A Quiet Day in Paradise

 Another day to sleep in!  The foghorn beats the alarm clock. At least for the first go-round.  It was another foggy morning so I got to sleep in until 6.  Woohoo! One of the hopes when you come to Race Rocks is that you'll find lots of interesting birds, but that requires the ability to see them if they are there.  I had hoped the strong west winds last night might have blown something my way, but if it did, it was gone by the time that the skies cleared. 

It was pretty quiet this morning, too (in the busy-ness sense, not in the auditory sense!)  I guess the fog makes everyone chill just a bit.

Solar panels cleaned, I returned to the house for breakfast and something I don't do very often.  I read a part of a book. There are quite a few here (and I even brought two), but it seemed a good idea to read the Race Rocks chapter of Lighthouse Chronicles by Flo Anderson. Her family lived here for many years while her husband was lightkeeper.  It's really interesting to understand why there are so many rock walls, no trees, and how much has changed in the last 50+ years. 

While the fog remained, I did a few other chores, including chopping some wood for the woodstove and starting a new project--trying to map where all the baby Glaucous-winged Gulls are.  The adults take particular exception to my new project, and I think it's going to take several attempts before I get anything interesting done.

Comin' at ya!

Group effort to discourage me

Not all of the aggression is aimed at me!

When the fog cleared, the seas were a desert. Beyond scattered California Gulls on the surface of the waters, there wasn't much to see. Two Brown-headed Cowbirds kept getting my attention, but no new passerines today. The shorebird beach held lots of Black Turnstones, a smattering of Surfbirds, and a Black Oystercatcher, but nothing unusual there, either.

It seemed like a good time to turn my attention back to the compost project.  Positioning is important, as the winds seem to rise in the afternoon, and if you don't want bits of compost in your teeth, you need to stay on the right side of the material.  It only took 10 more buckets for me to declare the first part of the project done. The left bin was as low as I intended to take it, and ready for the materials from the right bin. 

New boss!  Young Glaucous-winged Gull makes it to the top of the compost box.

Officially done and open for business

Inaugural offering

Removing the boards from the right bin

One of many potatoes in the bin

As I started moving material from the right to the left, I found several really nice potatoes. I wondered why someone would throw such good potatoes away, until I realized that they were growing in the bin.  Sadly, these are not edible. Certain elements of these compost bins preclude using the compost for vegetable growing. After two hours of work and increasing wind, I decided to call it a day.

There was one more mandatory task.  Each day at maximum flood, a water temperature and salinity measurement is taken.  As I got close to the jetty, I could see the young elephant seals being particularly adorable today.

While doing my gull chick mapping today, I noticed an issue with the electric fence. As more and more sea lions are arriving, it will be important to keep it in good repair. A task for tomorrow!

Broken stretch of fence

Beautiful but brrrr....

Race Rocks looking southwest.

Mushu is doing great.  He's definitely made himself at home and knows where the sun is supposed to be throughout the day.  He'll stand next to the sunny spot waiting for me to bring his mattress pieces for him to sit on. It's become a ritual. However, at the end of the day today, he was content to just curl up in a chair near the fire.

Mushu taking a break

Tomorrow is census day.  I'm looking forward to seeing the numbers this week!