Life on the Outer Coast

I've been dragging myself out later and later each morning this week , somehow still making it vaguely on time to class. I'm reaching the point in the semester were a schedule is starting to wear me down.
Found 4 varied thrushes in the alders at the junction of the home trail and circum-lake trail. The water commute count was: 1 longtail, 8 mew gulls, 2 harlequins, 3 pelagic cormorants and 3 glaucous winged gulls.

Went to Moller park before yoga hoping to avoid the promised severe weather. It was windy, but dry. I walked up past the feeder house, but didn't see a single bird at the feeder so followed the trail to the lake overlook. All Mallards at the extreme north end of the lake, the wind was a bit cold so went back to watch the feeder and the salmonberry bushes. There were a number of juncos in the bushes, not as many as I saw there on previous days though and still nothing at the feeder. I stood and listened in the small parking spot(?) just east of the feeder. The juncos seemed rather calm about my presence, they were eating and not making too many chipping noises. They started what I would consider alarming rapidly after I had been there about 5 minutes. I assumed that someone was coming down the street (I couldn't see the street), but it was a small raptor. From the size, dark tail with white edge and very pointed swept back wings I decided that it was a merlin. Could be wrong as I didn't really get to see it for very long. It flew low over the salmonberries, turned when it saw me and flew off between the houses. I stood still for a while, wondering when if it would return and wondering how long before the birds would return to the feeder. The raptor didn't return, at least not that I saw. The juncos didn't return to the feeder for about 20 minutes longer. I can only assume that they had abandoned the feeder after an earlier fly over by the same or another raptor.
Also wandered down the street to look for birds in other yards. Did see a Northern Flicker in Gracia's yard and watched a flock of siskins bounce over.
After yoga (I successfully balanced in a crow pose!) stopped by the lake on my way back to UAS. Found 2 of the 4 american coots, several ring-necked ducks, a large group of scaups, mallards, one widgeon, and 2 Hooded mergansers. The double-crested cormorant was flying back and forth over the lake. There were several Thayers gulls and at least one Herring gull present. Unless it was a Thayer's gull with a yellow eye. I didn't see the underwings as they were rather content to stand still.


Went to a talk from Richard Carstensen about biogeography of southeast this evening. Right now what is sticking with me is one very side comment that he said about fossils from Admiralty. It couldn't have been a more minor point, but I liked how he emphasized that the deciduous tree fossils from the tertiary deposits on Admiralty had something to tell us about the southeast Alaska of the past, as opposed to the older marine fossils which tell us more about the south pacific. It was just a nice way to make that point. Not earth shattering, but good way to let people know about how things have changed on the earth. I also liked what he related about a naturalist being a generalist that specializes in a place. His place was rather large, but still a cohesive place. I suppose that a case could be made for any sized place, if a person had enough time and energy. Still it seems easier to have quiet moments for learning about or absorbing a place if that place is on a smaller scale than all of southeastern Alaska. I have been to most of the places that he talked about, except Dall and Long islands so I have a few questions for him tomorrow. I think that I'll enjoy spending the day with him. It will be nice to talk with someone who seems just as intense about this place and who has looked at some of the same places.
I have had a vague sense of panic about a liverwort that I identified from Kosciusko for him. It was Kurzia pauciflora, a really odd looking liverwort. It is long and lanky with scattered 3 or 4 lobes leaves that are only apparent with a dissecting scope or handlens. Before I looked at it closely, it looked like a moss I collected from above Herring cove in a dry creek. My unease doesn't involve the identification, but whether or not it has really been collected from here before. Schofield's guide lists it as a species that occurs in the area, but Worley's list for Alaska doesn't include it. Hong's paper on Western North American Lepidoziaceae just says Alaska and BC , but he didn't look at any specimens from here, so there isn't any locality data. The only two specimens I found in the UBC database from Alaska were from Attu Island. I'm only vaguely worried, wondering might be a better description.
I'll probably send the specimen to Judy Harpel or Norton Miller for verification. Judy told me that I should get myself down to POW and look for calciphile bryophtes. I guess she was right.