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.
November 17, 2015 Salish Sea, PNW
For our late Bucket today, my view of the last of the big storm yesterday as it blew itself out.
It rained and rained, another inch and a half, making it 4 and a half inches in one November storm (typical annual precipitation here is 20”). Then the wind picked up again, blowing straight in from the west with steady 40 knot winds, gusting into the 50s. The power went out county-wide so I went for a walk during the short daylight left, and it was a wild walk!
There’s a spot half a mile from my house where the beach takes the brunt of westerly winds. The Mew gulls in my last post were at this beach. Today the wind was much fiercer, and while I stood out there watching for an hour, I was sheltered behind a building or big driftwood as much as possible. Partly to avoid getting blown over, partly to protect my camera from salt spray.
More storm > >
I crept down the road and crouched behind a big hunk of driftwood to get a closer look at the shorebirds. They were Black Turnstones, a bird only seen on rough outer rocks and reefs usually. They were pecking at something on the road. Could the spray be blowing small edible critters onto the road?
Wet with salt spray and getting chilly I headed home. Other signs of the storm...
Last night the sky cleared and the wind dropped. It’s starting to cool off now, heading into the 30s for the first time this winter. This storm has passed.
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All nature observations welcome in the comments.
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