2011 Seward Christmas Bird Count results


61 Count Day species, 6 Count Week species, and 2,461 birds in all.

December 24, 2011 Seward CBC
Sunrise 10:02 am, sunset 3:52 pm for a total of 5 hours 50 minutes of daylight.

Weather:  18º - 20º, brisk 24 mph north-northeast wind with gusts to 24 mph, gray skies, and brief afternoon snow flurries. Sea smoke and six foot waves created challenging conditions for the boat crew trying to find birds, hold binocs steady, identify species, and count.

A small but dedicated group of twelve Field Counters, including two young birders, and the four ever-intrepid Boat Crew, birded the Seward Circle from 10 to 4 pm while another ten Feeder Counters kept vigil at their feeders. The Tonsina Trail Route was not covered this year, usually a good area for Pacific wrens, spruce grouse, dippers, chestnut-backed chickadees, and kinglets.

Many Field Counters wondered where all the birds were, finding few to no birds on their routes. The data showed that many birds depended on feeders in this cold, windy weather. Town routes were very productive thanks to several very well supplied and active feeders.

The rest of the songbirds apparently spent the day at Ava Eads' phenomenal feeder off Nash Road. She counted 22 species and 340 birds including: 14 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, 160 PINE GROSBEAKS, 30 DARK-EYED JUNCOS, 10 OREGON JUNCOS, 40 REDPOLLS, and 12 PINE SISKINS. The raptors knew all about her birds. A MERLIN and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK popped in to be counted and check for a snack. Ava noted that the siskin and redpoll numbers have been increasing daily over the past week, and this is the most American Tree Sparrows ever. The birds are ravenous, consuming 40 pounds of sunflower seeds a WEEK! Donations are most welcome!

The Boat Crew found an unusual species for Seward, a RED-THROATED LOON, which was not seen before or since. Of the 50-60 PACIFIC LOONS seen earlier this winter, only one remained.  7 COMMON LOONS were counted, but no YELLOW-BILLED LOONS, which are usually present. Only two MARBLED MURRELETS were found, a low number, and no PIGEON GUILLEMOTS.

Other species of note: the male HOODED MERGANSER, 7 SNOW BUNTINGS, 1 GRAY JAY, 3 BOREAL CHICKADEES, 13 BROWN CREEPERS, 3 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, 8 GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS, and 31 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES.

The last bird of the day was the only GREAT BLUE HERON, spotted at 6:30 pm by streetlight at the north end of the Lagoon.

Count Week turned up six species including: AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, SHORT-EARED OWL, NORTHERN SHRIKE, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

Special thanks to Captain Mike Brittain, of Alaska Explorer Charters for once again donating the use of the Dora, fuel, maintenance, preparation, expertise, and time for the 23-mile ocean route. Thanks to Wendy for encouraging her two young boys to explore nature and contribute to citizen science. Many thanks to the folks who feed the birds and to everyone for their time, effort, and enthusiasm counting birds on a cold, windy day.

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward CBC Compiler

            Final Count    Species     * Count Week

              19                        Gadwall
            149                        Mallard ­­­
                                    *American Wigeon ­­­
               1                        duck unknown species ­­­
               5                        Black Scoter ­­­
               3                        White-winged Scoter ­­­
            127                        Surf Scoter ­­­
              70                        Harlequin Duck ­­­
              12                        Long-tailed Duck ­­­
              51                        Common Goldeneye ­­­
            266                        Barrow’s Goldeneye ­­­
              53                        Bufflehead ­­­
              50                        Common Merganser ­­­
                8                        Red-breasted Merganser­­­
                1                        Hooded Merganser ­­­
                1                        Red-throated Loon ­­­
                1                        Pacific Loon ­­­
                7                        Common Loon  ­­­ ­­­
               17                        Horned Grebe ­­­
                 6                        Red-necked Grebe ­­­
                 1                        grebe unknown sp ­­­
               27                        Pelagic  Cormorant ­­­
                 1                        Great Blue Heron ­­­
               26                        Bald Eagle adult ­­­           
                      7                        Bald Eagle immature ­­­
                 1                        Sharp-shinned Hawk ­­­
                                    *Northern Goshawk ­­­
                 1                        Merlin ­­­
                 1                        Mew Gull
                2                        Herring Gull ­­­
              76                        Glaucous-winged Gull­­­
              29                        Common Murre ­­­           
                2                        Marbled Murrelet ­­­
            115                        Rock Pigeon
                                    *Short-eared Owl ­­­
                1                        Belted Kingfisher ­­­           
              11                        Downy Woodpecker ­­­           
                8                        Hairy Woodpecker ­­­ ­­
                                    *Northern Shrike ­­­
                1                        Gray Jay ­­­
              49                        Steller’s Jay             ­­­
              59                        Black-billed Magpie ­­­ ­­­
             123                        Northwestern Crow ­­­           
             105                        Common Raven ­­­
               82                        Black-capped Chickadee   ­­­ ­­­
               73                        Chestnut-backed Chickadee ­­­ ­­
                 3                        Boreal Chickadee
               44                        Red-breasted Nuthatch­­­           
               13                        Brown Creeper­­­
                 1                        Pacific Wren ­­­
                 6                        American Dipper­­­
                15                        Golden-crowned Kinglet­­­           
                10                        American Robin­­­
                  3                        Varied Thrush ­­­
                                        *Townsend’s Solitaire­­­
                  2                        Bohemian Waxwing­­­
                14                        American Tree Sparrow­­­
                  2                        Fox Sparrow ­­­
                16                        Song Sparrow ­­­
                  3                        White-crowned Sparrow
                  8                        Golden-crowned Sparrow­­­
                  2                        sparrow unknown species ­­­           
                98                        Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco ­­­
                15                        Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco­­­
                                    *Lapland Longspur
                 7                        Snow Bunting ­­­
               31                        Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch ­­­
             359                        Pine Grosbeak ­­­
             123                        Common Redpoll ­­­
               40                        Pine Siskin  
        
            Some photos from Count Week and Count Day. Click on any photo to enlarge.












         





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