Thursday, March 14, 2024 Bouquet of Beautiful Birds

Seward, Alaska 

Sunrise 8:16 am, sunset 7:59 pm for a total day length of 11 hours and 42 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 30 seconds longer as the Earth tilts towards the Spring Equinox at 7:06 pm on Tuesday, March 19.

 

Light snow showers in the past week culminated in a surprise 18+” of snow overnight on Tuesday, with a dash more yesterday morning. As the town shoveled out, the sun peeked out, turning the scene into a winter wonderland. 

 

Last night, as the moon’s Cheshire-cat grin drifted behind Mt Marathon, I heard a hopeful SAW-WHET OWL beeping in my neighborhood. I followed the sound to a tall spruce tree in a yard at Madison and Third. I wondered if the inhabitants appreciated the magic of this little Owl, or perhaps were annoyed by a supposed loader’s backup alarm.

 

The new snow completely blanketed the ground, burying access to invertebrates, fallen seeds, and grit formerly available under the spruce trees.


At first light, my feeders were buzzing with birds, mostly PINE SISKINS and REDPOLLS, with a dozen or so RED CROSSBILLS, a SONG SPARROW, two shy VARIED THRUSH, a raiding STELLER’S JAY, and a cameo by a SONG SPARROW. After I replaced the suet block, even a pair of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS zoomed in for the treat.

 

On this gorgeous sunny day, temps ranged from a low of 17 at 7:30 am to a high of 37 by midafternoon; without the wind, it felt like summer. Everything appreciated this break!

 

Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills seem to be everywhere this winter. I saw more Red Crossbills gleaning soggy seeds from tide-washed spruce cones at Afognak Beach today. They worked away at the cones, apparently finding seeds. Are the abundant tree cones empty? 


Two males actually squabbled over one cone with tiny ferocity; the victor carried the heavy load into a nearby spruce for more private dining. I watched others eat rockweed and poke through the sand, possibly for grit or amphipods. It was enchanting to observe these trusting, beautiful finches at such close range. 

 

Two red-eyed adult SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS in the distance skirmished with each other, flashing through the trees. One dove after a Crossbill but missed. 

 

I heard soft trumpeting and watched fourteen magnificent TRUMPETER SWANS fly from a stream to the eelgrass bed in the bay. These tough Swans have overwintered in the Seward area through very challenging weather and just have to hang in a little while longer for the ice to melt off the ponds and wetlands. 

 

I watched RAVENS build a cliffside nest last week, fetching perfect sticks from their favorite Stick Store far away. 1”-long krill washed up on the beach on Monday’s high tide, an annual spring event a few AMERICAN CROWS appreciated. I heard at least ten Varied Thrushes singing in my neighborhood.


With Daylight Savings, it’s light so much later and the long, cold nights are getting shorter. Spring is coming!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter


























 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 7, 2024 Signs of Spring!

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 7:38 am, sunset 6:42 pm for a total day length of 11 hours and 3 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 29 seconds longer.

 

Spring is in the air! The sun rises higher every day, peeking over the western mountains to cast welcome afternoon light on winter shadows in town.

 

The high of 34 today created puddles in the street and cracks widened in the frozen ponds. A few Sitka willows popped their tight buds; the first flowers of the year. Though snow showers are in the forecast starting on Sunday, winter is on the run.

 

Last night around 9 pm, I heard my first-of-year SAW-WHET OWL calling from Little Bear Mountain. What a joyous beeping! The Owl night life has been very quiet this winter.

 

Today, I found dozens of GADWALL with about ten AMERICAN WIGEON and two adult TRUMPETER SWANS paddling offshore among the bits and blocks of beach ice stolen by the tide. A flock of very tired MALLARDS napped soundly onshore; I wonder if they are recent arrivals?

 

Farther out, many dozens of newly arrived BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES commandeered floating ice shelves like pirates on a prize, watching the seas for action. Their distinctive clamor is a sure sign of spring. Two Harbor Seals rested on a nearby ice raft. When they suddenly dove into the water, the Kittiwakes roared off to join them; something’s afoot!

 

Even as March tries to intimidate Spring with snow and wind, fearless migrants are on their way!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter








 

 

Sunday, February 18, 2024 Alaska Sealife Center Eiders, Smew

Seward, Alaska

 

Cautions about avian flu have kept the aviary doors closed at the ASLC, but today all I had to do was step on the specially treated mats before entering a magical world.

 

Many of the birds, like the HORNED and TUFTED PUFFINS, were still in drab winter plumage. But the SPECTACLED EIDER, KING EIDER, and STELLER’S EIDER paraded about in their breeding plumage finery. Such spectacular colors and patterns! 

 

The females also sported a subtle dash of class: the iridescent blue speculum of the Steller’s Eider, and a glossy blue bill for the Spectacled Eider. 

 

The elegant and striking black on white “cracked ice” pattern of the drake SMEW needed no colors to impress. The demure hen followed in his magnificent wake.

 

These spectacular seabirds brightened my afternoon on an otherwise overcast and dim day.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter 






















Saturday, February 17, 2024 Swans, and Merlin

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 8:33 am, sunset 5:53 pm for a total day length of 9 hours and 20 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 23 seconds longer.

 

After three spring-like sunny days with booming surf and t-shirted beach goers playing frisbee, the clouds snuck in overnight bearing light rain, temps from 24-36, and a north wind. More cold rain is in the forecast until Friday.

 

The TRUMPETER SWAN family with two cygnets returned to the north end of the Lagoon. The youngsters were more concerned than their complacent parents, even when the snowblower rumbled past on the boardwalk. Two other adult Trumpeter Swans cautiously walked on the ice at the south end and then eased into the water by the culvert. 

 

At the tidelands, a very wary Trumpeter Swan, about a quarter mile out on the flats, took off when it saw me. I added #51 to my list when a RAVEN flew overhead, chased (or followed by) a MERLIN. It happened too fast for me to both check with my binocs and take a photo. Beautiful raptor!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter