A small
but dramatically colored bird called a SIBERIAN ACCENTOR, is creating quite a
stir in the bird world. This rare bird should be in northern Siberia! Kit and
Janet Durnil found the bird in dense alders and small spruce in town on January
22nd. I documented the bird and emailed the photos to Buzz Scher who
identified it quicker than a bird book. It is so rare in North America that in
fact, it is not in all the bird books. The Sibley and Kaufman field guides do
not have it, but the National Geographic Field Guide and the Stokes Field Guide do. It’s the first bird
in the index, “Accentor, Siberian.” It’s also the first bird in the app iBird
Plus.
The
owner of the house where it was found, thought she caught a brief glimpse of it
in December. Kit is wondering too, if he might have seen it during the
Christmas Bird Count. It’s very secretive and hard to spot despite its dark crown, yellowish eyebrow and throat, and distinctive black face mask. Hopefully, the birders planning
to converge on Seward this weekend will be able to find it.
Dave Sonneborn called and
related that 20 years ago, Larry Hood found 2 in Anchorage in October and then
in the following March. A woman in Hope found one at her window eating dead
insects and got a photo. And several years ago, another one was found in
midtown Anchorage. At any rate, it's not very common in South Central.
The bird was found with a
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW and a VARIED THRUSHat a feeder in some small alders and spruce at a red
house at the corner of Second and Madison, 500 block. Hopefully, it will hang
around for a while.
As always, please be
courteous and respect private property. It is easy to see the feeders from
Madison and the backside from Second.
The other rare birds in Seward, the Bramblings, have apparently moved to town from Lowell Point. They too have been spotted in the neighborhood and at the Alaska Sealife Center feeding on Mt Ash berries.
The other rare birds in Seward, the Bramblings, have apparently moved to town from Lowell Point. They too have been spotted in the neighborhood and at the Alaska Sealife Center feeding on Mt Ash berries.
Congratulations to Kit and
Janet!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
Carol, I thought you'd find this interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://epistleofjim.com/2013/02/19/true-community-is-a-rare-bird/