Bird on the Beach

While I was in Tucson, the Northwest had a 100-year storm. Sigh. Missed it. Here in Port Angeles things were fairly quiet; though the Elwha River reached a record flood stage, evacuations not necessary out at the tribal center near the river mouth. All the major destruction was to the south, Chehalis and coastward from there... All the Park roads are closed for damage assessment and repair, except up the Elwha, and the road to Mora and Rialto Beach.

Saturday, went with J. out to Rialto. A geographical migrant like me, she's been living here a couple of months now but working so hard to get her foothold she hadn't yet actually been west of Port Angeles. 'Every mile new,' one of the best foundations for an expedition! It was sunny and no wind. There were heaps of new drift logs and broken tree litter (and part of a broken pontoon boat), presumably washed out the mouth of the Quileute, around James Island, and then north along the shore. Newcomers both, J. and I were entirely baffled that a lot of the new drift is bright orange-red under its bark. Huh? What does that mean the trees are?

Below, J's good images of the still-energetic surf, and of a woodpecker (downy? hairy?) in a heap of drift. Woodpecker on the beach? The books sure don't say so.

Light snow on the weeds out the window, and it's snowing with determination now.