Seward,
Alaska Sporadic Bird Report
Sunrise
5:52 am, sunset 9:58 pm, length of day 16 hours, 5 minutes; tomorrow will be 5
minutes and 13 seconds longer.
Weather:
May Day arrived in a sunny package, but when unwrapped at mid-morning, revealed
a very windy, chilly, cloudy day with scattered showers. The clouds blew away
by late afternoon, leaving the wind and chill to remind us it is still early
spring and will probably freeze tonight. Poor early birds!
Sunday,
April 29th:
NORTHERN
GOSHAWK, adult, spotted cruising low over salt marsh meadow. It landed on a
small dead spruce to look around. The red eye looked like a jewel set in the
dramatic dark eye stripe surrounded by a white eyebrow and white neck and chest
below. The large bright yellow legs and feet gleamed in the late evening light.
Monday,
April 30th: beautiful, almost calm, sunny, 34ยบ warming to mid-50s.
1
FOS LEAST SANDPIPER reported on east side of bay.
1
FOS WILSON'S WARBLER male, reported at Lowell Point.
1
RUFOUS HUMMER female spotted at a feeder in Nash Woods north of town.
The
tidelands and bay: 17 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, 12 SANDHILL CRANES, at least
50 ARCTIC TERNS, COMMON MERGANSERS, BARROW'S GOLDENEYES, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 2
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. The PELAGIC CORMORANTS sport their white flanks
breeding plumage.
Nash
Road wetlands: 1TRUMPETER SWAN waaaay in the back, the rest is still mostly
frozen.
Tuesday:
Brrrr! as noted above.
GOLDEN
CROWNED SPARROWS in town; RUFOUS HUMMER also reported in town.
Tideflats
at midday:
1
SAVANNAH SPARROW in beach rye; green shoots about 3" tall under
straw-white old leaves and stalks. 1 CANADA GOOSE with 21 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED
GEESE busily feeding and 10 magnificent SANDHILL CRANES overhead. MERLIN
hunting low and fast along the beach. A flock of very small sandpipers, too far
for positive ID, but looked like WESTERN SANDPIPERS, worked the tide edge, then
flew in synchrony and landed several times.
An
adult BALD EAGLE flew over from the harbor area, crying loudly about the fish
carcass it was proudly hauling back to the nest. Another eagle followed quietly
at a distance.
Tideflats
at 5 pm:
2
FOS DOWITCHERS and 2 FOS WHIMBRELS, 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, and 4 BONAPARTE'S
GULLS reported.
Tideflats
at 7:30 pm:
BLACK-BELLIED
PLOVER, male in full breeding plumage photographed, all alone at the edge of
the incoming tide. Greater White-fronted Geese and Sandhill Cranes still busy
feeding from one site to the other. Even though there are only a dozen or so
cranes, their awesome presence more than makes up for the low numbers. What a
thrill to watch and photograph them!
An
almost white BALD EAGLE juvenile swooped in next to a fleeing flock of
GREEN-WINGED TEAL, scattering them momentarily. They landed nearby as the eagle
stood in the water on its surprisingly long legs, watching the geese fly
overhead, probably dreaming of goose for dinner.
Many
dozen CANADA GEESE, plus PINTAILS, GADWALL, MALLARDS, and AMERICAN WIGEON fed
in the ever-melting pond, partially hidden by the sedge islands.
TRUMPETER
SWAN reported far back in the Nash Road wetlands for the night.
More
VARIED THRUSHES and ROBINS arriving and singing every day.
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
No comments:
Post a Comment