Seward, Alaska Sporadic Bird
Report
Sunrise 5:07 am, sunset 10:59
pm, for a total length of day of 17 hours, 52 minutes. Tomorrow will be 4
minutes and 5 seconds shorter.
Heat wave! (at least for
Seward) The temp hit 80ยบ at 1 pm today! HOT! In addition to the usual kayak
groups at Lowell Point, a couple of paddle boarders appeared including lassies
in bikinis, a very rare sight indeed, and several people even went swimming in
the sparkling ocean. It looked like a California beach. Crazy!
Later in the afternoon,
during a sudden and very brief episode of gray clouds and sprinkles, I refound
the CASPIAN TERN. Actually there were two! They obliged me this time by flying
quite close, circling overhead while I madly clicked the shutter, and one even
vocalized, a very harsh sound. I could even see their black feet tucked up and
the short notched tail. As the largest tern in the world, they looked huge
compared to the slender, graceful, and buoyant Arctic Terns, and their large
red bill almost looks fake. Lipstick?
The Alaska Seabird
Information Series by the USFWS (Google it) has a lot of information on this
tern including:
4 ½' wing span, males and
females look alike, reclassified in 2006 from the genus Sterna to its own genus Hydroprogne due to genetic sequencing analysis, populations in North
America and globally are of Low Concern. This tern is found on every continent
except South America and Antarctica.
Ed Clark noted that Caspian
Terns are becoming more common along South-coastal Alaska but are still
considered rare statewide. Furthermore, the first nesting pairs of Caspian
Terns were documented by Aaron Lang's inlaws near Cordova. Aaron had an article
a few years ago in the journal "Western Birds" about the Caspian Terns'
nesting and distribution.
Caspian terns were reported
at Vitus Lake and Seal River near the Bering Glacier in 2002 and 2003. I did
not find any there in 2007, but I did not have access to a boat to reach the
rumored colony.
This is a bird to look for
anywhere around Resurrection Bay. Check those gulls closely!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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