Sunday, February 16, 2025 Rock Sandpipers, Killdeer, Swans

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 8:33 am, sunset 5:52 pm, for a total day length of 9 hours and 18 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 23 seconds longer.

 

Winter tried to snow on Thursday but the flakes never hit the ground. On Friday, Winter tried again but only managed a scant 2” on the ground. Then the temps rose back above freezing and bare ground showed once again. Today’s temps ranged from 31-35. It’s been a crazy winter so far, but overall, folks are glad they don’t have to shovel. The voles and other life that depend on insulating snow may not be so chipper. Rain is in the forecast until next week.

 

After trying unsuccessfully since February 9 to refind the KILLDEER and locate the ROCK SANDPIPERS, I got a tip from Robin when he hit the jackpot. With the 35 ROSAs was one DUNLIN, chittering and squabbling as they expertly probed the mudflats for small clams (Baltic Macomas) and invertebrates.

 

The KILLDEER popped up nearby, stop-starting like the plover it is, picking up tidbits. After a time, it faced away from me and began to preen. The unfortunate pose then revealed the rich, reddish-brown hues of its rump and tail coverts, usually concealed from view.  

 

Over at the Nash Road wetlands, the whole resident TRUMPETER SWAN family with four, 8-month-old cygnets rested on the ice near the road. A pair of adults napped nearby, one demonstrating a graceful one-legged yoga pose. In the back of the frozen wetlands, open water attracted a dozen or more Swans, including at least two cygnets. They blend in perfectly with their snowy surroundings, almost invisible in the distance.

 

Also spotted today, about 30 SNOW BUNTINGS in the distance off Afognak Beach. An unidentified predator spooked them and kept them flying back and forth over the grassland. Then a hundred-strong AMERICAN CROWS left their lunch spot at the tidelands and flew over in great excitement, cawing loudly and carrying on. 

 

They turned a cottonwood black as they perched and called, sounding the alarm. Owl? Hawk? The five BALD EAGLES sitting casually on driftwood and perched in nearby trees were probably glad they were not the target of the mobbing. The Crows noisily flowed over the area on the alert, but I never saw the villain. Pretty interesting!

 

Daylight is leaping back, gaining more than five minutes every day. Whoo-whoo!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

Monday, January 27, 2025 ASLC Octopus!

Seward, Alaska

I had the pleasure of marveling at a very active female Giant Pacific Octopus at the Alaska Sealife Center this afternoon: the fluid motion of her eight mesmerizing tentacles with their fascinating array of circular suckers diminishing in size to minute at the curling, probing tips; her rhythmic breathing as the two funnels/siphons opened and closed, waving back and forth; her enormous, shape-shifting mantle; and her mysterious, slitted eyes. 

All this in a mollusk!

As she jetted across her habitat, long tentacles trailing behind, staff explained that she would be released into Resurrection Bay in a few days. Her behavior indicated that she is ready to get on with mating and raising a family. 

I appreciated this opportunity to watch this incredible, intelligent being up close.

Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird/Octopus Report Reporter 

Monday, January 20, 2025 Saw-whet Owl calling!

Seward, Alaska

 

10:15 pm, calm, overcast, no precip.

Finally! I heard the steady and hopeful backup-bell beeping of a SAW-WHET OWL in the distance in the forest on Mt Marathon’s lower slope. So excited! I didn’t hear one all last year.

 

Happy Owling!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Monday, January 20, 2025 Winter Beauty

Seward, Alaska 

A beautiful morning! Reflection-calm, temps in the low 30s, and no precipitation. I even forgot my warm gloves and didn’t miss them.

Sunshine like a spotlight on snowy Mt Marathon, then three wild TRUMPETER SWANS.

The usual wall of clouds rolled in from the Gulf as I enjoyed watching and photographing the antics of the seabirds at the Alaska Sealife Center in the afternoon. A wild Steller's Sea Lion rested on the old ferry dock bulwark just outside the Center, high above the water. I wonder if the four “Kodiak Killer" Orcas spotted in the inner bay yesterday had anything to do with this safe perch.

On the way home, I stopped to marvel at the swarm of ROBINS with Robin C; they looked like bees in the surrounding trees. There were at least 35; Tasha counted 47 recently. 

Among them were several PINE GROSBEAKS, a male and female DOWNY WOODPECKER, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, STELLER JAYS and a couple BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES. We all appreciated the break from the rain, which arrived without invitation a few hours later.

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter