Saturday, April 12, 2014
Spring is trickling in
Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 6:48 am, sunset 9:09
pm for a total day length of 14 hours and 20 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5
minutes and 28 seconds longer.
Spring and Winter are
fiddling with the thermostat. Spring inches it up to the mid 40s; suddenly ice
is melting in rivulets down the street and mud makes its first appearance.
Milbert Tortoiseshell butterflies emerge from their hiding places and flit
about looking for a mate. Crocuses fling open their lovely petals, enticing a
bumbling over-wintered bumblebee to dine. Then, bang! Winter dials it down to
the mid-20s and throws in 3" of snow for good measure. Back and forth,
they tussle. Yet the birds are on their way, slipping in, arriving in little
spurts, assuring us that Spring will indeed, win the thermostat war.
Eventually.
Shortly after the first day
of Spring, on March 21, I watched a pair of RAVENS carry a load of moss and
grass as a lining for their hidden nest. Eggs are next! A single GRAY-CROWNED
ROSY FINCH shared the fallen seeds and suet under a feeder on Second Ave with a
beautiful red male PINE GROSBEAK.
March 22: FOS GREATER SCAUP
dove by the boat harbor entrance. The usual winter BARROW'S GOLDENEYES, COMMON
MERGANERS, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, and a barrage of noisy gulls hung out nearby.
A lot of Euphasids, a type of
krill, washed up in lines at the high tide on area beaches recently. They
resemble little shrimp and when fresh, are very tasty. Bring crackers! The
gulls and crows feasted on them at the Greenbelt beach. I wonder why this rich
resource is not instantly gobbled up at the other beaches?
March 25: PIGEON GUILLEMOT in
breeding plumage, just one.
March 28: HERRING GULL
migration continues with loud, joyous gull cries.
March 29: A pair of wary TRUMPETER
SWANS stopped over briefly.
April 1: GREATER SCAUP still
by boat harbor entrance. A few FOS NORTHERN PINTAILS, AMERICAN WIGEON, and
GADWALL joined a large flock of over-wintering MALLARDS at the tidelands. Also
refound 6 DUNLINS that have been here all winter.
April 2: Several Longnose
Skate egg cases, called "mermaid's purses" washed up on the beaches.
I opened up one purse and found an exquisite sea-green lining, but the
treasure, the single baby skate, had hatched and flown off to seek adventures
in the mysterious sea.
April 6: Robin C reported FOS
2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. Otherwise, except for the boisterous gulls, it's been very quiet.
April 7: A cheerful AMERICAN
ROBIN sang sweetly in the morning. FOS bumblebee. FOS 3 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS fed
in the intertidal zone at mid tide at Lowell Point.
April 8: 3" new snow! No
more cheerio Robin!
April 9: Report of a 1000
white birds flying high past the moon around 6:30 pm; maybe gulls?
April 10: SAW-WHET OWL
calling from Little Bear Mountain around 10:30 pm. I haven't heard him in such
a long time. While it made me very happy, I hope he will soon have a mate and a
family. Saturn now sails across the sky following Jupiter. Orion is fading
until next November. I will miss the stars!
April 11: Salmon fry swimming
in Tonsina Creek. 7 TRUMPETER
SWANS reported at the head of the bay.
A single female LAPLAND LONGSPUR scurried around the bedraggled beach
ryegrass by the Greenbelt bike path, looking for fallen seeds.
April 12: FOS GREEN-WINGED
TEAL pair joined dozens of NORTHERN PINTAILS, and 100 MALLARDS. HERRING GULLS,
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, MEW GULLS, KITTIWAKES created a gull snow squall when an
eagle flew through. Another eagle snatched a fish and hauled it back to the
trees, accompanied by another screeching eagle. Feast time!
Winter birds still dominate,
but Spring is on her way!
Interesting websites:
Longnose Skate (they do have
wings)
<http://juneauempire.com/outdoors/2013-03-01/trails-mermaids-purses#.U0mNXShs5e4>
True Facts about the Owl (with
some odd asides)
<
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeFxdkaFzRA/>
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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