Early Blooms on Yellow Island

Early February and what’s happening on Yellow? Are the flowers getting ready to bloom? Amazingly we have a couple species that have been blooming since last November. The strange fall weather that closely mimics spring weather definitely fooled two very different species.

Red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) was found in bloom in mid November. Because I don’t look for first bloom dates in November, the exact date is a mystery. Ribes is a shrub so it is easy to follow individual plants. Those that flowered in in November, perhaps 10% of those on the island, have lost their flowers now. But of those that didn’t bloom in 2015, the first bloom I noted this year was January 30. And here we are on February 13 with most of the individual plants showing some flowers. I always think of the rufous hummingbirds arriving to take advantage of the early currant blooms. However, this year the blooms are too early and the hummer taking advantage is an Anna’s hummingbird that over wintered on Yellow. (That is another first for Yellow Island.) 

Another very different species is blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora). Likewise it bloomed in mid November and has stayed in bloom every since. Unlike Ribes that is a perennial, Collinsia is an annual and forms small blankets of flowers over the rocky areas. It’s a nice touch of color on grey winter days.

All northwesterners know winter is the rainy season. With all the rain, winter is also the greenest time of year with various mosses and licorice ferns adding numerous bright shades of green to the rocky outcrops. Add to the mosses the very healthy off white colored reindeer lichen and the multiple hues of the broadleaf sedum (Sedum spathulifolium) and the rocks atop Hummingbird Hill can be a photographer’s paradise.

Within a month or so the lilies that have already broken ground will start to bloom, tourists will start arriving, and the flowering season will begin exploding in earnest for another year. 

(Note the flowering currant and blue-eyed Mary photos are from previous years later in the season.)

Table manners of bald eagles on the Nooksack River

Most of my island friends don't know my career with TNC started as the Bald Eagle Survey Coordinator for the Skagit and Sauk Rivers. Once a week we canoed the Sauk River from Darrington to Rockport, did a survey along the road on the Skagit from Marblemount to Rockport and dispersed up to 25 volunteers to record night roost activity on both rivers. Simultaneously the NPS surveyed the Skagit above Marblemount while the USFS surveyed it from Rockport to Sedro Woolley. This is how I spent my winters from 1998 to the winter of 2004-2005. Somewhat amazingly I don't have any photos in my collection of eagles from that time.

Last week friends Traci Walters and Chris Teren were photographing eagles on the Nooksack River and discovered a leucistic eagle. I decided it was a worth a trip up river to see if i could find and photograph it too.

It was a cold, sometimes drippy day. When I arrived there were already three other photographers present. I immediately spotted the leucistic eagle; it was several hundred yards up river so not readily photographable. The following show three eagle plumages: adult, juvenile and leucistic.

When I did a quick count scan with my binoculars I noted that there were over 80 eagles in this one location. It was late in the morning so most of the feeding activity was done for the day. But there was one chum carcass that became the center of the eagle activity for the next 15 minutes

One adult eagle, with great effort, pulled the carcass on a log.

But just when you think you're alone, here comes company.

Eagle number one maintained control but then along came eagle number three.

Eagle #1 made it clear to the other two this was its fish. But alas, along came eagle #4 bumping #1 off the carcass.

Eagle #4 got the fish but then along came eagle #5.

And when #6 arrived parts started falling in the water and #4 left with a piece.

Note throughout how eagle #3 on the far right is craning its neck to follow the action.

As the remains got smaller and smaller, the action really picked up; it was clear if an eagle wanted to eat, it needed to act now.

Pieces fell in the water and that divided the action.

A juvenile arrived and took its place at the end of the line.

More pieces were carried off.

The juvenile even reached in and grabbed the skin.

 About now the leucistic eagle decided it wanted in on the action.

The other eagles didn't argue with it at all. But there wasn't much left. The following sequence shows three different plumages, adult, juvenile and leucistic.

As the eagles dispersed I was jockeying for position with the other photographers and hoping for one last 'make my day' photograph. Alas, too much going on and I wanted to cry when I looked at the blurry image of the eagle flying closer to me than it had been all day. 

This best image of the day of the leucistic eagle.

Pacific white-sided dolphins in San Juan Channel

People have all sorts of top five lists. Being a wildlife watcher, I have a top five wildlife experiences. I would never have guessed on a rainy afternoon in late November here in the San Juan Islands I would have a top five experience.

In the early afternoon of November 28, I got a call from Ivan saying that a pod of fifty or so Pacific white-sided dolphins were seen from the ferry outside Friday Harbor. Their direction of travel was unknown and he wondered if I had seen any. I hadn't but immediately scoped the channel from the cabin. When that proved unproductive I walked around the island checking in all directions; still no luck.

Around 2:30 I was preparing to leave to run errands when I saw Ivan in the channel headed north. He called to saw there was another report; this one said they were near Reuben Tarte Park. He said he'd call if they found them. Two minutes later he called and they were with the pod. I forgot about my errands and headed NW to meet up with Ivan and the dolphins.

It was immediately apparent that there were way more than 50. I could see Lags (short for Lagenorhynchus, the genus of Pacific white-sided dolphins) in all directions almost as far as the eye could see. Various gull species were active above the dolphins so we assumed the dolphins were feeding. Given it was dark and rainy photography was pretty tough. Plus I was in the boat by myself. The dolphins were enjoying riding my bow wake so I left the boat in gear and stepped back from the steering wheel (my version of autopilot) to see if I could get any shots. The following was the best I could do.

Riding the bow wake

I decided to put the camera down and just enjoy the experience. After 15 minutes or so there seemed to be a lull in the action. But then there was a loud noise to the south. We all turned to see the dolphins in a line nearly across the channel from Jones Island to San Juan Island racing towards us. I grabbed the camera and clicked off the following series of shots.

Beginning of the stampede

It was truly amazing. There was so much energy! They continued north towards Flattop Island. We followed from a distance for five minutes and I headed back to Friday Harbor.

Heading north towards Flattop Island.

In the discussion that followed, no one I talked to knew of any other time that a pod of that size had been seen in the San Juans. Groups of 12 to 50 have been seen occasionally, but certainly not every year. So seeing what we guessed at as 300-400 Pacific white-sided dolphins was a no brainer, clearly a top five wildlife experience. And I'm really glad that Ivan, Chris, Katie, Jeanne, and Jim also got to see them from the two other boats that were out. Thanks Ivan for the call!

Life Down Under: Eelgrass Meadows

One of my favorite leisure activities  is scuba diving. The nearshore of Yellow is dominated by eelgrass, Zostera marina. On nearly all dives I just swim through the eelgrass to get to deeper water. Yet Zostera  meadows are extremely productive. Eugene Kozloff's book Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast devotes nine pages (320-328) to the flora and fauna of eelgrass meadows. In Arthur Kruckeberg's book The Natural History of Puget Sound Country, he quotes Ronald Phillips of SPU when discussing the productivity of eelgrass. In its capacity to produce biomass from sunlight and inorganic substances, eelgrass rates second to sugar cane and ahead of wheat, oats, corn and rice and is ahead of other natural ecosystems such as the tall grass prairies of Wyoming. I always see interesting flora and fauna on the way through so the last two dives I spent the entire time adding to my photographs of eelgrass communities. The following sampling just scratches the surface of what you can see on a dive in eelgrass.

Almost all blades of Zostera have egg masses of the tiny snail Lacuna variegata, the chink shell, and in some cases the snail itself.

Looking closely at some of those snail shells reveals small hermit crabs living in shells on a blade of eelgrass. Isopods can also be seen on eelgrass blades.

Other marine invertebrates living in eelgrass include the hooded nudibranch, Melibe leonina. This strange looking nudibranch is worth the price of admission on any dive.

Hooded nudibranch

Open wide for chow!

Nudibranch sex!

Melibe, the next generation (egg mass)

Another couple nudibranchs that can be seen on the blades of eelgrass are the opalescent nudibranch, Hermissenda crassicornis, and the orange-tipped nudibranch, Janulus fuscus.

Opalescent nudibranch

Orange-tipped nudibranch

Numerous crab species also call the eelgrass beds home. The following are just a sampling of what lives here.

Red rock crab

Decorator crab

Northern kelp crab

Helmet crab

Many of these crabs are on the menu of mink and otter that forage in the eelgrass, particularly the red rock crab and helmet crab.

Mink with a red rock crab

River otter with a helmet crab

Of course there are fish here too.  A sampling of those seen regularly are:

Penpoint gunnel

Crescent gunnel

Who's looking at me?

Another color variant of the crescent gunnel

Saddleback gunnel

Right-eyed flounder (English sole?)

White-spotted greenling stealing food from a red rock crab

Of course mink and otters like fish too! Everything from gunnels to flounders to great sculpins.

Mink bringing home a gunnel

River otter with a gunnel

And finally, the fish that prompted me to write this blog, the Pacific spiny lumpsucker. This tiny fish is many divers favorite. When I posted this photo on Facebook, it got the following comments:

"..without a doubt, my favorite local fish."

"cute little lumpsucker"

"JEALOUS!!!!"

"One of my favourite fish!!! You are so lucky. I'm still waiting to see my first one diving."

Pacific spiny lumpsucker