Seward Alaska
Sunrise 8:34 am, sunset 4:47
pm for a total of 8 hours and 12 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 2
seconds shorter.
A cheerful sunny day with a
brisk north wind, temps in the mid 30s to low 40s. Very shallow puddles
sublimated last night, slightly deeper ones iced over, but the lakes and ponds
remained mostly unfrozen. Rain and sun forecast to take turns over the next few
days, with a downward trend in temps.
The abundant, brilliant red
Mt Ash berries glowed against the rare blue sky. Even better, I refound the
SWAINSON'S THRUSH plucking one orb after another in the sunshine. Maybe it will
stay this winter with the nearby smattering of VARIED THRUSHES and ROBINS.
Unfortunately, those inhospitable larger thrushes gave their little cousin the
bum's rush and forced it to fly to different trees. Finally it flew to the
brush pile on the bank and preened in peace. Yard Bird!
I crossed the resurrected
Lowell Point bridge which amazingly withstood the powerful floodwaters last
week. The heavy equipment operators have been working diligently to haul off
the mountains of gravel piled on both sides of the "creek".
Regrettably, it is being used to fill the former Roundhouse Pond on AKRR
property. It's always sad to lose valuable wetlands.
A large flock of mostly MEW
GULLS mixed with some GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS and very few BLACK-LEGGED
KITTIWAKES worked the surface water in front of the seafood processing plant. A
Mew Gull "walked on water" like a storm petrel, stirring up the
seawater soup with its pale webbed feet, then picked tiny morsels to eat. I
could not see what the gulls were finding.
Suddenly, the whole flock
took off, and a second too late, an adult BALD EAGLE swooped low, scattering
everyone like a gust of wind. The small raft of BARROW'S GOLDENEYES immediately
dove, and surfaced after the threat had flow away. Soon the gulls flew back,
and continued feeding as if nothing had happened.
On the way home, I checked
out the slightly sheltered lee of the harbor uplands. At least 10 MARBLED
MURRELETS, 4 PACIFIC LOONS, 1 COMMON LOON, a raft of COMMON MERGANSERS, 4 SURF
SCOTERS, and a smattering of BARROW'S GOLDENEYES skittered after invisible
schools of feeder fish. Meanwhile, a blitz of gulls mobbed the seafood processor
fish "waste" bird feeder.
I heard the distinctive
rattle of a BELTED KINGFISHER and turned in time to see him hovering over
Scheffler Creek, but not in time to get a photo. After a quick dive, he flew up
and away, heading north. It's wonderful to see Kingfishers this fall; I
hardly saw any until recently.
Unwilling to go inside, the
sun lured me to the east side of the bay. To my amazement, there was a
TRUMPETER SWAN feeding in the Mile 1 Nash Road wetlands. The light was behind
the swan, making photography tricky, but I enjoyed the wonderful sight. 15
swans were reported from Lower Summit Lake this afternoon as well.
Next, I checked the boat
basin at the end of Nash Road, Mile 5. A juvenile RED-NECKED GREBE, still
sporting its striped head and reddish neck, bobbed up and down in the waves. A
few HORNED GREBES popped up and down. A PACIFIC LOON dove smoothly nearby, unlike
the showy jump-over-the-barrel dives of the PELAGIC CORMORANTS. A pair of
HARLEQUIN DUCKS preened in the lee of the breakwater, enjoying the warm sun.
A raft of beautiful BARROW'S
GOLDENEYES paddled back and forth, eyeing me suspiciously. A resplendent male
with a royal purple head seemed to be the leader, and when he chose to move
away or come closer, the rest followed. One bird, I believe to be a male in
eclipse plumage, displayed with his head straight up.
The shadows soon moved in and
I moved off. A few hours later around 6 pm, I heard a GREAT HORNED OWL hooting
softly from darkened Little Bear Mountain.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
A few interesting websites:
<http://www.sibleyguides.com/2006/02/distinguishing-trumpeter-and-tundra-swans/>
Distinguishing Trumpeter
Swans and Tundra Swans by David Sibley
<http://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/07/trumpeter-swans-with-yellow-loral-spots/>
Trumpeter Swans with yellow
lore spots by David Sibley
<http://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/featured-stories/mysteries-of-the-kingfishers-belt/>
The Mysteries of the
Kingfisher's Belt by Deborah Richie
<http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1184>
Keeping Birds Safe Around
Windows
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