Life on the Outer Coast

Didn't manage to up my Fairbanks species count, but I wasn't likely to do so listening to student presentations, shopping at Fred Meyer or bowling. I was there long enough for 15F to feel quite warm and long enough to drive off twice without unplugging the car.

Nice to back home in the land of high humidity, I was going through hand lotion at a phenomenal rate. Walked to UAS in the afternoon picking up mosses off the rocks (including Polytrichastrum alpinum and Polytrichum juniperinum). Also found a nest in the Sitka Rose hedge near the row of Shore pines on the island on my way. It looked similar to the sparrow nests I found on Galankin this fall.
Had to chase a Flicker over the rail (by the island) on the bridge. The way it was balancing on a branch, I thought it might have been a hawk until I got a better look at it which was never that great, but sufficient. Why carry binoculars?

I harvested the innoculated wheat plants Wednesday morning at the lab. It had only been three months, but if there was going to be any infection, I would expect to see some evidence of it by now. The one isolate was from Cornus suecica and might not infect wheat, but usually fungi aren't quite that fussy. The AMF innoculum should have worked. Looked briefly at the stained roots, but didn't find anything. I'll look more thoroughly tomorrow.
I did find some Cornus canadensis seeds to innoculate a bit later in the spring. I don't know if I can find C. suecica seeds anywhere local, in fact I don't think that I see that plant fruiting that often. Curious if I can start some plants in sterile media from cuttings. The hormone treated gel packs might work to get some plants going for a trial.

Stopped by Swan Lake between tasks and was finally convinced that the scaups I was looking at were Lesser Scaup. I'm not sure that I will be as certain again, but this morning the shape of the back of their heads looked rather steep or abrupt. Maybe I'll be a convert now that I've been convinced of their existence. There was one Ring-necked duck there as well. I believe it was a female. The eye ring was rather distinctive as was the white line on the bill. Doesn't look like a juvenile would have as distinct of a white bill line.

Before I went back to my personal grindstone, I stopped at the Baranof cemetary to look for more deciduous tree trunk epiphytes. Found fairly luxurious growth of Neckera douglasii on the trunks of Mtn. Ash. A few had capsules. This is the second time I've found this moss this year, but I really don't remember picking it up before. Not sure if I've forgotten the other instances or if I just wasn't looking in the right places. Probably a little of both.
It is rather distinctive, it forms downward pointing mats of branching stems on the trunks. The leaves are undulate with long pointed tips. The tip margins are toothed, some of the teeth are curved. In fact the tips look rather ornate under the scope. The leaves I looked at didn't have a costa, but apparently it is a possibility.
The capsules are on stems that are long enough for the capsule to stick out of the cluster of leaves that surround it.
The most similar moss is Buckiella undulata. The branching stems, serrate leaf tips, and lack of a long upright seta should be enough to distinguish the two species.