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The Daily Bucket - near and far at the beach [1]

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Date: 2024-06-03  

May 31, 2024

Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest

Waaay way out in a local bay — about half a mile — I saw ducks a few days ago. Most ducks in the PNW are winter migrants and have gone north or inland for breeding by now, so I was happy to get any sighting at all no matter how distant. I stopped to get a look at who these stay-behinds were, and sit on a beach log to steady my camera (which acts as my binoculars). Here’s my best view of that far sighting.

I’m thinking scoters, probably Surf scoters, and many had the smaller bills of youngsters. Nonbreeders. A few do stick around in summer. Even distant like this it was sure nice to see ducks in summer. Thoughts from fellow bucketeers on ID?

Far: Full magnification, about 65x

Cropped slightly I see orange in some bills

I’m including a short video for behavior clues.

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While I was sitting there on the beach I noticed a lot of pollinator activity in the Searocket around me. It was a sunny day though not warm (50s). There were some honeybees like the one in the title image but mostly bumblebees. The honeybees spent longer on each flower than the bumblebees so it was tricky getting any still photos of them at all. A video shows their behavior (sorry for the small-plane noise: lots more of that traffic, along with cars, boats, bicyclists, now we’re moving into summer).

Searocket (Cakile maritima) is a common beach plant around here. It literally grows in the sand, being salt-tolerant, with succulent leaves. It’s not native but not invasive. Bees love it.

Bumblebee on Searocket

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In contrast to that dry calm day, the last couple of days it's been wet and windy. No way I’d be sitting on a beach log, ducks or no. Yesterday and last night it poured rain. Today it’s drier but another round of precip is forecast before things dry out and hopefully warm up some later in the week. This weather is what we in the PNW call Juneuary. Beans, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes won’t really get going for a while.

Atmospheric river bringing moisture to the Northwest

🌸



Cool, temps in the 50s, showers, breezy in the PNW islands. Some sunbreaks.

The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns. We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE, CHECK OUT THIS DIARY: DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS

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