Seward,
Alaska Sporadic Bird Report
Sunrise
8:55 am, sunset 5:29 pm, length of day 8 hours, 33 minutes; tomorrow will be 5
minutes and 14 seconds longer.
Weather:
As forecast, solemn gray clouds slid in late last night bringing light but
steady rain all day. Temps rose to the high 30s-40ยบ, the wind remained calm,
and either ice skates or ice cleats became mandatory for those wishing to stand
upright.
Three
species of loons fished in the Seward Boat Harbor today: PACIFIC, COMMON, and
YELLOW-BILLED. A juvenile yellow-billed loon approached and surfaced quietly
nearby, regarding me calmly with its dark red eyes. An intricate, beautiful
pattern of white scallops graced its brown back. The face was very pale, fading
to white along the throat and breast. Its yellow-tipped bill faded to light
blue-gray by the head; the nostrils were deeply inset below a strong middle
ridge. It dove and resurfaced with a tiny fish in its bill, which it held for a
long moment, and then tossed it down the hatch.
COMMON
GOLDENEYES paddled past, glancing up at me lurking behind my temporary blind,
some equipment on the dock. I eased my way farther down the finger towards the
more open water as rain spattered the calm water. A harbor seal poked its periscope
head up through thin ice and looked around; a black PELAGIC CORMORANT surfaced
and dove. A pair of COMMON MURRES paddled silently past, side by side. How
different they are in summer, nesting in noisy crowded colonies on steep rocky
cliffs, diving down hundreds of feet to bring back fish for their single chick.
A
pair of HORNED GREBES dove actively, one mirroring the other. They too surfaced
nearby, close enough to see their red eyes and the thin red color line
connecting the eye to the pale blue-gray bill. There was no sign of the
dramatic breeding plumage yet to come on this dapper black-capped grebe.
I
spotted two PACIFIC LOONS in the mid-harbor. One gradually approached as I hid
behind a piling. It surfaced nearby, but moved off suspiciously. I could see
its dark red eyes, slender pale blue-gray bill, and a small patch of vertical
dark gray and white striping at the base of the long white throat decorated
with a thin "necklace" by the chin.
Glancing
towards the harbor entrance, I gasped inwardly. A majestic large loon paddled
serenely into the harbor like the Queen Mary. It was much darker than the
juvenile yellow-billed loon with a brilliant white prow. As it headed straight towards me, closer and
closer, I saw it was almost in breeding plumage. What happened next was unbelievable!
The adult YELLOW-BILLED LOON continued to paddle right to me, dove directly
underneath and emerged on the other side where it stretched its magnificent
star-spangled wings before paddling leisurely onwards. I was smitten with its
beauty and regal bearing.
Seward
is extremely fortunate to have such rare and exceptional guests.
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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