Seward,
Alaska Sporadic Bird Report
Sunrise
8:50 am, sunset 5:33 pm, length of day 8 hours, 43 minutes; tomorrow will be 5
minutes and 17 seconds longer.
Weather:
Spin that dial and throw a dart! It could be anything from soft, fluffy,
picture postcard snow to sleet, rain, and thinking about it. The thermometer is
once again vacillating within about 5ยบ of freezing which makes all these
options possible, sometimes all in the same day. The wind kicked up this
evening as the clouds opened up. The wet and windy weather is hard on the
birds, already hampered by long chilly nights, icy crusty snow cover, and
natural food shortages.
After our memorable cold snap at the end of January with
temperatures in the single digits, it suddenly warmed up and snowed. The
temperatures kept rising. The next day I found an unusual number of both spruce
and alder seeds liberally sprinkled on top of the fresh snow. I wondered if the trees responded to
the "end of winter" by releasing their seeds. A more likely mechanism is that
the cone bracts respond to changes in humidity.
Where
the white-winged crossbills, pine siskins, and redpolls chattered noisily and
fed vigorously at the tops of every spruce tree, the cones are now open and
empty. In addition, the once-plentiful Mt Ash berries are gone, eaten or blown
off by the wind and covered by snow. No wonder the birds are hungry and
emptying feeders at astonishing rates. Folks all over are finally seeing birds
at their previously ignored feeders.
This
morning around 8 am, well before dawn but getting light, I took the dogs out
for a walk. The good dog glanced up and I followed her gaze. A dark bird landed
in a nearby cottonwood and sat quite still. Raptor? I couldn't see much detail.
I made some squeaking sounds and it bent its head towards the sound. The good
dog, still intrigued, moved closer, barking in a muffled way through the tennis
ball clenched in her teeth. The bird then took flight, its broad wings silently
carrying it across the street to the safety of the spruce forest on the
mountainside. An OWL! It was too big to be a saw-whet; I think it must have
been a GREAT-HORNED OWL. I haven't heard any calling yet, but they should be
around. I am mystified why this bird attracted my dog's attention, but am so glad
it did. One can learn a lot from watching an alert dog!
This
crusty snow is likely making it hard for owls to find food. But the ample
birdseed scattered on the ground is probably feeding voles and mice, as well as
feral rabbits. Perfect opportunity for a hungry, enterprising owl.
Watching
that owl was a magical way to start the day; I felt so lucky!
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
No comments:
Post a Comment