Every season has its own birdy pleasures and that’s also true cruising around in our boat, just offshore where we live on an island in the center of the Salish Sea. Fair warning, this is a watery Dawn Chorus!
The Salish Sea is a bioregion that includes the inland waters of northwest Washington state and the watersheds that feed these waters.
I like to track the phenology of animal activity from year to year, who is around and what they’re doing. Fall is a time when breeding is over and birds are fledging, dispersing, migrating and molting.
We go out in our 25-foot Albin, a slow heavy Swedish motor cruiser that is perfect for nature watching: we don’t go far or fast, the boat is very stable, it has lots of handholds and it’s shaded.
We usually take an 8-mile route winding around rocks and islands about a mile offshore. The main island is to our north, the Strait of Juan de Fuca is to the south, and the Pacific Ocean is 100 miles to the west. We round Whale Rocks and then return. Those rocks are at the entrance of a narrow channel and tidal currents are usually ripping through there. Birds and pinnipeds love currents and reefs, so there’s always somebody to see as we cruise along. A few caveats though for birdwatchers: photo’ing from a bumpy boat is iffy and usually birds are quite a ways off, often hidden behind choppy swells, plus half the time I’m looking south into the sun, so my pics aren’t great. But I use my camera as a way to see what’s out there, since birds are not always identifiable at the time. I use a lightweight bridge camera, a Canon Powershot SX50 which gives me pretty good zoom, and it weighs only 1.5 pounds including the battery.
So, what have we been seeing as summer transitions into fall this year? Here’s a pictorial report from the boat with highlights from the past few months. No Dramamine needed!
July 31:
August 13:
August 22:
August 29:
September 6:
September 19:
October 2:
October 14:
I rarely take videos from the boat because it’s so bumpy, but I did capture a little of that action. The seal and fish are on the left:
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Screenshot from video: I think it’s a salmon.
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That’s a wrap! Fall has just started, still lots of ducks to arrive, and I’m expecting Red-necked grebes and Pacific loons soon too out there. There’ll be fewer calm dry days to go boating but we’ll squeeze in a few trips.
Dawn Chorus is now open for your birdy reports of the week.