Before the trip started, I wondered how much wildlife and interesting plants we would see. Here is the situation as of Day 18. Keep in mind that it is still relatively early in the warm season, more Spring than Summer. Obviously the flora and fauna may change a lot as we get further into the trip. The binoculars are picked up many times per hour. We are not keeping any "list" of the species we see.
Birds are the most common wildlife and gulls tie with ducks as the most common birdlife. Eagles, particularly bald eagles with their white heads, are easy to pick out and we might see 5-15 per day. We hundreds of ducks and gulls per day. We saw beautiful red-throated loons last night and pairs of merganser ducks are seen a couple of times per day at least. We sometimes see great blue herons and the occasional Kingfisher. No grouse or owls have been seen, but we do hear owls. Shorebirds, like Oyster Catchers are not visible so far but I did see a hummingbird. We hear robins frequently, and I have heard Northern Flickers when anchored. Crows are quite common.
Trees are growing everywhere on land. Here, the ground is very rocky with a thin layer of mossy soil. Somehow the trees grow, even on rocky islands As we went inland the trees were more towering, and we have seen huge cedars, Douglas Fir and Hemlock in addition to what I think is Sitka Spruce. Earlier in the trip we saw the deciduous Madrona tree, but I think we have passed the northern range of it now. The trees grow right up to the edge of the intertidal zone but never touch the salt water. There is a perfect horizontal layer of tree branches above the water - like it has been clipped. When we hike, we see 3-4 species of ferns, Devil's Club, huckleberry bushes (no berries yet), lots of salmonberry bushes, and what seems to be mountain ash and perhaps a wild rhododendron. Tons of moss and lichen carpet the rocky forest floor making it almost impossible to walk where a trail is lacking. Alder trees are pretty common, and grow where the fir trees have been disturbed. Skunk cabbage can be seen in low spots. In the intertidal zone, we see lots of rockweed and some beach grass. Kelp beds are starting to appear.
What is the most common mammal? We have seen seals more than people. Usually we just see their heads, but in the last few days we have found them sunning on rocks. We see deer tracks, but no deer. We have seen 2-3 black bears and one grizzly. No moose or mountain goats or Dall sheep. We have not seen raccoons or smaller mammals, except for one very dark squirrel. One Humpback whale, and few small porpoises were spied on the 1st day. We look forward to seeing our 1st confirmed otter.
Bumblebees are pretty common, they even are seen out near the boat. Small flies are common on land and make quite a racket. A few mosquitoes have been seen. Dragonflies and striders are common around lakes. Butterflies are not rare.
We see small fish, no large ones. Ditto for crabs. We saw a very small squid last night - about 10 inches long. Jelly fish are common. We see lots of shell evidence of clams and scallops. Barnacles are everywhere in the intertidal zone and we also see oysters pretty frequently. Mussel beds are not uncommon.
Finally, we saw a half dozen frogs on a hike yesterday. These were quite small but quite active, about the size of a matchbox!
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