Seward,
Alaska Sporadic Bird Report
Sunrise
9:10 am, sunset 5:13 pm, length of day 8! hours, 2 minutes; tomorrow will be 5
minutes and 3 seconds longer.
Weather:
February arrived, took a look around and abruptly slammed January's freezer
door shut. Then she turned up the thermostat to around 34ยบ, and delivered
snow/sleet/rain in successive, dramatic squalls. Tiny patches of blue sky
winked between ominous blue-black, dense walls of precipitation. I caught a
glimpse of the waxing moon before the clouds jealously closed the curtain and
unleashed another barrage of sleet.
Melting
snow with nowhere to flow created deep ponds in the streets; vehicles created
wakes and rooster tails while getting and giving a free car wash. Several
buildings reported flooding. Blizzard warnings and watches flashed on and off
for Turnagain Arm while an avalanche at the Y blocked traffic on both the
Sterling and Seward Highway for most of the day.
Out
in the raging bay, riled by a strong south wind, I noticed at least 3
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES feeding among the whitecaps. No sign of the two
humpback whales, sea lion pods, or masses of murres, but visibility was
extremely limited.
I
spent several happy hours on the roof, ostensibly shoveling off the 3+ feet of
heavy snow. I had scarcely begun when I felt and heard a powerful whooshing sound right
over my head. The raptorious missile shot across the garage and instantly
disappeared before I could focus on it. Stunned, I watched for another chance,
but nothing emerged. I pictured rigid curved wings, tensed in a deadly dive at
100 mph. I replayed the sound; it reminded me of a stunt kite on a kamikaze dive.
After
a time, a raven sailed over, playing in the wind: "wha-wha-wha" went
the wings. Eventually, about 30 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES returned, as well as
the flock of GROSBEAKS, twitters of the JUNCOS, raucous staccato of the
STELLER'S JAYS, and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES braved flights from one spruce to
another. The bird world seemed nervous, but not petrified. Watching them was a
great excuse to pause my labors and rest until a really serious squall told me
it was time to get down.
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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