Monday, July 28, 2008, Western Kingbird still here!

Seward, Alaska 

The WESTERN KINGBIRD in Seward is still here as of 10 am today,

hunting insects from the chain link fence surrounding the ballfields

and playground at the intersection of Ballaine and Fourth Avenue. Also watch for it perched on the power lines.

 

Look for a bird smaller than a robin perched in the open with a lemon

yellow belly, gray back, and black tail. The white outer tail feathers are hard to see because they are worn.

 

This is the species that ignited Kenn Kaufman's career as a birder, "Kingbird Highway: The Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand."

 

Good luck!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report reporter

 

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Babies, Arctic Tern gone

Seward, Alaska 

Sunrise 5:18 am, sunset 10:48 pm, length of day 17 hours, 30 minutes;
tomorrow will be 4 minutes and 28 seconds shorter.

Weather: A light misty rain, low gray clouds with temperatures
hovering in the upper 40s. The air is perfumed with lilacs and roses
and everything is green including this year's bumper crop of spruce cones.

In my yard in town:
MARBLED MURRELETS flew over the house this morning at 5 am, calling
out loudly, anxious to beat dawn on their commute from the forest to
the sea. Sounded like a small flock, perhaps a family group.

Bright yellow and black TOWNSEND WARBLERS fledglings fly from branch
to branch in the spruce and willows, peeping incessantly for handouts
from harried parents, and occasionally actually find a cranefly or
other treat all by themselves. It's a wonder no predator has picked
them off yet as they are so noisy and visible.

VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW babies still in the deck nest box get louder
every day, responding vocally to every motion and vibration in
frenzied anticipation. The parents fly in with not-fast-enough food
delivery and haul away the white fecal sacs. It won't be long before
they join the rest of the swallows swooping around the neighborhood,
fledglings calling out noisily mid-air. The sighting of a magpie
predator sets all the swallows into a concentrated circle, their calls
louder and even higher than usual as they sound the alarm.

CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES also glean invisible insects from the
spruce and willows, calling out in their muted husky voices. PINE
SISKINS and ROBINS take turns in the birdbath, regardless of the weather.

Two RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS enjoy the lilac and feeder then chase each
other at top speed around the yard. The time is quickly approaching
for this tiny traveler to migrate up to 2000 miles to Mexico, so every
sighting is a special treat. Hummers seen in August and later should
be carefully documented as they may be Anna's or even Costa's. Keep
the feeders clean and full as late as possible.

July 22, 2008
Three families of GADWALL, each with 6 or 7 ducklings spotted at the
airport pond. Dozens of peeps, most likely LEAST and WESTERN
SANDPIPERS feed in the tide flats and fly in flashing synchrony,
already done raising their families and now working their way south. A
LINCOLN SPARROW sings his beautiful song as if it were yet spring.
CLIFF SWALLOWS flash about grabbing insects mid-air, a real test of
binocular skill to follow their dashing aerial acrobatics.

No ARCTIC TERNS were spotted; I believe they have already left on
their journey to Antarctica and the tip of South America.

July 20, 2008
PINE GROSBEAK flock in spruce trees at airport. Two GREATER YELLOWLEGS flew overhead, calling "tew-tew-tew! "

Exit Glacier report of a lone GOLDEN EAGLE soaring above the Overlook
Trail.

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Sporadic Bird Report reporter
Seward, Alaska

The Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Viewing Trail Guide is available for free
on the web at http://www.kenaipen insula.org. Individual printed copies
can be ordered for $13.90 ($8.95 plus $4.95 S&H) via that web site,
or at the Seward Chamber of Commerce.

For more information on how to keep cats indoors, please refer to the
American Bird Conservancy website, Cats Indoors at
<http://www.abcbirds .org/cats> and other informative sites listed
under a Google.com search.

 

Thursday, April 17, 2008 Pacific Golden Plovers!

Seward, Alaska 

Sunrise 6:32 am, sunset 9:23 pm, length of day 14 hours, 50 minutes;

tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 25 seconds longer.

 

Weather: Sunny skies with high overcast continue, temperatures up to the mid 40s but the strong north wind makes it seem like a blustery day in mid-March.

 

I was looking for a swan at the tidelands at noon, but instead found two male and one female PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERS!! These amazing and beautiful long-legged golden-backed shorebirds have likely flown over 2200 miles in less than 2 days, non-stop from Hawaii. After they refuel on intertidal invertebrates, they will head north to their breeding grounds in the tundra of western Alaska.

 

Look for the white stripe sweeping from the bill all down the side to their flanks. The American Golden Plover is very similar but with a black undertail and black flanks. Like the other plovers, they run a bit, then stop, look and listen, pick up something tasty, and repeat.

 

A flock of 20 CANADA GEESE stroked steadily up the bay and overhead. Either they were too exhausted to honk, or they were speechless at the wintery spectacle below. Regardless, they chose to keep flying north.

 

Seven GREEN-WINGED TEAL shared the mudflats with a few GADWALL and NORTHERN PINTAILS. Many more of these ducks plus MALLARDS, and COMMON MERGANSERS soaked up the sun in the lee of the beach. A long line of sleeping gulls, looking for all the world like clumps of snow, rested before the rising tide swallowed up their precarious oceanside nook.

 

Keep your eyes to the sky! 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Sporadic Bird Report reporter

Seward, Alaska

 

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Western Screech Owl

Seward, Alaska 

Sunrise 8:00 am, sunset 8:11 pm, length of day 12 hours, 11 minutes;

tomorrow, Spring Equinox, will be 5 minutes and 30 seconds longer.

 

Weather: 23º this morning with a soft, gray wall of snow-bearing clouds creeping up the bay from the Gulf of Alaska.

 

After a week of mostly sunshine, it snowed another inch overnight, adding to the three feet or so in town and mountains out of town. More snow and snow showers forecast for the rest of the week.

 

Despite the snow-covered roofs and ground, spring is indeed in the air. Pussy willows confidently await their insect pollinators who in turn will feed warblers, kinglets, and hummingbirds yet to arrive.

 

Ravens are rejuvenating their winter-beaten nests, and pairing up on the streetlights, gossiping and showing off their elegant “horns.”

 

Bald eagles are also calling to each other and pairing up. An eagle with an injured left foot, probably a male, was seen perching on a house deck rail, peering into the house. After a time, he flew off and landed clumsily in a spruce tree, calling loudly

until a larger eagle, the female, landed nearby. It will be a challenging life without use of that claw, though the Hawkwatchers have noted the return of a

similarly injured eagle for the past 5 years.

 

Judging from the swarms of gulls feeding frantically in the bay, andoccasional sightings of 9 or so Steller sea lions surging along the shoreline, the Pacific Herring must be migrating back and getting ready to spawn. COMMON MURRES are in breeding plumage, dark chocolate syrup on vanilla ice cream. BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES with their distinctive black tipped wings, are sprinkled among the other gulls parked at the seafood processing plants as fishing boats deliver fresh halibut and black cod.

 

Yesterday along Lowell Point Road, just offshore of the massive avalanche, I saw 4 COMMON LOONS swimming close together, 2 more farther off with a small raft of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, 2 YELLOW BILLED LOONS, big but so pale, and what I think were 2 PACIFIC LOONS, smaller, with smaller bills. I didn’t want to linger near the chute for further details. 

PELAGIC CORMORMANTS, HORNED GREBES, COMMON MERGANSERS, Common Murres, and MARBLED MURRELETS fished nearby. Four MALLARDS enjoyed the ambiance of the sewage treatment plant.

 

On March 13th, I got caught on the Lowell Point side of this active avalanche, forced to go back to the sunny beach for another hour to watch loons and sea lions, and listen to the gentle “swaaassshhhh” of the waves until it was cleared. 

 

A week earlier, the plow operator was actually caught in another slide as he cleared the first one; he had to climb out the window and the plow sustained a lot of damage. It’s a wonder no one has gone over the edge into the bay or been injured. Be careful on this narrow road!

 

I haven’t heard any owls; I fear the concrete-hard snow this winter may have starved out the local Saw-whets. Fortunately, a few others have been heard. Exciting news! WESTERN SCREECH OWL was reported March 14 by Preacher Pond at Mile 3.5. We haven’t heard this owl for a few years. Please let me know if YOU heard the “bouncing ball” call of this range extension owl. Two GREAT HORNED OWLS reported from Nash Woods on March 13th, and earlier on February 25th.

 

In owl, very few reports. It may have been a harsh winter for all of them.

 

March 14th: 2 SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS chased each other above my house,

the one determined not to allow the other to land anywhere. The red interior FOX SPARROW still here, feeding mostly on the fallen sunflower seeds, with the nyger seed pigs PINE SISKINS, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, and RED BREASTED NUTHATCHES. RED CROSSBILLS reported from Questa Woods all the way to town the first weeks of March, entrancing all with their warm, tropical colors.

 

March 11, 7:36 am, Marbled Murrelets heard calling as they commuted to the bay from their forest lodging.

 

Although the lakes and lagoons are still frozen, and we’ll probably get more snow, the sun is high and warm. It won’t be long until Spring is really here.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Sporadic Bird Report reporter

> Seward, Alaska