Seward, Alaska
This morning just after dawn at 8 am, I
flushed a SPRUCE GROUSE off the gravel lot near my house and up into a spruce
tree. I finished the morning walk and returned with my camera to find it in the
same place. What a considerate bird to wait for me!
I watched it walk slowly
along the branch, gobbling spruce needles. It was hard to tell which needles
were preferred, but the bird seemed to be selective and did not strip any
branchlet clean. I wonder how much nutrition is in spruce needles compared to the nearby Mt Ash berries and the
spruce cones that feed so many other species.
The grouse was a beautifully
patterned brown, tan, and white ball; I guess its tough diet works. As I left
it calmly enjoying breakfast, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK shot across the sky, chasing
STELLER'S JAYS, and generally announcing its presence and the start of a new
day. The fat little grouse did not seem alarmed in the least; I hope its
camouflage serves it well.
Later in the afternoon, I
checked for the pair of TRUMPETER SWANS that have graced the wetlands at Mile 1
Nash Road all summer without nesting. They were still there, busily preening
their angelic luminous white feathers, standing companionably together on a partially
submerged log.
Such long, flexible, sinuous
necks! One majestic swan reared up and beat its impressive, powerful wings back
and forth, getting all the feathers aligned just right. They both looked fit
and healthy, capable of undertaking a long and treacherous migration south any
day.
May they return next spring and find conditions better for nesting and raising a fine family.
May they return next spring and find conditions better for nesting and raising a fine family.
Happy Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
No comments:
Post a Comment