Life on the Outer Coast

Thursday was a classic winter day for sun basking. Cool, but not too cold, and a light wind from what seemed like a northern direction. it was the kind of day that I might look for very early crocuses in sunny places near buildings. A little early, but still possible. The New Dawn Viburnum is blooming again, so why not a confused crocus? Did get a brief bit of basking in on a nice rock on Alice island.
Spent the morning at home making smoothies and soup for Ian, whose face remained very swollen, then went to town in the afternoon.
There was a report of a Yellow eyebrowed thrush in a garden on Davidoff st. this week. Decided that I wasn't going to prowl around someone's yard, but decided that if I was a lost Aleutian/Asiatic bird, maybe I'd like the open spaces, alders and ash trees of Alice island. It was also a more convenient site to where I needed to be. I didn't expect to have any luck in quest for odd thrushes, and I didn't, but I did come across a Sharp-shinned hawk perched on top of a small spruce tree between the boat launch and the road near the sewage treatment plant. We looked at eachother for several minutes, then it flew off toward Millerville. I still have some trouble deciding whether I'm looking at a Sharp shinned hawk or a Merlin when the bird is perched. Once the bird flies, it seems clear. If it flaps and glides, I call it a Sharp-shin if it doesn't glide its a Merlin. The differences in the wing shape are easy to see in the bird book, but not always so easy for me when I'm looking at the tail end of a bird flying away.
From looking at Sibley, it seems that I need to start remembering to look for a clear distinction between the color of the throat and the head (seems like it is more distinct in a Merlin) and the cheeks (lighter in a Sharp shin).

14 Common mergansers, 2 Barrows goldeneyes and 2 pelagic cormorants near the Galankin dock. 3 Common murres, 2 pelagic cormorants, 2 mew gulls and a long tail on the way across. Heard what seemed like a Northern flicker in the alders on the way to the dock.

Some ice on my way home after dance class.