he could moor it for a short period at the Allyn Dock, with the promise it would be moved that weekend.  He never returned to retrieve it, and numerous attempts to reach him, or anyone else in the family, were unsuccessful.  The Port then contacted the Department of Natural Resources, which has aquatic jurisdiction in such situations. The DNR took possession of it under the state’s “Derelict Vessel” statue.  Aldrich’s father was finally able to be reached on the last day of a 30-day window for someone to claim ownership of the vessel. He agreed to relinquish any and all claims of ownership, which cleared the way for both the auction, and for issuance of a new title once the vessel is sold.  The State offered it in March, 2017, but obviously there have been no takers - since it’s still there - and the DNR has to pump out the hulk regularly to keep it from sinking.

On the way home, I stopped at Perry Creek to check out the gulls.

Gulls and ducks at the mouth of Perry Creek (Thurston County)

The chum salmon here are a later run than those up on the Union River, so there are still ‘fresh’ fish running upstream.  Many of the fish are spawning just at or above the high-tide line, so there are a LOT of loose salmon eggs washing downstream to feed the waiting water birds.

Gull eating a chum salmon egg

This draws in a LOT of gulls, including about 275 Glaucous-winged Gulls today.

Glaucous-winged Gull adult feeding on chum salmon carcass

There are also the usual Glaucous-wing X Western hybrids

Dark wingtips, dark eye, grey head, pink legs . . . Yep, it's a hybrid

And, this immature “Thayer’s” Iceland Gull, identified by the slimmer bill and daintier head.  The bird's plumage is pretty 'bleached' but in another pose, the bases of the primaries appear darker.  I suppose it could be a "Kumlien's" type, although I'm not experienced with that type of Iceland Gull.

Thayer's Gull immature

Also, a lot of the gulls and ducks are foraging on the carcasses.  Protein is Protein.

Mallard Pair

Note:  Do not eat Mallards hunted from the Puget Sound near shore in November . . . they will taste as ‘fishy’ as a Merganser!

Hooded Merganser Drake

Allyn Waterfront eBird checklist

Perry Creek eBird checklist