Seward,
Alaska Sporadic Bird Report
Sunrise
9:49 am, (over the mountains at 10:23 am), sunset 4:23 pm, length of day 6
hours, 33 minutes; tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 40 seconds longer.
Weather:
Brrrr! Beautiful, cold, clear, and icy today; temperatures plunged to low
teens. A biting 24 mph north wind with gusts to 33 mph blasted down the bay and
through town, cracking icy armor off swaying, protesting branches; gauzy snow
streamers swirled from every mountain peak. The bright sun provided heat as
false as the "amazing, miraculous" electric heaters advertised in the
media.
I
ventured outside in the rosy predawn around 10 am. Immediately, I heard a sharp
"ching" against the fence exclosure around my bird feeder. I peered
into the shadows under the spruce thicket and spied breakfast underway nearby.
A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK readjusted its taloned grip on a slightly smaller VARIED
THRUSH lying prone on the snow. Unwilling to be observed, the hawk hauled off
its prize with difficulty to a more secluded spot to finish dining in private.
Throughout
the day, I glimpsed a NORTHERN GOSHAWK flashing over the neighborhood and my
yard; a clump of gray feathers blew across the snow. Junco? Hunger perches
silently in the spruce, danger sails boldly on the wind.
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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