Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – November 1 th
2019
Brought to you with pleasure by MCHT and VLT
Alaska Blip - #3 – Kenai peninsula
PSA – You
should be wearing orange when out in the woods these days – it
is deer hunting time in Maine. Currently we are in archery season and while
there are certainly less of these hunting types, youth
day is approaching quickly (October 26), with fire arm season (Nov 2-30) and muzzleloader/expanded archery extending the season until mid-December (Dec 14). Exciting times in the
woods, for sure. Good idea to get in the habit of orange hats, jacket, vest,
gloves, etc. just to announce your presence a little more. Especially when close to deer habitat which is
pretty much the entire island. |
| harbor seal |
There is no hunting statewide on Sundays and never hunting on the Lane’s
Island Preserve.
 |
| sockeye salmon |
And so…..its
been a while, the entire staff at the VSR was gone, outta state, outta mind for
a stretch. To make a long story short, the VSR was placed on the royal
“backburner” maybe a dozen times over the last two months. Things collected –
piled up really, some good stuff too. We have now come to the conclusion that
we won’t have enough time in one “fell swoop”, so instead we will be making “little swoops” – kind of blips and bleeps, “shorties” for
those Aqua Teen Hunger Force fans – and so here they come.
 |
| black-legged kittiwake |
Thanks of course to all those who
have shared and continue to share sightings – natural and beyond – because
sharing is what the VSR is all about. Send your photos, stories and emails to vinalhavensightings@gmail.com – its what the cool kids are doing!
 |
| coho or silver salmon |
New stuff – And
so for the second part of our family Alaska adventure we flew to anchorage,
snagged a vanagon and “did” the Kenai
Peninsula. Family photos from this stretch in the accompanying Alaska blip #4.
Portage – the first and last nights
of this stretch we stayed in a national forest campground in Portage. The place
was lousy with salmon.
 |
| silver salmon, one "past prime" |
Salmon watching in freshwater streams
means seeing fish with a variety of colors, energy levels and levels of decay. Pretty consistent fish chasing, nibbling and
splashing was to be seen right by the campground. No bears seen though!
 |
| a little gnar-gnar |
Most numerous were the Coho or Silver Salmon. Some looked
fresh, some looked like they were barely hanging on, and some had gnarly jaws.
Sockeye salmon were
around and bright red. Nice of them to make themselves easily spottable.
 |
| pink, hump salmon |
And finally a few pink salmon were scooting around the bigger,
decaying fishies.
Lots of River Basin thoughts while we
were there!
 |
| Alaska surfers |
Homer - …I spent
the summer of 2004 in the Homer area, but actually little time in Homer itself
other than to do laundry, get supplies and sleep. I lived across the bay that
summer at the Center for Alaska Coastal Studies field station.
 |
| beluga lake wetlands |
Anyway, it was good to get back into
the Homer zone. There were surfers, coffee
and ice cream on the spit…
..in the Beluga Lake wetlands….moose!...
…gray
jay…
…sandhill
cranes…
….and eagles. The eagle nest next to the only stop light in Homer is a
classic. One that affords many the opportunity to observe. See more photos in
the Alaska blip #4
Seward – it was
smoky. So we got on the water to check out pelagics in the Kenai Fjords
National Park. It was awesome.
 |
| sleeping sea lions |
Stellar Sea lions were numerous….
Bald Eagles were on rocks….
 |
| tufted puffin |
Tufted puffins….
 |
| tufted puffins |
 |
| horned puffin |
 |
| horned puffin |
Horned puffins…
Common Murres (with puffins)
 |
| thick-billed murres |
Thick-billed murres…
And tons of black-legged kittiwakes. Tons of them.
 |
| sea otter |
Glaciers were cool. Literally. Harbor
seals on ice bergs…
..but the hit of the day were the 7
or so Sea Otters we saw during the trip. Homer is more of the zone for them as
far as big numbers go. These Mustelids were well appreciated and cheered for!
Exit glacier –
on our last day in the seward area we had our second family 100,000 step day
(as far as fitbit is concerned). We hiked along Exit Glacier…
…and up to the Harding Ice shield,
Mountain goats were the wildlife of choice on this stroll. Very chill.
And that might be it. Hope you
enjoyed the shots of our adventure. Magical.
More blips to follow! Thanks for
looking!
