Life on the Outer Coast

Christmas morning about 11am took the kayaks out for a family paddle. Time constraints and approaching weather required a choice between kayaking and ice skating. Glad that kayaking won out, it had been a long time since I went for a paddle. The weather was sunny and not too cold (34). The water was pretty calm, there was a west swell which was small enough that it didn't interfere with using the binoculars. Deirdre brought her camera and didn't seem to have too much trouble keeping the horizon. She graciously provided the photos.

We started from the Galankin Dock and went west around Rockwell lighthouse. A pretty large flock of Common mergansers (25), 7 mallards , one Common loon and most of the Surf Scoters (8) were between the dock and the lighthouse. Two sea otters were just southwest of Rockwell island. They let us come relatively close for otters (about 50ft or so). Continued on to Ferebee Rock (I call it Cormorant rock), about 54 or so Pelagic cormorants took off as soon as we headed that way. They are impressively sensitive to approach. I'll count myself vaguely stealthy when they let me get close. Continued on around Galankin inside of Sheep island. A Sharp-shinned hawk was on the north point of the island, it flew to a tree on Galankin and unfortunately I lost sight of it. Also saw a Horned Grebe on the west side of the island.

There were 3 eagles (2 mature) in the trees on the west side of my lot. The Crows that have discovered the deck feeders were down on the rocks below the house (fresh water? mussels?). On the way to the Twins, found another sea otter close to the southern most Gillmore island. By the pass between the two islands (by Michelle and Roland's dock) found a few more Surf Scoters (4)and Harlequins. On the far side found Buffleheads (6) and a couple of Common Mergansers.

Went through the Gillmore islands back to the main interisland basin then Ian and I took a peak between Kutkan and Breast islands before returning to the Galankin dock. Found a few more Harlequins on the north side. The only alcids (2 Marbled murrelets) seen were on the return to the dock.

I lost track of the number of gulls; did notice several Mew and Glaucous-winged and one Thayers gull.

Made a first attempt to record a trip using Google Earth, the result is a little clumsy.

Also seem to have been cooking alot the last few days; one thing turned out especially good for a recipe-less creation. In hope of making a successful seafood pie again some time, I'll include the recipe here. Maybe I'll find this one.

Leftover fish pie recipe:

white sauce (1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup flour, 2 cups milk (mixed non fat and half and half), 1ts salt. Added an unknown amount of tabasco sauce and lemon juice . Sauted 4 chopped stalks of celery and a purple onion until relatively translucent. Filled a 14 inch diameter pan with the cooked vegetables, leftover coho, scallops and shrimp. Sprinkled about an ounce of smoked blue cheese over the filling, then poured the sauce over. It didn't look quite moist enough, so added some cream until it looked evenly moist.

The top crust was a pile of mashed potatoes. Just before putting in the oven, Deirdre brushed it with egg yolk (beaten). Baked it at 350 for 40 minutes.

The deer in the greenhouse made it to the freezer yesterday, it yielded roughly 30 lbs of meat. The kitchen scale is pretty marginal, so I'm not sure how reliable that number really is. Cut 4 roasts out of the hind legs; the front legs, ribs and everything else except the backstrap went into burger. The kitchen aid grinder was rather hot by the time the process was complete. Kept the rib meat burger seperate, I'm kind of curious how it compares with the rest of the meat as it has a bit more fat included in the grind. If the second island deer is harvested, I'll make some sausage and maybe try to make jerky as well.

Snow, hail, thunder and lightening last night.