January 6th - Birds & geomorphology

I had been trying to identify a new bird the past few days and it is a Blue Grosbeak!  I also spotted a large woodpecker which is either a Lineated Woodpecker or a Pale-billed Woodpecker.  Both resemble our Pileated back home.  There was also a flock of Brent geese (not Brant) flying over to the estuary today.

Regrets re: the poor formatting, but I wanted readers to see the details to which I refer below

I knew that beaches were dynamic systems, but I didn't realize just how much they can change over a short time.  I took an early morning picture to try and show what I mean.  When we arrived, the beach was an even crescent; the shoreline was an even curve which continued through the breakwaters.  The high winds around Christmas coincided with unusually high tides, which created the first ridge visible in front of the palm trees, in the centre of the photo past the second groin, a long ways up the beach.  A few days later we had strong south winds.  The waves came in at an oblique angle to the shore, and created a lower line of small, triangular sand formations. but only past the second groin, since the south part of the bay was sheltered by the cliffs.  Subsequent south winds deposited another 30 - 50 feet of sand beach at a still lower level, and again, only past the second breakwater.  Since I took this picture a few days ago, the lowest 30 - 50 feet past the second breakwater is being slowly removed, as the ocean continues to average things out.

The whale watchers boats were out again today, off the point north of us.  Nancy got out the binoculars and spotted the blows of a few whales, while distant, are our first personal sighting.  Dolphins are occasional, but more common.

Our apologies, Nancy & I both contribute to the blog, without mentioning authorship, we trust you can distinguish our voices.