On Wednesday, after we arrived in Seattle, we walked down to the Olympic Sculpture Park. It was rather hot, and there wasn't much shade at the park, but the sculptures were interesting and the park had great views of Elliot Bay. After the sculpture park, we walked past the piers (looking for the pier we'd go to on Thursday). Below are two photos. The first is a photo of a sculpture (Eagle, by Alexander Calder) with the Space Needle in the background, and the second is a photo of a couple of sailboats in Elliot Bay.
A lot of the birds that winter in southern California can be found in Washington in the summer, such as many of the warblers. Unfortunately, I didn't see any warblers, but there were quite a few White-crowned Sparrows hopping around in the brush at the sculpture park. Below are two photos of the sparrows.
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| White-crowned Sparrow |
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| White-crowned Sparrow |
I'm not sure what seemed off about the crows in Seattle (maybe I was just hoping for something neat), but when I saw one walking around at the pier on Thursday, I pulled out my field guide. As it turns out, the Puget Sound area is populated by Northwestern Crows, which are very similar to American Crows except that they're a bit smaller (by about an inch or so) with slightly shorter tails and a hoarser voice. Northwestern Crows are found on the coast of the Pacific Northwest from Kodiak Island, Alaska down to Puget Sound. Since it's so similar to the American Crow, it's best identified by its range and habitat (beaches, tidepools, coniferous forests by the coast). Below is the Northwestern Crow at the pier.
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| Northwestern Crow |
On Thursday, we set off on an all-day whale-watching trip up to the San Juan Islands (run by Clipper Vacations - highly recommend, it was a great trip). The boat went surprisingly fast, though it still took a few hours to get to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island (partly because we took the scenic route). Still, even though it took a while, there was a lot to see along the way, both scenery and wildlife. Below are four views taken as we went.
Some of the first wildlife I saw (after seagulls) were Common Murres. There was a large group of them in Elliot Bay. Oddly, though, after that group there were hardly any at all, all the way up to Friday Harbor and back down. Common Murres are found in the summer on the northwestern coast of Alaska and the eastern coast of Canada. In the winter, they can be found on the open ocean from Alaska down to northern Baja California as well as southeastern Canada and New England. They can be found year-round where these ranges overlap: from the Aleutian Islands down to about the middle of California and a little bit of eastern Canada. In breeding plumage, Common Murres are black above and white below with some gray on their sides. In nonbreeding plumage, they have brownish wings and mostly white throats and napes. They are reminiscent of loons in shape. They are similar in color to many other alcids, but can be distinguished by size, shape, and range. Below are two photos. The first is of part of the group of Common Murres in Elliot Bay. Since it isn't exactly a good photo, I've also included a somewhat better photo I took of a Common Murre in Santa Cruz, California back in 2009.
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| Common Murres |
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| Common Murre |
For the first part of the trip, the ride was surprisingly smooth. The water was glassy and there were very few bumps. It was very pleasant. Below is a photo of the smooth water.
There were large flocks of Double-crested Cormorants flying and swimming by in the first part of the trip. Below is a flock flying above the trees on an island.
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| Double-crested Cormorants |
Part of the trip involved going through Deception Pass, which is a narrow pass between Whidbey Island and Pass Island that has a bridge going over it. The boat had to slow down quite a bit when going through, so we had a great opportunity to look for wildlife. Below are two photos of Deception Pass. The first shows the bridge (Whidbey Island on the left, Pass Island on the right). The second is of the forested Whidbey Island and the water, which was a beautiful emerald green color.
As we went through the pass, I saw two Bald Eagles, one juvenile and one adult. The juvenile eagle was high up at the top of the trees, but the adult was in a tree right near the water, so everyone was able to get a great view of it. Bald Eagles are found in the lower 48 states as well as northern Mexico and parts of southern Canada in the winter. In the summer, they're found in most of Canada and Alaska (except for the very northern parts). They are found year-round in the Pacific Northwest (southern Canada down to northern California), the northern Midwest and New England, and in patches throughout the United States. Adult Bald Eagles are distinctive with their dark brown bodies, white tails and heads, pale eyes, and large yellow bills. Juveniles, however, look very similar to Golden Eagles, but can be identified by their larger dark bills, larger heads, and messy white patches on their chests and under their wings (more visible when flying). Below are the two Bald Eagles. The first is the juvenile and the second is the adult.
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Bald Eagle |
Quite a few Harbor Seals were swimming around all along the way to Friday Harbor. It seemed like every ten minutes or so, we'd see a seal poking its nose out of the water. Below is one of them swimming through Deception Pass.
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| Harbor Seal |
The most numerous bird on the water (even more numerous than the seagulls) was the Rhinoceros Auklet. There were large groups of them everywhere and some would fly past the boat (they were amazingly fast and looked sort of like footballs with wings). Rhinoceros Auklets are found on the northwestern coast of Canada and the southern coast of Alaska in the summer. In the winter, they are found on the western coast of the United States and Baja California. They are found year-round in the Pacific Northwest, from southern Canada to the middle of California. Like the murres, they are alcids, and are very similar to puffins (which are also alcids) in size and shape. They are dark gray above and white below with thick yellowish-orange bills. In breeding plumage, they have two white lines on either side of their face that look a bit like whiskers, as well as a small horn on their bill (hence rhinoceros). They can be told apart from similar alcids by their size (they're much larger than other auklets) as well as their head and bill shape. Below is a Rhinoceros Auklet.
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| Rhinoceros Auklet |
After a few hours we reached Friday Harbor, where the boat dropped off the people who weren't going on the whale-watching tour. Below are four photos I took as we were arriving.
Along the way to Friday Harbor, we saw some Pigeon Guillemots scattered around; however, I wasn't able to take a photo of one until we actually got to the harbor. There were a few floating around there, and the boat was moving slowly enough for me to focus on one. Pigeon Guillemots are found in northern Alaska and the western United States in the summer, and in western Canada and southern Alaska year-round. They winter on the open ocean from California up to Alaska. They are another alcid, like the murres and auklets. They are similar to murres in shape and have bright red feet. In breeding plumage, they are entirely black except for a white patch on their wings. In nonbreeding plumage, they are mostly white with dark patches on their wings, back, and head. In flight, they look quite a bit like pigeons (and they're close to the same size, too), which is where they get their name. Below is one of the Pigeon Guillemots in Friday Harbor.
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| Pigeon Guillemot |
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