Seward, Alaska
The Alaska Sealife Center
offers an intimate peek into the lives of select seabirds, mirroring their
brethren in the wild. Many of the sea ducks are in eclipse plumage now, in a
constant state of shedding feathers and growing new ones. Wings are stubby,
their new primary and secondary feathers sheathed in papery wrappers, growing
longer every day, ready to unfurl.
If you’ve been wondering
where all the wild HARLEQUIN drakes went, leaving only females, wonder no more.
A closer look reveals that, while both genders resemble females, the drakes are
darker.
The KING EIDER drake, the
most popular bird (after the puffins) when in breeding plumage, looked awful at
the end of July. His once colorful face was pocked with green fuzz and white
splotches. A week later, soft brown feathers replaced them, pleasing but
unremarkable. It must be humbling for such an exquisite bird to be so drab.
The SMEW drake, also a
stunning bird in his “cracked ice” breeding plumage, closely resembled his
female. The short, sheathed primary feathers were easy to spot on both birds.
One HORNED PUFFIN sported a
skinny, fuzzy neck that made his head appear enormous and quite comical. Most
of the other puffins and RHINOCEROUS AUKLETS seemed to be hanging on to their
various tufts and bill sheaths for now.
The RED-LEGGED KITTIWAKES
have no trouble flying. One pair is raising a fat little chick high up on their
cliff side nest.
It’s hard to leave the
fascinating seabird habitat, but there is much to see and enjoy. The “Summer of
Sharks” special traveling exhibit featuring the “Buzz Saw Sharks of Long Ago”
and artist/scientist Ray Troll is on display until September 7th.
The fossils, sculptures, artwork, and videos are on both floors. It is an
incredible exhibit!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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