High Tide on Clay Street, February 12, 2017

I’ve never put together until recently that the term “King Tide” has to do with Climate Change.  I knew, of course, that we didn’t have anything called “king tides” when I was a kid — just high, low, ebb, slack and a few other descriptors.  And every once in a while there’d be a ginormously high tide.   Folks would just say, “Wow!  That’s a really high tide!” and the wags would get out their rowboats and or canoes and paddle down Fourth Street (as Territory Road was then called.)

But when I heard on KMUN that this was to be another King Tide Weekend — the second in less than a month — I decided to find out a little more.  As in why have we only heard of king tides recently?  It all made sense when I learned that the term was originated in 2009 when Australia experienced their highest seasonal tides in almost 20 years.  Since then the concept of “king tides” has become a common colloquial term to describe higher than normal high tides.   So there you have it.

The Meadow at High Tide, February 10, 2017

According to a recent news report from Depoe Bay, just down the coast apiece, “Tourists, nature lovers and amateur scientists are whipping out their cameras to document the effects of extreme high tides on shorelines from the United States to New Zealand, and by doing so are helping better predict what rising sea levels will mean for coastal communities around the world.”  The article goes on to say that what we see this weekend will approximate what the shoreline will look like (as a result of climate change) in 2050 with the tide about a foot to a foot and half (30 to 46 centimeters) above “normal” (to us) water levels.

Wow!  Finally there will be a crystal ball (of sorts) right here in Oysterville and we will be able to look thirty years into the future!  And right out our east windows, too!  High tide times during daylight hours will be:  the 13th, 11:44 a.m. 12.6 feet; the 14th, 12:29 p.m. 12.8 feet; 1:14 p.m. 12. 7 feet.  (Actually these times are for Nahcotta four miles to our South, so they may be off by a few minutes.)  Of course, should there be an unexpected storm with high winds pushing that water shoreward, the high tides could be even higher…  Don’t forget to wear your rubber boots!

Egret on Clay Street – Photo by Tucker Wachsmuth

The pair of egrets that showed up a month or so ago are still hanging out.  Their winter address seems to be “Willapa Bay at Clay Street.”  That’s where Tucker and Carol have been seeing them on their daily walks along the bay path in front of town.  Yesterday, Tucker took a few photographs that they may want for their Winter Vacation in Oysterville scrapbook — if egrets keep scrapbooks.  Which is doubtful.

Actually, the doubtful part might not be the scrapbooks.  Some folks could question whether or not these are egrets.  According to Wikipedia (whose information is also sometimes doubtful) the distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology. The word “egret” comes from the French word “aigrette” that means both “silver heron” and “brush”, referring to the long filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret’s back during the breeding season (also called “egrets”).

Egret In Flight – Photo by Tucker Wachsmuth

So some could wonder if this lovely white pair, who have apparently moved in for the season, are actually our year round great blue herons in their winter disguise.  After all, we have lots of great blue herons around Willapa Bay.  There are several GBH rookeries near Oysterville and the information about their winter plumage could cause confusion.

Accordingly, I investigated a bit further.  A National Wildlife Federation blog had this to say: Great egrets are a little smaller than the white-phase great blue heron, but the real giveaway is the color of the legs. Great egrets have black legs while white-phase great blue herons have much lighter legs. Herons also have slightly heavier beaks and “shaggier” feathers on their breast.

Carol on “The Bay Path” in Oysterville – Photo by Tucker Wachsmuth

Hooray for Tucker’s fabulous photographs!  The legs of our two visitors are clearly black, an obvious indicator that  these particular “winter people” (in contrast to the “summer kid” that I once was) are, indeed, “great egrets.”  Or just Esther and Ethan if they say so.  They are certainly a welcome and treasured addition to our little community for however long they choose to stay.