Blustery weather has made sighting conditions challenging in recent days, but today the rain is light and the waters calm. Today will be mostly a day of indoor domestic tasks, so it's fortunate that the window over the kitchen sink affords a fantastic view of central Puget Sound, some islands, the Kitsap Peninsula, and, gods willing, the Olympic Mountains. No mountains today, though.
This morning has been good for sightings so far. No SRKW, who so far are spending most of their time farther north in Admiralty Inlet this fall, but lots of birds, and I was lucky enough to spot a pair of Dall's porpoises (also called "broken back" or "spray" porpoises) cruising south at one point. Flat water is ideal for spotting porpoises, whose dorsal fins are so small that they are easily hidden by any chop.
I haven't yet determined why, but there is Something about the water just offshore, framed by the kitchen window, that is very attractive to a lot of waterfowl. That particular spot is currently gathering a small flock of horned grebes and another of surf scoters, beyond which I also spotted a Pacific loon earlier. There's a bufflehead and a few common mergansers in the mix out there today too. Rounding out the view as I gazed over the water this morning, a bald eagle flew over the waterfowl, who did not seem appropriately nervous given that the local eagles actively hunt the migratory brants that will be gathering here over the next few months. Maybe those birds out there today know that the salmon will keep the eagles busy for a while.
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