Seward,
Alaska Sporadic Bird Report
Sunrise
10:00 am, sunset 3:50 pm, length of day 5 hours, 49 minutes; tomorrow will be
zero minutes and 1 second shorter. As noted, these times do not account for
mountains on the southeast slowing our star's ascent and those on the southwest
hastening its descent.
Weather:
CCW, clear, cold (19ยบ) and windy (17 to 29 mph, maximum gust 46 mph). We're
hoping for a little less wind on Saturday and calmer seas so the boat crew has
a chance to go out.
The
species list grows for Count Week. I walked along the windswept beach for 40
minutes and found cool wind circles, frozen wave ripples, and old tracks of
possible snow buntings, but no live birds. Just before I left, I checked one last
time way out at low tide, almost into the blinding sun. Hmmm. Looked like some round, squat
little birds pecking away at the water's edge. The pushy wind blew me out
there. I snapped photos as I got closer and closer. Then I stopped and counted.
51 ROCK SANDPIPERS! This is a great number for Seward, and well worth the
trudge back into the stinging cold. Several ROCK PIGEONS scrabbled in the
cobble near the beach, toughing it out in the wild.
It
was easy to find the raft of SURF SCOTERS riding the waves with 3 BLACK SCOTERS
by the Harbor Uplands. 3 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS popped up behind them, their rakish loose crests blown sideways. COMMON
GOLDENEYES, definitely not as common as the Barrow's, paddled singly and at the
edges of the Common Mergansers resting in the lee of the breakwater.
I
watched a Bald Eagle adult sunning out of the wind at the south end of the outer breakwater while a large raft of Barrow's Goldeneyes worked the entrance of the
boat harbor just out of sight. I didn't stay long enough to find out if this
was an ambush or just an innocent spot to sit. Could have resulted in
pandemonium when they met.
I refound the GLAUCOUS-WINGED X HERRING GULL hybrid along the Greenbelt. It is a large gull that looks a lot like a Glaucous-winged gull, but it has some black tipped primary feathers.
Back
in town, I found a ROBIN, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, and chittering DARK-EYED
JUNCOS at the horse corral, but no Rusty Blackbirds. A flock of 6 COMMON
REDPOLLS landed in some alders next to the road as I drove along with the
window open, and stayed long enough for me to grab my binocs for a look. A male DOWNY WOODPECKER enjoyed a snack
at a suet feeder nearby, but no other little birds stopped in.
Jim
reported he and Kit found a DIPPER at the Benny Benson Park culvert across from
the horse corral for yesterday's count. Today, Jim spotted a friendly SONG
SPARROW in the boat harbor and 40+ BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS delivered to his house.
Kit scored on a PACIFIC WREN and a VARIED THRUSH at the start of the Tonsina
Trail.
There
are lots more birds to find, but this is a great start for Count Week!
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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