Aside for a few tiny drifts beside boardwalks or around building corners, we have only a couple inches of that nasty white stuff around here. Most everything was blown away and/or drifted out in the taller vegetation with wind that hit 70 knots (120 Km/hr).
There's a bit of ice/snow mix frozen on the helicopter pad and solar panels but today's sun should loosen that.
After watching food being cached dozens of times, I had a chance to watch a RAVEN retrieving stashed food this morning. It/they (we have a pair) visited several spots and excavated to reach the caches. Quite impressive in a nearly featureless, snow-covered field.
Two days prior to the storm I saw 3 large adult GRAY SEALS hauled out on Gull Rock and adjacent to them was a gull with what appeared to be a placenta. The following day, there was a white-coat pup near the same spot.
Gray Seals rarely pup up here and this one couldn't survive the storm in that location.
I've only be able to confirm 4 SONG SPARROWS wintering here this year. This latest weather will challange them.
The HARLEQUIN DUCK population continues at around 50 and there's a similar number of PURPLE SANDPIPERS.
Other seabirds have been normal except for a concentration of several thousand Alcids, mostly all RAZORBILLS, that spent a few hours near here on Saturday, the 24th.
Very little wildlife was visible during the storm except for infrequent gulls and 3 unexpected sightings.
The 1st and 2nd sightings were BLACK DUCKS, bucking 50 knot (90 km/hr) winds and making impressive headway.
Blacks are unusual here at any time except perhaps early spring. 2 sightings in the middle of a storm is really unexpected.
The 3rd sighting was a flock of some 2 dozen ROBINS, also flying into the wind. They had it only slightly better than the Black Ducks, with sustained wind of 45 knots (83 Km/hr).
Neither the ducks nor the robins stopped, rather they continued out over the water.
There's a bit of ice/snow mix frozen on the helicopter pad and solar panels but today's sun should loosen that.
After watching food being cached dozens of times, I had a chance to watch a RAVEN retrieving stashed food this morning. It/they (we have a pair) visited several spots and excavated to reach the caches. Quite impressive in a nearly featureless, snow-covered field.
Two days prior to the storm I saw 3 large adult GRAY SEALS hauled out on Gull Rock and adjacent to them was a gull with what appeared to be a placenta. The following day, there was a white-coat pup near the same spot.
Gray Seals rarely pup up here and this one couldn't survive the storm in that location.
I've only be able to confirm 4 SONG SPARROWS wintering here this year. This latest weather will challange them.
The HARLEQUIN DUCK population continues at around 50 and there's a similar number of PURPLE SANDPIPERS.
Other seabirds have been normal except for a concentration of several thousand Alcids, mostly all RAZORBILLS, that spent a few hours near here on Saturday, the 24th.
Very little wildlife was visible during the storm except for infrequent gulls and 3 unexpected sightings.
The 1st and 2nd sightings were BLACK DUCKS, bucking 50 knot (90 km/hr) winds and making impressive headway.
Blacks are unusual here at any time except perhaps early spring. 2 sightings in the middle of a storm is really unexpected.
The 3rd sighting was a flock of some 2 dozen ROBINS, also flying into the wind. They had it only slightly better than the Black Ducks, with sustained wind of 45 knots (83 Km/hr).
Neither the ducks nor the robins stopped, rather they continued out over the water.
Prior to the storm, a PEREGRINE FALCON chaseing Purple Sandpipers was a daily occurance, as was visits from several different EAGLES. No sightings of either so far today.
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