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I put in on the north shore of Elliot Bay. It is in the 40's and while it was calm at my house, the wind is coming in from the west and it is moderately stiff. There is a harlequin duck on the shore when I start off. At the first ruin, an old rock pier/foundation, there is a bald eagle sitting in a tree. The wind is brisk, but I go out to 4 mile rock before deciding to continue. There, where one is more exposed to the whole of Puget Sound, the wind is blowing from the northwest. I see a surf scoter and several goldeneyes. Waves are about one foot and the wind is in my face as I move towards West Point (in the photo). If I stop paddling, I move backwards. I can see gusts coming towards me, they ripple the water into gray patches. A kayaker passes, heading downwind. I hope that he is on his return leg - his boat is better suited for the wind. Anyway, we're too far apart to talk. As I get closer to West Point, I get some protection from the wind and the going gets a little easier, so I keep going. I stop for a break. Sitting in the sun on the beach, out of the wind and drinking coffee, I remember what I fine place this beach is. Then I load up and cruise downwind. I spot two eagles above. I love being in wind because of the warm glow that comes over me when I get out of the wind.
S joined me today for a paddle in Union Bay. It was about 40F with a breeze out of the north that made the trip brisk. Up near the north point perch I spotted a pod of large turtles, all floating together just two inches under the surface. The largest was dinner plate size and the other three nearly that large. One eagle was in the lunch counter perch with a tasty flock of coots floating just a short way off. While we ate lunch, the female eagle came in and settled on the perch and the two of them whistled at each other for a few moments. Otherwise, they did not look so interested in hunting. The eleven swans were in a tight group between the west islands and when we drifted up on them to get a clear count, they honked and swam a few yards to keep their distance as we moved by to leave them to their feeding. There were many more herons out today than what I normally see and they were very active moving around. We also saw a snipe while close to the cattails and a couple kingfishers.
It is in the mid 30's and sunny with a light breeze. I roll my canoe down the hill and put in from the burial island.
A raccoon is on a downed log to my right. It is soaking wet and leaves wet tracks along the top of the log as it moves off. As I go north between the last of the islands I see a red tailed hawk to my right. It gets up and moves over to trees on the burial island. One eagle is at the lunch counter, people on shore are watching it. The swans are near the west islands.When I get closer to the lunch counter, I see that the eagle is eating something small. Crows are complaining. They have begun to pester the eagles more often, lately. I take a handful of compass bearings from the lunch counter. Then I paddle straight over to the north point perch and take a few more bearings. Paddling over by the west islands I count 11 swans. The grays are off by themselves. While I take a few more compass bearings they come to 50 yards, they are curious. The mature swans stay over 100 yards out. The smaller male eagle is in trees on the west shore. Done messin' about, I head through the cut and onto Lake Union where I take out at Good Turn Park, a tiny little and very nice park tucked in where no one would expect to find a park.
Today I went out to count swans due to a rumor of a second death. But, all eleven were there, feeding between the islands on the west shore. It was in the mid 30's with a wind out of the SE. The eagles were soaring over the west shore. Lots of great blue herons today and a big flock of mostly widgeons and coots not far from the swans.
I walked the canoe down to Denny-Blaine on the main lake today and paddled north to Union Bay. It was in the 40's , gray, with a light wind out of the north. When I reached Union Bay, the sun was beginning to burn the cloud cover off. I headed straight to the north end of the bay, stopping briefly to chew out an idiot that was standing up in a rental canoe, messin' with a navigation buoy, without a life jacket. I use the term, "idiot", correctly as in 40 degree water, 200 yards from shore, swimming is not a good idea.
Skirting the the shore, I surprised myself as I came around a dock, finding an eagle on a low stub of a pier. In the photo is the eagle and a bunch of crows on the "lunch counter perch". Picked up some junk and continued cruising eventually running into my bird watcher friend, C, who started telling me about the dead swan. It had been picked up by the Trumpeter Swan Society, of which I had known nothing about or I would have contacted them when I first found the bird. (So, now I'll contact them - I have a lot of photos). C also filled me in on Bitterns, so I'll be watching for them. It was a good day.
Something seemed different today. It was in the 40's, a light wind from the north and quite gray. It was fairly raw weather. But the lake looked different and it was. I think the water level was up 3 or 4 inches. One eagle was at the west shore perch. A very large flock of mixed ducks was in mid-bay. The three immature swans were off by themselves, the eight mature swans were mixed in with ducks. The dead swan has all but disappeared, nothing but some pink feathers left. Perhaps the inattentive coyote finally found it and dragged it farther from shore. There was an eagle on the lunch counter perch, maybe the same one I had seen earlier. As I paddled away, the frantic flapping wooshing sound of a hundred coots got my attention and I turned to see the eagle fly low over them, straight towards me. About 20 yards away it wheeled and snatched something from the water. Maybe a fish or maybe some carrion. Then it flew direct to the lunch counter. Another 50 yards on I spotted a red tailed hawk in a small tree. It was eating part of a duck (I could see one webbed foot) and while it kept track of me, it was content to let me drift within 10 yards.
Today it is about 50 F, sunny, and calm. I walk the canoe a mile east to Lake Washington. Then I head North. Big waterfront houses on the left, a bunch of larger ducks that I don't recognize on the right. Once in Union Bay I stop and eat my lunch, a bowl of rhubarb crunch. The eleven swans are in the NW corner, one eagle is at the lunch counter perch. Things are pretty calm, including the birds. Everything is sunning itself. Then I continue through the cut and along the north shore of Portage Bay. It's just a day for cruising along... From the cut, the waterfront gets more industrial with marinas, drydocks and fishing boat moorage mixed with houseboats. The drydock operations are always kind of interesting, the marinas are not. At the south end of Lake Union, I get out and walk up the hill to home.
